Deposit, FHSS, LMI & the First Home Guarantee
The two biggest levers for a first home buyer are how you fund the deposit and how you avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance. The First Home Super Saver scheme lets you save part of your deposit inside super at a 15% tax rate, and the First Home Guarantee lets eligible buyers purchase with a 5% deposit and no LMI. Used together, they can bring your first purchase forward by years.
Every figure here uses FY2026-27 tax settings. Stamp duty concessions and First Home Guarantee price caps vary by state and change periodically, so treat the outputs as a planning estimate and confirm the current rules for your state before committing.
The FHSS scheme lets first home buyers save for a deposit inside super. You make voluntary concessional (pre-tax) contributions capped at $15,000 per year and $50,000 total per person, then release them — plus deemed earnings — when you buy. Because the contributions are taxed at 15% inside super instead of your marginal rate, the tax saving becomes extra deposit. On withdrawal the released amount is taxed at your marginal rate less a 30% offset. This calculator models the net benefit versus saving the same pre-tax income as cash.
Under the First Home Guarantee, the government guarantees the portion of your loan above 80% (up to 15%), so an eligible first home buyer can purchase with as little as a 5% deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Property price caps and eligibility criteria apply and vary by location. In the calculator, choosing the 'First Home Guarantee' pathway sets a 95% LVR with no LMI so you can see the deposit and repayment impact.
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is a one-off premium lenders charge when you borrow more than 80% of the property value. It protects the lender, not you, and can add thousands to your loan when capitalised. You can avoid it three ways, all modelled here: save a 20% deposit (Standard), use the First Home Guarantee (5% deposit, government-backed), or qualify for a professional waiver.
It depends on your pathway. A standard purchase needs 20% of the price to avoid LMI, plus stamp duty and around $3,000 in fees. The First Home Guarantee drops that to 5% with no LMI. The calculator shows your total cash needed (deposit + stamp duty + fees), how much you still have to save, and roughly how long that will take at your current monthly savings rate.
It varies by state. Most states waive or heavily discount stamp duty for first home buyers below a price threshold, and charge a concessional rate in a band above it. The calculator assumes a first-home concession by default, but you should confirm the exact threshold and rate for your state, since a full stamp duty bill can add tens of thousands to the cash you need.
Some lenders waive LMI for borrowers in certain professions — commonly medical, legal, accounting and a few others — allowing up to 90–95% LVR with no LMI. Eligibility and the maximum LVR depend on the lender and your occupation and income. If you qualify, the 'Professional waiver' pathway shows how much smaller a deposit you can get away with while still avoiding LMI.
There's a genuine trade-off. Buying sooner with the First Home Guarantee means you stop paying rent and start building equity earlier, but you borrow more, so repayments and total interest are higher. Waiting for a 20% deposit lowers your loan and repayments but risks prices rising faster than you save. Model both by switching the leverage pathway and comparing the monthly repayment and total loan figures.
I'm a geologist-turned-builder who got frustrated with financial calculators that hand-wave how Australian tax actually works.
Every projection on MyNextDollar runs on current ATO mechanics for FY2026-27 — Stage-3 brackets, super contribution caps and HELP thresholds.
The calculation engine is covered by 88 unit tests and 10,000 fuzz scenarios, so what you see is exactly what the rules produce — not a rough estimate.