By Nina Hendy
Aidan Laird hopes that investing will help him leapfrog into home-ownership faster.
However, he admits that watching $2000 disappear down the drain due to a poor investment was scary. “The money was there one day and gone the next, it was awful,” he says.
Aidan Laird and partner Isabella Tsimeris are saving for their first home.
The 24-year-old Melburnian took the financial loss hard and promised himself to do more research before investing again. He has remained true to his word.
He now has about $40,000 worth of investments and tops up his online share trading account by about $1000 a month – when he can afford to.
Aidan’s three main assets in which he invests are shares, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency. “My investments were a lot higher, but things have been volatile of late,” he says.
The digital marketer was born in Adelaide. He describes his parents as middle class, and “careful with their money”.
‘I was taught not to be wasteful, which has provided the foundation to set me up for life.’
Annual holidays were mostly spent visiting family interstate, together with the occasional trip overseas.
“The importance of being careful with money was drilled into me every single week. I was taught not to be wasteful, which has provided the foundation to set me up for life,” he says.
Aidan moved out of home a couple of years ago before relocating to Melbourne’s CBD “in between lockdowns” and is renting an apartment with his partner Isabella.
“I’ve always liked Melbourne and rent was cheap at the time, so the move really appealed to us,” he says.
However, he admits it was initially a major financial setback.
“We were living fairly rough for a while until we could afford some basics. We had to take it easy for a couple of months, while our finances caught up,” he says.
Aidan earns $70,000 a year, including superannuation. His biggest expense is weekly rent of $610, which he splits with Isabella.
“The general cost of living for things like groceries adds up each week, though I’m learning the value of cooking at home,” he says.
A big bonus is not having to own a car. He reckons it saves him about $13,000 a year.
“Public transport is fantastic in Melbourne, which has been a big money saver for me. Plus, I work from home some days, so I use the money I save there to invest,” he says.
Now, he is focused on saving for his first home: “We putting savings into a bank account, and making regular deposits into the share trading account, even though it’s a bit more volatile.”
Aidan is still weighing up the location of a property and is keeping his options open. “Prices are definitely slowing, so it’s certainly worth looking at purchasing,” he says.
He’s conscious of not spending too much while exploring Melbourne, limiting meals out to fortnightly and cooking at home in between.
Laird has about two months’ salary saved, which he’s trying to top up. “My goal is to have a year’s salary behind me,” he says.
Travel is on the cards at some stage, too. “We’re keen to spent our annual leave travelling,” Laird says.
Aidan Laird
Age: 24
Location: Melbourne CBD, Vic.
Job: Digital marketer
Salary: $70,000 (including super)
Living arrangements: Renting an apartment with partner