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October has been another strong month for the markets — it’s honestly hard not to feel grateful when everything seems to be going up. Unfortunately, I also learned a humbling personal lesson this month… I had switched my super from 100% high growth focus to the indexed stable option (~35% equity exposure) since 31st August, thinking the market might correct. Well, I modelled what my balance would’ve been had I stayed fully invested… and let’s just say, the $5,000 difference HURTS!
Moral of the story , timing the market never works. Staying invested beats being “smart” every time. Outside of markets, life’s been hectic. My new investment property settled at the end of October. The reno costs are definitely getting out of hand, what started as a $15k budget is now tracking closer to $20k. I give thanks to a full paint job, bathroom regrouting, leak checks, new blinds, new floorboards (in some areas), various repairs and a laundry leak. Fingers crossed that all this effort helps me attract a great tenant and boost long-term returns!
Superfund – Hostplus
- Balance: $229,726 (up $4,082)
- Comment: Still sitting in the indexed stable option… I regret making that switch! The good news is I’ve submitted the rollover request to move into my SMSF, so November should finally mark the start of that new chapter!
Options Trading – Moomoo
- Balance: $8,872 (down $757)
- Comment: PYPL gave me a solid win this month, but KVUE continues to haunt me. It’s been one of my worst performers this year, though I’m still holding out for a small miracle post-earnings (the whales are still heavily on calls!). I also got hit by the MSFT IV crush, the day it pumped on OpenAI news was the perfect exit… and I missed it. Greedy me!
Passive ETF – Fundlater
- Balance: $11,516 (up $164)
- Debt: $0 (paid off in full!)
- Comment: Planning to liquidate this and consolidate into other strategies in November. Keeping things cleaner and more efficient heading into 2026.
Long-Term ETF – NAB Equity Builder
- Balance: $189,603 (up $8,568)
- Debt: $100,389
- Equity: ~$89,213
- Monthly repayment: ~$1,500 (around $600 interest, the rest to equity)
- Comment: Slow and steady progress — the compounding continues to do its thing.
Wifey Portfolio – Betashares Direct
- Balance: $76,330 (up $3,630)
- Comment: Consistent DCA continues, with $1,000 going in every fortnight from salary. Added IBTC, VHY, and DHHF this month to keep things aligned with our target weights. The portfolio also delivered $431.60 in distributions, which is always a nice little dopamine hit.
Wifey Portfolio – Stake
- Balance: $29,762 (down $338)
- Comment: Small dip this month, but the portfolio still delivered $189.53 in cashflow.
Total Portfolio Summary
- Gross Funds: $545,810
- Net Equity: $445,420
- This Month’s Growth: +$13,349
October has been kind again with another month of healthy gains, some valuable lessons and a lot of holes in my bank account from the reno. If all goes to plan, November will mark two big milestones:
- Kicking off my SMSF journey
- Getting the new property rented out
Let’s wrap up the year strong!
This $5K lesson is so valuable. I’ve been wrestling with the exact same temptation to de-risk or switch out of a growth option, especially with market highs.
My main comfort has been knowing that, with superannuation, switching between Hostplus options doesn’t trigger a personal CGT event, as the unit price of the premix product already incorporates the underlying tax position. However, that only addresses the tax, not the market timing risk!
I agree with your takeaway. A better strategy would be to use a more balanced, staged approach. I think proportioning the switch using the Hostplus splitting function (to allocate the ‘before’ and ‘after’ balances over time) is the sensible way to mitigate the risk of exiting at a single, unfavourable point.
Once again, great post and a powerful lesson! Thanks for sharing
I absolutely agree that the market is high, but the risk of timing the market is HUGE. Missing two months of gains by trying to be smart cost me thousands!
You are 100% on point, switching options within industry super would not cost you directly in terms of tax consequences given everything is baked in.
Yes i think if my time horizon was a bit longer, i would consider doing a staged approach. Eg) transitioning to retirement