We’re back with live events in 2024 - get your tickets to Equity Mates Live – Ask An Advisor here.

Budget Bonanza: what does the budget mean for me? | Guest experts Old Boys Club podcast

HOSTS Maddy Guest & Sophie Dicker|18 May, 2021

This year’s federal budget has been labelled a ‘spendathon’. So, in today’s episode, we break down what this actually means for you! We’ve called in the help of our political correspondents/pals from the Old Boys Club pod to help us get across everything you need to know. Whether it be the first home super saver scheme, jobs (jobs, jobs), or funds for female economic security, we can’t underestimate how directly the federal government’s budget decisions impact our lives – this is an episode not to be missed!!

Keep track of Sophie and Maddy between the episodes on Instagram for behind-the-scenes shots and tidbits, and come and be part of the conversation on Facebook with our You’re In Good Company Discussion Group. Got a question or a topic suggestion? Email us here. 

*****

Any views expressed by the podcast host or any guest are their own and do not represent the views of Equity Mates Media or any other employer or associated organisation.

Always remember, all information contained in this podcast is for education and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional financial, legal or tax advice. The hosts of Equity Mates are not financial professionals and are not aware of your personal financial circumstances. Before making any financial decisions you should read the Produce Disclosure Statement (PDS) and, if necessary, consult a licensed financial professional.

For more information head to our Disclaimer Page, where you can find resources to search for a registered financial professional near you.

*****

Have you just started your investing journey? Head over to Get Started Investing – Equity Mates 12-part series with all the fundamentals you need to feel confident to start your investing journey.

Want more Equity Mates? Come to our website and subscribe to Equity Mates Investing Podcast, social media channels, Thought Starters mailing list and more at or check out our Youtube channel.

You’re In Good Company is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Maddy Guest: [00:01:12] Hello and welcome to another episode of your company, a podcast for like minded people who want to make smart investment decisions. I'm Maddy and I'm here with my good friend Sophie. [00:01:21][9.0]

Sophie Dicker: [00:01:22] Hello, Maddie. I am so excited for today because we are actually in some very good company right now. But before we start today's episode, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respects to one very people of the coordination who are the traditional owners of this land on which we are recording today. We pay our deepest respect to the elders past and present and to the next generation who we hope to create a different future for. so there has been a lot of chat over the past week or so about the budget and the high level numbers. But today we really want to try and contextualize it and talk about the areas which could affect you and your personal finances. [00:01:55][33.3]

Maddy Guest: [00:01:56] Yes, and to do that, we are joined by the lovely Justine and Matilda from the Old Boys Club podcast. Welcome, guys. [00:02:03][7.0]

Justin & Matilda: [00:02:03] Hello thanks for having us. [00:02:05][1.5]

Maddy Guest: [00:02:05] No worries at all. So for those who are listening who might have not heard your podcast before. Can you tell us a little bit about the old boys club? [00:02:12][6.4]

Justin: [00:02:27] Essentially we like to break down politics in a sort of very ground floor beginner level way, because I think a lot of people who try and get into politics and then find that all the resources out there assume a very high level of a base level of knowledge. And we're kind of just trying to make sure that we explain things in a way that's actually digestible. [00:02:49][22.3]

Matilda: [00:02:50] Yeah, we have the motto that there's, like, no such thing as a stupid question. And I think that that's like underscores the podcast really. [00:02:57][6.9]

Justin: [00:02:57] Yet we ask so many so many questions. Yeah. [00:03:00][3.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:03:01] Yeah. So we're doing the finances at the basics 101 and you're doing the politics of the basics 101. Yeah. So together, you know, joint forces listen to both podcasts, listens to the guys. Absolutely. Going. All right. So we really want to just go right back to basics before we delve too deep into this. So can you just tell us really briefly what is the budget? Why does it matter? [00:03:26][24.9]

Justin: [00:03:26] So the budgets essentially kind of like a boring shopping list of everything that the government is going to the federal government that well, there's plenty of budgets, but we're talking about the federal one this week. It's a shopping list of everything they're going to spend in that year. [00:03:40][13.1]

Matilda: [00:03:40] So they say how much money they have coming in that year and how much they're going to be spending that year. And it's not just I think it's really important to understand that it's not just this, like, tally of what projects are getting funded, what aren't. It's also a really big political statement. It's the government getting up and being like, hey, we promised in the election that we value all these things and now they get to put their money where their mouth is and say, we're going to fund these things or we're not going to fund these things. So it's it's also a really important political moment as much as it is an economic moment. [00:04:13][33.0]

Justin: [00:04:14] And it's very much sort of sitting out like the government's vision, like I think in America a lot of people, because often we have more familiar with American politics. Just sort of from the ubiquity of that, I think it's pretty it can be useful to think of it as in terms of like the state of the nation speech that Joe Biden just gave, like he just is basically setting out his principles about what he believes in, how he feels the country's going. And we do the same thing, except it's Josh Frydenberg. It's less charismatic and there's like more numbers involved. [00:04:41][27.1]

Matilda: [00:04:41] We're talking about feelings. So we just going to talk about numbers. [00:04:43][2.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:04:44] I feel I find him very kind of emotional. And this is budget is really I don't know if it's always like that because I feel like I have, like, paid as much attention in previous years. But it was it was inspiring stuff. [00:04:55][10.5]

Justin: [00:04:56] I think he's just like, so excited that someone, like, cares about the treasure. Occasionally he's like, it's my talk [00:05:01][5.7]

Matilda: [00:05:02] to the federal budget. It's my government. [00:05:03][1.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:05:04] Is I seriously. That seems like time to sign it. Yeah. So we're talking about Frydenberg. Which political party is he in? [00:05:11][6.2]

Matilda: [00:05:11] SA Frydenberg belongs to the Liberal Party. But it's important to also note that the government is a coalition. So it's a it's like two parties that have come together and formed government and that is the National Party and the Liberal Party. So it is the Liberal national government. But he himself is from the Liberal Party. [00:05:27][15.4]

Maddy Guest: [00:05:27] Yes. So I guess one of the biggest factors that's come out of the past couple of days is that we're going to be a hundred. Six billion dollars in deficit this year. So what does that mean? [00:05:36][9.0]

Justin: [00:05:37] I think it's important and something that is very confusing on purpose by the government, I think, to a certain degree, is the difference between deficit and actual debt. [00:05:46][8.7]

Matilda: [00:05:46] This is my favorite fact. And you're taking it guard. [00:05:48][1.7]

Justin: [00:05:49] No, no, no, please. So deficit is like essentially deficit versus surplus. That's like the year like this specific budget, this specific year, you either, like, end up in deficit, which essentially means that you're spending more money than you're getting in taxes or you end up in surplus, which means that you're getting more in in taxes than you're spending. And we haven't been in surplus for like a hot second [00:06:12][23.4]

Matilda: [00:06:14] and we've been deficit for many, [00:06:15][1.0]

Justin: [00:06:16] many years. And then if you're in deficit, you're essentially adding to the debt. [00:06:19][3.2]

Matilda: [00:06:20] Yes, the debt. Oh, my gosh. OK, my favorite fact about about the budget, because I know people don't know this and I didn't know this really until I looked into it because a lot of numbers get thrown around at budget time. And a big number that we're hearing is, oh, it's like only one hundred and six dollars in deficit. But that is unknown. The number gets thrown around about how we're heading into one trillion dollars debt. And it's like, wait, that's a that's a huge difference between these two numbers. OK, so the deficit is mattilda put is the amount of money we're having to borrow this year to fund all the things we're funding. But the debt is like the cumulative total deficit that we've been in for many years. And so all these years of deficit adding up is going to hit one trillion dollars by 2024. [00:07:05][45.4]

Maddy Guest: [00:07:06] Wow, that's soon. Yeah. [00:07:08][1.4]

Matilda: [00:07:09] So I'm sorry. Like, if you and if you think about it, that means that the government over time has borrowed that much money and we're going to have to pay it back. [00:07:18][9.1]

Maddy Guest: [00:07:18] So I guess today we wanted to kind of have a bit of a chat. As I said, there's always these high level figures that people say in the news and sometimes it goes over people's heads and some people do do their research into it. But we kind of want to have a chat about the things that will affect, I guess, our generation of people that are listening to this podcast, how it affects them and maybe their personal finances. So there's a couple of topics we do want to specifically delve into today and get your expertize on it, OK? [00:07:44][25.1]

Matilda: [00:07:45] That's a bold statement. We all do our best. [00:07:49][4.1]

Maddy Guest: [00:07:50] So the first topic, which I think a lot of people have been speaking about, is buying your first time. I mean, everyone growing up these days, it's a topic on everyone's lips and the great Australian dream. Yes. You know, you buy talk to us. Yeah. Yeah. It's you know, it's just people always talking about it. So what are some of the things that you saw from the budget which might actually help millennials or this generation coming to buy a house? [00:08:13][22.4]

Justin: [00:08:13] Yes. So there's a couple of things in the budget when it comes to first home buying. There's, I think, a very big question about whether it will actually make any difference, which, you know, I think everyone can sort of debate until the cows come home about. So one of the big things that I think is going to affect young people all the most is this extension of the first home buyers supersaver scheme, which is it doesn't fully make sense when you first hear it, but like, it is kind of good, which is essentially you can use your superannuation and that your super fund essentially to save for your home so you can put in, like voluntarily contribute money that you're earning to your super fund and then withdraw that eventually when it's time to sort of, you know, buy a home, invest and have a deposit. And this is good for a number of reasons. I mean, super funds like a fairly decent when it comes to actually like, you know, interest in growing your wealth. So it's, you know, potentially better than just like a savings account. And also, you know, there's some tax benefits. There's some, you know, lots of little things that mean that it would be more appealing for that money to be sitting in your super than just sort of out in the world. [00:09:20][66.9]

Matilda: [00:09:21] And just to be clear, like that system, that scheme has existed for a while, that that part is not new in this budget, but it's being extended. [00:09:26][5.5]

Maddy Guest: [00:09:27] But you do get that tax benefit. You're only taxed 15 per cent instead of your normal whatever tax rate they might be between 30 and whatever else per cent wise. So you are kind of saving in that respect. And also your superannuation is a form of investment. So in your savings account, you might be making two percent interest per year. At the moment, you're making absolutely no interest. But if you're putting that money into superannuation account, you're getting the growth rates of investments, which can be around seven percent. [00:09:52][24.7]

Matilda: [00:09:52] God, I love having finance people. [00:09:53][1.2]

Justin: [00:09:54] Oh, my gosh. And but you're not just [00:09:57][3.1]

Matilda: [00:09:57] like wading through like a financial adviser. [00:09:59][1.8]

Justin: [00:10:01] I think super funds are better. Yes. But essentially you've read before the investor. We've read the least the first chapter. I consolidated my super funds one time. Yeah. Essentially, that's the big news from that. That scheme existed beforehand. But now it's you can access up to 50000 dollars rather than 30000. So it's they just like upping it a bit. [00:10:26][24.7]

Maddy Guest: [00:10:26] I think another point is those superannuation contributions have to be voluntary. On top of what your. Already makes sense if you're taking Saboor out of your fund and it's not voluntary contributions, you are potentially taking away from the future investments. So it is good to know that you have to sign up to make those contributions. So you it's kind of like saving. It's just a better than maybe Wagemann. And the other reason why this is great is because when you voluntarily contrary to your Sufa, then you're not you're actually reducing your taxable income. So you're getting taxed less, which is another great benefit from that as well. [00:10:59][33.1]

Justin: [00:11:00] And I think that sort of goes some way to explaining, like why there's so many, like, strict rules around putting money into a CPA because like, you know, if you just look at it on face value, you're like, why aren't I allowed to put money into my own retirement account? And that's essentially because there's like tax benefits and the government would have no money all the time. [00:11:16][16.3]

Maddy Guest: [00:11:17] The money was like Moriya. [00:11:19][2.1]

Matilda: [00:11:21] There's also other benefits that the government has brought into this budget to help people purchase homes. One of them is called the official name the Family Home Guarantee, which allows single parents to purchase property with a two percent to single rich single parent. [00:11:36][15.7]

Maddy Guest: [00:11:37] So awesome, because I feel like at the moment when you're on a single income, like buying property, it feels really unattainable. [00:11:41][4.6]

Matilda: [00:11:42] Absolutely. It's only eligible for I think 10000 [00:11:44][2.0]

Justin: [00:11:45] is only ten thousand sons, which it's like I think you can view that one of two ways, which is sort of saying like, oh, no, there's only 10000 slots. Like, that's not going to help every single parent in Australia. But also like, let's remember, like people buying houses with really low deposits and small amounts of money, like how we have like a global financial crisis. So we've got to leave it. Like there is also an argument of being like, OK, if you're kind of setting someone up to fail, if you're, you know, letting them do this and like maybe, you know, people won't be able to sort of pay off these repayments and it could actually financially really sort of like make it very difficult in the future for these families who are doing this. So that's, I think, part of the reason that this program is coming in. But it's coming in with a lot of controls. So, you know that we don't like tank the economy by accident and [00:12:27][42.3]

Matilda: [00:12:27] another GFC, I, I watched the big short. We don't want that. [00:12:30][3.1]

Justin: [00:12:31] Yeah. Ten thousand isn't it's not going to be a problem. [00:12:33][2.3]

Matilda: [00:12:34] There's there's also another scheme where they're helping first home buyers build property with only a five percent deposit, again, also limited to ten thousand people. [00:12:44][10.1]

Justin: [00:12:44] And when we're saying like only a two percent deposit, only a five percent deposit, essentially, that's the government will guarantee you. And it means that you don't have to buy this like really, really expensive extra insurance on top of your loan. So he ends up being cheaper for you. That's the kind of benefit. [00:12:58][14.1]

Maddy Guest: [00:12:59] I think a bit of the criticism of this as well has been the fact that interest rates are so low at the minute. So when people don't think about buying a house, that kind of budgeting for those really low interest rates, because I think here at the present moment. But you also need to be thinking about what's going to happen in the future if interest rates, which they will at some point rise. [00:13:14][15.2]

Justin: [00:13:15] Yet thinking about that in a personal level in terms of getting a mortgage and also the government thinking about that because that trillion dollar debt is going to get more expensive soon. [00:13:23][7.9]

Matilda: [00:13:23] Yeah. So not only are people taking out mortgages potentially going to face lighted it, but the government is also probably going to face more interest rates on their debt. [00:13:31][7.3]

Justin: [00:13:31] We're all riding the low interest, right? Yeah. How long will it last? [00:13:34][3.1]

Matilda: [00:13:35] So that has been a criticism of this this plan in the budget is that it is going to create a lot of economic uncertainty, not just for individual people, but for in the economy itself. That's going to it's going to have a flow on effect to housing prices and to people having two banks being able to take advantage of people who've taken out big loans, [00:13:53][17.8]

Maddy Guest: [00:13:54] moving down the shopping list there. It was a lot of hype about this budget being, and I quote, female friendly budget. So I wanted to delve into sort of what this has meant a little bit more. There was a lot of hype and a lot of talk around the money going towards women's economic security and safety. You like what was in the budget for that? [00:14:16][22.7]

Matilda: [00:14:17] So one of the things that the government brought in, which they kind of touted as being particularly good for women, want to just put like an asterisk next to this. Like, I think that a lot of things they like your for women, your four women, but at the end of the day and probably benefit a lot of people and using that kind of gendered language has its own political motivations to just keep that in mind before you get too excited. But there was a change to superannuation contributions, and that is that they're taking away the minimum threshold of income you need to satisfy in order to receive superannuation payments on your income. So previously, you had to earn four hundred and fifty dollars a month for your employer to pay you superannuation on that. The government is taking that away. And why that will benefit women more than men is because women on the whole earn less money than men. And there are more women who are in and who are underemployed, who have more casual or infrequent employment. But this also women. We know there's a gender pay gap and that more women are paid less than their male counterparts. So there are women who are just earning less money every month. So for all those reasons combined, we can say, look, this this is going to benefit more women than men. But there are. Obviously, a particularly young people, casual employees, people working odd jobs here and there, it's going to help them all to. [00:15:37][80.0]

Justin: [00:15:37] And the reason that we're sort of bringing in these, like, superannuation situations is because at the end of the day, there's a huge gap in the money in your superannuation that men retire with and women, which, you know, is a huge problem. I think one of the criticisms potentially has been like the actual sort of group of people who are earning less than four hundred and fifty dollars a month. Like it's very important that we're supporting those people. It may not be the largest kind of group. And also a lot of the superannuation difference comes from women potentially taking breaks McRea for kids. And that doesn't really you know, they might be that definitely there's some people in that group who will benefit from that. But it's not kind of as a whole really solving the core issue about why women potentially, as a general rule, have less superannuation when they retire or [00:16:25][47.1]

Matilda: [00:16:25] have less stable employment or pay less money like it's not fixing the gender pay gap. It's kind of it's going away to fix the superannuation pay gap. But that's kind of it. [00:16:33][8.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:16:34] What about childcare? Partly a women's issue. [00:16:36][2.4]

Matilda: [00:16:38] That's quite interesting characterization [00:16:41][3.0]

Justin: [00:16:41] where like such two minds about calling it a women's issue because like one like women aren't the only people looking after kids, but also like pragmatically, the things holding women back in the workforce is the price of childcare. So it's like there. Right. But I don't want them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:16:56][15.1]

Matilda: [00:16:57] But let's just also be clear that, like, it's also helping men and queer folk who are also looking after kids yet. [00:17:03][6.3]

Justin: [00:17:03] So essentially the government's committing one point seven dollars billion over the next four years to kind of boost the amount of funding that they're giving to child care. [00:17:12][8.4]

Matilda: [00:17:13] Just to clarify the amount of funding that they're giving to childcare subsidies, to how childcare subsidies work is depending on your income, the government helps pay back a bit of the money that you would put towards childcare, depending on how much money you have coming in. [00:17:26][13.5]

Justin: [00:17:26] Yeah, essentially it's a tiered system. Like the less money you're earning, the more the government will contribute to your child care. I think the kind of headline they want us to take away is like you'll be paying less for childcare. But it's a very, very specific group of people that are going to be paying less for childcare. So it's people who have more than one child in childcare at a time. The second and subsequent kids can be given up to 95 per cent subsidies on their childcare costs. [00:17:54][27.4]

Matilda: [00:17:54] If you have at least two kids and they're both in childcare at the same time, you are eligible maybe for extra discount on your second kid. But let's be clear. If one of your kids then, you know, hits the age of six and goes off to school, you don't get that discount on the kid that's still in childcare. Like it's very specific. [00:18:12][17.6]

Justin: [00:18:12] Yeah, I think so. Notionally, you could have the government pay for 95 percent of the childcare fees for your second and third or fourth child, but only while you have two or more kids in childcare, which is like genuinely just like a very small amount of time. Like if you have kids three years apart, like chances are you're not going to benefit from these. Like they both have to be kind of under five and in that range, which and also like one point seven billion sounds great. It is over a number of years. So we're not talking about like and also doesn't start till like 2022 [00:18:46][33.7]

Matilda: [00:18:47] doesn't start till next year. And the government already puts in ten billion into childcare and that's criticized as not being enough. So we're only adding like an extra like 10 to 20 percent. Yeah. [00:18:55][8.1]

Justin: [00:18:56] Yeah. So you know, it's good but not good enough. I think it's like the overarching theme of this budget and I think that's kind of where the sector's fallen on this issue. [00:19:06][10.5]

Matilda: [00:19:07] Can I just add that another criticism of this childcare scheme is that a lot of parents have to choose between whether they work that extra day, which bumps them up to a higher tax bracket and therefore reduces the amount of childcare, subsidization or work. Those four day stay home that fit the amount of money they'd make on that fifth day, like doesn't really compare to the amount of money they're then having to put into childcare. [00:19:33][26.1]

Justin: [00:19:34] Yeah, there's it's it's almost like it's you get punished for earning more money is one way to look at it. It's it's cynical why [00:19:41][7.1]

Matilda: [00:19:41] childcare helps you go back to work, but going back to work [00:19:43][2.7]

Justin: [00:19:44] makes childcare more expensive. Yeah. [00:19:46][1.5]

Matilda: [00:19:46] So a big criticism is that like this system, just this extra funding just adds to that kind of bad system. And that really we should be overhauling how the government helps parents pay for childcare. [00:19:57][10.8]

Maddy Guest: [00:19:58] I think it's good. I guess that it's come up in this budget a lot more than it has in, I guess, previous budgets, because it is a conversation that needs to be had. Obviously, there's a lot of criticism to it, but we're starting somewhere. And I think if we can keep building on these topics, then, you know, down the track, there actually is a lot more support helping women or men have their kids in childcare so that they can be more workforce participation for women, then I guess it's a good starting point. Oh, yeah, we're coming [00:20:21][23.5]

Justin: [00:20:22] we're coming off a baseline of them doing nothing [00:20:24][1.9]

Matilda: [00:20:25] and nothing. It's an issue like. [00:20:27][1.7]

Maddy Guest: [00:20:27] Oh, yeah, [00:20:28][0.8]

Justin: [00:20:28] oh, it's a women's budget. We'll take what we can get. [00:20:31][2.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:20:31] Exactly. We are loving chatting with the girls from the old boys club. We are going to take a quick break for our sponsors and we'll be right back to keep chatting budget. [00:20:39][7.0]

Matilda: [00:20:42] Today, the world is changing faster than ever, changing business needs with work day one agile system that enables you to grow and reskill your workforce. Workday the finance and planning system for a changing world. [00:20:56][14.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:21:00] So another area that there was a bit of my son, it was domestic violence and women being supported, escaping, I guess, abusive relationships. So what were the main points around that area? [00:21:11][11.6]

Justin: [00:21:12] Yes. So there was a huge funding boost just in that area. Generally, it was nearly a billion dollars across, you know, the next four years, which, you know, it's it's amazing. It's for support services. I think it's an area that everyone in Australia is like pretty, you know, universal that we, like, need to do better on when it comes to especially the wealth side of things and financial side of things. The really important bit was what was not in the budget rather than what was in the budget, which is that previously there was a plan put forward by the government to allow people fleeing domestic violence situations to withdraw money from their own super fund in order to escape, which like if you think about it, like on the surface, you're like, oh yeah, OK, cool. They can just get this extra pile of money. They can, like, get out of there. They can do what they want, if you like, drill down on it. It's sort of like, oh, you're asking people to like deplete their own future savings and use their own money to escape rather than just like providing funding for women to escape. [00:22:09][57.1]

Matilda: [00:22:10] So they did a lot. Are they in this budget as part of that, like one billion dollar investment into domestic violence support there, including funding for cash in hand grants for women who are fleeing domestic violence situations, which is a much better outcome. So that's also available. [00:22:23][13.4]

Justin: [00:22:24] He got scrapped. And that's sort of important when you're talking about it, because it's like there's no point being like we're going to fix the superannuation gap for women and then being like, but what about you? Just like take a lot of money out, especially when you're like a lot of young women. So, you know, that money would have been worth a lot more in 40, 50 years time. It's like, what about you deplete your own superannuation, but like will like do some other little policy stuff to help it out? Like, everyone's like that doesn't really make sense. And they're like, good point. Will cut [00:22:50][26.2]

Maddy Guest: [00:22:50] it. So I guess that's actually a good, good area in this budget for women. So again, down the shopping list, what are we at now? We're like the eggs or something [00:22:59][9.1]

Matilda: [00:23:01] where the last things that you purchased on the way out. Yeah. [00:23:03][2.3]

Maddy Guest: [00:23:05] So we wanted to speak a little bit about the jobs because we've been reading a lot of the last budget. There was a lot of talk about infrastructure and manufacturing and providing jobs in these areas, which are usually male dominated. But this year there's a lot more money going towards, as I said, childcare and aged care. So do you think that this year's budget has more jobs in female dominated industries? And is that going to help with, I guess, economic security for women in the future? [00:23:27][22.2]

Matilda: [00:23:28] Yes. So having a lot more funding going into helping parents send their kids to childcare has a flow on effect because you have more demand for childcare. Therefore, these childcare facilities can hire more people, more people as often women. So that has a great fall in effect. Similarly, in aged care, we have the government committing more money to the welfare of residents, but also to the training of aged care workers. Problem, though. [00:23:52][24.4]

Justin: [00:23:53] Yeah, so overall, by the way, like universities are not succeeding in this budget has been bad for universities. But in this one specific area, which is sort of like short courses and specifically in the aged care sector, there's more funding, there's more subsidies for training up aged care workers. The problem is aged care workers are underpaid to begin with. And, you know, this is also aged care nurses as well. It's slightly different training areas, but they're very underpaid. So it's overall being like, OK, we have a skills shortage in aged care. And the solution has been like, OK, well, let's pop, you know, let's make it easy to access this training. And then a few people have been like, I'm not sure access to training is what's been keeping people out of this sector. I think it's the fact that the wages are so low. Once you get in there, it doesn't really matter whether you're like a degree is cheaper if you're going to be over your lifetime not earning really comparable to other people in the medical field. [00:24:49][56.6]

Matilda: [00:24:50] And that has that big a flow on effect we're talking about earlier, where women just end up earning less money than men because the industries that are more women work and that a female dominated, I just paid less. So it doesn't really fix that problem. [00:25:00][10.7]

Justin: [00:25:01] So like, it's when we're talking about jobs, like there's definitely space for jobs in aged care and now. Right. It's a, you know, female led industry. And it's going to be easier to get your degrees to become someone who can work in aged care. But have we fixed the core issue of the fact that that industry doesn't really provide this kind of financial stability for women? And I think another big point is that, like so last year, the big criticism was, of course, like all the funding was going to apprenticeships, apprenticeships, by and large. It's sort of like we're talking about trades. We're talking about, you know, all those sort of male dominated industries. The biggest jobs program in this budget is still about apprenticeships. It's still like that's kind of the core jobs program for all the talk of like it's a jobs, jobs, jobs budget. It's there is a big question of like, is it going to be young women or are we sort of like talking about 22 year old men who are like really going to get the main benefits out [00:25:58][56.7]

Matilda: [00:25:58] of this budget? And can I. Just also say that older women totally forgotten about, like, nothing, nothing, nothing for them at all, like, no, seriously, like if all the money is going into apprenticeships and training, it's not helping people who've been in the industry for a long time who are suffering job loss or suffering continuous low pay. So, yeah, I think I think we shouldn't glorify that. This is a budget that helps women in the workforce. There's so much more that could have been done. [00:26:20][21.8]

Maddy Guest: [00:26:20] Yeah, I was watching a segment the other night and they were talking about the aged care. And one of the ladies who works in aged care for no profit was saying that it really needs to be about the wages and attracting people into the industry, not necessarily about the training, because the training is obviously there. Those people are and can get into those jobs, but it's about attracting and retaining talent and then obviously them being paid well. So that can secure the economic security in the future. [00:26:43][22.3]

Justin: [00:26:43] Yeah, it's kind of I think a lot of people viewing it is just like a misunderstanding of what causes a skills shortage. [00:26:48][5.1]

Maddy Guest: [00:26:49] So on the whole, is this budget going to help us achieve better sort of wealth equality for everyone? Huge question your faces. [00:26:59][9.5]

Matilda: [00:27:01] I think it's a step in the right direction compared to last year. Yeah, I think last year's budget really was not helping enough diverse people. It was really only helping young men mostly. So this is definitely better. But to say that this is solved all of the systemic, entrenched problems in our way. [00:27:22][20.6]

Justin: [00:27:22] Yeah, I think there's a lot of Band-Aid solutions. Yeah. I guess the general criticism of the budget overall has been like it's kind of trying to do too many things. It's trying and trying to please everyone. Potentially it's a federal election maybe in the next 12 months. And I and some friends and, you know, I mean, like it's hard to do, but like at the end of the day, a lot of the issues facing women are things where you kind of like need to burn down and rebuild it. And that's never going to happen in just one budget. So it's like I'm glad. You know, I think the general idea has been like everyone's glad they're doing what they're doing, but like, please, dremel. [00:27:58][35.8]

Maddy Guest: [00:27:59] Exactly. I feel like that's exactly what I've read and listened to over the past couple of days. It's like if starting with something small and at least it's something small because I need to start growing upon it. [00:28:08][9.1]

Justin: [00:28:08] I mean, last year they said that the budget was good for women because women drive on roads and there's a lot of money for roads. So like, yeah, we're doing better this time. [00:28:18][10.1]

Maddy Guest: [00:28:20] Well, thank you so much, Matilda and Justin, for joining us today. This has been incredibly insightful and very helpful. I have definitely learned a lot today about the budget. So if someone wanted to listen to your podcast all along with your Journey, where do they find you? [00:28:35][14.6]

Justin: [00:28:35] Well, yeah, you can find us on Instagram at Old Boys Club, put on Twitter, at Old Boys Club, on Facebook, Old Boys Club Podcast [00:28:41][5.6]

Matilda: [00:28:41] Community. Yeah. Please come and join us. Also, just [00:28:44][2.5]

Justin: [00:28:44] search all-boys club part in the podcast app of your choice [00:28:46][2.4]

Matilda: [00:28:47] and you'll find us that night. Thank you so much for having us on. It's been such a pleasure getting to chat with you guys. [00:28:51][4.1]

Justin: [00:28:52] I'm so glad I actually like on this end superannuation later. It seems better, but [00:28:57][5.8]

Matilda: [00:28:58] yeah, now I know why we should be putting money into voluntary [00:29:00][2.3]

Justin: [00:29:01] superannuation. Okay. Will voluntarily contribute. You guys are okay. [00:29:04][3.2]

Matilda: [00:29:06] All right. Thanks so much and yeah. [00:29:07][1.3]

Maddy Guest: [00:29:08] Thanks, guys. [00:29:08][0.0]

[1578.3]

More About

Meet your hosts

  • Maddy Guest

    Maddy Guest

    Maddy lives in Melbourne, works in finance, but had no idea about investing until she started recently. Her favourite things to do are watching the Hawks play on weekends, reading books, and she says she's happiest, 'when eating pasta with a glass of wine'. Maddy began her investing journey when she started earning a full time income and found myself reading about the benefits of compound interest in the Barefoot Investor. Her mind was blown, and she started just before the pandemic crash in 2020. What's her investing goal? To be financially independent for the rest of her life, and make decisions without being overly stressed about money.
  • Sophie Dicker

    Sophie Dicker

    Sophie lives in Melbourne, and enjoys playing sport, and then drinking red wine immediately after finishing sport. She works in finance, but honestly had no idea about investing until her partner encouraged her to start. She says, 'my interest has only taken off from there - I find it exciting… I mean who doesn’t like watching their money grow?' Her investing goal is to build the freedom to do things that she's passionate about - whether it be start a business, donate to causes close to her, or to take time out of the workforce to start a family. Right now, there’s no specific goal, she just wants to have the freedom when she'll need it.

Get the latest

Receive regular updates from our podcast teams, straight to your inbox.

The Equity Mates email keeps you informed and entertained with what's going on in business and markets
The perfect compliment to our Get Started Investing podcast series. Every week we’ll break down one key component of the world of finance to help you get started on your investing journey. This email is perfect for beginner investors or for those that want a refresher on some key investing terms and concepts.
The world of cryptocurrencies is a fascinating part of the investing universe these days. Questions abound about the future of the currencies themselves – Bitcoin, Ethereum etc. – and the use cases of the underlying blockchain technology. For those investing in crypto or interested in learning more about this corner of the market, we’re featuring some of the most interesting content we’ve come across in this weekly email.