How Queensland couple Jacob Gray and Petra Krivankova built a $60k nest egg fast

A Queensland couple who joined the national trend of partners pooling savings to build wealth have quickly made an extra $60,000. See how they did it.

Brisbane couple Jacob Gray and Petra Krivankova built a $60,000 portfolio through online stock investment. Picture: Kevin Lee

More Australian couples are pooling savings to build their wealth in online stock portfolios, to ensure they can make big dreams – such as their first house deposit – a reality.

New data from online investment adviser Stockspot obtained by News Corp has seen a doubling in couples investing over the last year — up 107.3 per cent.

This compares with a 73 per cent increase in individual accounts over the same period.

The new joint bank account craze has seen these accounts being topped up more than individual accounts, showing the power of accountability between partners with a regular investment plan.

The median top-up value for joint accounts was $10,000 compared to $5060 for individual accounts.

The most common goals couples share include building their wealth to buy a property, and fatten their retirement nest egg.

Brisbane couple Jacob Gray and Petra Krivankova, both in their mid-30s, already have a portfolio of $60,000, after opening an account in 2019.

They have opted for regular top-ups, each committing to $600 a month.

Their efforts have returned an average of 8.73 per cent and given them an impressive nest egg.

“We ended up with a chunk of cash in our savings account, which didn’t make much sense,” Mr Gray said.

“We didn’t have any immediate use for it and wanted to make more than it would in our savings account.”

They opted, after “negotiation”, for a high-risk/high-return plan that has provided ups and downs, for which they were prepared.

“I’m OK with taking a temporary shortfall,” Mr Gray said, pointing out that despite any dips the couple had endured, their return was still “so much better” than what they would have received in bank interest.

There’s no immediate plans for the money, other than to keep the ball rolling and “maybe buy a house eventually”.

JBS Financial Strategists founder and CEO Jennifer Brown said couples needed to have a definite plan, know the risks and avoid putting “all eggs in one basket”.

“If you are saving for a house and have a short time frame of a couple of years when you will need your money for a deposit, then more conservative assets could be better served as investing into,” she said.

“Share markets can produce good results in bull markets, but in bear or volatile markets your investment could have a dramatic fall or fluctuation on paper.”

Ms Brown also said couples could look at using low-cost accounts like a joint bank account.

“If you’re saving for retirement, why not consider investing in the superannuation environment which provides a more tax effective means of investing?”

Originally published as How Queensland couple Jacob Gray and Petra Krivankova built a $60k nest egg fast