Pearler launches HomeSoon to make your super work for you to buy your first home sooner
Investing platform Pearler has launched its second product, following the introduction of Pearler Super, to address a key symptom of the generational wealth gap: housing.
Pearler HomeSoon is purpose-built to help young Australians grow their first home deposits through their super account. HomeSoon aims to educate and empower first home buyers to access the Government’s First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) by educating everyday Australians on the scheme’s benefits. It also streamlines the steps involved in utilising the scheme, thereby simplifying the entire process.
In the 2023-24 financial year, close to 90% of first home buyers didn’t take advantage of the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) – which can boost the average deposit by up to $15,000 and shave up to two years off the time it takes to save for a first home deposit.
“From talking to our community, we hear the anxiety around buying a home. The younger generation hasn’t given up, but they’re feeling the pressure from all angles. For them to maximise help from the government, they need to be able to understand a pretty complex superannuation scheme, then go ahead and actually invest, track, and plan for withdrawal,” Pearler Co-Founder Nick Nicolaides said.
“There are many opinions on young people getting into housing and not a lot of tangible solutions. The government’s renewed focus on building hundreds and thousands of homes is a decades long project. Increasing adoption of the FHSS scheme isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s something that will create real value that could mean buying sooner or increasing buying power.
“Younger investors can use this scheme with any super fund. When we launched Pearler Super, we really were shocked that the entire superannuation industry hadn’t put this front and centre of their offer,” said Nicolaides.
The FHSS allows people to contribute and access up to $15,000 of their voluntary contributions into super each financial year (up to a total cap of $50,000) for a home deposit. The main benefit of saving for a home this way is super’s lower tax rate, potentially allowing people to save for a deposit faster. Then, with more invested, the added benefit of compound returns over time enhances the benefit.
Pearler research conducted earlier this year found that while nearly three quarters (74.5%) of aspiring first home buyers had heard of the FHSS, only 13.7% were using the scheme. However, 51% were open to using it.
To encourage more young Australians to use the scheme, Pearler’s HomeSoon simplifies the steps involved in the FHSS. It is also the first platform in Australia to allow Australians to use open banking to track bank savings, FHSS savings, shares, and other assets in one place – regardless of whether those assets are held with Pearler.
“This way, young Australians can build a comprehensive snapshot of their net worth. Importantly, it also allows members to invest the portion of their super they plan to use for a home differently to the rest of their super.
“We don’t believe people should be speculating with their home deposit savings. For example, an investor could have $30,000 in super account and wants to contribute $10,000 of post-tax savings into this scheme. Through Pearler, these amounts can be invested totally separately to super and can be tracked separately. And that means savers have the control to invest their home deposit savings into ETFs that align to a short or medium timeframe (for example, a high-interest cash ETF) whilst investing their retirement savings towards a much longer-term strategy,” Nicolaides said.
Further, it is not required to consolidate retirement savings into Pearler Super to utilise HomeSoon.
“Our Millennial and Gen Z team know what it’s like to struggle with rising house prices, impossible deposit targets and a system that was designed for ultra long-term goals, before some of them were born. We believe a financial services company should be solving real problems for people that go far beyond simply providing access to different markets or financial products and achieving life’s biggest goals,” Nicolaides added.
