She's On The Money - Investing for Beginners: Stop Dreaming and Start Doing

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Ever told yourself, “This is the year I start investing,” only to hit pause because, let’s be real, it all seemed a bit too much? Been there, done that. But not this year, my friend. This time, we’re ditching the excuses and diving headfirst into making those investing dreams a reality. Whether you’ve got $10 or $10,000, this episode is your official pep talk to stop procrastinating and start building your future. Victoria Devine is here to break it all down—no jargon, no judgment, just solid advice that makes investing feel actually doable. We’re talking why saving alone isn’t enough to build wealth, how to tackle those “what if I stuff this up” fears, and beginner-friendly investing options to consider. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to start, this is it. Tune in, and let’s smash those financial goals together.Loved this episode? Don’t stop here—join the waitlist for The Investing Masterclass and get the tools to feel confident and in control of your financial future. Join here. Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

hello and welcome to she's on the money the podcast that shows you investing isn't just for the rich it's for you too not to say that you're not rich whoever's listening to this Maybe there's really rich people listening. Yeah, maybe. Maybe they got rich because of this podcast. Why are you still here? Yeah. We've got questions.

Yeah, well, maybe they should be teaching us at this point. Yeah, you call me. You call us, please. Does it get to January each year and you promise yourself this will be the year I finally invest only to push it off because it feels too hard or too confusing? Or maybe you've gone to start, opened an app, or even Googled how to invest but got cold feet. Or perhaps you're stuck thinking, do I even have enough money to invest? that's a silly silly silly question silly question well whether you've got ten dollars or ten

thousand dollars we're here today to show you that anyone and I mean anyone can become an investor this year I'm excited an investor and I'm excited an investor sorry I forgot my title yeah and with me is ex-financial advisor that felt really mean you're still financial advisor at heart yeah like on the inside but sometimes it's not what's on the inside that counts well that's very true so I am an ex-financial advisor. Like I'm hoping you feel very different about me being an ex-financial advisor than you do about an ex-partner. It's on par, honestly. It's on par. In the bin. Victoria Devine is here to talk us through investing. I know I am. And I'm very excited about this. In fact, I've managed a lot of people's investment portfolios and small flex

made them a lot of money. So like low key, do you want to learn about investing from just some player on Instagram who is just doing it themselves or do you want to learn it from an ex-financial advisor who's literally made other people millions of dollars and has done it herself? I don't know. I don't know. That is a tricky one. I don't know. I don't want advice from someone who doesn't know how to invest and hasn't like walked the walk. Yeah. Finance bros, do you know what the funniest thing about finance bros, side note is, how many of them I ended up with as clients and they were useless with money. Oh, that is satisfying. Yeah, it's so satisfying. Anyway, I mean, I loved all of my clients equally is what I meant.

Oh, that's what you meant. No judgment. No judgment. Bec, do you know what my goal is, apart from being less judgmental to finance bros, is in 2025, Bec? I should probably know this, but I haven't. Maybe I just wasn't listening. Obviously, it's the same as last year, and that's to get more women investing.

Yes, okay. I'm talking literally everyone, from the woman who is just like smashing avo toast at brunch to the woman who is swearing that she's going to start once she does get her tax return in June. Like not yet. Because investing isn't just for the Warren Buffetts of the world, Bec. It's for anyone who's ready to make their money work harder than the friend who always organizes the group chat. And the best bit, it doesn't take thousands of dollars or even a finance degree, which turns out I didn't need that

to get started. Well, you can chuck that out. Yeah. I'll just pop it in the bin. Yeah, might do. I don't know if you follow me on TikTok, but one time I pretended to set it a light. That was quite funny. Or did you like make a fake one and then set that one? No, no, I pretended to set the actual thing alight because someone was like, she doesn't know what she's talking about. She doesn't even have a degree. And I was like, yes, I'll burn this then. Good.

Thank you for your tutorials. They really triggered me. It brought out the worst in me. But honestly, Bec, to start investing just takes a little bit of curiosity and a few dollar rules. That's really, that's actually so empowering to know that, you know. So let's start with why we should be investing. Okay.

But nobody has gotten rich because they just saved their money. It just doesn't happen. To create wealth, to create real wealth, to create real financial freedom and real financial security, investing has to be part of your strategy. It can't just be like, oh, I just save. I'm pretty good with money. I know that that is so sexy and it feels so safe. Just putting your money in a savings account, great. But over time, because of compounding interest, because of compounding inflation, if you only save, you're going backwards. I don't know how much clearer I can be. If you are not investing, you are putting yourself behind. She said what she said. But like, I used to be a little bit softer with this and be

like, oh, you could consider investing. Oh, it's a good idea. If you're not investing, you're doing yourself a disservice because you are putting yourself behind. It means that the money that you're putting in your account today, Bex, say you've got $10,000 in a savings account and you're like, holy heck, that's so much money. I'll be fine. In 10 years from now, that money is not going to buy you $10,000 worth of stuff. Like the basket that you'll be able to buy in the future is significantly smaller. Your money in the future is always going to be worth less. And that is heartbreaking because you worked so hard for it the first time. So if you're not investing it, you are putting future you in a worse off financial position. Yes. And like this year is my

year of being relatively aggressive about that narrative because I'm getting so sick of seeing people say oh wait till I get my tax return or like I'm just not smart enough yet or I just don't feel like I can when I know you can it's kind of like your friend who just doesn't believe in themselves and you're like no like you should do it you know when your friend like that is so qualified says I don't know if I should go for the job promotion and you're sitting across from them and you're like, you are so smart and intelligent and so wildly capable, why are you doubting yourself? That's like investing for me.

Yeah, okay. I feel like I'm talking to my friends who I know have so much capability. They're just not doing it. Not doing it. That's the thing is like when you're watching like a horror movie and you can see the murderer there and you are screaming at the TV. They're right there. And you're like, I have the answer for you but you can't hear me.

It's like I can understand the, I'm not going to say aggression, but the passion. Investing is the thing that is going to get you ahead financially. Yeah. I really respect that. Thank you. Thank you. So I am sold personally on investing.

You know, I started with like 10 bucks. Which is all you need. You literally can invest in Australia nowadays with as little as one cent. Yes, exactly. And where are your excuses? Totally, totally. And the $10 you started with. It was the free $10 from.

Yeah, it was free. Like it wasn't even your cash. It wasn't. But hold on, hold on. I am obsessed with this because it was your free $10. Yes. You started investing. How much is in your investing account now? Well, I have been adding money, but only because I started this and it's snowballed. So now it's

like $100, $101 to be exact. Isn't it exciting? But it's like, yeah, once you start, it's like, doesn't actually even matter if it's going higher or lower or staying the same. It's like, I want to keep putting money in. It feels so good. And it's so good being able to start with such a little amount. I think a lot of people have in their heads that, and you know, we'll get onto this, but they need to start with a big amount because otherwise why bother but if you start with a little amount it doesn't feel painful like it's scary if you've only got $500 in your bank account you're like oh I don't want to invest that yeah because that's risky yeah let's not do that let's just do $10 like let's start with an

amount that feels comfortable because it's like the gateway drug it's just going to get you in there and then you're just going to keep wanting more and like if you're going to get addicted to anything this year Bec it's making money yes yes yes yes it's 2020 thrive after all exactly How do we overcome the fear? As you say, like when you have like a big chunk of money, you don't want to invest it. It's a bit risky. Like how do we overcome that fear of losing money?

You know, you put a big amount in there, maybe it goes down a little bit, up a little bit. It's like it's very scary to check it every day and be like, oh, good, I've lost $3, you know? This is going to be like a pick your own adventure book. Would you like serious and very harsh Victoria or kind, soft Victoria? Is there anyone in the middle? No.

No, no. it's just one or the other. I want harsh. Oh, you want harsh. Okay. Why do you think that you're so special? Why do you think that your decision is going to be more life-changing than the next? Why are there so many people in the She's On The Money community who have been able to pull their fingers out and invest and go, okay, cool. I've just picked two ETFs and I'm starting there and that makes sense for me and it's working so far. Why do you think if you are not a finance professional that you're going to be able to pick better than them or even pick better than a finance professional. And that's what's stopping you.

Right. Yeah. That makes so much sense. Why are you overanalyzing it? Why are you thinking that this is about you so much? Like I get that it's your investing portfolio, but like pull your finger out and just start because once you start, you can change. If you don't like that ETF or you don't like that share that you've purchased, you don't have to purchase it again. You could even sell it. Maybe you lose some money, you're right. But if we're only starting with $10 and you lose 20% of your portfolio, Bec, that's $2. Right. And I'd prefer you to lose $2 and get a financial education than have never pulled the trigger and just started. Yeah, that's so true. What if you get

the wrong platform? Yeah. Who cares? Change later. Exactly. It might cost you $30 in brokerage because you made the wrong decision, but you already had a couple of hundred dollars invested by the time you've decided to change platforms and what's $30 for your financial literacy and you trying things. That's a really good point because I feel like even just putting money in like $2 here and there into Sharesies, I've still learned how to navigate the app and how to sell and how to buy. And those are things you might not even know. You might not even know how to download an app. Like this whole thing is a very, very good learning experience. And I think that that's just it, right? Like so many people, as you were saying, don't start because they're scared

and you don't know how to do that, it is risky. I get it. But once you've found an option that you think might work, I think we get analysis paralysis as women and we try to overcomplicate things. Like we find the answer and then in the back of our heads we go, it can't be that easy. I'm going to do some more research.

What would in 2025 a mediocre middle-aged white man do? You do that. You do that, babe. Yeah, okay. That's what we're asking ourselves this year. Okay, that actually does make a lot of sense. but I feel like even when people understand that, there's still something holding them back. What about like mental blocks, like feeling too inexperienced or scared of making the wrong

decision? Bec, so many people hesitate to invest because they just don't feel like they know enough or they are scared of making mistakes. But like those are mental barriers holding us back. And again, you've picked the rogue Victoria today. Yes. I'm glad you did because she's feeling quite rogue. Me too. But like sillier people have done better than you at investing just because they didn't. Just because they got involved, just because they picked a random ETF. Some of the most successful investors in this country have just picked the top 200 companies. They haven't picked anything specific. They haven't been like, oh, I did heaps of research into biopharmaceutical sales and I invested in this particular company. And then I also diversified my portfolio by going

into this bio, whatever. We don't need to have those conversations. Tried and true wins the race. it's like the tortoise and the hare. It plods along, crosses the finish line and is not phased. We're in our unbothered era. I just think it is so important to realize that investing is not that deep. If I can understand it, you can understand it. It's just because you never learned that language. It's just because you didn't get taught it. And so many of us, we are worried, but they're mental barriers and they're often mental barriers because we are concerned about our own performance and not doing the right thing. And what if I mess up? But what if you're successful? What if it just works out? Yeah. What if you actually just picked

a really conservative investing option? We don't need to overcomplicate it. I think so often we overcomplicate it because we go, it should be harder than this. Surely you can't just create wealth. Surely you can't just make money. Yeah. Like why doesn't the government know about this? Why isn't the government stopping this? I know. Why are they giving me free money? Why are they giving us free money? I know.

Why are they letting me make this money? Why are they letting us do this? I mean, they're taking some tax. So when you make money, the government makes money. They're very good at it. It's very frustrating. I don't like that part. But it's not that deep.

Pick an ETF. Pick a share. Pick something that aligns with your values and try it. And if it doesn't work out and you have to sell that asset, not because it's lost heaps of money, but because you decide it's no longer aligned with your values, sell it. Bec, you said that you'd worked out your investing app. Yeah. Is it easy to sell something? Yeah, it actually is. I didn't do it for a long time. I had money in there, but I was like wanting

to move things around. But I was like, I don't know how to do that. And I didn't even touch it for like weeks. And then I was like, sure, it's really, really quite easy. How hard can it be? How hard can it be? Honestly, anything is Google-able these days. Just Google it. You can do it. You can do it. That's the energy we're taking into this year. Exactly. And I think so many of us hesitate because we just expect that we need to be the best and the biggest at it. And like, let's talk about imposter syndrome here. You don't have to be an expert to become an investor. You can become an investor today and literally be like, I still don't know what I'm doing. Like, Bec, are you an expert at investing? I feel like it. Yeah, exactly. But

also are you an expert? Probably not. No, but are you an investor? Yeah. Okay. So you don't have to be an expert to become an investor. True. And then you've got apps like, you know, you're using Sharesies. They make it super simple. Like they want to make it simple so that beginners are able to just start. And like even the seasoned investors, we don't have all the answers. Like, do you know, as a financial advisor, tax time, so like any end of quarter, I'd be so anxious, right? Because if the markets weren't performing and things were down, I was scrambling, right? Not because I had to fix things or clean up things. I'd be scrambling to do research. So say, you know, at the end of a three month period, I would, you know, be reviewing my client's

investment portfolios. And like, let's say that I was managing yours, Bec. And like, you've put all your trust in me to manage your portfolio. And then I go, hey, let's grab a coffee. We'll talk about your portfolio and I know that you're coming into my office and then I look at your portfolio and it's down 8%. Do you think that I'm not worried about that meeting? Yeah, that would be, I would quit on the spot. I used to be so anxious and I would do all this research and I would come with like printouts of things and printouts of their ETF or printouts of their shares and like the performance and why. And I would do the market research and I would call all of the investment houses and be like, Hey, cool. Like what's your take on the market sentiment at the moment? Like

what's going on? How's it moving? Oh, it's down a little bit. Oh, why is that? Oh, because America did ABC and D whatever. So I would prepare myself and I'd have my space station of content in front of me. And my client would walk in and be like, Hey V, how are you? And I'd be like, good. I'm great. Would you like a coffee? Yep. Great. I'll get you a latte. So we want to talk about your portfolio, Beck, I'm so sorry. It's down 8%. And then I'd be like, but we've talked about this. And my client would be like, yeah, no worries. No worries. That's the market, right? You said this would happen. I'd be like, did you want to know anything about it? And they're like, have you got a hold of it? And I'd be like, Billy, I'm so worried. And I wouldn't obviously tell the

client that, but in the background, I have scrambled because I'm thinking that my client is going to march into my office and be like, V, my portfolio is down by 8%. What are you doing? Is this a lack of your competency? I would have the biggest imposter syndrome. And I still get that when I look at my own portfolio because I go, I'm a financial or an ex-financial advisor. Surely I should be doing well, but we can't control the markets. And when you zoom out, you will know that over time, long-term investors are always winners. Over time, the investors who just stay invested are the ones that make money. Those ebbs and flows of 8% here and there. They feel big at the time if you're really like zoning in on them, but you don't have

to be a seasoned investor to be good at investing. And sometimes being a little bit naive actually is good for you. Yeah, that's so true. It's so good for you because I get analysis paralysis. I'm sitting here being like, okay, cool. So COVID's off and our interest rates are still high and interest rates are, you know, from my perspective, probably still going to be high for the rest of this year based on what happened in America. And like, I'm extrapolating out things in my head that lots of people would be like, what the hell? But you're like, oh, I finally done my research and that ETF feels comfortable. That must be nice. Go and do it. That's all you got to do. Keep it simple. Exactly. So we talked about like the mental blocks and fears, but how do we actually

move forward? What's the first step? What would you recommend? I have so many steps if you want to get started investing, but let's take a really quick break because I've got, I've written it out. It's a five step game plan so that you can start your investing journey today. And trust me, it's so much easier than you think, because by the end of this episode, you're not just going to be ready to take the first step. You're going to have 10 bucks from me in your account so that you can take the first step. So don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everyone. Before the break, V, you promised to show us how you make. Beck, I never promised anything. I would never make an investing promise. Oh, what would you call it? A kind word. Yeah. I said kindly that I would show

you my five-step game plan. That's so sweet of you, V. I wrote it out and I'm very proud of it. I didn't say this before, but I think it's really nice that your New Year's resolution is about other people. I never thought about it that way. That's very, very sweet. You're right. I am really nice. You are a really good person. So I should buy myself a treat. You should. Absolutely. I love this. Make it about everybody else. Yeah, exactly. I deserve a handbag. Yeah, you deserve a handbag. Oh, thank you. Thank you. That is so nice. How do we start? What's step number one? Well, you've already started. So you've already done these things, which is very cool. Yes, true.

When I said five-step plan, I didn't promise it was five revolutionary steps. I just said it was a five-step plan to getting you invested. So nobody's going to be surprised when my first step is I want you to set clear financial goals. So, I need you to be super clear about what we want to achieve. You're going to define what you're investing for. Is it short time? Like, are you investing so that you can go on a holiday in five years? Or are you investing for the long term? Are we setting ourselves up for financial freedom by the time we're 50? Like, if you're already 50, you probably need to change those game plans. But like, you know, that was just an example. Sure. And you need to decide on your time horizon and your risk tolerance, right? So,

for example, short-term investing, we want to usually take lower risk because we don't have the time in the market. We don't have the time for like us to have those ebbs and flows and got time for it. So, we actually need to pick lower risk assets. So, we might be going with a high interest savings account or a bond. But if you're investing for a long period of time, you can pick some higher risk assets. She's got time on her side. She can shine. You can pick some shares. You can pick some ETFs comfortably. And when you're setting clear financial goals, we don't just want, I want to invest more. Babe, I need a dollar amount. I'm sorry. Like, as I told you, this year is my year to get you invested. And if you haven't invested yet,

and I've already made this many podcasts for you, and you haven't done, it's time for me to sit you down and be like, look, I've got to be a little bit aggressive here. Sure. I'm putting you on performance management to get invested. Really sorry if you're just coming in and this is the first episode you're listening to ever. I think this is still warranted. It's aggressive. It's going to get you to do something. I'm an aggressive parent here. I just want the best for you. And to get the best for you, I actually need to just give you some hard truths. Gorgeous. It's tough love, but it is love. Tough love, but it is love all the same. And that's what counts. So we want to be really specific about our financial goals. We're not just going, oh, I want to go on a

holiday or I want to retire. You want to retire? Fantastic. What does retirement look like? How much money do we need in our retirement savings account? How much do we need in investing? What does that actually specifically look like? Because if you're working towards a financial goal that you actually can't achieve, Bec, there's nothing more unmotivating. Isn't it the worst when you're like, oh, I can do that. I can save, like if you've set the goal at the start of this year, I want to save 10 grand. Okay. Can you afford $27.50 a day? Right. No. If the answer is no, then you're not going to get to the end of this year and have $10,000 saved. Yeah. We need to then change the goal so that we can achieve it or change the timeframe. Do you know what I mean?

We just need to be specific. Okay. So now we know our goals. What's the next step? As I said, I didn't say it was going to be revolutionary, but it is what you have to do to get invested. you're going to understand your budget. This one's icky. Bec, I mean, I'm not going to say you can skip this one. Okay. But I know, Bec, you skipped this one. I did. Yeah. You skipped this one. You were like, I don't want to understand my budget. I'm just going to invest and see what happens. And I mean, valid strategy. Thank you. I call that the YOLO method. Yes, exactly. What I care about is that you are invested and it's sustainable and making sure that it's sustainable. So I want you to start with what you can afford. Investing doesn't require

huge sums of money, but if you want to get really serious about investing, I need you to do a very clean, clear budget. So I know how much you have per week or per month to invest. That might be $5. It might be $50. It might be $500. I don't know what that looks like, but the more clarity we have on what you can invest, the faster we can achieve it and the bigger and better your investment portfolio can be. Sexy. Yeah. Okay. I like the sounds of that. So what, personally, I'm going to not do that. And then what's next? Yeah. I mean, it's your choice and no judgment. I'll give you the tools. If you don't want to use the tools, whatever. I'll use my bare hands. She's using her bare hands. It's like,

there's a shovel over there, Bec, and you're like, I'm digging with my hands. Okay. No worries. Pop off, sis. The next thing I want you to do is your research, but we're not going to do the analysis paralysis type research. We are going to do clean, clear, timed research. So, you know how I said before, we need to set clear financial goals. We need to set clean, clear times for doing finance research. Because if I said, Bec, go and research what the best ETF is, how long is a piece of string? You are always going to find a problem with something. You will find what you think is the best ETF today. And tomorrow, you'll go and look and you'll be like, hey, so sorry, I just broke it down again. And one of

these companies has a really murky ESG policy. And I'm not really sure about that. So, I think I should go back to the drawing. There's a way I can find a problem with anything. Call me. You want me to find a problem with something? I can find one. I'll find it for you. That is not a flex, but we all do it, right? So we're going to do our research, but first we're going to set a timeframe for doing our research. So you're going to go, all right, well, I've got until the end of next week to pick, or I want to spend at least four hours researching X. So what does that actually mean. First, I need you to understand the basics of investing. I have more than 700 episodes of this show, Bec, for you to understand the basics. If you don't want to go do the research

yourself, just type in She's On The Money Investing and a whole heap of stuff will come up. I have done investing mini series. I have done deep dives on different asset classes. I have done deep dives on different investment strategies. I've done it for you if you don't want to do it yourself. Then after you understand the basics and I guess the key concepts, so you know what compounding is, you know what diversification and risk and reward and all of that fun stuff is, I need you to pick a platform. Okay. So, you need to go shopping for your platform. You're going to start comparing the beginner-friendly options to find the best fit for your investing style. It's the fun part, I reckon. It is. Also, I think that's fun, but lots of people hate it.

If you're in my investing masterclass, which if you're not, you absolutely should be, I actually have done the comparison for you. I made a really big spreadsheet and I compared all the options. Like I took every single option that is available on the market to us and did like a pros and cons. I didn't tell you what the best one is because there isn't actually a best one. Yeah. It's so simple because you might be like, oh V, I really want a sexy app. And then another person's like, I don't care about an app. Like I want it. So I've just done, you know, where you do like the big tables and like there's the brand up the top and then down the side, there's all the features and then like crosses and ticks. Yeah. You can just have a look at what

they have and what they don't have and compare them. Wait, where do you find that? It's inside my investing masterclass. Oh my God. A little bit gatekept, but like that's because it took me so long. Oh, fair enough. I'd be charging for that. So we are exploring all of our platforms and we're picking one. You're going to pick the one that makes the most sense for your investing style and that's usually reflective of your personal style. And then you're going to learn about fees. So a lot of people are like, oh my gosh, I don't want to pay fees to invest. Mate, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Like at the end of the day, we actually want to pay fees for our investing platform. I don't think that there are any investing platforms in Australia

that I've looked at that I go, oh, they're absolutely taking the mickey. Like, yeah, there are more expensive ones, but usually they're more expensive because they have different features or benefits that you might find value in. And I think it wouldn't be a value if you're paying for a feature or a benefit and it's a premium price and you don't use that feature or benefit. That's when I would go, well, why are you paying that fee? But there's no platform in Australia from like my personal perspective that is absolutely taking the mickey on fees. So yes, fees are very important, but the cheapest doesn't equal the best. And I would much prefer you to pick one that you really like and really enjoy using and then therefore invest more money on

than going, oh, but I'm saving an extra like $2.80 or something a month on my XYZ. Because also, get this, your investing fees are tax deductible. Really? You can claim them on tax. That's incredible to know. Okay. So come tax time back, your Shazzy's fees that you've been paying, she's going to claim them. Oh my God, that's actually so good. That's so exciting. Before I get to this next question, I just want to ask you, what does ESG stand for? ESG is Environmental Social Governance. And it is here in Australia and honestly, internationally, the closest thing in Australia to having like an ethics policy. So ethics isn't

governed, but ESG is this way of kind of measuring companies and saying, you know, environmentally, what are they doing? Society, what are they doing? And then governance in their organization. Are they good eggs or bad eggs? And it's usually a pretty good measure. Okay. Okay. Good to know. Thank you. It's a school day. Exactly. It sounds like there are so many options out there, so it can feel pretty overwhelming, I imagine. V, I know you can't really like say exactly, but I'm just kind of trying to get a bit of an understanding. What kind of like investments are

perfect for beginners to focus on to get started? You're a beginner, aren't you? Yeah. Or are you a seasoned investor? What do you reckon? Oh God, I'm on my way to seasoned. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So as a non-beginner investor, you big dog, what did you pick? I think it was S&P 500. Yeah, the top 500 companies.

And also Vanguard. Yeah, so that's the supplier. Did you pick like an ETF or like direct shares? Sounds like if you went with Vanguard, you picked like ETFs or index funds. I think it was ETF. And my dad recommended this random one that sounds like titimatic or something. I don't know what that is, but cool. Anyway, that's me.

That's how you got your investing advice, but you picked an ETF. I believe so. Why? Well, just because, like, I don't know what I'm looking for. So I was like, I'll just get a bit of everything. Hey, yeah, it's like when you go to the shops for the first time, there's a new lolly shop and you've, like, never had these lollies. Yeah.

So, like, I don't want to just, like, go all in on one lolly. I'm going to, like, get the mixed bag, see what I like, and then I can go back for more if I want later. Yeah, that's how I feel about ETFs. And in our community, when I talk to everybody who's, you know, started investing or has been investing for a while, ETFs or exchange traded funds, which are basically buckets of lots of options. They seem to be a very popular option for beginners and they are because they give you

instant diversification. So instead of going all in on one company, like you're not going to the share market and going, I want to put all my money in this one particular bank because I heard that banks are stable, right? You're actually putting your money across things. So you said the S&P 500 and that just means the top 500 companies. One of the more popular ones is the ASX 200, which is the top 200 companies on the Australian Stock Exchange. Good to know. And you can just purchase that in one purchase. Yeah.

So it's obviously not advice, but I see most people picking an ETF as their first investment because it's easy. There's a good amount of diversification from the get-go and you can kind of dip your toes in the water and then you can spread out from there. Personally, I've never really spread out from there. I have my investment portfolio and it's made up of, and I'm never going to share what ETFs they are. Oh my God. I got so excited for a second. I'll tell you offline. I'll tell you offline. I'll never share what ETFs they are because I know that that, you know, I probably legally can, but I genuinely feel like that would be me giving advice because I just know that people would copy me. Right. I certainly would.

Yeah, exactly. That's why I'm gatekeeping it. But I have two ETFs and what I will say is one is Australian and one is international. And then I like have, not clues, like it's just me going, oh, I don't want to put all my eggs in one Australian basket. If international is doing well, Australia is usually a little bit down. And if Australia is doing well, like it balances out. I just, it makes me feel comfortable. And then I have like my other investments where I've gone, oh, I do want to own that company directly. And like they're smaller shareholdings. So I'm only sharing that not because you have to copy my strategy but because I think a lot of people go I'll start with an ETF and then I'll become a proper investor and I'll you know have a whole

heap of individual shares you don't need to do that even like full-blown big dog investors and I'm not saying I'm big dog investor but like ex-financial advisor has managed millions over time I still just do that because tried and true wins the race yeah so true I'm not here to think that I'm smarter than all of the big investment fund managers. Well. And if you think you are and you can pick your own investment portfolio, pop off sis. That's very impressive. I don't even think I can do that. Oh God. I wouldn't be able to do it in this lifetime. Exactly. Okay. So here we are. We've done our research. Slay queen. What's next? We need to stop saying slay. We're in 2025 and like I left slay in 2023. Like honestly. You know, you have to pick a new word

though. You're going to make like Nike. You're going to make like Nike. Okay. Is this the next step or you're telling me that's your new word for slay? No, that's me saying you're going to make like Nike and just do it. I'm so slow today. Yeah. When I was in high school, I had a crush on a boy who had one ear pierced and he had the Nike swoosh, like the swoop earring. And I think about that a lot. Because he's hot? No, that was just a choice. Yeah, that was just a choice. One out of 10. Was he really thinking, my hair looks like Justin Timberlake's and I have a Nike earring. The girls are going to be lining up. The man was not wrong. Sorry. But like researching, back to this story, the researching and the planning. Yep. We've done it. We keep doing

it though. Okay. As women, I think we keep doing it and then we keep doing it again and we think we haven't done it well enough because we don't back ourselves. It is not that deep. You are thinking too much about yourself in this situation. You've done your research. Nothing is going to happen. No money is going to be made. No wealth is going to be created. No financial freedom is going to be ascertained until you make the first step, until you actually invest. Starting is the most critical step. You can do all the research in the entire world, but if you don't start, it was worth nothing. You have wasted your time. And do you know what the cool thing about research is? You can research once you've started. So like you could research, you could make a decision,

then you can research some more and change your decision. Or you could research some more and invest in something else and collect things along the way. Not everything has to always look the same. The hardest part in investing is just starting. And it's usually starting because we are doubting ourselves. It's so hard to start because I don't have all of the forms I need to get the app that I want. The barrier to entry is really high, Bec. I just don't have a million dollars to invest. If that was it, I'd understand. I'd be like, oh, I get why you haven't done that. Barrier to entry, low. The reason you haven't started is because you haven't trusted yourself enough to make a decision. Trust yourself, baby girl. Exactly. Pull your finger out because once

you've done it, you're no longer on the sidelines. You are a seasoned investor. You're in the game and your money is working for you. That's crazy. In literally like one nanosecond, anyone who's listening could be a seasoned investor. And I mean, if you are an Australian resident and you have been working in Australia, you are already an investor because you have superannuation. So if you're not caring about that, start caring about that today because all of this stuff that I'm saying is actually applicable to your super as well. Oh God, that's scary. We're just pulling our finger out. Yeah, well, exactly right. I love you, but we need to just do some work now. Totally. We need to start investing now. It doesn't have to consume your world. Just dedicate

like an hour, you know? Yep. Just a little bit. Just a little bit of time. Watch some investing TikToks. Like start in a way that makes sense for you. Yeah. But at the end of the day, you need to start. I'm sorry. Exactly. You just need to start. Just start. So we've made our first investment. Yes. Slay. What's next? Not slay. Not slay. We're not saying slay anymore. Honestly, we're going to stay in the community. So we're going to stay educating ourselves. We are consistently going to be looking into different ways. We are going to be engaging in content that makes us smarter and makes us richer. We are going to be talking about investments with our friends. We are going to be learning about diversification and making sure that, you know,

once we have an investment and we have our little portfolio going, we are keeping diversification at the forefront of what we are thinking about and what we are talking about. I've done a whole podcast on this. I have broken it down so that you don't have to, like I've broken it down so that you understand it. But essentially diversification is a strategy that involves spreading all your investments across different assets and industries and regions so that if one is underperforming, then the other can balance it out. Like when I was talking about my two ETFs, and how I have like one in Australia and one internationally. The reason I've done that is diversification. You want to be in the right place. You want to be, you know, consuming

investing news, reading investing newsletters, making sure that you kind of understand the market because I think that you will invest more if you're engaged in it and excited about it. The other thing I would say is if you've gotten this far and you're like, V, I am ready to do this, but I don't know where to start and I want to do it with you. Girlfriend, I want you to do it with me too. Literally, investing is my favorite topic in the entire world. Our She's on the Money investing masterclass, I would say, is literally perfect for you. In that, I walk you through how to diversify your portfolio, why it is important, how to do it even as a beginner. Obviously, there's an investment with that. You do need to pay for my investing course,

but if you don't want to do that, that is absolutely fine. I have so many free resources that I've built for you, more than 700 podcasts. I have five books now, Bec, and you can listen to them for free on Spotify. Like this is kind of like the, I want to take it to the next level and I want to get my stuff together and I really want to be a good investor and I want to do it with UV in 2025. That's when you need to do that. Yeah. I just want to be very clear. You can invest without doing my course. I think that is so important to just caveat that. Not because I don't think you should do it. I think you should do it. I know it is worth it, but I don't want you thinking, oh, the only way, like if you only have $10 and you're like, well, I can't afford

the course. No, babe. You can start. Also keep your eyes peeled because we will be offering scholarships this season for our investing masterclass. So if you're like, oh, I would really like a scholarship for that course, I've got your back. But the important thing here when it comes to investing is that I want you to stay consistent with your strategy and really avoid letting short-term market movements influence your decision. It's honestly all about the long game. It's not about the short game. It can be scary, but just stick with it, babe. Just stick with it. You can do it. Trust the process. And also, you don't need to know everything before you start exactly as you're saying, V. You can learn as you go. That's the beauty of it.

Exactly, Bec. And investing, honestly, I know, I get it. It is overwhelming at first, but it is about starting small staying consistent and learning as you go the earlier you begin the more time that your money has to grow and work for you babe summary of it start now because you'll be richer sooner like exactly i can't be clearer than that it's so it just it's you want to get rich i will teach you how to do that yeah just do it just do it and if you're ready to take things to the next level our she is on the money investing masterclass is literally designed to make you feel confident and in control of your financial future. If you don't mind, I might link to the wait list for the next intake in the show.

Oh my gosh, yes, please do. And of course, because I told you this year is my year to get you invested. I've got lots more investing content coming on the podcast for 2020. Thrive. And as always, please do not forget to hit follow or subscribe so you don't miss a thing and you help support our little podcast. Cute. No, we'll see you soon, guys.

See you guys on Friday. Bye. the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances she's on the money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision if you do choose to buy a financial product read the pds tmd and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.