‘I got a 1300pc return’: How Aussie soldier plans to pay off home in 15 years

Dan Mallon has just achieved the Great Australian Dream — buying a house in the suburbs.

The 31-year-old’s next goal is to pay it off as quickly as possible by trying to grow his disposable income through investing.

The soldier bought a four-bedroom house in Ipswich with his wife last year for about $650,000.

Young soldier Dan Mallon at Cafe Metz, who is investing his disposable income to pay off his home. Picture: Adam Head.

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“It’s a big motivation for me to keep investing,” Mr Mallon said. “I hope to pay off my mortgage ASAP, but at least by the time I’m 45 years old.”

It comes as new research from Digital Finance Analytics, commissioned by Betashares, reveals households in 20 Queensland postcodes have enough spare cash — about $134,000 on average — to put down a deposit for a $670,000 home.

The data shows the areas with the highest disposable income, where residents have enough in the kitty after rent or mortgage payments to fund a home or investment purchase.

But rather than buy another property, Mr Mallon chooses more affordable options to invest his disposable cash, such as shares and exchange traded funds (ETFs), with the aim of using it to pay down his mortgage.

“My disposable income varies,” he said. “I’m slowly building up my portfolio to allow dividends to help with bills, including my mortgage, which I’m chipping away at.

“I don’t have a fixed investment schedule; I just invest whenever I have extra cash on hand or good investment opportunities present themselves.”

One of those opportunities was when he overheard a colleague mention he was investing in Afterpay stock.

“I looked into it and invested in it,” Mr Mallon said. “I got a 1300 per cent return within a few years!”

Mr Mallon started investing about 11 years ago with small amounts such as $500 or $1000.

“Start small and start with blue chip stocks,” he said. “You don’t need to put in big amounts — just invest when you have a bit of spare cash.

“Educate yourself about markets and stocks. I listen to podcasts about markets such as ‘Fear and Greed’ everyday morning. It is amazing what you can learn in five minutes from a podcast on investing while you get ready for work.”

Betashares CEO Alex Vynokur said those seeking to crack the overheated property market may need to consider more affordable investments.

“Aussies have always had ambitions to achieve a better future and usually it has been done with property, but property is becoming less realistic because it’s unaffordable,” he said.

“We need to be smarter with our money: invest in a way that’s low cost and gets good long-term returns.”

ETFs, such as those that track the performance of the top Australian or international companies, were becoming a popular way to get into the housing market faster, Mr Vynokur said.