Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney Whaltbury and a waddery woman. And before
Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
Speaker 1: acknowledging 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.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 4: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
Speaker 4: for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
Speaker 4: one of our money diaries where we get to talk
Speaker 4: to one of how incredible She's on the Money community
Speaker 4: members all about their money story. So let's jump straight
Speaker 4: into it, because this week I got a little message
Speaker 4: and it went like this, Hi, Victoria, I'm a gen
Speaker 4: X single mother of four two Gen Z kids, two
Speaker 4: for kids, and I'm in the top one percent of
Speaker 4: income earners according to Forbes. But I'm still struggling due
Speaker 4: to the cost of living and no financial literacy, that
Speaker 4: is until she's on the money, which is turning my
Speaker 4: life around and setting my kids up for success. Money Darist,
Speaker 4: welcome to the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 4: I'm so excited. As you guys know, I read those
Speaker 4: for the first time live on the show, so I
Speaker 4: never know what to expect, but oh my gosh, I'm
Speaker 4: so excited. I want to hear so much more about
Speaker 4: this journey. Maybe because I'm really self absorbed, I'm not sure.
Speaker 4: But let's start off with the same question. I always
Speaker 4: ask Moneyed Diarist, what grade would you give your money
Speaker 4: habits if I asked you to give them a grade
Speaker 4: from A through to F.
Speaker 2: Well, I would actually give myself a C, because even
Speaker 2: though I am a high income earner, that hasn't always
Speaker 2: been the case. And I certainly, you know, have only
Speaker 2: really just learned how to deal with that money in
Speaker 2: the very It probably only in the last twelve months.
Speaker 2: So I now know a lot more and I'm definitely
Speaker 2: on upwards trajectory, but I certainly don't have a lot
Speaker 2: of money behind me, and yeah, I wish i'd learned
Speaker 2: all about this bit sooner.
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm so excited to learn more. Let's jump in
Speaker 4: my favorite question in the entire world, moneyed Diarist. Can
Speaker 4: you tell me a little bit more about your money story.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I think up until about probably ten years ago,
Speaker 2: I think I really just ignored money. It was just
Speaker 2: like to me, it was just air or water and
Speaker 2: just came in and out and you used it and
Speaker 2: you didn't think you needed to save it up for
Speaker 2: later or anything like that. And yeah, I wasn't really
Speaker 2: motivated by it. You know, my parents want admit to
Speaker 2: me to be an engineer, but so that i'd have
Speaker 2: a good income, but I just wasn't interested. I was
Speaker 2: interested in the environment and science, and so really I
Speaker 2: just ignored it and I worked. I worked from when
Speaker 2: I was fourteen, but I always had enough for what
Speaker 2: I needed and I live within my means, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it just wasn't something I thought about a whole lot. So, yeah,
Speaker 2: I've kind of landed where I am just through hard
Speaker 2: work and default. But it certainly hasn't been, you know,
Speaker 2: through any real sort of need or want for money.
Speaker 2: I was really just interested in the work that I
Speaker 2: was doing. My parents didn't have a lot of money.
Speaker 2: You know, they worked really hard. It was just me
Speaker 2: and my sister and we always had enough. But they
Speaker 2: certainly didn't have any investments or any particular financial literacy
Speaker 2: that I knew about. I vaguely remember them planning for
Speaker 2: retirement at one point, but yeah, it was just something
Speaker 2: we didn't talk about a whole lot, so my focus
Speaker 2: was really elsewhere.
Speaker 4: Wow, I'm so excited to hear more about I guess
Speaker 4: how much that has changed. You have two gen z
Speaker 4: kids and two fur kids, both have different requirements. Yes,
Speaker 4: how do you think they approach money?
Speaker 2: Well, I guess one of the reasons that I thought
Speaker 2: about coming on Cheese on the Money is because, listening
Speaker 2: to it, I really wanted to change things for my kids.
Speaker 2: Both of them are very similar to me, and that
Speaker 2: they want to I mean, my daughter's keen to work
Speaker 2: for the UN on human rights and my son doesn't
Speaker 2: quite know what he wants to do yet. But they're
Speaker 2: really not motivated by jobs that earn a lot of money.
Speaker 2: And I've been through a bit of a tough time
Speaker 2: in the last ten years, and so I really wanted
Speaker 2: them to be able to do what they wanted without
Speaker 2: sort of having that pressure, and so now with all
Speaker 2: the knowledge that I've gained in the last year, basically
Speaker 2: setting them up for financial freedom very very early. They're
Speaker 2: only eighteen and sixteen, and yeah, I feel positive about
Speaker 2: them following their dreams like I have, but without sort
Speaker 2: of having those money worries behind them. So you're going
Speaker 2: to love this. But they're actually even though they're only
Speaker 2: eighteen and sixteen, they pulled ten dollars a fortnite into
Speaker 2: an investment account and they put ten dollars a fortnight
Speaker 2: into this super.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, of course they do.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So I explained it all to them and
Speaker 2: they were both really keen, and yeah, they've kept it up,
Speaker 2: so I guess yeah, I'm really excited about that, that
Speaker 2: they'll have that literacy that I never had.
Speaker 4: This whole time, I love this so much. I'm so
Speaker 4: excited about this conversation. And I want to know a
Speaker 4: bit more about I guess you said that money has
Speaker 4: kind of like been ignored until you know recently, how
Speaker 4: has that impacted the relationship you have with your kids.
Speaker 4: Were they like, Mum, why are we talking about money
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, like we don't want to do this?
Speaker 4: Or were they really interested in it, or like, how
Speaker 4: have you? I guess bait and switched them because money
Speaker 4: could be really boring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, look, I guess that the whole impetus for
Speaker 2: that was a separation, a divorce and separation unfortunately, and
Speaker 2: so I guess I went from a situation where I
Speaker 2: could kind of ignore money to I couldn't bury my
Speaker 2: head in the sand anymore. Separation itself was really difficult.
Speaker 2: I had to get lawyers involved, and we didn't have
Speaker 2: a lot of money, and so yeah, it was just
Speaker 2: all of a sudden being conscious of what was going
Speaker 2: in what was going out, and I was quite confused, going,
Speaker 2: I'm I'm this high income manner, and yet I just
Speaker 2: still don't have any you know, spare money. It all
Speaker 2: goes on the house and the kids and everything else.
Speaker 2: And so I guess, yeah, I don't know. I just
Speaker 2: spoke about with the kids. I mean we did look
Speaker 2: at the Barefoot investor, you know, ten years ago or whatever,
Speaker 2: so they had that little bit of intro, but not
Speaker 2: really much. But then recently been you know, walking them
Speaker 2: through their investments and everything, and yeah, I think they
Speaker 2: really kind of understood the whole compound interest and starting
Speaker 2: now will put them in good stead. So yeah, that
Speaker 2: sort of worked out with them and the fur kids.
Speaker 2: They're just two spoiled labradors who get everything they want,
Speaker 2: but bring me a lot of joy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and everything labradors want so snacks. Everybody knows this,
Speaker 4: But I am the biggest pet person in the entire world.
Speaker 4: So if I know someone's got pets, I'm like, tell
Speaker 4: me about them, Who've got pictures? So we'll get to
Speaker 4: that later. I woant to know though. You mentioned before
Speaker 4: that you're in the top one percent of earners according
Speaker 4: to Forbes. Tell me what do you do for work?
Speaker 4: How much money do you earn?
Speaker 2: So I work for the Australian government. I'm in the
Speaker 2: area of environmental protection and I provide sites advice to
Speaker 2: lawyers and government decision makers. So that's really my bread
Speaker 2: and butter of work.
Speaker 4: That sounds very fancy, let's be honest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really quite stressful and you have the potential
Speaker 2: of getting taken to court all of the time. But
Speaker 2: my job involves, I guess, holding big businesses to account
Speaker 2: and making sure that they prevent, reduce, and minimize their
Speaker 2: environmental impacts. So yeah, it's you know, I did used
Speaker 2: to think that I was very lucky to be in
Speaker 2: this job. My ex partner used to tell me I
Speaker 2: was lucky. But I suppose after listening to your podcast
Speaker 2: and everything, I've kind of gone, well, yes, it is
Speaker 2: a bit lucky, but also it's not really luck though.
Speaker 2: It's really hard to get here, and I'm really passionate
Speaker 2: about it, I do, so yeah. Yeah, And now the
Speaker 2: how much do I earn question? I actually earn over
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty grand a year, so it sounds
Speaker 2: like a lot of money. I do also have to
Speaker 2: say that about ninety k of that goes in tac
Speaker 2: so you know, I don't get that part, which is fine.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm happy to back into health and education
Speaker 2: in the community and all of that. So, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2: It does sound like a lot of money. But I
Speaker 2: did do a little breakdown. I'm not sure how much
Speaker 2: you want to go into it.
Speaker 4: Oh no, if you want to go into detail, I
Speaker 4: am sitting here for the whole time.
Speaker 2: Please find myself. Was like, where does all this money
Speaker 2: go go?
Speaker 4: My friend, I would love to know.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, so besides the tags about thirty grander that
Speaker 2: goes to super so that leaves about one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty left. My mortgage is around forty k a year.
Speaker 2: This is the big one. My groceries so for myself
Speaker 2: and my two children and my two pets is about
Speaker 2: out a twenty K year, so that's like a lot.
Speaker 2: By the way, my daughter is a Celiac, so I
Speaker 2: feel your grocery pain in that respect. Yes, yell. Everything
Speaker 2: is twice as much and you get half as much.
Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah, and it tastes half as bad, like
Speaker 4: it's not even good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, stoddie.
Speaker 4: Do you know in Italy they actually test from when
Speaker 4: kids are very little whether they're celiac or not, and
Speaker 4: if they are, they give you a subsidy to afford
Speaker 4: their products that are gluten free. Isn't that cool? Yeah,
Speaker 4: that's amazing, You're like, I would love that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I have a funny story about that related to child support.
Speaker 2: But I had to go and do this special extra
Speaker 2: process to get some of the school kids school fees
Speaker 2: paid by their dad, and in it they say, you know,
Speaker 2: do they have any other medical conditions? And I put
Speaker 2: down that was celiac because I had just incurred a
Speaker 2: whole lot of expenses. But they decided that they didn't
Speaker 2: think that that was you know, much more.
Speaker 4: That's literally a medical condition, so down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but they just said no, no, sorry, that doesn't count.
Speaker 4: Absolutely not.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It was quite disappointing the way that it fell out,
Speaker 2: but anyway, it is what it is. My next biggest
Speaker 2: cost is their school fee. So my kids don't go
Speaker 2: to like a really fancy private school, but they do
Speaker 2: go to a Catholic school. So that's about thirteen K
Speaker 2: a year, and their dad does have to pay some
Speaker 2: of that through child support.
Speaker 4: Does he pay like I'm just pervy to know about
Speaker 4: like the breakup there, does he pay like half or
Speaker 4: is it less than half? Well, like you the primary
Speaker 4: breadwinner in that circumstance.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I have a lot of info about child support,
Speaker 2: which in my view doesn't work when the primary care
Speaker 2: is also the primary financial bringer in it for the family.
Speaker 2: The way that the system is set up kind of
Speaker 2: it does really work when you have a person that
Speaker 2: brings in the most money is not the primary care.
Speaker 2: But when the same person is that, I feel like
Speaker 2: it's really unfair. And Luckily for me, you know, I
Speaker 2: earn a good income, so it's actually okay, but I
Speaker 2: get really quite you know, frustrated with the system because
Speaker 2: a lot of the things that happened to me, which
Speaker 2: I can cope with, I just think of, you know,
Speaker 2: other women who are not on high incomes and pay
Speaker 2: the way that payments get delayed and broke it down.
Speaker 2: It breaks my heart, to be honest, And I've kind
Speaker 2: of decided that when I'm out of it, because my
Speaker 2: kids are nearly both eighteen, and then I'm out of it,
Speaker 2: that you know, I will actually I don't know what
Speaker 2: do what, but I have worked in governments and maybe
Speaker 2: there's some I.
Speaker 4: Love this, I love the passion. I'm so excited about
Speaker 4: it because I've heard this so many times as well,
Speaker 4: that it just it doesn't end up falling evenly. No,
Speaker 4: and while sometimes a few dollars here and there, like,
Speaker 4: let's be honest, it's not worth arguing over. We're not
Speaker 4: talking about a few dollars here. We're talking about thousands
Speaker 4: of dollars difference when you're the primary caregiver and the
Speaker 4: person who's funding most of it.
Speaker 2: That's right, And it's not even that. It's like some
Speaker 2: things are just process based where it's really unfair for
Speaker 2: the person who is receiving and and I feel like
Speaker 2: there's such easy fixes, and I know how government policy works,
Speaker 2: it's really hard to change. But yeah, I do think
Speaker 2: of other women and I just think I really like
Speaker 2: to get onto that and do something.
Speaker 4: I don't know what to advocate for them. No, that's
Speaker 4: so kind. I love that. I absolutely love that. I
Speaker 4: can see where your daughter gets ye, where she's like,
Speaker 4: not money motivated, but she wants to work with you.
Speaker 4: And I was like, can't wait to hear what you
Speaker 4: do for work, babe, cannot wait because the affle does
Speaker 4: often not fall far from the tree.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So is.
Speaker 4: There anything else in that budget? We got to school
Speaker 4: fees they go to a Catholic school. Thirteen grand a year.
Speaker 2: Yep. My insurances so I pay and look, I don't
Speaker 2: know what you would say about this, but I actually
Speaker 2: pay about ten grand in insurances. So for the whole family,
Speaker 2: I have health insurance, trauma insurance, TPD, death in income
Speaker 2: protection because I am the primary incomeltly the family feels
Speaker 2: right home and contents car insurance and now, of course
Speaker 2: my daughter has a car as well, so her insurance
Speaker 2: so insurance sure the students ten k on that a
Speaker 2: year which is a lot. I haven't had to claim it,
Speaker 2: so that's a good thing. But that's what it is.
Speaker 4: We want insurance to be the biggest waste of money
Speaker 4: in the entire way. Yeah, because it means we didn't
Speaker 4: have to claim on it, and that's a really attractive
Speaker 4: position to be in. I do want to know, as
Speaker 4: a high income earner, how did you set up your
Speaker 4: TPD life and income protection insurances? Is this something that
Speaker 4: you just set up through SUPER or like what was
Speaker 4: the plan?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I did have it through SUPER initially, but
Speaker 2: then I went to a financial advisor and she tweaked
Speaker 2: some of it, so two were still through SUPER, but
Speaker 2: two we took out. And I do have to go
Speaker 2: and review it again because it was set up for
Speaker 2: like in the event something hap to meet, the kids'
Speaker 2: school fees would still be paid and the more we
Speaker 2: were still paid and everything. But obviously there's a bit
Speaker 2: of a change coming up, so with that change, I'll
Speaker 2: need to review them and yeah, see maybe I'll have
Speaker 2: to pay less, which would be nice.
Speaker 4: Which would be really nice.
Speaker 2: It would be really nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, no, that makes sense. Most financial advisors will
Speaker 4: split some inside SUPER and some outside SUPER. Yeah, and
Speaker 4: to I guess stereotype completely most advisors. I do won't
Speaker 4: want to say most advisors, but you know what I
Speaker 4: mean when I say that, they'll pick TPD or total
Speaker 4: and Permanent disability in life insurance to sit inside superannuation,
Speaker 4: and then they'll pick trauma and income protection to sit
Speaker 4: outside of superannuation because of the tax differences and also
Speaker 4: the claiming benefits depending on whether you can claim it
Speaker 4: inside super Because the interesting thing, just as a side note,
Speaker 4: because I'm passionate about finance right is if you need
Speaker 4: to claim on let's say, income protection, the claiming criteria
Speaker 4: of income protection might be very different to what superranuation
Speaker 4: is willing to release the funds for. So we've seen
Speaker 4: it historically where someone might be able to claim on
Speaker 4: their income protection and it gets paid into their superfund
Speaker 4: because it's owned by the superfund. All the policy is
Speaker 4: owned by the superfund, and when they apply to the
Speaker 4: super fund to have the money let out, it doesn't
Speaker 4: get led out because it doesn't meet the same criteria.
Speaker 4: It's all about just protecting you. And if you haven't
Speaker 4: thought about that, not you personally, but people listening to this,
Speaker 4: please do because it's so important to just get the
Speaker 4: right structure. Actually, in this episode, side note to my
Speaker 4: gorgeous producer and a Lisa, let's put the contact details
Speaker 4: for my friend Phil at sky Wealth in the show notes,
Speaker 4: because that is something that everyone needs to set up
Speaker 4: properly and get done. And I promise it doesn't cost thousands.
Speaker 4: It really doesn't. I mean, if you were in two
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty grand and you have two kids and
Speaker 4: a lot of insurances, that might cost you ten grand.
Speaker 4: But that's across all of your insurances, including cur insurance,
Speaker 4: which is honestly pretty palpable. Let's be honest. Ye yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: what have you got next on our line? Next?
Speaker 2: I have got house maintenance. So this is a thing
Speaker 2: about being a single parent who works full time. Is firstly,
Speaker 2: I do get help around the house, you know, for
Speaker 2: gardening and things like that, cleaning. I just don't have
Speaker 2: time for it, so I do that. But then also
Speaker 2: I you know, just yeah, it's not a new house.
Speaker 2: It's an old house. It's still needs you know, you
Speaker 2: just I don't know, light bulbs changed, and you know,
Speaker 2: I had a roof leak and just things like that.
Speaker 2: So yeah, a lot of just little things like that
Speaker 2: little costs like that. On that, I've got eight grand
Speaker 2: on utilities, and then for transport, so I own my
Speaker 2: own car, but for fuel, bus and train and everything
Speaker 2: is about six grand a year. So that's myself and
Speaker 2: the children. Then the next one is kids sport and
Speaker 2: my sport, which is about six grand, which is expensive
Speaker 2: for sport, and that's because my daughter is into dancing,
Speaker 2: which is an expensive sport. Dancing is expensive and recently
Speaker 2: in the last few years, which is something I constantly
Speaker 2: think should I be spending that money on. But my sport,
Speaker 2: which is its only really just happened, has been horse riding.
Speaker 4: Hush's expensive.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, And I don't even own a
Speaker 2: horse or anything. I just go once a week and ride.
Speaker 4: Not yet it's a slippery slope. We've had a few
Speaker 4: horse friends on the show before. Yeah, all let us
Speaker 4: know how expensive it is.
Speaker 2: Yep. Yeah. But for me it was a mental health thing,
Speaker 2: like it was really the only thing that got me through.
Speaker 2: It's exercise when you don't actually feel like you're exercising.
Speaker 2: I love animals and I just had a half an
Speaker 2: hour window where I used to take one of my kids,
Speaker 2: and I found that in the week. That was just
Speaker 2: the most peaceful half an hour that I had. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I am constantly revisiting that, going is that an expense
Speaker 2: that I really need and it's not, but for my
Speaker 2: mental health at this point in time, it was. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was really really appreciated.
Speaker 4: I think it's really important as well. Like I get
Speaker 4: when you add it all up, you go, wow, that's
Speaker 4: so much. But like, let's be honest, someone adding up
Speaker 4: their forty five membership, they might absolutely adore it. Ad
Speaker 4: cost about the same per year, Like we're not talking
Speaker 4: about a ridiculous amount per year. And I mean you'll
Speaker 4: probably get less sessions, but they might mean a lot
Speaker 4: more to you. And having learned a little bit about
Speaker 4: your money story, like my friend, I think it gets to.
Speaker 2: Stay at least for now. So that's sport. And then
Speaker 2: we've got medical as I said, my daughter's AE ciliac,
Speaker 2: my son has optical issues. So you know, all of
Speaker 2: that probably comes to about five K a year. The dogs,
Speaker 2: actually I've made a mistake before. Their groceries weren't included
Speaker 2: in my grocery bill. I've got four K year for
Speaker 2: their groceries and their health stuff, and then the rest
Speaker 2: of it is like three grand for gifts for my
Speaker 2: family and friends and the kids, and then there's only
Speaker 2: about two grand on beauty and makeup and stuff and
Speaker 2: myself and my daughter, we don't spend much on that
Speaker 2: at all. And then the last big expense or actually
Speaker 2: I had one k for coffee and one k for
Speaker 2: alcohol and one k for entertainment subscriptions. And then the
Speaker 2: other more complicated one is it about two grand a year.
Speaker 2: I have a partner who lives in Melbourne, so I'm
Speaker 2: in a long distance relationship.
Speaker 1: Ah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you've got to travel, So I.
Speaker 2: Only pay for airport, parking and taxes because generally I
Speaker 2: get frequent Flyer points.
Speaker 4: I was smart.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's mostly from just using a frequent Flyer credit
Speaker 2: card for all of my bills. So everything goes on that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh how fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I have that, and then the rest of
Speaker 2: it is just you know, whatever's left over for clothes
Speaker 2: and shoes and tech like phones and AirPods, like the
Speaker 2: things that you have to pay for for teenagers.
Speaker 4: So all of that stuff that they need, they really
Speaker 4: need otherwise they might die.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, exactly, yep. So that's it. But very recently
Speaker 2: I now only have just started putting together an emergency
Speaker 2: fund because even on having a high income like that,
Speaker 2: I had my garage door break, I had my hot
Speaker 2: water system break, I had my washing machine break, I
Speaker 2: had my like we have a swimming pool because I
Speaker 2: stayed in the family home salt dispenser that broke it.
Speaker 2: Just you know, I had a year.
Speaker 4: It all adds up, It all adds up. I've loved this.
Speaker 4: I feel like this is such a good breakdown because
Speaker 4: you're right being like, oh, I earned two hundred and
Speaker 4: fifty grand. People could be like, I don't know what
Speaker 4: she's got to complain about, my friend. Life adds up,
Speaker 4: Like life is expensive, and you know what's more expensive
Speaker 4: teenage children? Like I know you said, oh, their school
Speaker 4: fees aren't as bad as private fees, but like that's
Speaker 4: still thirteen grand a year that they spend, then dancing,
Speaker 4: then everything else that goes along with it. And I
Speaker 4: think it's interesting because obviously, let's be honest, lots of
Speaker 4: people have done the exact same thing on much less.
Speaker 4: But when we have that income, we're going to make
Speaker 4: the most of it and live the lifestyle that we
Speaker 4: want to live. And you've obviously gone through a majority
Speaker 4: I'm assuming of your children's lives, having a duel income
Speaker 4: household right where that was never a stretch, and it
Speaker 4: is such an ask to change your entire lifestyle to
Speaker 4: go from Hey, daughter, I know that life's really hard
Speaker 4: because you're a teenager right now, but mom and dad
Speaker 4: aren't staying together, and it means you have to cancel dancing.
Speaker 4: Like that is not something that most people would want
Speaker 4: to take because you want to keep some level of normalcy.
Speaker 4: You want to keep them in their routines and keep
Speaker 4: them happy with their friendship groups. And I think that
Speaker 4: there's just obviously privilege fantastic, but at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, this is normal. Like at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, it just makes sense. And I don't want
Speaker 4: you to feel like, I know you wrote in your
Speaker 4: said I'm in the top one percent of earners and
Speaker 4: all of that, and I think that you're obviously very
Speaker 4: aware of the privilege that is, but like you worked
Speaker 4: your butt off to get here, Like that's really cool.
Speaker 4: My friend got to ride your horse.
Speaker 2: But I think the thing is as well. It's also
Speaker 2: that was a really big part of trying to keep
Speaker 2: the kids' lives, trying to keep the impact of the
Speaker 2: separation away from them and trying to continue on. And
Speaker 2: you know, the house is a really big expense for me,
Speaker 2: but I didn't want to move. And it's not even
Speaker 2: a big house. It's a really average house in an
Speaker 2: average suburb.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: The higher income is really quite new to me. It
Speaker 2: hasn't always been the case, and so it's not like
Speaker 2: I had a lot of money behind me, and now
Speaker 2: I'm you know, trying to pay off my mortgage and
Speaker 2: everything because I'm actually not that far from retirement. So
Speaker 2: it's kind of just sort of sneaks up on you
Speaker 2: and you think, yes, you've got this big income, but
Speaker 2: without you know, I'm sure that all of your listeners,
Speaker 2: because they've got their financial literacy so early, they would
Speaker 2: be in so much more of a better position than
Speaker 2: what I am at my age because they will have
Speaker 2: started so early and they're not trying to you know,
Speaker 2: still maintain this kind of lifestyle at the end of
Speaker 2: the day when they've only got you know, ten or
Speaker 2: fifteen years before they want to retire. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, one of the things that I wanted to
Speaker 2: get across is that life does get more expensive and
Speaker 2: when You've got, you know, two teenage kids, and you
Speaker 2: you're really covering the cost of three people. So you know,
Speaker 2: whenever you're budgeting for yourself for clothes and hair and
Speaker 2: fuel and food, you've got to times that by three.
Speaker 2: And absolutely the income is still only coming from one person.
Speaker 2: So yeah, life does get a lot more expensive. So
Speaker 2: starting early is just yeah, it's worth absolutely worth as well.
Speaker 2: And I wish I had had the knowledge to do
Speaker 2: so myself, but yeah, it's I'm getting there better late
Speaker 2: than never. I have to ask.
Speaker 4: I have to ask. You wrote in and you said
Speaker 4: I'm a gen X single mum of you said four.
Speaker 4: Obviously that's a sixteen and eighteen year old and two
Speaker 4: gorgeous labradors. You've said I'm close to retirement, but like,
Speaker 4: I don't know who your botox technician is. I don't
Speaker 4: know what's going on, babe, But you look like you're
Speaker 4: in your early forties. Are you actually close to retirement?
Speaker 4: Are we going to share ages on this podcast? I
Speaker 4: know they can't see you like.
Speaker 2: I'm sharing my eight I'm forty eight. I've never had
Speaker 2: no you're not so. I've never died my hair ever,
Speaker 2: I've never had any anything else done, and people always
Speaker 2: say that to me, and I honestly I don't know.
Speaker 4: Like if you said it was my fortieth birthday last week,
Speaker 4: I'd be like, of course, it was like that makes sense,
Speaker 4: of course, Like yeah, absolutely not. But when you were
Speaker 4: dropping yep, these are my kids ages, this is what
Speaker 4: I did, this is how I grew up. And I'm like, oh,
Speaker 4: something in my head's not like, has she got an
Speaker 4: extra ten years up person sleeve to achieve what she's
Speaker 4: achieve My parents.
Speaker 2: Have aged really well. I think it's good Jeen. So
Speaker 2: I'm really really lucky in that respect because.
Speaker 4: Let me know where you buy them, because I need
Speaker 4: a lot of those. I do dye my hair because
Speaker 4: if I didn't, my friend I'd be half gray and
Speaker 4: you would all be like.
Speaker 2: What the heck? I am getting some gray hairs now.
Speaker 2: And my hairdresser is laughing at me because I'm freaking
Speaker 2: out going.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, and she's like, my friend Victoria was
Speaker 4: half gray by the age of twenty. Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 4: I love that so much. I love that you're working
Speaker 4: on an emergency fund and kind of like finding your
Speaker 4: own feet. I do want to know what is your
Speaker 4: big money goal. You mentioned like you're trying to smash
Speaker 4: down your mortgage, but like, have you got specific money
Speaker 4: goals at the moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really do want to pay off my mortgage
Speaker 2: and have enough money to retire at sixty, which I
Speaker 2: will be struggling to make sixty five is probably likely.
Speaker 2: But the other thing is that I do want to
Speaker 2: move out of the family home because it is quite
Speaker 2: expensive for me to keep and maintain it, and you know,
Speaker 2: kind of want to just start fresh as well. But
Speaker 2: I haven't worked out how to make that happen yet, because, yeah,
Speaker 2: if it depends what I've moved to, and if the
Speaker 2: kids are still with me, I kind of feel like
Speaker 2: they're both going to be with me through university, so
Speaker 2: I'll be you know, solely supporting them for the next
Speaker 2: few years. I mean, look, they're great kids. They both
Speaker 2: work and they contribute and everything. But it's still, you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of money. It's still a lot.
Speaker 4: It's still a responsibility at the end of the day
Speaker 4: that you're having to make accommodations for and it's important
Speaker 4: to take it into consideration.
Speaker 2: That's right. So, Yeah, aside from being able to sort
Speaker 2: of have enough money to retire if I want, and
Speaker 2: paying off the mortgage. My new partner and I both
Speaker 2: wanted to do a trip together, like an overseas trip,
Speaker 2: which we'll probably put off until our kids have finished school,
Speaker 2: and that will be twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh. But that's a goal, that's a goal
Speaker 4: to work towards, and that's so exciting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I guess that's another thing as well, is
Speaker 2: like sometimes with the budgeting, which is helpful for your
Speaker 2: community to know, is that sometimes it's really quite hard
Speaker 2: to because the timing of things that you want to
Speaker 2: do with your kids is dependent on what year they're in.
Speaker 2: So you might want to go on our holiday with
Speaker 2: them at a certain time, but then you've got to
Speaker 2: work in with when their exams are and all that,
Speaker 2: so you actually do have to plan, you know, well
Speaker 2: in advance and know that you've kind of got this
Speaker 2: little window, and then they might not want to come
Speaker 2: on holidays with you anymore, and those kinds of things. So, yeah,
Speaker 2: it is it is tricky to sort of balance everybody's needs.
Speaker 2: You're not just balancing your own needs, you're balancing, you know,
Speaker 2: what they've got going on, and they go through phases
Speaker 2: where they want to come away with you, and then
Speaker 2: it's all about their friends and then they don't mind
Speaker 2: so much. Again, so a lot of the time, Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's really you're really juggling and trying to make those
Speaker 2: memories while you can. You know, it's it's tricky.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh. All right, let's go to a really
Speaker 4: quick break. I have so many more questions and we'll
Speaker 4: get to them in a hot minute. All right, Money
Speaker 4: direst we are back, and I feel like this has
Speaker 4: been one of my favorite chats in more recent times.
Speaker 4: I feel like it's just so enlightening to see where
Speaker 4: you're coming from, and you've broken down your budget and
Speaker 4: such nitty, greedy detail that I'm like, I love this.
Speaker 4: Maybe I should make every single money. Don't tell me
Speaker 4: exactly what's in their budget. I just find it genuinely
Speaker 4: so interesting. You mentioned before that your kids have started investing,
Speaker 4: but I want to have you started investing, Like, are
Speaker 4: we walking the walk or we just talk in the talk?
Speaker 2: My friend, I haven't started investing for myself so well,
Speaker 2: aside from my super so. Again, I'm really lucky because
Speaker 2: I've been with the government. They have fifteen percent super so.
Speaker 2: My own super is actually five hundred grand.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, no it isn't. Yeah, that's so sexy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I'm really really happy about that because, like
Speaker 2: I said, you know, I used to be up until
Speaker 2: a year ago, I honestly used to get the super
Speaker 2: statements and just go, oh, yeah, okay. I didn't even
Speaker 2: have an idea about how great you know, and how
Speaker 2: good that is and how lucky I am.
Speaker 1: To have that.
Speaker 2: I really didn't know.
Speaker 4: So no, not lucky, we're removing that one, or an
Speaker 4: how hard you've worked.
Speaker 2: It has been hard work. I have worked since I
Speaker 2: was fourteen, so I have that. But also in the
Speaker 2: financial settlement, I did get some of my ex'es super
Speaker 2: as well because I was actually part time for about
Speaker 2: ten years, so I didn't you know, I was looking
Speaker 2: after the kids. I was a primary caregiver as well
Speaker 2: as working part time. So I actually have another one
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty k of his. And that one, that's
Speaker 2: a really interesting one because when we did this settlement,
Speaker 2: I didn't know that I was entitled to that, and
Speaker 2: he really tried to keep lawyers out of it and
Speaker 2: not to get legal advice and kind of said, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, if you do that, it's going to be
Speaker 2: really expensive and all this stuff.
Speaker 4: It's more expensive for me or not that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, and that's how it turned out because
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have got that if I hadn't had lawyers
Speaker 2: go no, this is this is the breakdown, this is
Speaker 2: what you know how we're going to do. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: I have that as well. So they're my OWNI investments.
Speaker 4: Only that's a lot. I'm very impressed. That's a lot.
Speaker 2: Yes, but yes, I'm very very fortunate to have that.
Speaker 2: And look, I don't you know, I guess I would
Speaker 2: not be even looking to retire at sixty if I
Speaker 2: didn't have those. So yeah, I'm really really happy. Suppose
Speaker 2: I don't have any actual Well, I do have investments
Speaker 2: in my name because we invested some money for the
Speaker 2: kids in some direct shares that was probably about ten
Speaker 2: years ago. Now that is worth about eleven grand and
Speaker 2: they are in my name, but the plan is that
Speaker 2: I will transfer them to the kids' names when they're
Speaker 2: both over eighteen. Although that's another thing I want to
Speaker 2: talk to my financial advisor about is that obviously the
Speaker 2: tax is on me at this point in time. So
Speaker 2: now that my daughter's eighteen, it might be good to
Speaker 2: transfer them to her name, but then I've got to
Speaker 2: split them between the two kids. So yeah, I still
Speaker 2: have a few things to work out with that. And
Speaker 2: then more recently, because the dividends were being paid into
Speaker 2: their trading account, I spoke about it with the kids
Speaker 2: and so they did choose some comsept pocket ETFs, so
Speaker 2: they've got that as well. Again, it's all in my name,
Speaker 2: but it will be transferred to them once they're eighteen.
Speaker 2: So I don't have anything that's mine. Actually it was super,
Speaker 2: but I don't have anything that's mine. But my plan
Speaker 2: is that I'm actually changing jobs. So I'm actually starting
Speaker 2: a job, a new job in a few weeks.
Speaker 4: Congrats, how exciting.
Speaker 2: Thank you And I actually want to say thank you
Speaker 2: to you because listening to the podcast gave me the
Speaker 2: confidence to actually ask for a better deal than what
Speaker 2: I was getting. In the better deal, it wasn't more money,
Speaker 2: but because the SUPER was going to be less than
Speaker 2: the government super, I did ask for the package to
Speaker 2: be the same and they agree.
Speaker 4: Our money win. That's such a good outcome.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would never ever have done that. I would
Speaker 2: have just gone on. Yet you're going to manage the salary.
Speaker 2: That's great. Yeah, I would never have done it, so
Speaker 2: thank you. Ah.
Speaker 4: I love that so much. It gives me goosebumps when
Speaker 4: people actually make tangible change.
Speaker 2: But my plan, and you're going to love this even more,
Speaker 2: is that my plan is that for that additional money
Speaker 2: that won't be going into my super anymore, I am
Speaker 2: going to invest that. So I'm just going to compartmentalizeer,
Speaker 2: not going to see, not going to have it come
Speaker 2: into my cash area. I'm going to just have it
Speaker 2: straight into investments so that it's working the same for
Speaker 2: me as my super was obsessed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love it. Talk to your financial advisor and
Speaker 4: she'll set it all up and make sure that you're
Speaker 4: ready to go. I love that idea so much. I
Speaker 4: want to know. We spoke before about you having a mortgage,
Speaker 4: so I want to know about debts. What debt do
Speaker 4: you have and tell us a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2: Yep, So I have my mortgage, which is about four
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty grand. Kind of the separation made me
Speaker 2: realize that we really didn't have a lot of money.
Speaker 2: Part of the reason for that is we had just
Speaker 2: done some home renovations and so the capital in our
Speaker 2: house had been reduced through that was just the timing
Speaker 2: of it. So I do still have a sizeable mortgage,
Speaker 2: which that's what I'm trying to pay down. I don't
Speaker 2: have any other debts though, so I don't have hex debt.
Speaker 2: I was very fortunate to get a scholarship. I have
Speaker 2: got a PhD. And I got a PhD scholarship.
Speaker 4: And you didn't ride in with doctor in front of
Speaker 4: your Come on, no, I didn't. All right, well doctor
Speaker 4: money diarrest. How much is your property worth in comparison
Speaker 4: to your mortgage at this year?
Speaker 2: It's probably about seven hundred grand.
Speaker 4: Oh that's not too bad in comparison. Yeah, yeah, And
Speaker 4: the plan is to smash that down over a period
Speaker 4: of time before you retire and get that done. How
Speaker 4: likely is that to be paid off by the time
Speaker 4: you're sixty.
Speaker 2: I think it's pretty good odds because I guess I'm
Speaker 2: planning on my expenses being less with the kids growing up,
Speaker 2: and look, I think it's definitely will happen in fifteen years,
Speaker 2: probably in eleven is my plan.
Speaker 4: So yeah, oh how cool.
Speaker 2: But it's like, you know, it's all last minute stuff.
Speaker 2: I just think gosh, if I'd been applying myself to
Speaker 2: this all this time, my life would be just really different.
Speaker 4: But you just don't know what you don't know, and
Speaker 4: you weren't entering on that path yet, And that is
Speaker 4: so fine. Now I need to know, what do you
Speaker 4: think your best money habit is, Well, this is a.
Speaker 2: Funny one, but my best money habit is that I'd
Speaker 2: normally take my lunch to work, so I work in
Speaker 2: the city, but I never ever buy my lunch. And
Speaker 2: this has not been motivated by money. But what happens
Speaker 2: that when you get older is if you look at
Speaker 2: a piece of lettuce, you put on a killo. So
Speaker 2: it was more about eating health than saving money.
Speaker 4: That's fair, that's absolutely fair. But also it does impact
Speaker 4: the budget because I feel like the piece of lettuce
Speaker 4: you buy at lunch time is like at least sixteen
Speaker 4: dollars nowadays.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so that's a no for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah. So that's a really good money habit
Speaker 2: that I'll take, even though it wasn't actually a money habit.
Speaker 4: What are you usually taking to work for lunch?
Speaker 1: Though?
Speaker 4: Are we making gourmet lunches? Are we doing tuna and rice?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 4: What does it look like I do.
Speaker 2: I generally do like a fresh fruit and bed platter,
Speaker 2: which it's so funny because I generally use up all
Speaker 2: of the fruit and veg and you know, it's not old,
Speaker 2: but it's the stuff that the kids are not going
Speaker 2: to eat kind of thing. And I bring it to
Speaker 2: work and I cut it off and I arrange it
Speaker 2: on a plate, and it's like, you know, carrot sticks, cucumber,
Speaker 2: cherry tomatoes, you know, a bit of meat and olives
Speaker 2: and fetter. If I have it, and I put it
Speaker 2: all on a plate because I just go and get it,
Speaker 2: cut it all up, and then I just snack through
Speaker 2: the day because I generally don't leave my desk. So
Speaker 2: good lunch, but it's just like a last minute thing.
Speaker 2: I don't have to do any prep. And I get
Speaker 2: so many comments in the lunch room when everyone sees
Speaker 2: it all laid out on a plate. They're like, Wow,
Speaker 2: your lunch looks so good. And I'm like, I just
Speaker 2: brawl was left in the fruit enttral It's quite funny,
Speaker 2: but yeah, no, I find that works really well. And
Speaker 2: then because you sort of eating your snacking, I don't.
Speaker 2: If I have it big lunch, I just want to
Speaker 2: fall asleep in the afternoon, so it kind of avoids
Speaker 2: that as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's fair. I do tend to avoid pasta and
Speaker 4: stuff because otherwise I think I deserve a nap and
Speaker 4: I'm not very good at self control, so I'll usually
Speaker 4: let myself have the nap.
Speaker 2: I want to know.
Speaker 4: On the flip side, though, because Platters a work that
Speaker 4: sounds good, I'm glad I asked.
Speaker 2: Lots of people are quite inspired by it apparently, which
Speaker 2: is yeah, funny, love.
Speaker 4: I need to know, though, what is your worst money habit.
Speaker 2: I have a lot of bad money habits. I'd say
Speaker 2: the worst one is like my kids, you know, when
Speaker 2: they want something, I really want to get it for them.
Speaker 2: They aren't that sport though generally, you know, make them
Speaker 2: save up for things and all of that. But I do,
Speaker 2: you know, because I have the means, I do like
Speaker 2: to get it for them. And you know, that really
Speaker 2: happened because I've never really had a lot of money
Speaker 2: my whole life. Like I didn't have it when I
Speaker 2: was a kid. I went straight to UNI. I was
Speaker 2: at UNI for a long time because I did multiple
Speaker 2: degrees and you know, didn't have that much money then
Speaker 2: my first job that I got when I finished, not
Speaker 2: my PhD, but my undergrad was for twenty five thousand
Speaker 2: a year, and I just thought I'd hit the jackpot,
Speaker 2: you know. So and then doing a PhD for a
Speaker 2: long time and then basically having kids, and so I
Speaker 2: went straight to was out of work for six months
Speaker 2: and then working part time. So I never really had
Speaker 2: like a lot of money. And so then when I
Speaker 2: got I separated and all of a sudden I could
Speaker 2: spend the money on what I wanted. I did go
Speaker 2: a little bit crazy because it was the first time
Speaker 2: ever that I had money. So, yeah, a lot of
Speaker 2: stuff on their kids and also the dogs too. Probably
Speaker 2: my worst money have it, And I do also like clothes.
Speaker 2: But I'm really trying to rain that. That's fair.
Speaker 4: That's fair, all right. Last question I have for you
Speaker 4: is at the start of our conversation, I asked you
Speaker 4: what your money grade was, and you set a sea.
Speaker 4: But then you continue to tell me about how the
Speaker 4: potential to retire at sixty is there smashing down your mortgage.
Speaker 4: You gave me a really detailed outline of your budget
Speaker 4: and how that works and what that looks like. And
Speaker 4: we talked about Super and how you are obviously killing
Speaker 4: it inside super and have plans to invest outside of
Speaker 4: superannuation in yourself, but also you negotiated to get some
Speaker 4: of your partners super when you went through a divorce. Like,
Speaker 4: I just feel like there's a lot going on there
Speaker 4: in a really good way, and you spoke about it
Speaker 4: one so clearly, but also in a way that just
Speaker 4: made so the real question I have for you now
Speaker 4: is is C where you really think you're sitting at
Speaker 4: the moment, and if so, what's it going to take
Speaker 4: to get to an A.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a C is really because it's about
Speaker 2: my money management, Like in terms of having money, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe now it's a bit higher, but my own money
Speaker 2: management is literally only in the last year have I
Speaker 2: got on top of it. So I think I would
Speaker 2: still say C. But I think probably in a couple
Speaker 2: of years I will get up to a B and
Speaker 2: then hopefully by the time I retire, it'll be an A.
Speaker 4: So I have made it at the base of I
Speaker 4: love that you're still like, no, this is about me
Speaker 4: and my money journey. And I still feel like a
Speaker 4: C because sometimes we talk to people and they're like, yeah,
Speaker 4: you're right, and being a bit harsh on myself. And
Speaker 4: I feel like a lot of people are going to
Speaker 4: be jumping up and down in their carts right now
Speaker 4: and they're like, she is being harsh on herself.
Speaker 2: She's an a.
Speaker 4: But it's not really about what we think. It's more
Speaker 4: about how you're feeling and how you're grading that and
Speaker 4: what that means. And you're only comparing past you. We're
Speaker 4: not comparing to other people. Were just comparing to the
Speaker 4: journey that you've been on. And artist, I'm so in
Speaker 4: awe of what you're creating and what you're doing and
Speaker 4: the life skills you're teaching your kids and that they're
Speaker 4: set up for success, and I reckon, they're so proud
Speaker 4: of you, like there's no way they're not, Like it's
Speaker 4: just it's so cool to see your journey. And I'm
Speaker 4: just so grateful the one you wanted to tell your story,
Speaker 4: but too I get to say that you're part of
Speaker 4: our community and like, thank you. I really really appreciate it,
Speaker 4: honestly I do.
Speaker 2: No, thank you very much for having me on. And yeah,
Speaker 2: I just also hope that your community is like you know,
Speaker 2: they can get there too, because if someone like me
Speaker 2: can get there with no financial literacy whatsoever. Then you
Speaker 2: know they're all going to be in such good steads.
Speaker 2: So yeah, and thank you. Thank you for educating me
Speaker 2: and us all, and you've made a huge difference to
Speaker 2: my kids. You are going to affect their lives enormously.
Speaker 2: So thank you very much.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I love it well. Thank you so
Speaker 4: much for spending some time with me today. I cannot
Speaker 4: wait to drop this episode. Everyone's gonna love it.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
Speaker 3: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 3: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 3: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
Speaker 3: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
Speaker 3: the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial.
Speaker 4: Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 3: Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
Speaker 3: of Money. Sheper Pty Ltd ABN three two one IS
Speaker 3: six four nine two seven seven zero eight AFSL four
Speaker 3: five one two eight nine