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Personal Finance Resources

This page is a compilation of financial resources and tips for people to use.

Some information on this page may go out of date from time to time. Please verify everything you need before making decisions, and let us know if the page needs updating!

Nothing on this page or pages within is financial advice. What works for you depends on your situation. You must do your own research, and seek financial advice from a professional if needed.

Everything here is free to access unless marked otherwise.

Brokerages

[2024-01-15] simshadows says: What brokerage firm you choose depends on your needs and taste. You’ll need to consider your investing style and strategy. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all recommendation. Pick the one that makes the most sense to you. Also worth noting that you may have the option to transfer your assets between accounts (e.g. transfer from CMC Markets to Stake). You will need to do some research into the fees, tax implications, and the process of transferring if this is something you expect to do.

$3 brokerage fee (or 0.01% for larger trades). CHESS sponsored.

Stake has a referral system. Ask around in #personal-finance for a referral code!

[2024-01-26] simshadows says: My personal choice for my own investing! I just buy ETFs on Stake. Lowest fees in general for a CHESS sponsored brokerage as far as I’ve seen. In the end, fees is the main thing you can control to maximize your investment returns. However, Stake lacks automated investing features (something Pearler seems to do well), and the fees are lower elsewhere if you go for a non-CHESS brokerage and/or don’t mind additional restrictions (see CMC Markets). I personally don’t mind the lack of automation, and I prefer the added confidence of a CHESS sponsored broker in case anything goes wrong.

$5.50 flat brokerage fee. CHESS sponsored.

Pearler has a referral system. Ask around in #personal-finance for a referral code!

[2024-01-15] simshadows says: I’ve never used Pearler, but it seems like a great option. The fees are really low while still being CHESS sponsored (close enough to Stake’s $3 fee), and Pearler lets you automate your investing! I expect that this means you’ll just be automatically debited every month or so, and that money is automatically invested into your asset split? Hard for me to be sure if I haven’t used it. Please look into this before you deciding on using Pearler! Full automation is a common piece of advice I hear since it reduces the risk of making a mistake with managing your portfolio, otherwise you might succumb to the temptation to time the market - and I can speak from experience when I say you should never time the market. Invest regularly no matter what!

Australian brokerage: No fees for first buy order ≤$1000\le \$1000 on each trading day. Otherwise, $11 brokerage fee or 0.1% for larger trades. CHESS sponsored.

International brokerage: No brokerage fees. You may be paying forex spreads/fees.

[2024-01-26] simshadows says: Seems like a great option to me, and a very popular recommendation I see on Reddit. Can be even cheaper than Stake if you’re strategic about it (like splitting larger sums into sub-$1000 trades across several days). Fees might hurt you for rebalancing, selling down (e.g. during retirement), or any lump sums you receive and want to invest. Might also hurt investors who invest more than $5000 a week (you’d have to be investing roughly $260,000 every year though!). Up to you to do the math for your situation and investing strategy.

No fees for buying, holding, and selling Vanguard funds. $9 flat brokerage fee and 0.1% p.a. account-keeping fee for non-Vanguard assets. NOT CHESS sponsored.

[2024-01-15] simshadows says: I’ve never used VPI, but it also seems like a great option as long as you’re ONLY interested in Vanguard funds. I think that Vanguard ETFs are great so you can’t go wrong with them. Also seems to feature automation similar to Pearler. If you want non-Vanguard shares, the fees are too high, especially when it lacks CHESS sponsorship. Lack of CHESS sponsorship may hurt confidence in investing with VPI, but I feel like maybe the difference in risk might be realistically zero? I’m not sure. Do your own research for this one.

Brokerage fees start at $5 for trades ≤$1000\le \$1000, but fees go up substantially for larger trades. CHESS sponsored.

[2024-01-14] RJ says: Nice layout and mobile app.

[2024-01-15] simshadows says: The fees are really, really high. However, it’s also owned by Australia’s largest bank (CommBank), and it may also be Australia’s largest brokerage firm. I’m tempted to discourage people from using CommSec, but I think it’s actually not a bad choice. Investing can be scary, especially if you’re not familiar with the financial institutions you’re dealing with. CommSec and its parent CommBank are very strong names that people may feel more confident investing their life savings with. To me, investing with CommSec’s high fees will always be better than never investing at all.

$9.50 flat brokerage fee. CHESS sponsored.

SelfWealth has a referral system. Ask around in #personal-finance for a referral code!

[2024-01-15] simshadows says: Fees are high with SelfWealth compared to Stake and Pearler, but still better than something like CommSec. I can’t recommend them at this time since they don’t offer any advantages over other brokerages, but they’re also not a bad choice if you like them.