Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Order
Speaker 1: Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we
Speaker 1: get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
Speaker 1: like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
Speaker 1: which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
Speaker 1: the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
Speaker 1: as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
Speaker 1: the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
Speaker 1: and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome back to She's on the Money podcast
Speaker 3: that makes personal finance feel a little less daunting and
Speaker 3: a lot more doable. I want to know, do you
Speaker 3: ever find yourself looking around to what others are doing
Speaker 3: and feel left behind like everyone else was taking off
Speaker 3: life goals while you were busy just enjoying the ride.
Speaker 3: Or do you go back and look at your young
Speaker 3: years and think, seriously, where did all that money go? Well? Today,
Speaker 3: I'm right here with you. Victoria Devine, your personal finance
Speaker 3: hype girl. This episode is all about flipping the script
Speaker 3: on how you can see your past and realizing that
Speaker 3: your youth it wasn't wasted, even if your savings account
Speaker 3: doesn't necessarily agree. I saw a post on socials recently
Speaker 3: that said, sorry, I didn't save money in my twenties,
Speaker 3: I was learning to love myself, and for me, that
Speaker 3: really hit home because I feel like I spent a
Speaker 3: majority of my twenties just trying to keep up with
Speaker 3: I don't know the Joneses or the Kardashians. We can
Speaker 3: all feel a little lost when we start measuring our
Speaker 3: lives against everyone else's highlight reel. It's tempting to look
Speaker 3: back and think, oh my gosh, I should have done
Speaker 3: things so differently. But it's important to remember that every choice,
Speaker 3: every misstep, and every adventure has played a role in
Speaker 3: getting us here. So let's cut ourselves a little bit
Speaker 3: of slack and embrace the lessons we've learned along the way.
Speaker 3: A great place to start is by acknowledging that your
Speaker 3: twenties are a time of exploration of life, love, and yes,
Speaker 3: sometimes spending money like there's absolutely no tomorrow, whether it's traveling,
Speaker 3: dining out, or buying those must have festival tickets. The
Speaker 3: money we spend in our twenties often goes towards experiences
Speaker 3: that help us understand ourselves better. This is all completely normal,
Speaker 3: and in fact, there was some research done by event
Speaker 3: Bright that found that seventy eight percent of gen Z
Speaker 3: prefers spending their money on experience over material things. It's
Speaker 3: all about living in the moment, and honestly, I totally
Speaker 3: get it. When I was in my twenties, my your
Speaker 3: money was I'll just pay it back when I get
Speaker 3: more of it. I'll just organize it when I earn more.
Speaker 3: I'll just spend less when life gets serious, and that's
Speaker 3: pretty normal. According to ASIK, one in four gen zs
Speaker 3: have less than one thousand dollars in personal savings, including
Speaker 3: eight percent who have none, and on average gen Z
Speaker 3: estimate having personal debt of eighty one hundred and eighty
Speaker 3: eight dollars each. That's a lot of money. In fact,
Speaker 3: studies have shown that the average person doesn't start saving
Speaker 3: seriously until they're well into their thirties. According to the
Speaker 3: ABS or the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the median age
Speaker 3: for buying a first home in Australia is now thirty
Speaker 3: four a really clear sign that financial milestones are happening
Speaker 3: a little bit later for many of us. So if
Speaker 3: you're feeling behind, my friend, you are definitely not alone.
Speaker 3: I'm going to take a break, but stick around because
Speaker 3: when we come back, we're going to dive into why
Speaker 3: your brain might just be the culprit. Welcome back, my friend.
Speaker 3: And here's where it gets a little bit interesting, a
Speaker 3: little bit spicy. Per se your brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex,
Speaker 3: or the part that's responsible for decision making, and your
Speaker 3: impulse control doesn't fully develop until you're about twenty five
Speaker 3: years old. So when you look back and think why
Speaker 3: did I spend so much money on that, well, your
Speaker 3: brain was still figuring things out as well. Another powerful
Speaker 3: force in our twenties is instant gratification, something I'm incredibly
Speaker 3: guilty of, which leads to higher spending and less in savings.
Speaker 3: When you see something that you want, like the latest
Speaker 3: iPhone or a weekend get away, the urge to have
Speaker 3: it immediately can overshadow the long term benefits of saving
Speaker 3: that money instead. This tendency to prioritize immediate rewards is
Speaker 3: a really common struggle among young adults. Research from The
Speaker 3: American Psychological Association highlights how this drive for instant gratification
Speaker 3: can completely derail financial stability. It's not just about impulse purchases.
Speaker 3: It's a psychological challenge that makes it harder to delay
Speaker 3: gratification in favor of long term financial success. This is
Speaker 3: a critical factor in understanding the financial habits of young
Speaker 3: adults and why saving often takes a back seat to spending.
Speaker 3: And let's not forget about that tendency to focus on
Speaker 3: short term goals. When you're in your twenties. Retirement feels
Speaker 3: like an entire lifetime away, so it's really easy to
Speaker 3: prioritize short term spending over long term saving. Another massive
Speaker 3: thing you're dealing with is social comparison in your twenties,
Speaker 3: and in my twenties, you were constantly bombarded with what
Speaker 3: everyone else was doing. They're traveling the world, they're partying,
Speaker 3: and they're having fun, and it's hard not to feel
Speaker 3: like you need to keep up. This pressure can drive
Speaker 3: spending beyond your means just to match what you see
Speaker 3: around you. And that's exactly how I ended up in
Speaker 3: more than forty thousand dollars worth of personal debt in
Speaker 3: my twenties. Finally, there's that risk taking behavior we need
Speaker 3: to chat about. Your twenties are often when you're most
Speaker 3: willing to take financial risks or jump out of a
Speaker 3: helicopter like I did. Whether it's through investments or big purchases.
Speaker 3: The belief that there's plenty of time to recover from
Speaker 3: potential losses can lead to decisions that might not be
Speaker 3: the wisest in the long run. Understanding these psychological factors
Speaker 3: is going to help you make sense of your financial
Speaker 3: decisions in your twenties and not crucify yourself so much.
Speaker 3: We often hear this narrative that if you didn't start
Speaker 3: saving in your twenties, you're somehow completely behind for life,
Speaker 3: like there's some imaginary deadline for getting your financial act together.
Speaker 3: I can tell you, my friend, that is not true
Speaker 3: at all. Let's flip that script. Your twenties are a
Speaker 3: time for exploration and growth, and it's completely normal if
Speaker 3: saving wasn't at the top of your list. You know what.
Speaker 3: The good news is, though you are not doomed, You're
Speaker 3: not even close to it. The truth is it is
Speaker 3: never too late to start working towards the financial future
Speaker 3: that you want, and that you deserve. The key is
Speaker 3: to focus on where you are now and how you're
Speaker 3: going to be able to move forward from there. Maybe
Speaker 3: you didn't have a solid savings plan in your twenties,
Speaker 3: but that doesn't mean you can't start one right now today.
Speaker 3: Every single step you take from this point on is progress.
Speaker 3: It is a small step in the right direction, and
Speaker 3: my friend, we need to focus on the fact that
Speaker 3: it is still the right direction and with the right strategies,
Speaker 3: you can make significant strides towards your goals. So let's
Speaker 3: not get caught up in the should have cold of
Speaker 3: like I did. I literally spent so much time in
Speaker 3: my late twenties getting out of debt. But when I
Speaker 3: was doing that, I was lying to the people around me.
Speaker 3: I didn't want to admit that I was in debt.
Speaker 3: I felt like I had absolutely screwed my life up,
Speaker 3: that there was absolutely no going back and I was
Speaker 3: never going to be able to financially recover from that.
Speaker 3: I took back control. Not only did I take back control,
Speaker 3: but I created this entire community so that we can
Speaker 3: all feel like we're in control. So how do you
Speaker 3: personally want to take that control? Let's dive into what
Speaker 3: you can do right now to start building the financial
Speaker 3: life that you do. Don't scoff it that you do
Speaker 3: deserve it. It all begins with really simple, actionable steps
Speaker 3: that are tailored to your current stage in life, and
Speaker 3: you can do it yourself. We're not talking about massive
Speaker 3: overhauls or drastic lifestyle changes, just small adjustments that make
Speaker 3: a really big impact over time. Maybe it's as easy
Speaker 3: as setting up an automatic transfer that sends a really
Speaker 3: small amount of money from every paycheck that you get
Speaker 3: straight into your savings account. Think of it as paying
Speaker 3: yourself first, even if it's just like twenty bucks a
Speaker 3: week or even a month, or maybe for you, it's
Speaker 3: about bumping up your SUPER contributions by an extra five percent.
Speaker 3: My friend, that's few to you. She's thanking you already.
Speaker 3: The key is to start with steps that feel doable
Speaker 3: and that actually align with where you're at, so that
Speaker 3: you're not overwhelmed by the pressure to do it all
Speaker 3: at once. And if you're thinking about this and you're
Speaker 3: going v I don't even have twenty dollars a week
Speaker 3: or month, and I could not do five percent extra
Speaker 3: on my Super, No worries. That doesn't matter. You're here,
Speaker 3: you're listening to this podcast. This is the smallest step
Speaker 3: in the right direction to getting your life on track,
Speaker 3: and just knowing more and just being educated is putting
Speaker 3: future you first. Maybe you're someone who racked up a
Speaker 3: lot of super accounts in your twenties, so consolidating your
Speaker 3: account to save on fees would be a really great step.
Speaker 3: Or maybe you could start tackling one high interest debt
Speaker 3: at a time. And hey, it's okay if your steps
Speaker 3: don't look like everyone else's. Your financial journey is yours alone,
Speaker 3: So focus on what feels right for you, what feels manageable,
Speaker 3: what is doable. The most important part, though, it's to
Speaker 3: start even the smallest steps, like skipping a takeaway coffee
Speaker 3: once a week and putting that cash into your savings.
Speaker 3: It can add up over time. It's about creating habits
Speaker 3: that build momentum, so every step feels less like an
Speaker 3: effort and more like a routine. And remember, my friend,
Speaker 3: this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Your progress, no
Speaker 3: matter how small, is worth celebrating today. I'm cell of
Speaker 3: greeting you.
Speaker 4: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
Speaker 4: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 4: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 4: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
Speaker 4: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
Speaker 4: the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice.
Speaker 3: Tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 4: Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
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