Speaker 1: Hello.
Speaker 2: My name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr the
Speaker 2: Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we
Speaker 2: get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
Speaker 2: like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
Speaker 2: which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
Speaker 2: the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
Speaker 2: as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
Speaker 2: the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
Speaker 2: and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to She's the Podcast Millennials who Want
Speaker 1: Financial Freedom. My name is Jessica Ricky and with me
Speaker 1: as always, is finance expert Victoria to Fine. I am
Speaker 1: so excited about this episode. It is another opportunity to
Speaker 1: talk to you guys about how to develop an investing
Speaker 1: plan and I could not be more excited about it.
Speaker 1: I am so excited to be back. We've just had
Speaker 1: a Christmas break, We're feeling refreshed, we're feeling good, and
Speaker 1: we are hopefully feeling ready to tackle the new year.
Speaker 1: And set ourselves up to hopefully have a very successful,
Speaker 1: very prosperous hopefully. Yeah, I hate the word prosperous. I
Speaker 1: feel like like I love the intent of the word,
Speaker 1: but I feel like that we're just prosperous just sounds
Speaker 1: like it's gate kept for wealthy people. I would like
Speaker 1: everyone to have a prosperous Yeah. Same, I don't want
Speaker 1: them to not have a prosper I just don't like
Speaker 1: the word. Anyway, we can move on because I have
Speaker 1: a whole laundry list of stuff to get through. I
Speaker 1: really want to take you guys through not only setting
Speaker 1: up an investment plan, which we've obviously covered before, but
Speaker 1: like recap it so it's front of mind and super
Speaker 1: fresh for the year to come. Because even if you
Speaker 1: have already set up an investment plan, an investment plan
Speaker 1: isn't something that you set and forget. It's something that
Speaker 1: we consistently check on and make sure that we're up
Speaker 1: to date with because things change right now, even if
Speaker 1: they don't feel like they are very different, Even if
Speaker 1: we press rewind till the fourth of January last year,
Speaker 1: I guarantee things are very different. And you know what,
Speaker 1: that's not a bad thing, but we need to be
Speaker 1: on top of it. So Jess, let's get into it.
Speaker 1: I know none of this will come as a surprise,
Speaker 1: but we are here to refresh you, here to review
Speaker 1: everything and to hopefully give you a little bit of
Speaker 1: motivation to kick things off in a very very exciting way.
Speaker 1: Sounds incredible, all right, VD Where do we begin? Ye
Speaker 1: knew me? What is the very first step that I
Speaker 1: should be taking to set up my brand new, shiny
Speaker 1: investment plan? All right, So, whether you're planning on setting
Speaker 1: up a new investment plan or just refreshing and reviewing
Speaker 1: one that exists already, the first thing I'm going to
Speaker 1: say is review your finances. So if we re wind
Speaker 1: back to season one, if she's on the money, I think,
Speaker 1: like episode two, it was very very long ago. But
Speaker 1: the reason it's there is because it's always relevant. So
Speaker 1: we are going to do a bank account audit. It
Speaker 1: is not very exciting, I promise, but with a good
Speaker 1: glass of wine or a cup of tea or even
Speaker 1: maybe like an apperole in hand this time of year,
Speaker 1: I promise it can be a good exercise. But what
Speaker 1: you're going to do is sit down and go through
Speaker 1: your bank statements. So you're going to print out and
Speaker 1: I know that we want to save paper in this house,
Speaker 1: but to me, this is one of the best ways
Speaker 1: that you can actually do it because it's really visible.
Speaker 1: It's not like, oh, I brought it on my phone
Speaker 1: on a list or I just flicked through something on
Speaker 1: my phone like that's not powerful. Power is holding it
Speaker 1: in your hands and actually being able to see like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this means this, and this means that.
Speaker 1: So you're going to grab two colored highlighters, different colors please,
Speaker 1: and you are going to go through three months with
Speaker 1: your bank account statements and highlight your discretionary expenses in
Speaker 1: one color and your non discretionary exasp in the other.
Speaker 1: So discretionary expenses are the things that you don't really
Speaker 1: need to spend money on to survive. So we're talking
Speaker 1: like take away and shopping and Christmas expenses. We are
Speaker 1: going to go through things that you know you don't
Speaker 1: have to spend money on to survive. We're not saying
Speaker 1: that you can't. This isn't a good or a bad conversation.
Speaker 1: It's just highlight your discretionary in the green and then
Speaker 1: in your pink highlighter. You're going to highlight your non
Speaker 1: discretionary so that's things like rent or mortgage, or your
Speaker 1: electricity bills or your grocery bills or things that we
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of power over because the second
Speaker 1: that we do that, we can see where our split
Speaker 1: of money is going. But also, as you highlight things
Speaker 1: that are discretionary, you can go, oh, my gosh, that
Speaker 1: isn't the line to my values, or I do like this,
Speaker 1: or I don't like this, And to me, that's a
Speaker 1: really powerful place to start. And putting everything in perspective
Speaker 1: means that when you go to do a budget and
Speaker 1: a cash flow, you're more likely to know where you
Speaker 1: want to pull things in, or it's going to highlight
Speaker 1: areas that you spending that maybe you weren't as aware
Speaker 1: of as you could be. I remember the first time
Speaker 1: I ever did this, I was shocked just by the
Speaker 1: sheer volume of transactions that came out, because I mean,
Speaker 1: you never really go through unless you're looking for something specific.
Speaker 1: You never really go through line by line what you've got,
Speaker 1: which I guess is the whole purpose of this. And
Speaker 1: I printed it out and I remember it's like ten
Speaker 1: pages or something from US time I was like, atio
Speaker 1: of wine. Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be here forever. It is actually like that, and
Speaker 1: that's why I always say, like, grab a glass of
Speaker 1: wine or a cup of tea and do it as
Speaker 1: kind of I would say self care activity, because it's
Speaker 1: not meant to be oh my gosh, chess, like you're
Speaker 1: so naughty. You've had so many transactions. I think what
Speaker 1: the intention of this activity is one to understand where
Speaker 1: your money is going and what you're spending it on,
Speaker 1: but just to highlight to you literally very physically, because
Speaker 1: you know these days, money isn't that physical that it
Speaker 1: is actually the small things that add up. It's the
Speaker 1: one dollar slope at seven eleven consistently, it is every toffee. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but do you know what I mean, Like, it's the
Speaker 1: small things that we spend on that we go far out.
Speaker 1: Like I knew I did that and it didn't quote matter,
Speaker 1: But I wish I didn't do that as much because
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that would mean an extra twenty dollars
Speaker 1: towards something that I really really care about at the
Speaker 1: end of the month. So it's really about pulling together
Speaker 1: all of your finances and reviewing them, not just going
Speaker 1: do I pay rent?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: I feel like it can sound like a bland exercise,
Speaker 1: but I get so many messages so consistently from people saying,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, Victoria, I did this. I'd been putting
Speaker 1: it off because it just didn't make sense. I actually
Speaker 1: feel so on top of my money now I know
Speaker 1: where every dollar is going. I feel like the new
Speaker 1: year is a good time to do that as well,
Speaker 1: because we're all feeling good about setting ourselves up and
Speaker 1: setting new intentions. And we spoke a lot about this
Speaker 1: last week in our goal setting episode, but kind of
Speaker 1: harnessing the power of how we're feeling right now. We're
Speaker 1: all feeling good and excited and shiny and new. And
Speaker 1: do you know why I'm making you do it at
Speaker 1: the start of the year as well, Jess? And why
Speaker 1: I made you include Christmas in it? Why? Because is
Speaker 1: one the next step. I'm going to spoil it now
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about budgeting, but I need you
Speaker 1: to know what you spent on Christmas so that we
Speaker 1: now have a full twelve months to set ourselves up
Speaker 1: for financial success. During a festive period because it's the
Speaker 1: one thing that's always going to happen, like if you
Speaker 1: celebrate Christmas or you celebrate something festive at that period
Speaker 1: of the year, like you know it's coming, and it's
Speaker 1: really hard to budget for it when you're like oh
Speaker 1: far out, like all right, well, I'm going to get
Speaker 1: Jess a present it'll be fifty dollars, or get analse
Speaker 1: At a present that'll be fifty dollars, and then actually
Speaker 1: going through your bank statements is going to show you, oh, well,
Speaker 1: Jess's present was actually sixty five and Analysa's was actually
Speaker 1: forty dollars, or you know, Gabby's present was actually one
Speaker 1: hundred and ten because you wanted to get them something different.
Speaker 1: And I think that it's not really about what you're spending,
Speaker 1: but being aware of it, because if in January we
Speaker 1: started putting money aside for Christmas, everybody would be so
Speaker 1: much less stressed about something that's arguably gonna come up.
Speaker 1: Because you don't just not celebrate Christmas one you like
Speaker 1: it's coming, let's prepare for it. And it's not that sexy,
Speaker 1: but I promise, especially right now where you're probably still
Speaker 1: feeling that overarching feeling of stress from Christmas because it's
Speaker 1: still probably financially impacting you. It's a good time to
Speaker 1: set that intention and actually put yourself forward, because we
Speaker 1: don't want to feel like this on the fourth of
Speaker 1: January next year. Oh she's a thinker, and we know
Speaker 1: that a lot of people are in the same boat
Speaker 1: and thinking about the same thing as us, because when
Speaker 1: we did our community Christmas Hacks episode a few weeks ago,
Speaker 1: that was one of the top ones that came through.
Speaker 1: So we're all clearly on the same wavelength. Talk to
Speaker 1: me about budget and cash flow. I feel like again
Speaker 1: the new year is the perfect time to be taking
Speaker 1: a look. All right, so I spoiled it before, But
Speaker 1: the next step is to do your budget and cash flow.
Speaker 1: You can obviously jump online if you wanted to and
Speaker 1: do our budget and cash flow program. Obviously I'm a
Speaker 1: little bit biased and I think it works really well,
Speaker 1: but so to thousands of other people. Or you could
Speaker 1: just sit down and use our free budget tool on
Speaker 1: our website. Yes it's a bit more manual, but money
Speaker 1: when it is free and put yourself back in control.
Speaker 1: So you've done your bank account audit, you kind of
Speaker 1: know a little bit about where your money is going on.
Speaker 1: What's going on. Now, let's sit down and actually do
Speaker 1: a budget. Let's write down all of our expenses and
Speaker 1: where they're going, and not only that, but take it
Speaker 1: to the next level and create a cash flow system.
Speaker 1: So I think that this, or from my perspective, this
Speaker 1: is where a lot of money systems fall short. So
Speaker 1: doing a budget, it's so exciting, right, Jess, Like, I
Speaker 1: know you love doing a good budget because we talk
Speaker 1: about it all the time, but we love sitting down
Speaker 1: and going I feel so in control, I feel so empowered.
Speaker 1: I'm going to write down all of my expenses and
Speaker 1: what I'm going to budget for them, and what I
Speaker 1: earn and what my debts are, and I'm going to,
Speaker 1: you know, put it in this system that makes sense,
Speaker 1: and you have this spreadsheet and then you file it
Speaker 1: away and you never touch it again because it isn't
Speaker 1: reflective of the cash flow system that you have. So
Speaker 1: a cash flow system is a banking system that puts
Speaker 1: you in control of your budget by making sure that
Speaker 1: every single dollar that comes in has a home to
Speaker 1: go to. So it might be a different bank account,
Speaker 1: it might be your spending account every day, but it
Speaker 1: makes sure that every every dollar goes into a cash hub,
Speaker 1: and that cash hub keeps your money safe because it's
Speaker 1: so easy to lose money over time, and I know
Speaker 1: that people are going to be like, what do you
Speaker 1: mean lose money, Victoria, But if it's in your spending account,
Speaker 1: you might just spend it. You'll be like, Oh, there's
Speaker 1: fifty bucks in there. I can afford another ten dollar sandwich.
Speaker 1: It's all good. And then come July this year, you're
Speaker 1: going to turn around and be like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I completely forgot I had regrodu Like, we're going to
Speaker 1: plan for all of that. So this year, finance isn't
Speaker 1: a stress for you, but rather something that empowers you.
Speaker 1: And regardless of what financial situation you were in, whether
Speaker 1: you are in significant personal debt, whether you are a millionaire,
Speaker 1: whether you are just about to save your first home deposit,
Speaker 1: I promise having a cash flow system is going to
Speaker 1: make you feel far more empowered in all of those situations.
Speaker 1: I promise. Even if you are in debt and burying
Speaker 1: your head in the sand right now without money, you're
Speaker 1: not going to feel stressed about it because there's a plan,
Speaker 1: there's a system. It takes the weight off your shoulders
Speaker 1: and puts it on the system as opposed to you,
Speaker 1: And I think that that is one of the most
Speaker 1: empowering things about a budget and cash flow system because
Speaker 1: they work together to put you in a less stressed
Speaker 1: place because there's a plan actually working, as opposed to
Speaker 1: a cute spreadsheet that got filed away, that didn't get
Speaker 1: looked at and didn't actually help because I don't want
Speaker 1: to look at it on a weekly basis. What about
Speaker 1: our friends who might have done the right thing and
Speaker 1: set themselves up with a really solid budget or a
Speaker 1: cash flow last year, do they still need to be
Speaker 1: checking in and reviewing it even if they feel like
Speaker 1: nothing's really changed. Absolutely, because our values change over time
Speaker 1: and the way we live our lives changes es like
Speaker 1: it just is different. Like Jess, last year, you and
Speaker 1: I were really into Polarates, but we haven't done that recently.
Speaker 1: So imagine if I had an ongoing Polarities membership that
Speaker 1: I'll still paying for and I still feel like, oh
Speaker 1: I want that, I'll go back to that, but it's
Speaker 1: like sixty bucks a month or something, and you know
Speaker 1: we're not using it. Maybe it's time to just have
Speaker 1: that highlighted to me and cancel it. I recently, as
Speaker 1: you know, have been obsessed with the Real Housewives of PEVL.
Speaker 1: I downloaded a new streaming platform and I have been
Speaker 1: using that, but now vocalizing it, I've really stopped watching
Speaker 1: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills because I don't have time.
Speaker 1: I'm really busy at the moment. So you know what,
Speaker 1: if I reviewed my budget, I could probably get rid
Speaker 1: of that for now. Because the one thing that I
Speaker 1: don't think people can sceptualize often when we talk about
Speaker 1: budgeting is you can actually remove something from your budget
Speaker 1: right now, but it doesn't mean you can't go back
Speaker 1: to it. It doesn't mean that when I get back
Speaker 1: into Real Housewives of like Salt Lake City or something
Speaker 1: that we're talking about the other day, I can't re
Speaker 1: download it. I absolutely can, but right here and now
Speaker 1: I will save like fifteen bucks a month by just
Speaker 1: getting rid of it because I'm not using it. So
Speaker 1: I think that reviewing your budget, regardless of where you are,
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you know your salary has changed. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that your goals have changed. But there are
Speaker 1: small tweaks along the way that we need to track
Speaker 1: and it might not equal out that Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I've got heaps more in savings, but there might be
Speaker 1: some going to a different bucket and one going to savings,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe something has changed and it might
Speaker 1: just redirect the flow. Doesn't necessarily mean that we have
Speaker 1: more savings, but in a perfect world it does. But
Speaker 1: we always want to be super on top of it.
Speaker 1: So the right dollar is going into the right bucket,
Speaker 1: and we are putting ourselves in control. All right, So
Speaker 1: we've done a financial audit, we know how much we're spending.
Speaker 1: We've done our budget and cash flow, so we now
Speaker 1: probably have a pretty good idea of what we can
Speaker 1: allocate to investing. What is the next step we should
Speaker 1: be taking. We are going to redo our goals. And
Speaker 1: I love goal setting, especially at the start of the year,
Speaker 1: because it's like near new me vibes, right, like everybody
Speaker 1: The busiest time of gyms in the entire world is January.
Speaker 1: It's because everyone sets these beautiful intentions from themselves. And
Speaker 1: I've got a few girlfriends who used to work at
Speaker 1: gym's and they both say, oh my gosh, Victoria, it's
Speaker 1: so funny because all of these people start coming to
Speaker 1: the gym religiously in January, and by February we're dead
Speaker 1: quiet because everybody's set these goals, but they're unrealistic and
Speaker 1: they don't maintain them throughout the year. So every single
Speaker 1: year they laugh about it because they're like, oh, here
Speaker 1: comes the January flow of people who aren't going to stay.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of like our financial goals, right. It's
Speaker 1: because these people going to the gym aren't setting realistic
Speaker 1: goals for themselves. They're going, I'm going to go so
Speaker 1: hard on this. It's not going to work if you
Speaker 1: go so hard and don't actually intertwine it into the
Speaker 1: life that you actually live. So what we're going to
Speaker 1: do is set our financial goals. And the reason we're
Speaker 1: going to do that is because obviously having a plan
Speaker 1: means that you are ten times more likely to achieve
Speaker 1: those goals. But it's a time to revisit the goals
Speaker 1: you set last year and be a little bit critical
Speaker 1: of them. So I don't mean crucify yourself if you
Speaker 1: didn't achieve them. Let's say you set a goal of
Speaker 1: saving ten thousand dollars last year. What happened to that goal?
Speaker 1: Did you achieve it? Did you not achieve it. Did
Speaker 1: you get halfway there? If so, why we're not crucifying ourselves.
Speaker 1: We're not saying it's good or bad. But I want
Speaker 1: to fully understand why you achieved that goal, or maybe
Speaker 1: why you didn't achieve that goal. Did you achieve it
Speaker 1: really easily because you set a plan in place and
Speaker 1: it was just autodirect debited from your account and that
Speaker 1: was really easy. Hey, there's something we can replicate again
Speaker 1: this year because it's tried and true. If you didn't
Speaker 1: achieve that goal, why didn't we achieve that goal? Is
Speaker 1: it because it was a stretch? Did you maybe not
Speaker 1: break that goal down into small enough bite sized pieces
Speaker 1: to realize that ten thousand dollars over a year sounds
Speaker 1: like a lot of money, but it's still twenty seven
Speaker 1: dollars fifty each and every single day that you need
Speaker 1: to have going into your savings account. And if that's
Speaker 1: unobtainable and unachievable, why would we set that goal again
Speaker 1: because it's not going to be met? How do we
Speaker 1: create a plan that puts you in the driver's seat.
Speaker 1: So I think whether you achieved a goal or you didn't,
Speaker 1: we need to look at why that's the case, because
Speaker 1: this year it's all about putting yourself back in control.
Speaker 1: And if you did achieve it, fantastic. We can probably
Speaker 1: do it again and do some more and create plans
Speaker 1: that involve that way of setting goal. If you didn't
Speaker 1: achieve it, let's go back to the drawing board and
Speaker 1: find something that does work, because we can't keep trying
Speaker 1: to make something work if it didn't work the first
Speaker 1: twelve months that we implemented it. Yeah, that makes total sense. Already.
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere, guys. We're going to dash to a
Speaker 1: really quick break, But when we come back, we're going
Speaker 1: to tell you how to take everything we just spoke
Speaker 1: about and use that for your investment plan. Don't go anywhere,
Speaker 1: all righty guys, welcome back. And you might have been
Speaker 1: listening to that first half, going Victoria, I've barely heard
Speaker 1: you say the word investing. It's your favorite thing in
Speaker 1: the world. What's it going on? It is? Well, do
Speaker 1: not stress, everybody. We're about to get deep into the
Speaker 1: nitty gritty of how you're going to take all of
Speaker 1: these brand new year good vibes and get yourself up
Speaker 1: for your investing plan. Genius VD, where are we starting
Speaker 1: So first things first, I wanted to set you up
Speaker 1: with the first half of this episode with like a
Speaker 1: refresher because investment ultimately is about money, and if we're
Speaker 1: not in control or really deeply understanding our money, your
Speaker 1: investment plan's not going to last. So let's set all
Speaker 1: of those up and let's call them like hygiene points.
Speaker 1: You need to meet them. It doesn't matter whether you
Speaker 1: like doing it or not. It's kind of like brushing
Speaker 1: your teeth at the end of the day, like you're
Speaker 1: meant to do it for someone like, it's not the
Speaker 1: best task. I like brushing my teeth, Jess, because I
Speaker 1: just don't like that fury feeling like it keeps me
Speaker 1: anxiety and laying in bed, I don't feel like I
Speaker 1: can go straight to sleep, So for me it's become innate.
Speaker 1: But if you like sometimes just go to bed without
Speaker 1: doing it, you know it's not good for you. Right,
Speaker 1: So we actually need to do those hygiene points before
Speaker 1: setting up an investment plan, because otherwise that investment plan
Speaker 1: isn't sustainable. So what are we going to do? First
Speaker 1: things first, we've done episodes on this, so obviously in
Speaker 1: the show notes we will link back, so you've got
Speaker 1: more tools in your toolkit to reference. But the first
Speaker 1: thing we're going to do is understand risk. So I
Speaker 1: know I harp on about this all the time, but
Speaker 1: even if you already have done your risk profile, now's
Speaker 1: the time to do it again. And the reason is
Speaker 1: because Jess, as we said before, you're not the same
Speaker 1: person you were twelve months ago. Things change. Hopefully you've
Speaker 1: been listening to twelve months. If she's on the money,
Speaker 1: and you're more educated, you're more empowered. Maybe last year
Speaker 1: you started your investment portfolio and you're like, okay, so
Speaker 1: I've started with micro investing and I'm dabbling in this
Speaker 1: and I want to take it to the next step
Speaker 1: and I feel more empowered. That's very likely going to
Speaker 1: have changed your investment risk profile. And I know that
Speaker 1: that sounds crazy because some people are like, shouldn't that
Speaker 1: be the same? Always No, because it's really related to
Speaker 1: how educated you are, the financial circumstances that you're currently in,
Speaker 1: and what that actually means. So you're going to go
Speaker 1: do your risk profile and fully understand what it means
Speaker 1: for you and to give it a really quick summary.
Speaker 1: And investment risk is basically the likelihood that you might
Speaker 1: lose money in something that you've invested, and it takes
Speaker 1: into consideration a whole heap of different things, so things
Speaker 1: like the market risk, your education, how old you are,
Speaker 1: what your plan is, how long these goals are, and
Speaker 1: puts you in a position where you get a risk
Speaker 1: profile spat out and jess you might be a growth investor,
Speaker 1: and then it will tell you the types of investments
Speaker 1: that might best suit you. Because somebody who is a
Speaker 1: growth investor, they come out and they will very likely
Speaker 1: have a suggested portfolio that is made up of shares.
Speaker 1: So most of that portfolio will be maybe some international shares,
Speaker 1: maybe some domestic shares, it doesn't matter how that split is,
Speaker 1: but their amount of cash that they're holding will be
Speaker 1: very low. I was looking at my investment profile the
Speaker 1: other day and I am a high growth investor, so
Speaker 1: I only hold two percent cash, and to be honest,
Speaker 1: as a high growth investor, a lot of people don't
Speaker 1: even hold any cash at that point. But I like
Speaker 1: to have a little bit of flexibility, Whereas if you
Speaker 1: came out as more of a conservative investor, it's very
Speaker 1: likely that you might have like forty percent international shares,
Speaker 1: forty percent domestic shares and then twenty percent of cash
Speaker 1: or bonds or something a little bit more stable. So
Speaker 1: it really and it's actually really important to have this
Speaker 1: guideline so that you're investing in line with the risk
Speaker 1: that you want to take on. And you don't get
Speaker 1: another twelve month down the line you're like, oh my gosh, yes,
Speaker 1: like I'm so stressed because I don't fully comprehend this,
Speaker 1: or I feel really uncomfortable with this, or this isn't
Speaker 1: the right fit for me. All right, that sounds good.
Speaker 1: I love the tip to go back and refreshing case
Speaker 1: it's changed. What should we be doing next? Okay, so
Speaker 1: next is to research your investment options. So you need
Speaker 1: to find the right investment option for you. So, as
Speaker 1: I said before, first we start with our risk profile,
Speaker 1: so we know what we need to look at. Because, yes,
Speaker 1: if you come out as a high growth investor, why
Speaker 1: would you spend too much time researching bonds as an
Speaker 1: option because they're not an option that most high growth
Speaker 1: investors are trying to pick. So to find the right
Speaker 1: investment option for you, we're going to do a few things.
Speaker 1: We're gonna understand return, So, like, what is the expected
Speaker 1: return on that investment that you want to make. You're
Speaker 1: gonna look at the timeframe. So how long are you
Speaker 1: investing for? Is this like for two or three years,
Speaker 1: in which case you're probably going to go with something
Speaker 1: a little bit more conservative. Is it five years? Is
Speaker 1: it ten years? Is it for the long term? Is
Speaker 1: this like your financial freedom investment so that you can retire,
Speaker 1: in which case that's a really long timeframe, so you
Speaker 1: could probably afford to have a little bit more risk.
Speaker 1: So we need to understand that what access to cash
Speaker 1: do we need? So are you renovating a house right
Speaker 1: now and you want to start investing, but you also
Speaker 1: know you're going to need ten thousand dollars in a
Speaker 1: few months to pay offer Chibby. Well, in that case,
Speaker 1: it's not that smart to invest that money right now
Speaker 1: because you need it to be quite liquid. What is
Speaker 1: the cost to buy and sell? So how much is
Speaker 1: it going to cost you to get into the share market?
Speaker 1: What does that actually mean? How much brokerage are you paying?
Speaker 1: And how much does it cost to exit that investment?
Speaker 1: Because something that a lot of people forget is that
Speaker 1: sometimes there'll be an exit cost. And I know that
Speaker 1: at this time of the year, there are going to
Speaker 1: be a whole heave of people saying, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: we've got free brokerage, we've got this, we've got that
Speaker 1: no cost at all to trade on our platform. Look
Speaker 1: a little bit deeper, because one nothing worth having is
Speaker 1: ever free. There's very likely to be an exit fee
Speaker 1: on that because they need to make money somewhere, Jess.
Speaker 1: The next is tax. I really need you to know
Speaker 1: what is involved when it comes to tax, because there
Speaker 1: are tax implications, and I don't want you to be
Speaker 1: stung with anything unnecessarily. If you're starting really small, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter too much if I'm being honest, because if
Speaker 1: you're making money, we are paying tax money win. But
Speaker 1: if you're in a circumstance where you maybe have an
Speaker 1: inheritance and you're looking at selling that portfolio, there are
Speaker 1: going to be implications. If you have put a very
Speaker 1: large amount of money into the market and you're planning
Speaker 1: on selling it in nine months, Yess, I'd be really
Speaker 1: careful because if you then made money, you're going to
Speaker 1: be up for fifty percent capital gains tax and that's
Speaker 1: not that sexy. So while we don't need to be
Speaker 1: scared of it, we do need to be super aware
Speaker 1: and put ourselves back in a position where we're like, yep,
Speaker 1: I know what I'm doing, really okay with it. It
Speaker 1: is all good. But we then need after that to
Speaker 1: look at our platform of choice. So we've done a
Speaker 1: whole episode on this, and we will absolutely link in
Speaker 1: the show notes back to this episode to make sure
Speaker 1: that's another tool that you've got in your toolkit to
Speaker 1: start this also probably a really good time just to
Speaker 1: remind everybody that late last year I wrote another book
Speaker 1: called Investing, which she's on the Money, and it takes
Speaker 1: you through how to put a whole strategy together right literally,
Speaker 1: Like I can't tell you how to invest individually because
Speaker 1: that would be unethical from my point of view but
Speaker 1: also illegal. But what I can do is take you
Speaker 1: down a very beautiful garden path that is mint green
Speaker 1: and gold, and it can take you through every step
Speaker 1: of the way so you can create your own investment plan.
Speaker 1: But looking at the different platforms that you want to
Speaker 1: invest in is really going to start narrowing down what
Speaker 1: we are going to invest in. So are you looking
Speaker 1: at a micro investing platform. If so, there are a few, Like,
Speaker 1: there's not many options but there are a few options
Speaker 1: here in Australia that you could choose from. So if
Speaker 1: that's the route you're going down, maybe wipe everything else
Speaker 1: off the table and just look at the differences between
Speaker 1: those two or three platforms, because it's going to stop
Speaker 1: you having overload. It's going to stop you from being like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this is just so overwhelming. I don't
Speaker 1: even know where to start. If it's not microinvesting, then
Speaker 1: maybe you want to go with a DIY platform, in
Speaker 1: which case you need to start looking at what features
Speaker 1: and benefits do I want to have? Do I want
Speaker 1: to really sexy app or do I want to be
Speaker 1: sent heaps and heaps of research on a daily basis
Speaker 1: to make a decision. Is my plan to buy ETFs
Speaker 1: or exchange traded funds, or am I going to be
Speaker 1: a direct equities kind of gal and go and trade
Speaker 1: stocks individually on the US Stock Exchange, in which case
Speaker 1: you need to make sure that the platform or the
Speaker 1: DIY platform that you're picking actually allows you to do that.
Speaker 1: Because not all DIY platforms are created the same. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean they're good or bad. It's just about accessibility
Speaker 1: and the thing I would say about DIY is it
Speaker 1: can be really overwhelming, but yeses in my book that
Speaker 1: I wrote, I'm quite biased. Even if you don't buy it,
Speaker 1: just pop into kmart, guys, open to this page, have
Speaker 1: a little read and see what it means for you.
Speaker 1: But I did an entire comparison table of all of
Speaker 1: the platforms from Microinvesting, DIY, robo Advice. They're all in
Speaker 1: a table so you can immediately see the features and
Speaker 1: benefits and the costs and what accessibility they have and
Speaker 1: what they don't have access to, so you can go, oh,
Speaker 1: that's how that's in Because, for example, some people in
Speaker 1: our community adore trading with self Wealth, and they're a
Speaker 1: really solid platform. They've been around for years. They have
Speaker 1: a lot more research on their platform than most platforms
Speaker 1: do because they're a little bit more technical, Like the
Speaker 1: dashboard when you log in is a lot more technical,
Speaker 1: not in a we can't understand it way, we absolutely can,
Speaker 1: but it's less flashy, if that makes sense. But the
Speaker 1: thing about that is they do have a minimum trade,
Speaker 1: so you have to have five hundred to start with,
Speaker 1: whereas if you compare it to a share esse, they've
Speaker 1: got less research. They still have research They have really
Speaker 1: great researchers, just not nearly as comprehensive, and some people
Speaker 1: don't want to read white papers, you know, but their
Speaker 1: accessibility is one cent, so you can literally invest for
Speaker 1: one cent on that platform. So if you're like, oh, V,
Speaker 1: I was planning on starting, you know, direct shares with
Speaker 1: fifty bucks, great, Well maybe you wouldn't look at self
Speaker 1: wealth because that's not an option. It's not about what
Speaker 1: you like and what you don't like, and about financial advice.
Speaker 1: It's actually more about what can I use in my
Speaker 1: circumstances and what are lines to the goals that I'm
Speaker 1: trying to achieve. So researching your investment options is really important.
Speaker 1: Then we've obviously got no won't harp on about it
Speaker 1: because I know that this episode is getting a little
Speaker 1: bit lengthy. But then you've got robo advice or direct
Speaker 1: financial advice and that episode will cover it all for you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a really good time as well to be jumping
Speaker 1: on websites if you are choosing between different platforms, because,
Speaker 1: like you said before, a lot of places offer like
Speaker 1: new year deals or sign up bonuses and things like that,
Speaker 1: so definitely shop around. Use that table in the book
Speaker 1: to kind of give you an idea of what features
Speaker 1: you really like and then jump on the website because
Speaker 1: you never know what things people might be offering. And obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, the books go to print and then people
Speaker 1: change things and the whole thing. Yeah, that was actually
Speaker 1: one thing I was about to say is like I
Speaker 1: tried so hard for that to be super factually accurate,
Speaker 1: But like, what if phrase changed their face and it's
Speaker 1: a new year, So there might be different sign up
Speaker 1: bonuses or different features and benefits available that weren't available
Speaker 1: when I wrote the book. So if you look at
Speaker 1: one and you're like, I think that's the option for me,
Speaker 1: please just jump on their website and cross check the
Speaker 1: information to make sure that it's still aligned to what
Speaker 1: you think you're getting, because I would hate for you
Speaker 1: to sign up to something and then be like, oh shit,
Speaker 1: like they changed that. Yeah, no, Due diligence always always
Speaker 1: wear such big fans of that. Okay, so we've done
Speaker 1: our finance order, We've got our budget and cash flow
Speaker 1: all set up, we've set our goals, we know where
Speaker 1: we want our money to go. We figured out our
Speaker 1: risk profile, and we've explored all of our different investment options,
Speaker 1: and we've got a pretty good idea of what we
Speaker 1: think might align well to us and our values. Queen, Bye,
Speaker 1: we behavior what now? All right? So this is the
Speaker 1: one that I think most people struggle with, and that's
Speaker 1: actually taking the step. So I know that there is
Speaker 1: going to be a handful of you who are listening
Speaker 1: who are just so excited to invest. Maybe you've been
Speaker 1: listening to Shees on the Money this entire time, Maybe
Speaker 1: you have done all the research, maybe you've put together
Speaker 1: a spreadsheet and actually like analyzed it all yourself, but
Speaker 1: you haven't invested yet. This is the reminder to take
Speaker 1: the next step. I promise it is not as hard
Speaker 1: as you think it is. Women, especially get analysis paralysis
Speaker 1: where there are too many options on the table, or
Speaker 1: we get information overload and we just feel so overwhelmed
Speaker 1: that we don't make a decision. So I think now
Speaker 1: is a good reminder to say, Look, not making a
Speaker 1: decision or not investing is still a choice. I know
Speaker 1: that you're like, oh, I just haven't decided to do
Speaker 1: it yet. I totally get that. But if this is
Speaker 1: a goal of yours and something that you really want
Speaker 1: to achieve, now is the time to take the first step.
Speaker 1: You do not have to start at the very top.
Speaker 1: You do not have to invest your life savings. You
Speaker 1: do not even have to invest five hundred dollars to start.
Speaker 1: But what you do need to do is if this
Speaker 1: is a plan for you, and this is something that
Speaker 1: you want to achieve, and you just can't put yourself
Speaker 1: in a position where you're like, oh my gosh, I
Speaker 1: just feel like I keep putting it off, or I
Speaker 1: don't know what platform to go with. What if it's
Speaker 1: not the right platform, Jess Like, it's fine to change, yeah,
Speaker 1: Like it's fine to have a play on one and
Speaker 1: be like, oh I don't really like this and move
Speaker 1: to another. Because let's see those fees. As much as
Speaker 1: some people might go, oh, don't dabble around in lots
Speaker 1: of different platforms. You waste your money, you lose some fees. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's not a good idea. What if that's an investment
Speaker 1: in your financial education and that's the money that actually
Speaker 1: got you started investing. What if you know, the trading
Speaker 1: fee of two dollars fifty a month actually was an
Speaker 1: investment in your financial education. Just what's the worst that
Speaker 1: could happen? You lose the ten dollars that you invested,
Speaker 1: like it's not actually a bad thing. I think that
Speaker 1: we need to take the next step and start giving
Speaker 1: ourselves exposure to the share market, because that's the only
Speaker 1: way we are going to learn. I was talking to
Speaker 1: a couple of friends, and I think I've said this
Speaker 1: on the podcast before, but my job when I was
Speaker 1: a financial advisor was actually quite technical, right, Like I
Speaker 1: had to know everything. I had to have a degree,
Speaker 1: I had to be quite qualified to do that role.
Speaker 1: I had to pass the Foresea exam. But my knowledge
Speaker 1: really came on the job, Like it came from being
Speaker 1: in the markets every day. It came from the conversations
Speaker 1: with the stockbrokers that I would talk to on a
Speaker 1: regular basis. It came from the financial advisors around me.
Speaker 1: It came from my friends that I made in the industry.
Speaker 1: He'd be like, Oh did you see this? What about this?
Speaker 1: Soa like it came from experience, and I think that
Speaker 1: we need to give ourselves the gift of experience now.
Speaker 1: And I've had so many people message me recently being like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I just can't seem to take the next step. VI,
Speaker 1: what do I do? I'm just I don't know what
Speaker 1: to say to you, because it's just start. But stop
Speaker 1: being so overwhelming on yourself. Stop putting yourself in a
Speaker 1: position where you think that you need to be all
Speaker 1: end all and absolutely go the whole hog because you don't.
Speaker 1: Just take one step in the right direction, and I
Speaker 1: promise it'll start snowballing from there. Oh my gosh, what
Speaker 1: a perfect place to leave it. And if you are
Speaker 1: feeling overwhelmed, don't forget. We have an entire back catalog
Speaker 1: of investing specific content. We did an entire investing episode
Speaker 1: every single month the entire year of twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: which is pretty huge if you ask me, So definitely
Speaker 1: go back. There's a lot of information there, and there's
Speaker 1: heaps as well in your second book, Investing with Shees
Speaker 1: on the Money. Genius says, all right, well we you
Speaker 1: have to go grab a coffee because I am exhausted
Speaker 1: after essentially word vomiting everywhere. I was just too excited.
Speaker 1: So thank you for allowing me the space to do that.
Speaker 1: New Year, New me vibes. I feel happy New Year.
Speaker 1: The advice sheared on Shees on the Money is general
Speaker 1: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 1: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 1: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
Speaker 1: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
Speaker 1: the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
Speaker 1: your needs. Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are
Speaker 1: authorized representatives of money SHERPA, pty Ltd ABN three two
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