In the final Wealth, Wine & Wisdom episode of 2025, Andy and Jason debrief the year's most outrageous financial events, starting with the ATO's latest move to aggressively redefine income splitting for family trusts and the bombshell news that Australian governments have collected a record trillion dollars in taxes.

They dive into the property market's two conflicting stories: record-breaking sales in Brisbane and the return of luxury real estate versus APRA's new, controversial Debt-to-Income (DTI) limits aimed at restricting investor lending. They also expose the ongoing "Build-to-Rent" scandal, where billions in Australian real estate have been sold to foreign corporations, and the hosts lay out a powerful new investment thesis for 2026: strategically acquiring "picks and shovels" real estate that will be necessary for the coming AI infrastructure revolution.

Episode Highlights

• Record Tax Take: Australia's three levels of government collected a "record trillion" dollars in taxes.
• The ATO vs. Family Trusts: The hosts blast the ATO for trying to force family trusts to "confess their past errors" and for adjusting their interpretation of income splitting, an attack that could force business owners to pay tax on all business profit under "Personal Services Income" rules.
• Tax-Free $16 Million Gain: Discussion on a $25 million record sale in Brisbane where the sellers, if it was their principal place of residence, could have made a tax-free gain of $16 million in just three years.
• Overseas Money Continues to Flow: Highlight of a mother who bought an $8 million Sydney house for her daughter who is studying from overseas.
• APRA's Investor Crackdown: Criticism of the banking regulator (APRA) for introducing the first-ever Debt-to-Income (DTI) limits on home loans for investors, arguing it is a "socialist policy" that will only worsen the housing supply issue.
• Banks Ignore Regulator: Banks are forecast to increase home lending in 2026, effectively ignoring APRA's new limits.
• Build-to-Rent Scandal: Exposure of the "Build-to-Rent" scheme, which gives tax breaks to offshore corporations, resulting in $30+ billion of Australian real estate being sold to foreign-owned entities.
• The AI Revolution is Not a Bubble: The AI revolution is here to stay and will be more aggressive than the agricultural and industrial revolutions combined. The hosts note that Vietnam is teaching all primary school children to use AI tools from year one, highlighting Australia's "archaic attitude".
• Investment Theme for 2026: A new forward-thinking investment thesis that involves acquiring real estate near pre-existing power transmission cables or data lines, which will become valuable "picks and shovels" for the massive infrastructure spend required by AI.
• Property Market Opportunity: Melbourne is highlighted as a potentially undervalued market, with comparable property lagging in price by as much as $500,000 against other major cities, making it an opportunity based on fundamental supply, population, and geography.
• Holiday Message: A final plea to "switch off the news" and "switch off the social media" over the break and be present with people you like.

Fenton and Whitten are together in person for a special edition of Wine and Wisdom, debriefing the week and navigating the political uncertainty and clickbait journalism surrounding wealth creation.

They dive deep into the booming Australian residential real estate market, tearing down the "mortgage stress" narrative and debating the potential for a property price crash by looking at the lessons from Japan. The hosts also rant on government overreach, including the ATO's latest attempt to police holiday home tax deductions , and the lunacy of policies that punish Australians for simply creating wealth. Finally, they look at the simple, disciplined strategy for maximizing your Superannuation and discuss the future of work in the age of AI.

• Australian Residential Real Estate Hits a New High: The value of residential real estate has cracked $12 trillion for the first time in Australia's history, making it the country's largest asset class.
• Myth-Busting "Mortgage Stress": The hosts challenge the media's narrative of widespread "mortgage stress," pointing to the total outstanding mortgage debt of $2.5 trillion against the $12 trillion asset value, suggesting an overall low Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR).
• The "Four Menaces" Erode Wealth: The hosts warn against reacting to the "Four Menaces" that erode wealth in Australia, crowning politicians as the number one menace.
• The "What If" Scenario: Could Australian Property Prices Crash? Discussion on the possibility of a property price decline, dismissing the idea as "rubbish" but analyzing what happened in Japan for comparison.
• Market Manipulation by Government: Criticism of "fake economics" where market manipulation through subsidies or legislation (like first-home buyer grants) only causes property values to rise, creating a "manipulation gap" that capitalism will always close.
• Conflict of Interest at the Top: Concerns are raised over former executives from ethics and regulation bodies (Fasea and ASIC) launching a trustee service, suggesting an advantageous privatization of business models based on rules they wrote.
• ATO Overreach on Holiday Homes: A rant against the Australian Tax Office's draft guidance that proposes disallowing tax deductions for holiday homes if the property is considered "mainly for personal use," especially during "peak periods".
• Lending Restrictions and Supply Chain: Discussion on APRA's looming lending curbs and policies like the Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI) , arguing that five years of restricting lending has contributed to the supply chain issue in housing.
• Government Competing in the Housing Market: Criticism of government entities like Housing Australia buying up bulk properties and utilizing shared equity schemes where the taxpayer (via government) takes a 40% stake in the homeowner's property.
• Superannuation Discipline: The hosts illustrate a simple, powerful super strategy: contributing an extra $100 per week can dramatically increase retirement savings, pushing people into the politician-defined territory of being "horribly, egregiously rich".
• The Future of Work and AI: A warning that the Australian future is not in white-collar administration, as AI and tools like Chat GPT will take over many processes , emphasizing the increasing value and scarcity of vocational trades like plumbing.

Andy Fenton is joined by property expert Sammy Saggers (The Australian Property Game) to dissect the biggest issues in finance and real estate this week.

They tackle the media's "affordability" clickbait, debating whether Australia's youth can truly afford property, and expose the massive, unintended consequence of government-backed first-home buyer grants, which have caused property prices to spike almost immediately. In a stunning exposé, they reveal a multi-billion dollar banking failure that affects homeowners across Australia. Finally, Sam breaks down the state government's new, unprecedented policies to boost housing supply through rezoning for duplexes and granny flats, and why this represents a huge, though risky, opportunity for property investors and developers.

• The $307 Billion Banking Scandal: APRA has launched a major audit into all six big banks after discovering that they failed to link billions of dollars in customer offset accounts, meaning customers were incorrectly charged interest.
• Affordability Policy Backfires: Analysis of the Federal Government’s 5% deposit/guarantee scheme, which critics argue has already caused the cost of property to jump by up to 6% in just one month for the target price range.
• The "Black Friday Inheritance": They explain how the 5% deposit scheme is seen by some parents as a "half-priced sale" or "Black Friday inheritance" to help their children buy a home, rapidly increasing demand.
• The 'Youth Can't Afford Property' Myth: Debunking the pervasive media headline, arguing that opportunities exist, inflation will normalize the market, and a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth is inevitable.
• Investor Lending Crackdown: Discussion on APRA's concerns over high investor lending, leading to Macquarie Bank closing its trust and company lending model.
• Massive Supply-Side Opportunity: Breakdown of new state government "Pathways Programs" to increase density, including:
  • NSW Duplex Rezoning: A new code allows for building two dwellings on one title (a duplex) on nearly every 400sqm block in Sydney, Wollongong, and Newcastle.
  • Free Government Plans: The government is providing architectural working drawings for duplexes for as little as a dollar to reduce cost and time.
• The Problem is People, Not Property: Sammy Saggers' final wisdom is that "property is reliable," and the challenge lies in the "human being," emphasizing the importance of education, building a good network, and being in the market for the long term.