Speaker 1: Good morning everyone, and welcome back to Sugar Mama's Fireplay,
Speaker 1: the one stop destination where you get your financial education,
Speaker 1: financial motivation, and financial inspiration to start seeing your financial
Speaker 1: goals and dreams unfold.
Speaker 2: In front of you.
Speaker 1: This morning, we are joined by annabel Annabel is the
Speaker 1: single mother who is actually winning the game. She is
Speaker 1: achieving her financial goals with no one helping her, and
Speaker 1: she's a brilliant source of financial education, inspiration and motivation herself.
Speaker 1: And she shares with us the importance of having a
Speaker 1: positive mindset and dreaming big when it comes to your
Speaker 1: financial goals. So sit back, relax, and get ready to
Speaker 1: hear this incredible story. Now, before we begin to share
Speaker 1: this story, I want to remind you that all of
Speaker 1: my advice is general in nature and for educational purposes only.
Speaker 1: It's never personal advice, product advice, or investment advice, so
Speaker 1: please always bear that in mind. Annabelle, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming on this morning's episode.
Speaker 2: How are you good?
Speaker 3: Thanks, Canna, how are you going?
Speaker 2: I'm well, I'm well.
Speaker 1: I have to say, you know you're when you sent
Speaker 1: me a message on Instagram. You know, it was really
Speaker 1: quite incredible what you shared with me, and I instantly
Speaker 1: had to have you on the show and for you
Speaker 1: to be able to say what happened to you and
Speaker 1: what you went through in your own words, because I
Speaker 1: feel like right now everyone is just feeling a little
Speaker 1: bit lost and overwhelmed and defeated, and I think your
Speaker 1: story just shows the importance of having a positive mindset
Speaker 1: and doing the best you can do. And you know
Speaker 1: the importance of little things adding up here and there,
Speaker 1: and you know how you can really transform your life
Speaker 1: when you have goals and start building up your own
Speaker 1: financial literacy. Can you share with our listeners what initially
Speaker 1: motivated you to take control of your financial future and
Speaker 1: start your journey towards building a substantial share portfolio.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Sure, if I just give you a background. I'm fifty three,
Speaker 3: a solo mum with two gorgeous girls eighteen and fifteen
Speaker 3: at the moment, they are separated. When the kids were
Speaker 3: three in six and then two years after that, unfortunately,
Speaker 3: my ex husband passed away unexpectedly, so at that time
Speaker 3: the children were five and age and the result of
Speaker 3: this was that I took on one hundred percent solo
Speaker 3: responsibility for raising the children and that was on all levels.
Speaker 3: So that was their emotional needs, especially after losing their father,
Speaker 3: their physical and logistics needs. You know, they were with
Speaker 3: me one hundred percent of the time. I was doing
Speaker 3: all the physical work, so drop off pickups, running between
Speaker 3: extracurricular activities, you know, during the early mornings in the
Speaker 3: late nights. And also their financial needs, so the children's
Speaker 3: school fees, before and after school care, those associated expenses.
Speaker 3: They went from fifty percent shared to one hundred percent responsibility.
Speaker 3: My ex husband didn't have any life insurance and he
Speaker 3: had very little super for the children. He had his
Speaker 3: own business and he didn't I don't think consider those
Speaker 3: as a priority. So the journey has definitely had its
Speaker 3: challenges along the way, but it's also been the most
Speaker 3: rewarding journey for a parent and difficult, and as difficult
Speaker 3: as it's been, it's been I guess a huge amount
Speaker 3: of growth on my part and also freedom, albeit a
Speaker 3: little scary, and freedom that comes with I guess making
Speaker 3: all the decisions solo, so without the need to agree
Speaker 3: or negotiate or compromise really with the next husband. I'd
Speaker 3: say being a solo mum, I was borced to take
Speaker 3: control of my own financial journey, there really was no
Speaker 3: option for me. My financial wellbeing and my children overall
Speaker 3: well being really rested solely on my shoulders. So my
Speaker 3: number one focus was to make sure that I provided
Speaker 3: for my children and gave them that sense of stability
Speaker 3: and security. Yeah, if you want a bit of a background,
Speaker 3: I'd say I'd always been reasonably good with money. I
Speaker 3: had a well paid job. I was definitely able to
Speaker 3: stand on my own two feet financially, and I usually
Speaker 3: managed to spend less than I own. I was able
Speaker 3: to pay the bills and handle emergencies, so I knew
Speaker 3: that in the longer term, though, I could do more
Speaker 3: than just make ends meet. However, I had to get
Speaker 3: through a few financial hardships and hurdles in the initial stages,
Speaker 3: which included paying for a very costly separational divorce which
Speaker 3: kind of dragged on for a number of years before
Speaker 3: my ex husband passed away, and I was also left
Speaker 3: paying off a substantial debt he had incurred when he
Speaker 3: passed away in relation to a business venture. My name
Speaker 3: had been on the loan because we were married at
Speaker 3: the time. But fast forward ten years later, and after
Speaker 3: overcoming those financial setbacks and having been focused on paying
Speaker 3: down my mortgage. I realized that I not only should,
Speaker 3: but very much could take control of my longer term
Speaker 3: financial independence. I could plan for what I wanted that
Speaker 3: to look like. I identified my numbers, you know, from
Speaker 3: my number for my share pot, my number for my
Speaker 3: emergency fund, and then I kind of started to reverse
Speaker 3: engineer and work backwards from there to identify what milestones
Speaker 3: I needed to achieve, you know, year by year, month
Speaker 3: by month, and see if that was possible and what
Speaker 3: I needed to change to make that possible. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, So you've gone through a very expensive and i'm
Speaker 1: sure emotionally and financially challenging divorce.
Speaker 2: Then you've lost.
Speaker 1: Your ex husband and you know to look after the
Speaker 1: girls one hundred percent full time emotionally and financially and physically.
Speaker 1: Then you've actually inherited your ex husband's debt after everything
Speaker 1: you've gone through. Yes, I did, Yes, But yet you
Speaker 1: still push on and use this as an opportunity, you know,
Speaker 1: with great responsibility to step up and build something quite
Speaker 1: incredible for your mental and emotional and financial stability, but
Speaker 1: also for your beautiful girls as well.
Speaker 3: Correct, Yes, as much as I can.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean losing you know an ex husband, and
Speaker 1: then you know going through everything you've gone through is
Speaker 1: not a small feet How would you say your perspective
Speaker 1: of the importance of financial wellbeing and being prepared when
Speaker 1: it comes to money has evolved.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this was a real eye opener for me, Kenna.
Speaker 3: It was a strong message not to bury my head
Speaker 3: in the sand and leave financial independence to chance. As
Speaker 3: the sole provider, I had to manage immediate expenses, so
Speaker 3: the typical household expenses, so the more geared utilities, groceries,
Speaker 3: health insurance. I now had to pay for all of these,
Speaker 3: So this required some budgeting to ensure all our immediate
Speaker 3: needs were met. I had never really budgeted before this,
Speaker 3: and to be honest, it's not something I enjoy. I
Speaker 3: do enjoy playing, I do enjoy planning for my financial future,
Speaker 3: and I do look at that from a positive experience.
Speaker 3: But I felt budgeting was something which meant I had
Speaker 3: to limit myself in our spending. So for me, there
Speaker 3: was some negative connotation to that word budget. Initially, I
Speaker 3: now understand it's difficult to have one without the other,
Speaker 3: and they really do go hand in hand, don't they.
Speaker 3: Our budget and our financial goals.
Speaker 1: Oh one d I mean, I think, you know, look
Speaker 1: at my own personal finances. It's the goals that are
Speaker 1: in my budget that are successfully achieved and on time.
Speaker 1: And you know, I look, I mean, I look at
Speaker 1: my budget as my safe place.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: It means that I don't blow money and run out
Speaker 1: of money before at the end of my pay cycle.
Speaker 1: You know, there's sufficient funds in there to pay for
Speaker 1: the groceries and all the schedule direct debits and so forth.
Speaker 2: So for me, it.
Speaker 1: Helps keep my mental and financial stanity going. So, but
Speaker 1: I can understand how a lot of people aren't quite
Speaker 1: there yet. I think it takes that point where your
Speaker 1: budget really starts to work for you actually realize how
Speaker 1: important it is and how actually valuable it is in
Speaker 1: your life if you want to get ahead financially.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I needed to plan for some of the
Speaker 3: bigger costs, you know, the dental orthodontics for the kids, braces,
Speaker 3: you know, car repairs, house repairs, that kind of stuff,
Speaker 3: And the importance of an emergency fund really becomes paramount
Speaker 3: for a solo parent. This really is your safety net
Speaker 3: for unexpected costs. And I think if we hadn't experienced
Speaker 3: this devastating chapter in our lives. It's unlikely that I
Speaker 3: of put myself to work on a financial journey and
Speaker 3: created these goals in a budget. I probably just floated along.
Speaker 3: So it's definitely had a significant but positive impact on
Speaker 3: financial planning and preparedness for me.
Speaker 1: Oh, afinitely, And I thank blessing in disguise. But I
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, there is the one civil lining
Speaker 1: that's come out for you from going through this tragedy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and when things such as divorce or death, you know,
Speaker 3: do happen, one very quickly learns that you need to
Speaker 3: be prepared for the unexpected. I know you speak a
Speaker 3: lot about having the right insurances in place. This is
Speaker 3: especially important when the person has debt, including a mortgage,
Speaker 3: and maybe not so important as you get older and
Speaker 3: have less debt and your children leave home and become
Speaker 3: financially independent. But you really want to protect your children
Speaker 3: when they are young.
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, And you know you need to think about
Speaker 1: what is important for them to have if something was
Speaker 1: to suddenly, you know, happen to you and you things
Speaker 1: like educational requirements or you know, tertiary education, even what's
Speaker 1: something you want to make sure that is blocked in
Speaker 1: as a priority. And this is why it's so important
Speaker 1: to go and get advice from someone who is qualified
Speaker 1: and experienced in that area of life insurance, TBD, income protection,
Speaker 1: trauma cover because they can actually help work out what
Speaker 1: is the right level for yourself. Can we move on
Speaker 1: to your savings, because you have successfully saved over one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars and you have brilliant dreams and goals
Speaker 1: to grow this to a million dollars.
Speaker 2: Can you talk me through the steps.
Speaker 1: That you've taken that allow you to get started and
Speaker 1: keep going with this, and how you've managed to stay
Speaker 1: so incredibly focused.
Speaker 3: Sure. So, I've been following and listening to Sugar Mama
Speaker 3: religiously every month in morning for a while now, and
Speaker 3: amongst other financial podcasts too, And last year you recommended
Speaker 3: Peter thorn Hill's book Motivated Money, and you introduced him
Speaker 3: as your mentor. I'm an avid reader and actually an
Speaker 3: avid list listener of audiobooks, so I try to get
Speaker 3: through one a week, and I also hope I'm a
Speaker 3: lifelong learner. So I ordered Peter's book immediately and I
Speaker 3: read it twice cover to cover, probably a month apart.
Speaker 3: So I got an opportunity to digest the information. I
Speaker 3: highlighted all the bits of it that I thought were
Speaker 3: important for me, and quite frankly, the book blew my mind.
Speaker 2: Yeah it's mind blowing.
Speaker 3: Yes, Yes, So it was simple to understand. It had
Speaker 3: a lot of great information, and it really provided clarity
Speaker 3: on the share market, which I had never really understood
Speaker 3: in any great detail up until then, and what I
Speaker 3: thought was a little risky at the time. So there
Speaker 3: were quite a few light bulb moments whilst I was
Speaker 3: reading that, and following that, I binged on your book
Speaker 3: Mindful Money over the Christmas break, and after reading both
Speaker 3: of these I felt a lot more confident, I felt
Speaker 3: more knowledgeable, and I felt prepared to take some action.
Speaker 3: I'm a strong believer that the best way for me
Speaker 3: to learn is to take action immediately as soon as
Speaker 3: I've read a book, when it's fresh in my mind,
Speaker 3: and even if it's a tiny step, I feel like
Speaker 3: if I leave it till a little bit later, I
Speaker 3: often gain insights and knowledge. But life it's busy, and
Speaker 3: I don't go back and take action, and that ends
Speaker 3: up being a nice learning experience, but it doesn't change
Speaker 3: my life.
Speaker 2: Exactly. I mean procrastination.
Speaker 1: Is that probably one of the biggest issues I think
Speaker 1: in Australia because we're all so busy, you know, raising
Speaker 1: families and trying to.
Speaker 2: Keep up on top of our own responsibilities, that you know,
Speaker 2: fixing our finance gets pushed to the bottom of the list.
Speaker 1: And this is why people come and see me and
Speaker 1: say can I'm in the same position that I was
Speaker 1: seven years ago, and every year I make this goal,
Speaker 1: but nothing ever happens, and you know, I'm starting to
Speaker 1: waste time, and that's where the sort of panic kicks in.
Speaker 1: So it has to be you know, personal finance and
Speaker 1: personal factual well being needs to be up there with
Speaker 1: eating vegetables and getting series.
Speaker 2: It's so important.
Speaker 3: The first step py I did, I guess out of
Speaker 3: that reading those two books, was to set up the
Speaker 3: bank accounts which you recommended, and literally this took all
Speaker 3: of five minutes on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the backyard.
Speaker 3: The everyday expense is one I already had that obviously,
Speaker 3: and I set up a separate emergency account, so prior
Speaker 3: to that, I kind of kept my emergency money with
Speaker 3: my everyday money, which really meant it was always going
Speaker 3: up and down, and I didn't really have a figure
Speaker 3: of what that was. So now I've got an emergency
Speaker 3: fund figure in my head, even though I haven't necessarily
Speaker 3: achieved it. I created a lifestyle one as well. It's
Speaker 3: still got zero balance with this point in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 3: and I created that wealth bill to one and it's
Speaker 3: the wealth billed one that I decided to focus on
Speaker 3: this year with the plan of this being far more
Speaker 3: automated going forward in twenty twenty five. So I initially
Speaker 3: set a goal for myself at the beginning of the
Speaker 3: year to save approximately forty thousand dollars for twenty twenty four,
Speaker 3: with the plan to contribute thirty to forty thousand every
Speaker 3: year over the next ten to twelve years whilst I
Speaker 3: remained at work with the idea that if there was eight,
Speaker 3: nine or ten percent to gain every year, that that
Speaker 3: would be close to a million dollars. And this doesn't
Speaker 3: mean I needed to live a frugal life, Cannop, but
Speaker 3: it does mean that I needed to be more focused
Speaker 3: and mindful of where I was spending my money and
Speaker 3: what was important to me. So I had already been
Speaker 3: putting away a little each month for a number of
Speaker 3: years in a Vanguard high growth EFT, and I really
Speaker 3: wasn't taking it too seriously anyway. I checked my Vanguard
Speaker 3: account and that was sitting at close to fifteen thousand.
Speaker 3: I had also already had fifteen thousand in savings, so
Speaker 3: there was thirty thousand, and then over the period of
Speaker 3: January through to May, I saved another twenty thousand. And
Speaker 3: it was a conscious effort because I had given myself
Speaker 3: this goal. So at it is point in time, to
Speaker 3: my surprise, i'd already reached my forty thousand goal and
Speaker 3: we hadn't reached midway through the year yet, so I
Speaker 3: figured I needed to up the ante a little bit.
Speaker 3: And one of the other things that I had done
Speaker 3: a few years ago, and I absolutely do not recommend
Speaker 3: this for any of your listeners, but I had decided
Speaker 3: whenever I had some extra money, i'd drop it into crypto,
Speaker 3: and it was mostly at that time Bitcoin, and it
Speaker 3: was just for a bit of fun, I guess, and
Speaker 3: I was not taking it seriously, and I absolutely was
Speaker 3: comfortable with the idea of losing this, So you know,
Speaker 3: it wasn't my life, sis or anything. And I do
Speaker 3: know now how volatile it is. So it sounds crazy
Speaker 3: to sound minded people like yourself and Peter that you know,
Speaker 3: crypto is kind of not the thing to be involved in.
Speaker 3: But it was only like, you know, fifty dollars here,
Speaker 3: twenty dollars here, or one hundred dollars here. And to
Speaker 3: my surprise, that had added up over the years as well.
Speaker 3: I had done that during COVID. Bitcoin was quite low
Speaker 3: over that period, so after I had read your books,
Speaker 3: I thought, geez, I better get out of this. Luckily,
Speaker 3: at the time when I sold this, it was in
Speaker 3: April this year, Bitcoin was going to be halved, and
Speaker 3: to cut along story short, that happens every four years,
Speaker 3: and it's meant to reduce the supply of new bitcoins,
Speaker 3: which in theory, if the demand doesn't change, should increase
Speaker 3: the price. Anyway, absolutely not a valid reason to hold bitcoin.
Speaker 3: That was definitely definitely a good time for me to sell.
Speaker 3: So I sold those and that's how I built that
Speaker 3: share portfolio for that wealth. Build your account up to
Speaker 3: one hundred thousand, and yes, I will need to pay
Speaker 3: capital gains tax on that when I did my tax
Speaker 3: return this year, so I'll probably be investing in my
Speaker 3: shop portfolio is just a little bit less than one
Speaker 3: hundred thousand before I actually commenced that, Gurney, And how
Speaker 3: did you.
Speaker 1: Work out the investments, because I think a lot of people,
Speaker 1: you know, they get opened up the account, but then
Speaker 1: they sort of hit a brick when they work out, Okay,
Speaker 1: what am I going to buy first?
Speaker 3: Or yes, I still haven't. I still haven't done that.
Speaker 3: And it's a combination of I just like we'll like
Speaker 3: to be diversified. In Peter's book, Kick kind of suggests
Speaker 3: going against the ETF because the dividends need to be
Speaker 3: distributed one hundred percent, while LICs can hold onto them.
Speaker 3: And it's a bit more consistent as long as it's
Speaker 3: diversified and industrial some ETFs and some LICs. So it's
Speaker 3: probably something that I will speak to you offline about, Kenna.
Speaker 1: Okay, no problem, absolutely, So how do you then balance
Speaker 1: your financial goals with you know, the day to day
Speaker 1: expenses and responsibility that comes with you know, raising a family,
Speaker 1: you know, growing beautiful girls.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do appreciate that money and finances are really
Speaker 3: only a small part of the responsibility of raising a family. However,
Speaker 3: if this part of our life isn't working. It does
Speaker 3: put stress on parents, which which makes it really difficult
Speaker 3: to focus on our more important aspects of raising the
Speaker 3: family and really being present. I know that I don't
Speaker 3: want my finances to get in the way of enjoying
Speaker 3: my life with my kids. So for me, the best
Speaker 3: way to balance these goals is to have clarity and
Speaker 3: understand my why. So make sure my goals are smart goals.
Speaker 3: You know, they're specific, they're measurable, they're achievable, and then
Speaker 3: put in systems in place which are automated and almost
Speaker 3: allow this to run on autopilot in the background. So
Speaker 3: I've set some guidelines for myself and I'm satisfied when
Speaker 3: I'm able to adhere to these eighty percent of the time.
Speaker 3: I don't need to let perfect Really can I get
Speaker 3: in the way of good It rather take more small
Speaker 3: steps in the right direction than to be paralyzed by perfection.
Speaker 3: So for me, that balance looks like this. I have
Speaker 3: one loose budget, and I'm completely honest when I say
Speaker 3: it's loose, So if I can stick with it eighty
Speaker 3: percent at the time, I'm satisfied. I really don't kick
Speaker 3: myself if I don't get there. One hundred percent of
Speaker 3: the time, you'd probably rip my budget to Shred's kenna.
Speaker 3: But flexibility that works for me. Number two is I
Speaker 3: do have clear financial goals, so I know my number
Speaker 3: for my emergency fund, I know my number for my
Speaker 3: retirement and I assign specific amounts and timelines to these goals.
Speaker 3: So that's short medium along by no means does this
Speaker 3: imply that these are always looking amazing. Some of these
Speaker 3: numbers are far from amazing, and they are very much
Speaker 3: a work in progress. Number three, I automate as much
Speaker 3: as I can, so I don't get too involved on
Speaker 3: a daily basis, because, as you know, working full time,
Speaker 3: being a solo mum and just managing to make dinner
Speaker 3: and do the washing keeps me busy enough. Number four
Speaker 3: is I have quite a thorough monthly check in, and
Speaker 3: that's good enough for me. I really look forward to
Speaker 3: this and I enjoy doing a deep dive. I get
Speaker 3: paid once a month, so this works with my pay cycle.
Speaker 3: I check if I'm on track, I see what needs tweaking.
Speaker 3: Some months I might over and some months sold them
Speaker 3: cut back the following month. And it's easy with banking
Speaker 3: apps these days to see or spend categories. It also
Speaker 3: gives me an opportunity to celebrate the milestones two when
Speaker 3: I do this monthly checking. Oh absolutely yeah, and this
Speaker 3: year I have this particular goal. And so then I've
Speaker 3: practiced mindful spending more than I ever have before. I
Speaker 3: consider the value and necessity of purchasing before I go ahead.
Speaker 3: So the focus has been on time with the kids
Speaker 3: once eighteen, as I said once fifteen. So I'm mindful
Speaker 3: that whatever we spend on is about sharing experiences, you know,
Speaker 3: time with them, going away and really building lifelong memories.
Speaker 1: Look, I mean everything you say is so on point,
Speaker 1: and you know, I particularly love the fact that you
Speaker 1: point out how you know understanding your why. You know,
Speaker 1: what does freedom look like for you? What does it
Speaker 1: feel like?
Speaker 2: And I think when.
Speaker 1: People connect with the meaning behind and what will the
Speaker 1: value that will give you and the benefits and the relief,
Speaker 1: the freedom, the choice, all those fantastic choices and luxuries
Speaker 1: that come to you, and how they are priceless, it
Speaker 1: becomes you know, it's suddenly that on the list of
Speaker 1: things to do, it comes up to being you know,
Speaker 1: number two or three rather than number twenty seven on
Speaker 1: the list, and that checking, particularly when you're feeling deflated
Speaker 1: or defeated, even to see actually I'm all right, or
Speaker 1: actually I haven't done as bad as I thought, or
Speaker 1: actually I'm so much better off than I was last month,
Speaker 1: or this time last.
Speaker 2: Year, or even you know, five years ago.
Speaker 1: It kind of helps give you that invigoration that you
Speaker 1: are on the right track and you are doing the
Speaker 1: right things, and that faith and confidence to keep going
Speaker 1: and to trust yourself just rinse and repeat, you will
Speaker 1: get there.
Speaker 2: And you're learning things all the time.
Speaker 1: Which are priceless, even if you don't see them necessarily
Speaker 1: being displayed in your bank balance yet. So there's such
Speaker 1: valuable points that you raise. Now I know for a
Speaker 1: fact that you're back and is in it. How do
Speaker 1: you find being a contractor challenging or overcome those challenges
Speaker 1: I should say, in working on your financial well being?
Speaker 3: Yes, so I identified early on in my career, after
Speaker 3: a few different roles, that I really enjoyed the diversity
Speaker 3: and challenge of working in different organizations, so be they
Speaker 3: big or small, and different projects again big or small,
Speaker 3: and gaining different perspectives and different ways of doing business
Speaker 3: and running systems. So that environment keeps me motivated. It
Speaker 3: keeps me interested, and it keeps me learning. So when
Speaker 3: I decided to step away from permanent work and dive
Speaker 3: into the world of contracting or consulting, I was in
Speaker 3: my late twenties at the time and I was still
Speaker 3: married at that time. So given that decision was made
Speaker 3: twenty years ago, at that point it didn't seem as
Speaker 3: daunting because there was a double income coming in, and
Speaker 3: if there weren't quiet periods, there was always a second
Speaker 3: income by chance was working. I think once I became
Speaker 3: a solo parent, it was always at the back of
Speaker 3: my mind, and I did one day if I should
Speaker 3: look for something more stable. However, over the years, life
Speaker 3: has just worked itself out, so when one project finished,
Speaker 3: another one seemed to start. So I was fortunate in
Speaker 3: that respect. With contracting, however, you do get a better
Speaker 3: day rate, but there is no annually there's no annual leave,
Speaker 3: there's no sick leave, no maternative leave, So you need
Speaker 3: to take all that into consideration. You know, for company
Speaker 3: that you're contracting to close us down for three weeks
Speaker 3: over Christmas, you need to make sure you've planned for
Speaker 3: that because you won't be getting paid over that period.
Speaker 3: And you still need to plan for your Christmas spending
Speaker 3: of gifts and celebrations, so there's certainly some planning. But
Speaker 3: I also took the view as a solo parent that
Speaker 3: if push came to shove, I could always go back
Speaker 3: to a permanent role, or at a minimum, if there
Speaker 3: were quiet periods between contracts, I could always take up
Speaker 3: some temp work or anything to cover the mortgage or bills.
Speaker 3: So I did now, and I did continue to contract
Speaker 3: throughout most of my journey, and only recently in the
Speaker 3: last year. I decided to take on a permanent role
Speaker 3: because I liked the role, I liked the people I
Speaker 3: was working with, and I like the organization. The other
Speaker 3: thing I did do notice and I have over the
Speaker 3: last ten years or twenty years of contracting. I'm hoping
Speaker 3: that banks have changed now. But back in the day,
Speaker 3: you couldn't easily get income protection insurance if you were
Speaker 3: a contractor. You had to jump through hoops really to
Speaker 3: get a mortgage because you didn't have a permanent role
Speaker 3: with the same employer for a number of years. I
Speaker 3: feel this has changed as we have so many people
Speaker 3: consciously contracting in the workplace these days. But I will
Speaker 3: say that the uncertainty of contracting as a solo parent,
Speaker 3: I feel has held me back in making some of
Speaker 3: those bigger financial decisions. You know, I could have definitely
Speaker 3: taken on a little more with maybe bigger debt, a
Speaker 3: bigger mortgage, which I was reluctant to do so not
Speaker 3: only a solo parent, but also as a contractor, and
Speaker 3: I should have maybe backed myself more and been more
Speaker 3: confident with taking these steps. I look back now and
Speaker 3: I see I was probably more risk averse and conservative
Speaker 3: than what I really needed to be, and I feel
Speaker 3: that may have set me back financially. I'm definitely far
Speaker 3: more confident now in my financial ability than I was
Speaker 3: earlier in my journey, for sure.
Speaker 1: And so much of that just boils down to education.
Speaker 1: You know, we are scared of what we don't understand.
Speaker 1: So when you understand the facts and the figures and
Speaker 1: understand the risks and also the strategies behind minimizing those risks,
Speaker 1: suddenly your confidence increases. So I think, I think that's
Speaker 1: just you're just perfectly, you know, illustrating the importance for
Speaker 1: everyone to invest time understanding money and understanding how to
Speaker 1: navigate the world of money in personal finances. Now, on
Speaker 1: that note of education, you've read obviously Peter Thornhill's book
Speaker 1: Motivated Money and my book Mindful Money. How did those
Speaker 1: two books help you actually work out your personal investment
Speaker 1: strategy and your financial mindset.
Speaker 3: So self education for me, Hanna has played the single
Speaker 3: biggest role. It's been crucial in both my investing journey
Speaker 3: and my mindset. I now have a far greater understanding
Speaker 3: of the various investment vehicles that are really available to me,
Speaker 3: and that really allows me to make these informed decisions
Speaker 3: and ask the right questions. There's so much free material
Speaker 3: out there available to anyone. I know. When I was younger,
Speaker 3: I really just assumed that the only way to financial
Speaker 3: freedom and a passive income was via property. You know,
Speaker 3: you don't really know what you don't know. Education has
Speaker 3: shown me that I can achieve way more financially with
Speaker 3: reinvesting and compounding than I ever imagined. And it's also
Speaker 3: shown me that if it works for other people, then
Speaker 3: it can work for me too. And I've learned topics
Speaker 3: previously that were foreign to me. So the share market,
Speaker 3: EFTs LICs, super anuation, they're not as complex as people
Speaker 3: in the financial world will have us believe, and you know,
Speaker 3: some of these topics, they are actually simpler than I
Speaker 3: had expected, although I do notice superannuation rules do change
Speaker 3: often and we really need to keep up to date
Speaker 3: with some of these.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, that's the value of a financial planner
Speaker 1: as well, you know, is to know that these potential
Speaker 1: changes around the corner, to proactively plan and prepare for
Speaker 1: what changes to caps or loopholes that may open up
Speaker 1: or close. So you know, that's you're not expected to
Speaker 1: be able to do it all. But there is a lot,
Speaker 1: as you say, of free information out there that can
Speaker 1: really help.
Speaker 2: You understand the options are available.
Speaker 1: And then obviously a financial planner can find tune those
Speaker 1: sorts of things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I love having a book where I can
Speaker 3: highlight sections that resonate with me, or where I can
Speaker 3: add sticky notes, or I can reread a section that
Speaker 3: I don't understand the first time, So you can take
Speaker 3: self education at your own pace, and once you get
Speaker 3: those light bulb moments when you're they never lost on
Speaker 3: you again. So yeah, it's allowed me to you know,
Speaker 3: the other day, I went back to my superannuation financial
Speaker 3: advisor and I asked him about an in specie transfer.
Speaker 3: His jaw dropped, I think, and I dare say not
Speaker 3: many clients have asked him this before.
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of you for asking that question.
Speaker 1: It is the one most important thing everyone should ask
Speaker 1: if the superhneration account provider, because it's something potentially the
Speaker 1: concern save you know, tens of thousands of dollars in tax,
Speaker 1: if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax. Now
Speaker 1: a lot of slightly different topic was still money related.
Speaker 1: Manifestation and I guess the money mindset focus were key
Speaker 1: elements in your financial journey. Can you explain how you
Speaker 1: practically apply these concepts to your financial goals?
Speaker 3: Yes, Enna, I know you refer to it as manifesting,
Speaker 3: and I know you encourage all your listeners to manifest.
Speaker 3: I refer to it as focus, but I feel we're
Speaker 3: definitely talking about the same thing here. So I just
Speaker 3: think the word manifest has always been the little as
Speaker 3: usual for me because I work in it. So after all,
Speaker 3: I've got lots of black and more white in my world.
Speaker 3: But the word, folks, that really resonates and connects with me.
Speaker 3: So my firm belief, Kenna, is that it's really impossible
Speaker 3: for things not to change if you do stay focused
Speaker 3: and take at least some action, no matter how small,
Speaker 3: on that one focus area. So for me, it's important
Speaker 3: to focus on one goal at a time. I know
Speaker 3: some people are really good at focusing on many, but
Speaker 3: I get a bit flustered if I try to achieve
Speaker 3: too much at the same time. And sometimes the goals
Speaker 3: are competing, you know, do I want to increase my
Speaker 3: emergency fund or pay off my mortgage quickly, or do
Speaker 3: I want to invest in the share market. Sometimes I
Speaker 3: can be competing because you've only got one source of funds.
Speaker 3: So for me, I just think I focus on the
Speaker 3: one big thing and I take small actions that build momentum,
Speaker 3: And it's literally impossible if you focus and take action
Speaker 3: for a shift not to take place. For me, as
Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier, focus really means my smart goals, making
Speaker 3: sure I understand them, making sure I've got my why,
Speaker 3: and making sure I'm one hundred percent dedicated to you know,
Speaker 3: these monthly check ins, et cetera.
Speaker 1: And do you ever do sort of visualization where you
Speaker 1: sort of see yourself buying shares, you know, making.
Speaker 2: Those decisions or receiving a dividend payment.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I absolutely do, and I think from time
Speaker 3: to time I go online and check my superinnuation as
Speaker 3: well and see how that's looking. So it's definitely a
Speaker 3: part of my life and visualizing that and seeing it
Speaker 3: grow for sure.
Speaker 1: Now coming back to your situation, and you know so
Speaker 1: many women these days, despite so much information out there now,
Speaker 1: lee still leave their.
Speaker 2: Fincial decisions to their partners.
Speaker 1: What would you say to those women and think, oh,
Speaker 1: it's fine, my husband does it all. Where do you
Speaker 1: now stand on that considering everything you've gone through?
Speaker 3: So personally, I gave up a lot of my financial
Speaker 3: decision making dury my marriage. I was always contributing financially.
Speaker 3: But my assumption, which was incorrect, I guess, was that
Speaker 3: my husband at the time had his own business, who
Speaker 3: was six years older, so surely he must be better
Speaker 3: at managing money and making financial decisions than I was.
Speaker 3: And men it are also greater talking about money amongst
Speaker 3: their peers and sharing ideas, so just talking the lingo
Speaker 3: I think makes them appear better equipped to make these decisions,
Speaker 3: which isn't necessarily the case. I think we women don't
Speaker 3: talk about money or financial goals nearly enough. It's just
Speaker 3: not something we do when we catch up with our
Speaker 3: girlfriends for brunch. I think we should share more in
Speaker 3: this space, maybe be a bit more vulnerable and support
Speaker 3: each other in our financial pursuits. And it's not I guess,
Speaker 3: can I just limit it to heterosexual partnerships. I think
Speaker 3: by default often we leave the household finances and investing
Speaker 3: to the person we feel may have more knowledge in
Speaker 3: this space. It's for both partners financial livelihoods, so both
Speaker 3: should be equally invested in their goals and their decisions
Speaker 3: and their outcomes. I know I was forced into this
Speaker 3: as a solo parent, but it is empowering to take
Speaker 3: an active role in managing your own financial journey.
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely like that.
Speaker 1: Communication and transparency is essential and that's non negotiable. And
Speaker 1: I say to people who are trying to get their
Speaker 1: partner on board with taking their financial wellbeing seriously, is
Speaker 1: come from a place is empowerment and education. It's the
Speaker 1: only way to get your partner committed and dedicated and
Speaker 1: actually seeing all the beautiful benefits that come from prioritizing
Speaker 1: your financial wellbeing. Now, looking ahead, as we wrap up
Speaker 1: today's episode, can you hear with some of your big
Speaker 1: financial goals that you're working on and will safe focusing
Speaker 1: on for the next couple of years.
Speaker 3: Yes, So once I have finalized my ship portfolio and
Speaker 3: chosen the best third ETF and LICs for me, I'll
Speaker 3: be able to confidently put my ship portfolio on autopilot
Speaker 3: and tackle some other goals. So back in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 3: I purchased an investment property and with the increase to
Speaker 3: land tax, you know, insurances and maintenance costs, that rental
Speaker 3: yield I've calculated is very low and it's well, definitely
Speaker 3: low in comparison to a share portfolio, which really comes
Speaker 3: along with no operating expenses.
Speaker 2: Franking credits.
Speaker 3: Yes, and I wish I could say Kenna that you know,
Speaker 3: I've had this unit for nine years and I had
Speaker 3: hoped that there was a substantial amount of capital growth,
Speaker 3: but it's not huge, if I'm honest. So the goal
Speaker 3: is to sell this and take that equity to top
Speaker 3: up my superannuation with non concessional contributions. And another thing
Speaker 3: is about two or three years ago, I started a
Speaker 3: small Vanguard account for each of the children. So I
Speaker 3: put in one hundred dollars per month for each child
Speaker 3: My plan was to kick start their financial journey, which
Speaker 3: I've then passed these accounts onto them for them to
Speaker 3: manage when they start working for time, and I'd expect
Speaker 3: to like them to contribute one hundred dollars per month
Speaker 3: so they get to see what reinvesting and compounding can do.
Speaker 3: To be honest, that balance is very small, so it'd
Speaker 3: be nice if I could chop that up or add
Speaker 3: more and then hand that over to the girls at
Speaker 3: the right time.
Speaker 2: What exciting goals to have and to be working on.
Speaker 2: You know, you must be. You must have been so
Speaker 2: proud of yourself.
Speaker 3: I'm feeling excited about the future for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: All right. Last question as we wrap up today's episode,
Speaker 1: what advice would you give you all yourself when it
Speaker 1: comes to money and money management?
Speaker 3: So I'd say start as early as possible. A little
Speaker 3: goes a long way with compounding. If you start early,
Speaker 3: you've got lots of time on your side. It's a gift.
Speaker 3: I try to communicate this to my children Canna all
Speaker 3: the time. My eldest daughter is currently too busy living
Speaker 3: her best life, but my fifteen year old is very
Speaker 3: cleuely on all things financed. So I dare say she
Speaker 3: might excel in this arena. The hardest thing is really
Speaker 3: starting the journey, understanding what your current position is, coming
Speaker 3: up with achievable goals, and creating a plan. I found
Speaker 3: that to be the biggest hurdle, But thereafter it's about
Speaker 3: following through and going along for the ride. One of
Speaker 3: the other things is if you are in a relationship,
Speaker 3: get interested in the finances and don't leave it to
Speaker 3: your partner. Make sure you are on the same page
Speaker 3: with your financial goals. For the single people, I know,
Speaker 3: it's much harder to make the numbers work, but there
Speaker 3: is a wonderful freedom that comes with not needing to negotiate, compromise,
Speaker 3: or even agree on a financial goals with a partner.
Speaker 3: So if you are single, I'd say embrace that take
Speaker 3: an active role in your financial education. So read, read, read,
Speaker 3: and listen to podcasts, and remain patient and persistent. We
Speaker 3: are really in this for the long game. And finally,
Speaker 3: I think everyone needs to be kind to themselves. You know,
Speaker 3: life happens to all of us and sometimes we can
Speaker 3: have financial setbacks or make financial mistakes. I absolutely have,
Speaker 3: But don't be hard on yourself, and please don't stop
Speaker 3: on your journey if you do experience some setback.
Speaker 1: Brilliant advice and so timely with everything that's going on
Speaker 1: right now and people feeling vulnerable and fragile and questioning,
Speaker 1: you know, what they should do next and whether they
Speaker 1: should just throw the towel in. So I can't thank
Speaker 1: you enough for coming on today's episode of Sugar Mama's Fireplay. Adambel,
Speaker 1: you are absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for all
Speaker 1: of our listeners. If you could take a moment to
Speaker 1: leave a rating and review, but more importantly, could you
Speaker 1: take a moment to go and send this particular episode
Speaker 1: to anyone that you know that would really benefit from
Speaker 1: hearing Annabelle's incredible story and her wisdom, her advice and
Speaker 1: her strength, because it really is contagious. All right, everyone,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening, and I look forward
Speaker 1: to touching base with you again next Monday morning.
Speaker 3: On Sugar Mama's fire Work.
Speaker 2: Of course, make sure you are subscribed today