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Young people and money Our new youth portal has real-life stories, quizzes and lots of tips and information about money. |
| There are all kinds of financial windfalls that may come your way, including superannuation cash at retirement, a redundancy payout, inheritance or bonus. |
| Jackie (28) used a tax return to buy shares About 12 years ago I was working in lots of freelance roles. This meant I never had much cash and was used to living on small amounts of money while waiting to be paid. One year I got a big tax return and decided to put the money straight into shares when one of the banks was floated. Over the years, each time I receive any new parcel of cash – like a payment for a freelance job or something – I try to put it towards adding to this share parcel. |  | Russel (52) won a TV game show years ago I'm an actor and was completely broke at the time. I went on this popular TV quiz show with the aim of winning – I was pretty desperate for cash. I studied trivia for months before I began, and surprisingly, it paid off. I ended up winning a car, all kinds of white goods and a huge amount of cash. It was enough money for me to buy an apartment without getting a mortgage. I could never have done this today. |
| Susana (32) puts windfalls into a high-interest savings account I put tax returns, bonuses and money I get for any extra work I might do all into a savings account. That way I can watch my savings grow and I feel good about that – plus if I want to go on a holiday or something I always have some extra money available. | | Natalia (36) unexpectedly inherited money from a relative At first I thought I'd go on a long trip overseas and just spend the money by taking a year off work. But after a while, I realised that would be a waste, so I had a fairly modest holiday and then decided to use the money to help me buy an investment property. |
| Christina (63) planned what to do with her super payout before she got it When I opened the envelope and saw the cheque, it was like: "I have never held so much money before! What am I going to do with it?" We'd already decided what I was going to do with it. I'm very pleased we'd done that because it was rather scary to receive the amount that I received, because when you get a lot of money, you are not used to it. | | When her father died, Fiona (46) decided to pay off her mortgage When Dad died it was a hard time for me. To make things worse I also lost my job. Once we finally settled on the sale of his unit, I received money from Dad's estate. I paid out my mortgage and then saw a financial planner for advice about how to invest in low-risk, growth shares. Once this was all done my sister and I went on a holiday. I was exhausted. |
| Justin (34) used his redundancy payout to set up a business I was about 30 when I got this redundancy cheque for $60k after the company I worked for was acquired by a multinational. My family were all pressuring me to get a mortgage, but I decided to use the cash to set up my own publishing business. I figured I was young enough to earn this money again if it all fell through and was really inspired to take a risk. It was a windfall after all – it's not as if I ever expected to get this money. I'm so glad I made that decision as the company is still thriving and is now worth a lot more than $60k. | | Lost super gave Fiona (46) an unexpected windfall I received a letter from the Tax Office telling me that they had located some lost super. I didn't pay much attention as I was pretty sure that I'd already tracked it down. Then one day I thought I'd better call them just to be doubly sure. I spoke to a very pleasant women who said that yes, it definitely was lost super and that I could get it back. After verifying some membership numbers and personal details, she informed me that yes, I would get a boost worth $8000 straight into my current super account. I was thrilled! |
| Read FIDO's tips about making a financial windfall last longer |
Do you have a story about a financial windfall? Email editorial@asic.gov.au |
