She's On The Money - Is it worth it? Let me work it

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

...I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it. Hello SOTM sweet peas! This week on the show we chatted salaries, dissecting their place in wealth creation and whether or not we need to be considering them when choosing a career path. We also nutted out the things to think about when considering a career (other than money) AND untangled a listener’s confusion when deciding whether or not to switch industries. Stick around folks, this one’s a career-focused corker.Do you love the podcast SICK and want more SOTM? Of course you do! Join our Facebook page to share your money wins and money confessions, follow us on Insta for daily inspo to keep you on track and DEFINITELY subscribe to our newsletter, the written recap of the pod’s key takeaways,including some bonus bits you won’t want to miss…In a money mess and need help untangling the muddle? We’ve got you sorted – simply record your qualm and send it through to us at [e-mail] and you may end up on the podcast!Your podcast hosts are Georgia King and Victoria Devine.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 only and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN 34 132 463 257 - AFSL 339151.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Georgia King. I'm a copywriter and journalism student who still has stacks left to learn when it comes to money. And here to put the fun in finance is none other than financial advisor Victoria Devine. Victoria Gaudet, did you like that one? I liked it but there's no fun in finance. Like I think you meant to say I put the me in team and like the letters make sense. Leave it alone, leave it alone. Okay, I'm so sorry. Now today on the show

we are going to be talking through a topic that we don't think people are really talking about so we're going to do it. Should you be basing your career choice around salary? Now it is all well and good to say that money doesn't buy happiness but it does provide a certain level of freedom which is something we should absolutely be striving for. So does salary really matter? But before we unpack this multi-layered and potentially controversial topic Victoria talk me through your money wins or confessions of this week what has been going on? Georgia King have I got a money win for you. Oh my gosh sometimes I really struggle to think of these but this week I had a money win and in the moment that I had that money win I said to the person

that was with me, that's money win. I do that all the time. So Georgia King, my money win this week is actually about parking. Oh yes, exciting. As you know, we've just moved into our new offices in the city, which means I have had to move some things into the office using my car. And I didn't make early bird recently and knew that I'd be up for maybe like an $80 parking bill, which was really sad. I was like, you know what, I'm just going to have to cop it on the nose. We actually need to move stuff in and out of the office today and when I went to pay for my parking I like drove up to the boom gate put my ticket in had my debit card ready to pay was feeling a bit of the sting already and the card wouldn't or the ticket wouldn't go into the machine and so I turned

it around and flipped it upside down and like fixed it and then I ended up having to call the press the call button and then the woman was like oh when did you come in you know try it again and then it didn't work and she's like oh well just go have a nice day you are kidding me no I'm not kidding and I got to have free parking in the Melbourne CBD that's an $80 ish money win I know what did you do with that $80 I put it into my savings oh good on you thank you taking your own advice there I love that I do you know what Georgia I can't claim that one actually so Ryan who is someone who works with us was in the car with me and he actually said all right Victoria that's a money win you're going to transfer your $80 to your savings aren't you

and I was like yes Ryan sorry Ryan so um I did it because he told me to but yes good boy Ryan yeah that was a good money win anyway let's move on to your money win or money confession what have you got for us this week i have another win i'm just carving out the wins left right and center this year amazing i mean no income is still kind of affecting me but you know it's about the small wins so my little win this week was that i have perfected the ultimate homemade green smoothie oh impressive now they will set you back a fat twelve dollars at my local twelve dollars for a Yeah, at least. Legit. So I've basically just stolen their recipe and I'm making it at home now. I think we can endorse that. Does that count as a money win? That counts as a money win. Now

let's move on to something a little more impressive. The Facebook group, they are always impressive. Victoria, have you got a favourite for me this week? I do. And I actually said on the Facebook group this week, or I commented on the post in the group this week, that it was probably my favourite money win of the month. And I think everybody knew that meant it was going to on the pod. This one is from Laura Michelle, who is one of our community members. And I know she's been a community member since the group had like a thousand people in it. Yes. I feel like I know a lot of people in the community, even though I don't know them. Anyway, Laura is beautiful. She always comments really great things, but her post was most outrageous and or hilarious money win

today. My dad successfully redeemed a Maya voucher from 2001, which was 19 years ago. He said the voucher was older than the lady who served him. He was able to successfully redeem it as it had no expiry date listed. The young employee initially denied it and then her manager honoured it and he said he was equal parts amused and proud. I love that. Me too. Hilarious.

I just feel like if you don't ask, you don't get and that is the perfect example of just having a crack. Okay, so my money win is from Marinda who has saved a bonce by buying her own reformer bed. Now it was 500 bucks, but she's done the math and she's saving thousands of dollars. And I think that's pretty cool. Forget the gym, you got your reformer at home.

I literally love it. I love going to reformer Pilates, but let's be honest, I haven't been to one class since March. Do you know what, let's be honest, it was probably since like February or something, but don't tell anyone. But I love reformer usually, and it's so expensive. It can be like $35 a class at my local studio.

Not here for it. So good on you, Marinda, very jealous. Now, let's move across to the main topic of today's show. Should money influence your career choice? Now, I know this will be a particularly relevant episode for listeners coming to the end of their high school years and deciding which courses or careers to start planning. I think graduating uni students are probably considering the next step as well. So this will be kind of relevant. But then moving down the line further, I think it's a really relevant chat for people like me who are a few years into their career and are questioning their decision for financial reasons. A bit of story time with George guys, gather round.

I always thought that money was secondary to career fulfillment, but given that finances regularly sit on top of the average Aussie's list of worries and that salaries really aren't something that's covered in high school when deciding your path, I think it's worth having a chat to see if this is something that we actually should be considering. And I'm very interested in picking Victoria's brain. I'm here for this. I love this conversation and where it's going to kick us off victoria do you think the whole if you do something you love you'll never work a day in your life thing actually has merit or is it a bit airy fairy georgia you and i have spoken about this a lot privately but no i don't think it is airy fairy at all but i do actually

really want to start this conversation by first acknowledging the privileged position that we are actually in to be able to have this conversation like you know you and i are both very privileged we are middle class white women who have been afforded amazing opportunities and a lot of that is because of the privilege we were actually born into. A lot of the conversations we are actually about to head into today before we even begin may not actually be relevant to everybody because there are some of us who are just putting food on the table and do you know what that is so enough that is so wonderful to be able to be in that position and I think that we really need to say okay, well, this is a career episode that we have been asked for and people are demanding it from us

and saying, look, Victoria, can you talk about like money versus, you know, the job I have and should I be picking it? And I want to have this conversation, but I want to also really recognize that this is a conversation that might not resonate with everybody. It is absolutely not to make people feel as though they aren't included though. And I think that regardless of what situation you're in like this is a good conversation to put yourself in a position where you can ask for more and demand more and think about more and not you don't have to do something about this but it's something that you know you deserve to be involved in the conversation whether you can action change or not you deserve to be educated and I think that that's where we should be starting

this conversation should we be being more pragmatic in our career choices I genuinely don't believe in the quote if you do something you love you'll never work a day in your life why because like I feel really lucky to be having this conversation right like I am doing something that I love like I don't just love what I do I adore it like everything about my job makes me really excited and I know that sounds really lame if I look back to myself in year 11 or 12 I actually thought I was going to be a surgeon and the reason I thought I was going to be a surgeon was because I've always been really motivated by success. Like that is something that I know exists and I put at the forefront of what I do. Like if I'm going to do something, I want to be really good at that.

And I want to be known for being good at that. And obviously that hasn't eventuated guys. I'm not a brain surgeon. I know, surprising, but I just feel like I work so much. Yes, I love it, but it doesn't mean I don't work. And I think that the mentality of, if you do something you love, you'll never work. I work crazy hours. I, you know, I'm working weekends. I'm working holidays. I worked my entire birthday. Am I upset about that? No, I love what I do, but I think it's just a little bit airy-fairy to say, oh, you, if you do something, you'll never work a day in your life. I think more, if you do something you love, you will love the work that you do. But it's still work.

It's still work. Like it is still work. And I don't think that work in this sense is defined in the right way because work to me is effort and energy and time that you spend on things it's not just sitting behind a desk nine till five monday to friday and just you know slaving away to the man i think it's more about this is time and energy and effort and things that you're putting in if you love it you'll probably work more so george i do think it is quite airy fairy but in saying that i also think it is so important to love what we do especially given that the average person will spend around 90,000 hours of their lives at work over the course of their lifetime. That's a lot of hours. So enjoying what we do 100% of the time is something that we can

work towards. But I think we also need to be quite realistic about the fact that we're not always going to love every single part of our job. As a business owner, I obviously adore She's On The Money and I adore my business seller and my clients and I'm very passionate about it. But I think you know we need to have an open honest conversation about salaries and as much as I love something if this wasn't financially viable for me long term I couldn't sustain it because my passion would be worn away with financial stress my passion would be worn down by the fact that I'm you know essentially slaving away and not having any kind of return in terms of lifestyle or in terms of time spent with family and friends so I think it's really important that we have something

that we love that we do. But let's be honest, we can't always settle for minimum salary forever if that doesn't align to our values and our life goals. Our life goals also need to come into it. So when we talk about it more deeply, naturally, having a larger salary is going to be hugely beneficial. I'm not saying that everybody needs a huge salary. What I'm saying is that it's a head start and it really allows us more luxuries and choices. So naturally, George, having a large salary is obviously beneficial. If you make the most of your large salary, it can really set you up. But at the same time, a big salary isn't the only way to create wealth. Yeah. And we've gone through that. Exactly. And I've gone over that a million times. But I really think that when we're

taking career into consideration, for the sake of everything, including financial health, we're talking mental health, we're talking emotional energy, we're talking, you know, our family and friends, I think finance does need to come into the conversations we're having around career? Because as much as we can adore what we're doing, is it going to be sustainable long-term? Are we going to be creating the lifestyles we want? And is it going to be something that we can actually look back on and say, gee, George, I'm really glad I did that. So when we're mapping out our careers, say we're in year 12 and we're trying to decide if we want to be a surgeon or we want to be a writer, knowingly surgeons are going to earn a little

bit more than writers. To my knowledge, that's true. But then there's outliers, like how much does JK Rowling's earn? She's done all right. No, I mean, she's not my fave person, but she's obviously done well. So there's outliers and like, that's a really good point. Some careers are going to pay more than others, but when we look at it, is that the outlier or is that the average? Yeah, exactly. Should you consider salary in those decisions? I think that you should. Absolutely. George, when we're in year 12 and we're at high school, we are often not independent we're often dependent on other people and we have these ideas of our lifestyle and the life we're going to live and the type of career we're going to have and we don't actually

take into consideration the finances that will fund that lifestyle so we might say oh when I grow up I want to be in a position where I travel overseas every single year that's actually not financially viable for many people and having a house at 22 exactly and I thought I'd be there Exactly. And, you know, I look back at my life and like whilst I have been incredibly lucky and I'm really grateful for the success that I've had and the businesses that I've, you know, grown and get to be a part of, I'm not where I thought I would be. I thought I'd be married at 25 and I'd have two children before 30. And, you know, I'd own a couple of houses and I was, you know, really success driven. I don't have any of that. I'm so happy, but I don't have any of

that. So I think that we have this idea of what we want, but we didn't actually have an understanding of the way we were going to get there. Because if I had had someone set me down and go, okay, well, if you're going to be married by 25, this is the type of relationship timeline you'd need. And if you're going to have kids, these are the impacts of that. And if you're going to do this, this is what you would have needed to save. I wasn't on that trajectory at all. I just wished that that was the case. So I think it's really important to be talking really honestly about things and what does a salary mean? How much will that bring in? If I have a salary of an entry level salary of $45,000 and I'm working in media, well, what's the trajectory of that? Am I going to

be on that salary forever or am I going to, you know, have that double when I finish my grad program? So understanding what that looks like at different life stages is really important. Not because I think you should be motivated by money, but we are here saying you need to create a lifestyle as well as having a job and for some people lifestyle is more important than the role they do and I think that it's really important to note that you're not defined by the job you do yeah you are not your job and if you see yourself as your job I think that we really need to think about what's going on in the rest of your life but I think a lot of people feel like that yeah absolutely and I guess I'm prime example I feel like I'm talking about myself a lot here and I

would potentially define myself by my job and my salary but that's not who I am that's not who I am to my friends it's not who I am to my partner it's not who I am when I go home and I think that that person who I am when I'm with my friends and at home she's really important as well and I think that she needs to stand on her own two feet and be looked after by Victoria who works yeah I think that both sides of that coin need to be deeply looked at because we're trying to be happy and if we're not happy what's the point exactly okay moving on to what we were talking about a little bit earlier would you say that a large salary doesn't necessarily equal wealth have you seen that in your line of work hundred percent a large salary does not mean that you have anything to

show for it yeah spoken about it on the podcast before I have clients who have seven figure salaries and they don't have nearly as many assets as some of my other clients who have just been working really hard their entire life. Don't get me wrong like it's not common but the important thing is that you are maximizing your cash flow and that is what is coming in that you can activate to create wealth. That is not you know oh I have a million Ferraris and I'm you know I don't know like people put out this image yeah and they're more than welcome to purchase them. It's not saying that that's a bad financial decision for them if it's in line with their values goals and beliefs. But it is a bad financial decision if they ultimately want to create wealth and they're

not funneling any of their money or any of their cash flow into creating assets that will help them be wealthy. So to me, no, you don't have to have a massive salary to create wealth. You have to have a very good understanding of financial literacy. And Georgia, that is exactly why we do what we do. Exactly. And I think that also like on the other side of it, if you have a low salary or an average salary whatever it may be that doesn't mean you can't be wealthy as well right absolutely some of my wealthiest clients I think you know I probably need to stop talking about my clients but they actually really like it they're like hey I knew you were talking about me the other day these guys are probably not going to listen so I've got two people who have recently retired um and actually

in my online course Georgia that's going to come up I actually do like a little case study on promise I got permission I don't use their real names and like I fudged some of the numbers so it's not so, you know, so who they are, but they have had an average salary, like combined salary of less than a hundred thousand dollars between them for their entire careers. And because they have been investing over the long term, they are retiring with an investment portfolio of about $4 million. And that is providing them with more than enough income each and every single year to live a lifestyle that is actually beyond what they've ever had. And I have clients who have come to me and been referred to me that need to retire, but they aren't actually in a financial

position to do so because they don't have the cash flow available to them to create wealth and they didn't prioritize it early enough. So I think it's really important to understand what it means when you say, oh, you don't need a large salary to get wealthy because you often go, Victoria, you've got rocks in your head yeah obviously if you have a large salary and you're allocating a lot of that to wealth development of course you can get wealthy yeah exactly massive head start of course you are going to get wealthier faster than someone with a lower salary but often with lifestyle creep people don't actually make use of the money that they have they spend it on their lifestyle i think another thing to note is that salaries aren't our only source of income right

if we're doing finance right exactly exactly if you have a job that you adore and the salary isn't what you need it to be and you are really passionate about it you can always have a side hustle you can have a side job I actually have a client who earns more from her side hustle than she does from her annual salary she yeah it's awesome that's because she set up a small business on the side and she goes home at night and hustles and packages she has candles she packages up her candles and goes to work every day absolutely adores it but she's making more money in her side hustle than she is in her actual job and some people would say oh well she doesn't have to have her actual job anymore it's like no she can have both yeah you can enjoy both a side

hustle doesn't necessarily have to turn into your full-time job it can be the thing that enables you to live the life you want and that's exactly what she's doing and we spoke a lot about that now side hustles episode guys yes we do if you're interested in going back to that one okay so salaries maybe are not as important as I had thought which is a huge relief because I was stressing out over here as a 26-year-old, not earning what I thought I would be, mainly, again, because I don't have an income. So, I mean, we need to be careful because, guys, let's be honest, she's obviously employed by She's On The Money as well.

It's a part-time job, you know. Okay. So what are the main things you think we should be looking for when it comes to career? So, G, I did a little bit of research before we jumped into this pod in our beautiful new studio. And some research conducted by SEEG found that almost 60% of Australians feel they've settled or that they're stuck in their current careers, which is

honestly a bit of a staggering stat given how much time we spend at our jobs. 90,000 hours. Yes, that's what we said before, which is why it's so important to think about this. And I really think that the main things we need to be considering here is that you choose the industry that you feel most inspired by. And if that means that you're still in school, embrace work experience, talk to people about their jobs and see what sparks that fire inside of you. If you're at uni, use the same principles and if you've already started your career or you have a really established career but you're not sure where you want to go with it, seek out a mentor or someone who you look up to who can help you on your path. That is one thing that I had a mentor early on tell me, like the worst thing

someone can say is no. The amount of people and like I'm not sure if LinkedIn is going to love me talking about this or the people on LinkedIn are going to love this but I have reached out to so many people on LinkedIn and just said hey I've just had a read through your profile I would love to learn a little bit more about where you've come from and where you've gone and how you got there can I shout you a coffee and we can have a chat and they go with it yes they did so many people are so willing I mean LinkedIn is full of spam so I think people really welcome proper honest human connection and I think that so many people are on LinkedIn to actually network which is what you're requesting to do and so many people were willing to catch up with me and if they said no

I just replied with a really polite message hey thank you so much for taking the time to get back to me they'd probably be flattered as well exactly like let's be a little bit psych on you for a second people love talking about themselves so if you invite them to the opportunity of sitting down and talking about themselves it's very likely that they are going to say yes and that's not a self-centered or an ego thing. People just inherently like talking about the things they've achieved, especially if they feel like they're talking to someone who's listening. So I think that it's really important to seek out mentors. Like I know I love exactly what I do, but do I know what I want to be when I grow up? No, but I really want to learn from people around me or

reach out to people in industries. I'm like, oh, I hadn't even considered that. Like, what do you do? How do you do it? I'd love to know more. And people also love helping. Yes, exactly. People are nice like I think we don't give people enough credit like the world is right now probably not the nicest place to be but there are so many beautiful people in the world who are willing to help and I think that if you would like to connect with them you actually have to be open to connecting with them as well and I know a lot of people who I have mentored and I've spoken about maybe we should have you know another podcast on mentoring or something because I have a lot of people reach out to me and ask about my career and my pathway and what I've done and you know

how do I get where you are Victoria I want to be a financial advisor and I haven't taken a clear pathway I haven't you know gone streamlined through the entire finance pathway that a lot of people take I've kind of like sideballed in and done psych and then did science and like nothing made sense with the way that my career has come together but I feel like it has come together in a way that I love because I have had such a positive network of people around me who have motivated me and encouraged me to apply for things that I didn't think were even possible and Georgia I think the last thing to say there is play to your strengths choose a field where you can bring something to the table if you know that you're a really strong writer like you are

Georgia King but but you can't see yourself as a journalist then maybe consider an avenue of like copywriting or the communications industry a little bit more broadly if you are an amazing artist but the path seems a little bit too difficult to navigate then why don't you have a bit of a think about putting those skills into being like an art teacher or maybe even an art therapist like there are so many different things and I think that if you start doing a bit of research you'll be able to see the different opportunities aligned to the skill set that you have and enjoy so just do your research and see where you can imagine yourself ending up and find creative ways to get there university is not always the right route for everybody 100% TAFE

courses are amazing and work experience there's a lot of different ways uni is not the only way and arguably i have learned much more on the job and from my mentors and from the people i have worked with than i have from the university degrees that i've done i think a lot of us would say that all righty so now i'm going to steer us in a little bit of a different direction if i may what do we do if our mate is earning 40 grand more than us we're the same age she's in a different industry but she's killing it georgia king have you listened to the podcasts we've created yeah look I have. Okay all right so don't compare yourself cut it out I feel like it is so destructive stay in your lane and on your own journey and we always say on the podcast and

like everybody else says it too it's not just me I can't coin this but comparison is absolutely the thief of joy and you will literally always find someone out there regardless of who you are I don't care if you're Oprah you're gonna see someone out there who seems more successful in some way, who earns more money than you, who's winning awards, etc, etc, etc. The list can literally go on. But I cannot stress enough, the moment we stop comparing is the moment we can actually just focus on ourselves and a major weight will be taken off your shoulders. Like you don't need to carry the weight of somebody else's world on your shoulders when you're carrying your own. Like that's heavy enough for you. Georgia, I also think it's really important

to remember that salaries are not everything. Like I've said this before, literally on this podcast hearing a dollar figure someone else earns might make you feel awful but it really shouldn't you don't know their story you don't know their struggles you don't know what they've been through you also don't know what they've gone above and beyond to do to achieve that and I think by comparing your journey to theirs it doesn't serve you put it to the side put it in the bin honestly it is not constructive Georgia if you're putting yourself in a position where you are saying I feel bad about myself because somebody else earns more money than me you are discrediting yourself well and it's also not about them it's about you right exactly and you're making it about you it has

nothing to do with you you're on your own journey you are achieving your own things and you're a bloody legend oh thanks no worries but like it really upsets me that people compare themselves so often to their friends and I know there are going to be some people listening to this and they go Victoria look I hear you I really do but my friend and I are exactly the same age we did the same university degree and she earns more than me and you know arguably we have exactly the same skill set and you know what it happens yeah I think you need to also understand your worth and know when to speak up if you've got an employer that's not paying you what you're worth have a conversation we did one on salaries and you know discussing negotiations but I think that is really

important to know your worth and it's also really important to just not compare your worth to the worth of somebody else's because you're discrediting your own another point as well is that life is long just offering a little bit of life advice for everyone out there um life is long and you're going to be in front sometimes sometimes you're going to be behind same goes with your friends like you don't I don't know just kind of appreciating that we're all going to be in different places at different times exactly you know what I mean I don't know that was very articulate that no but I know I know but Georgia I kind of love it because it makes sense and I feel like we need to hear these things like so often we see quotes on Instagram and we see pictures

pop up that say don't compare your journey to that of others and you go yeah okay scroll on but if you're in this position just stop it doesn't serve you put your phone down stop engaging in behaviors and comparisons that just make you feel bad about yourself you're an awesome person and you're on your own journey and the only way you can go is up. Are there any other strategies you'd have for avoiding comparison? Good question and I feel like I've given a few but I think we actually also really need to be, back to social media for a second, we really need to be mindful of who we are following on social media and how that makes us feel. So not only with career stuff, body image and all of that other stuff, really just start taking note of how you react to certain posts and

just really ask yourself why you follow the people that you follow. Like there is absolutely no reason in this entire world for you to feel inadequate. Follow the people who inspire you, do research and just see what they're up to. If you know you're striving for something, follow people who are also striving with you. Like we are stronger together. We don't need to be following people who don't make us feel that way. Hi there, you've reached the shoes on the money mailbox. Do you have a money problem you want help solving? Do you have a money dilemma you just want to chat about? Victoria is here to help. Every week, we'll be playing your questions to help make sense of a money mess you may have found yourself in. Make a quick recording on your phone and send it through

to podcast at shoesonthemoney.com.au and you might even find yourself on this show. But for now, here's today's listener question. Hello, lovelies. Just after a bit of advice, I'm in my 30s now and have been in marketing since I left uni. I've worked my way up to a really great position and now a marketing manager earning 150k a year which affords me an amazing lifestyle however I've really lost a passion for my job and I'm thinking about throwing it in and doing something else obviously this will mean sacrificing my amazing income and as a single woman I do find that a little bit daunting I'd love any advice from you Victoria about what you would do if you were me thanks thoughts Victoria Georgia I think this is a really important question

because it's one that I've heard before and it's something that a lot of you are going to think but she earns $150,000 shouldn't she be happy no money doesn't buy happiness and she's found something that she's really interested in and I would love to think that she could transition into a career that she goes to work every day and adores so I think one option for her is studying while working so don't just quit your job and go and try and get another one start learning and trying to understand the industry that you're going to be breaking into so once you do decide to make the jump, you're fully qualified for whatever you need. This would only be advisable if you're completely miserable and have some savings to lean on. Okay, sorry, I read the wrong

thing. But yes, studying while working is really good. It's what I did to get into finance because I couldn't quit my job. I genuinely couldn't afford to step out of the role that I had and into another one or even into studying full time. I also think work experience is a really good one. so volunteering maybe there's something you can do on the weekends or after work arguably you could also negotiate with your employer to maybe go to work one day less a week or one day less a month so you can take that time to really volunteer in something you love whilst it is not what she's asking me I also think it's really powerful to potentially even consider keeping the role she has but working in a part-time capacity so she can still have

a somewhat stable income while also engaging in a role that she adores um look ultimately i don't want to give her advice but i'm all for making change and doing what you love honestly you said it before g life is far too short so sticking around in a career that you know you don't love is a bad idea 90 000 hours people yeah like that's your only stat this week isn't it stats gal yeah but yeah look at the end of the day i think it's really important to just research research research and also follow your heart like I'm not saying chuck the towel in yeah thank you no but I'm not saying chuck the towel in completely but I'm saying just like follow it understand it have a look around at what you can actually engage in to potentially keep the income there for as long

as possible if you have a really great income I think it's important to also make hay while the sun is shining like are you investing it are you using it wisely is right now the best time to jump plan your exit of that industry don't just quit up and run plan it go okay no problems if i am going to do this like let's work towards it let's make sure it's something i really want to do but also study part-time so when you do leave you can hit the ground running love that in terms of structuring your finances from a paid decrease how does she go about that that's a really good question to follow up with actually georgia and i'm glad that we are covering it um first things first if you are going to be operating on a lower budget start operating on that lower budget today

so work out what that income would be and start living within those means because you'll be ready once you do take the step into a lower pay grade so adjust your budget now plan right now and make that change gradually because if she's going from $150,000 to working in disability services that is massive like we're not talking about losing $10,000 we are talking about losing a lot of salary so I think it's important to start making changes now really look at your budget now what can you cut out what is your new budget going to look like will you feasibly be able to survive on that new budget and just maybe have a look for other avenues for making extra cash like what can you do are you going to work part-time are you going to you know get a weekend job so that

you can do this many people start lots of online businesses I'm not saying that you have to do this but have a think about what your future financial situation will be and start trying to live within those means as soon as possible. Hi, I'm the 25-year-old super saver and here's my money diary. Today's money diary is from the 25-year-old super saver. We started off by asking her about her attitude to money. I've always probably been on the stingy side of money and I'm very conscious about that everyday spending

and adding up. My parents were together until I was about 11 or 12 and then they got divorced and I think it was interesting seeing my mum move from someone who she's always worked full-time but still didn't really do everything with money to us all living together in one house and watching that change growing up. If we wanted something we wouldn't just get it straight away but she was able to give us some steps towards earning it or whether it was like no you have to wait till your birthday or Christmas. So I wouldn't say we were super, we were never allowed anything, but we were also not just given everything straight away. And then I guess that is something that I want to be pretty aware of what money I'm earning, where it's going and being in control of

that side of things. Let's get into the juicy stuff. How much does she earn and how much is sitting in her bank account right now? So I am a occupational therapist and I earn around $75,000 per year. I have $300 in what I would call my spending account and then $40,000 in my savings. And what exactly happens to that money after it's deposited into her account? I'm lucky enough that in my industry, I can salary sacrifice. So I do get paid one money that's been taxed and one money that hasn't, which does impact my take-home pay really well. So when it comes in, I have automated savings. So I automatically pay about $450 of rent. Then I send total, it's about a thousand dollars into savings, but that is split up into

different bank accounts. So I have one for my house savings, one for shares, one for a safety account and then one for like holidays or other more fun stuff. And then I send $300 into what I call my like no guilt spending account. So that's an account that if I want to go out to brunch or buy some new clothes or coffee, whatever I want to do, that money is there. So then I don't feel guilty that I'm spending my savings. How does she feel about investing? Does she invest? And if so, help yeah so investing something I started again probably about 12 months ago at the moment I just I have about maybe share market it's not doing great but about seven thousand dollars of just single company shares it is something that I hopefully will continue to grow whether I look

into doing ETFs or keep going with just purchasing some single money shares and I have them set up to dividend reinvestment. So when I get a dividend, instead of it coming to me, it goes back into my share. So that share portfolio can just sort of keep growing without me having to do too much. What about debt? Let's learn a little bit more about her credit card and personal loans. None except for my HECS debt, which is about, I checked it just before, $32,000. So I haven't paid a whole heap off that. Personally, I'm happy for that to just get paid off as I continue to earn money. It does sort of scare me a little bit when I open my Gov and see the amount, but I've been working for four years now and I have seen it start to go down. So I'm

feeling like that's fine. It's out of the way. The money comes out of my account, well, out of my pay before I even see it. And I'm pretty happy to just let that go down slowly. And does she have any good money habits that she's especially proud of? Automated savings. It's that that's the first thing that comes out is, well, my savings and my rent. So then straight away, the things that are important to me and the things I need to live are paid for. In the past though, something I did before I could automate savings was when I would make a choice about not doing something or choosing a cheaper option, I would, sounds very intense, but I would transfer that money straight away into savings so when I was in a position while I was at uni and I really wasn't earning very much

money and I was out for brunch and I go oh do I buy the $25 breakfast or the $20 breakfast and I chose the $20 breakfast I would then move that $5 into my savings so I had I don't know that instant gratification of actually making that choice instead of just being like oh no like depriving myself but never actually seeing my savings grow at all. And what about her worst money habit? I think for me, it's probably committing to holidays or booking holidays and flights before I've actually thought through, do I have the money for this? Which then involves a little bit of extra saving that I haven't planned for. So what's today's money diarist actually saving for? What's her big money goal? So my big, big money goal, I'd almost have two,

which I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. One is sort of the standard, I would like to buy a house one day and that is what a majority of my savings goes towards at the moment is to go into a reasonably high interest savings account and just slowly build that up for a deposit my other one is obviously around the shares I'm hoping to kind of just develop a little bit of passive income obviously I have super as well but something that I can access in 10 years 20 years if I have kids and I can't work full time or I don't know, I want to start my own business and I just need kind of some money to fall back on. But yeah, I'm not sure if I should bring that back in and kind of just pick one to focus on.

So how would today's money diarist rate her own relationship with money? I think overall, I'm pretty good. I have a reasonably good idea of where my money comes from and where it goes. So I don't know whether I do sort of B plus or A. I think there's still stuff for me to learn, especially around the share market and capital gains tax and kind of what actually happens there. So I know there's definitely always things for me to improve on. And finally, what is she most looking forward to learning about moving forward? Yeah, whether I should be more specific with my money goals, considering they are pretty big, or if having two at the same time is okay as long as I'm aware that it obviously will take

longer to get there. Alrighty, Victoria, what did you make of our 25-year-old super saver? I loved her story. I thought you might. Yeah, I feel like I love everybody's money stories. They're my favorite part of this podcast, but I really liked that she clearly understood her money story herself. She knew where she'd come from and where she was going and how her upbringing had really impacted her life and what that actually meant for her moving forward and I think that that's a really powerful position to be in but I also think it's a really powerful position for all of us to kind of like work towards as well because the more we know the more power we have the more power we have the more action we can change so it's just really cool to see that she's reflected

on that really well and kind of taking it in her stride I love that she's saving what she's saving 40 000 at 25 very impressive yeah that is epic like that is so so cool and i just love the way her mentality was like i probably wouldn't agree with her rating i feel like she could up her rating because she is actually good like the only debt she had was her hex and i feel like that is debt that you know we don't actually have to stress too much about getting rid of asap just because you know we do have time with that and we do have the ability to generate wealth while still having Hex debt. So I feel like she was harsh on herself, but at the same time, was it B? I think it was a B. It was a B plus slash an A. Yeah. Not terrible, but I mean, she's very impressive.

She's more A than she is B plus. And you know what? I just really want to pump her up. I love her. She also mentioned that she hopes to develop a passive income. Yes. What's that again? So that is when you have an asset that is producing money for you to live on that you don't have to go to work for. So the entire purpose of having a share portfolio is so that it can generate you wealth so that you don't have to go to work anymore. And I've used this example on the podcast before. If you have, and these are big numbers, but this is what we're ultimately working towards once we retire. If you have $1.2 million invested Georgia at a 5% rate of return, that's about $60,000 coming into your account each and every single year that you didn't need to work for. And that

is not eating away at the savings that you've made or the investments you've made that's just money that your money is making and that is really cool and the more money that we are investing and the longer that we are investing for the more money our money is able to make and therefore we end up in a position where we have a thing called passive income which is where it's passive it's not active like going to work every single day. And what did you think of her big money goal buying a house? I think that if that is in line with her goals and her values I am so here for that it is a very big goal of a lot of us it's something that I see a lot of my clients wanting to engage in and I really like it like she seemed like she had conviction in what she was looking

forward to and working towards and I can't ask more 100% she definitely knows where she's been and where she's heading now that is all we have time for today but before we head off let's quickly wrap the boring but important stuff the advice shared on shoes on the money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. Shoes on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. And relax, we promise Victoria Devine is an authorised representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management, Proprietary Limited,

ABN 34132463257, AFSL 339151. And as always, a massive shout out to our audio lord, Ryan John, for putting together today's pod. We would love it if you joined our Facebook group where our community shares money tips and tricks every single day free of judgment. Search She's On The Money on Facebook and join us. If Facebook's not your thing

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