Having a better financial destiny is an age-old fight with discipline, but a tax refund is a chance to take some steps in the right direction. Follow these 5 tips to build wealth fast.

1. Put it into super

Remember the 70 year old you gets better tax treatment. Unless you are already contributing the maximum to your super through a salary sacrifice arrangement, there will not be many other opportunities for tomorrow – proofing.

2. Reduce or pay off HELP debt

The ATO keeps track of your HELP debt balance and allows you to pay it off as you go. If your salary is over the HELP repayment threshold (currently $54,868) repayments are levied from your before-tax income automatically, starting at 4% and rising as your pay increases. For now, if you pay your HELP debt upfront, the government reduces on the offer for repayment contributions that are extra to the compulsory amounts. But this is generosity runs out on January 1, 2017- so this is the last tax refund that you can use to get this “free money”.

3. Pre-pay recurring obligations

It’s a rare luxury to be able to pay any insurances, registrations and re-payment obligations before they roll around. Car registration payments commonly catch people off-guard, and paying extra off your mortgage will save interest on daily compound rates. The other big one could be your credit card bill, which can have high interest rates. These don’t have to be left until last. Bite the bullet – defer those non-essential purchases for now and buy them next quarter when your bills are fully taken care of.

4. Put in a term deposit

This could be your chance to put money away in a “just in case” account. Most Australian banks offer higher interest savings accounts for term deposits, with some requiring minimum monthly deposits. While interest rates are not great at the moment, you can’t go wrong letting your tax refund earn extra returns for a short stretch.

5. If you’ve got a small business or side venture, invest in it

Business tools and resources inevitable age. Why not use your tax refund to update old equipment or replace not-so-good assets with good ones? If you’re a small business, anything you buy for the business will likely be able to be written off. So you’ve got an extra incentive to use your tax refund this way.