Workers, small business owners, first home buyers and rugby league players in Papua New Guinea are among the winners of this year’s historic Federal Budget, however, Baby Boomers, wealthy families and property investors are among the losers with Treasurer Jim Chalmers announcing major changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and discretionary trusts on Tuesday night.

This summary provides a high-level look at key measures in the Albanese Government’s fifth Budget and what they mean for you.

With the End of Financial Year (EOFY) fast approaching, now is a great time to review your personal finances and, where relevant, take action before 30 June. A few timely steps could give your finances a much needed boost. Below are several EOFY planning tips worth considering. Depending on your circumstances, they may help reduce tax and build or protect your wealth.

In August, financial markets continued onwards and upwards. A weaker than expected US Non-Farm Payrolls release at the beginning of August saw non-farm payrolls growth of 73,000 in July. In addition, the June and May totals were revised sharply lower, down by a combined 258,000 from previously announced levels. The weaker than expected release combined with substantial revisions resulted in US President Donald Trump firing the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer.

The focal point for investment markets during April was US President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs on 2nd April. In the announcement he proposed a 10% tariff on essentially all imports, with steeper rates for major trading partners such as China (34% on top of existing 20% tariffs) and the European Union (20%). In addition, a 25% tariff on all foreign made cars and auto parts was announced in an effort to reset US trade deficits and re-invigorate US manufacturing. Later in the month President Trump suspended many of the announced tariffs for 90 days to allow time for negotiations and greater consideration.

Risk off was the pervading theme during March. Investor concern regarding the announcement of US tariffs in early April and their impact on global economic activity undermined investor confidence. An increasingly uncertain economic backdrop led investors to re-calibrate their views of future risks and focus on equity market valuations. In addition, an Australian federal election was called for 3rd May in a race that appears too close to call at this stage

The positive sentiment that propelled investment markets in January dissipated in February. The threat of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China by the United States together with valuation concerns for mega-cap technology companies following announcements by DeepSeek in January and rising risks of stagflation all contributed to the more circumspect stance of investors.

Investment markets had a positive start to 2025. A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced during the month and helped ease geo-political tensions. The ceasefire deal will be carried out in three stages with stage one of the ceasefire agreement expected to last 42 days.

Investors adopted a more cautious stance in December after November’s equity market rally in response to a Trump victory in the US Presidential Election. The major contributing factor to the more circumspect positioning of investors in December was the US Federal Reserve. In December the US Federal Reserve continued to lower cash rates with a cut of 25 bps that now sees the target cash rate move to a 4.25%-4.50% range. This move was widely anticipated by investors. The surprise for investors was that the US Federal Reserve’s new median rate projection for 2025 indicated just two 25 bps cuts for the year – down from four 25 bps cuts in September.

In November all eyes (and markets) were focused on the US election, and with a Trump win it set the tone for a rally in developed markets. US equities posted a strong gain of 6% in USD terms with all sectors and market captilisations up. Asian equities faired worse as the potential tariffs on Chinese exports into the United States saw Asian equities and, in particular Chinese equities, sell off on negative sentiment.

In October a rise in bond yields, coupled with a rising US dollar and waning impacts of the Chinese stimulus in September saw growth assets generally fall with bonds also producing negative returns.

In September, the US Federal Reserve cut the US Fed Funds rate by 0.5% to 4.75-5.00%. US inflation appears to be under control with August data revealing US inflation at an annualised rate of 2.5% p.a. much lower than the 9% p.a. peak seen in 2022. US employment whilst resilient has softened, justifying a more accommodative monetary policy stance. The European Central Bank also cut rates in the month by 25bps to 3.50% following on from their previous 25bps cut in June due to falling inflation and slower economic growth.

In early August markets were volatile as almost simultaneously the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates at the same time as US employment data was released showing that payrolls softened. This led to the Japanese currency strengthening versus the US Dollar which in turn saw Japanese equity markets fall by over 20% in a day and US technology stocks sell off as the unwinding of the infamous “carry trade” occurred. However, by month end markets were little changed as fears of a massive unwinding of the carry trade dissipated.

Australian markets were influenced in July by a slight softening in inflation data that saw bond markets go from pricing in a potential rate hike at the next RBA meeting (5th - 6th August) to a potential rate cut by February. This lifted Australian equites to new highs and also saw bond yields fall (prices increase).

In June US inflation for the year to May was released with the annual rate of inflation falling to 3.3% (down from 3.4% the previous month) which is still much higher than the US Federal Reserve’s targeted 2% inflation rate. US bond yields responded favourably to the improved inflation data over the month.

In May US inflation for the year to April was released with the annual rate of inflation falling to 3.4% (down from 3.5% the previous month) which is still much higher than the US Federal Reserve’s targeted 2% inflation rate. Despite the higher inflation print bond yields, or to put it another way, the expected future cash rates fell assisting US equity valuations.

In April equity markets reflected a change to valuations as the likelihood of cash rate cuts in 2024 lessened and investors began to factor in a “higher for longer” interest rate backdrop. Broadly speaking international and Australian equity markets were weaker by around 3% and Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (AREITs) after rising by 10% in March sold off by 8% in April, reflecting the higher for longer bond rate thematic.

In March equities moved higher and many markets continued making new all-time highs as bond yields fell slightly driven by the further expectation that central bank rate cuts are due to occur in 2024. However, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve are yet to cut rates after their recent tightening cycles.

When you picture your retirement, are you anxiously tracking your expenses or are you engaging in all the activities that you wanted to, confident that your money won’t run out? Ideally, it’s the latter — but there’s no guarantee things will pan out that way.

If you were asked to list your most valuable assets, your home, vehicle and investment portfolio would probably top the list. But it’s easy to overlook the thing that allowed you to accrue all these in the first place: your ability to earn an income.

Australians trying to break into the property market today face their fair share of challenges. Property prices have risen at a much quicker pace than incomes, and the high cost of living can make saving a deposit seem next to impossible.