How to invest if you earn $45,000 or under

Tax should be a minimal consideration because the top tax rate you pay is 18 per cent, including the Medicare levy.

And given you earn less than the $66,667 threshold of the low-income tax offset, much of what you pay in tax will be automatically refunded.

Your goal should be to save any surplus income, pure and simple. Do that in a bank account, a term deposit or even an exchange-traded fund, if you have a longer-term time horizon.

This can be a good time to start trying out investing.

As for superannuation, at a marginal tax rate of 18 per cent, even the concessional tax rate of 15 per cent in super is not a major incentive, especially given the restrictions on withdrawing funds. But if you get a…