She's On The Money - The $110-a-Month Decision That Saved Her When the Worst Happened

Starting point is 00:00:00 My name is Natasha Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Tii, gilinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yinbina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan. Mumu bangada boma ininyalan waka, gaunan yakarumja, wutunarana. Hello beautiful friends. We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank, acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal people's land that we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see. She's On The Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections,

Starting point is 00:00:41 bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources for you to thrive. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that lets you be pervy about other people's money stories for educational purposes, of course. Welcome back to another one of our Money Diaries, brought to you by our friends at SkyWealth, where we get to talk with one of our incredible She's On The Money community members all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it because this week I got a message and it

Starting point is 00:01:12 sounded exactly like this. Dear She's On The Money, I've always been a finance girl. I was working in local government, studying finance on the side, investing and saving for my house deposit. Then I got diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma exactly one year after I set up my personal insurances. I'm 19 days away from my last chemo now. The cover I had in place meant I didn't have to panic about work or bills while going through treatment and that's changed the way I see everything. I'm finishing chemo with a very different definition of what's important in life. Marnie Diarist, we were talking before and I said, hey, how are you? And you were like, good considering. And I was like, that's a terrible question for me to ask. So I asked,

Starting point is 00:01:58 how was your day? Let's do that. Welcome to the show. How's your day been thus far? So far, so good. Now I'm really excited to have you on the show. I feel like this is such an interesting and good story to be sharing. Let's dive straight into the questions though, because I don't want to miss a beat. And then I'm going to ask you a bit more about what's going on. You've always been a finance girlie. So what grade would you give your money habits from A through to F? I think considering I've always been a finance girlie, a solid B because I'm like, for sure with my knowledge, I could be doing better. Whoops. But also let's give ourselves a little bit of leniency. Let's talk a little bit more about your situation and your money story.

Starting point is 00:02:40 let's go back a couple of years what's been going on you were saving for your first home you were studying finance you were working in government and then you got diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma how has that been what does that look like talk us through what you're comfortable sharing after most of last year being scans and tests and scans and tests I didn't get diagnosed until September wow despite I'm an anxious girly through and through if there's something to worry about I'll worry about it but for most of that year I was I'm not sick nothing's wrong I'm getting these tests and scans but nothing's wrong so it did quite blindside me like to have cancer and they also found out it was stage four and basically said the day they said it like you have stage

Starting point is 00:03:27 four Hodgkin's lymphoma exactly one week later starting chemo so I had a week to entirely change my life, to tell work I couldn't come back, to pause study, to do everything. So it was very crazy. And I feel like that's the admin side of it that nobody sees, right? Like we hear all of the stories, like maybe not all of the stories, but we hear stories like I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and this is what my medical journey looked like. But in the background, you have a whole entire life that needs to come to a grinding halt. What was that like trying to clean your life up or get stuff together within a week so you could start chemo which you knew was going to knock you off your socks yeah it was exhausting and yeah definitely the life admin

Starting point is 00:04:10 was like the one that was like I didn't expect that at all and the one that's like I shouldn't have to deal with this as well like you kind of you prepare yourself for the medical stuff but the admin you're like why am I doing this but yeah it was hard like I you know you have to tell people you have to tell your friends and you have to tell your family and you have to tell work and there was such a short amount of time to tell so many people. So it was very, very emotionally exhausting. Yeah. And like, you don't deserve that at that moment. That is the worst possible moment to dump more stuff on you. Oh, definitely. So you said, oh, I'd been getting tests and scans and tests and scans for like a whole year. And I didn't think I was sick. What meant that you

Starting point is 00:04:51 were getting tests and scans? Like how did we identify that there might've been something not quite right? So I think it was maybe like late Feb, early March, I got influenza A and that did knock me down. I was so tired. And after that I was tired for a while, but I was also working full time, studying part time. And I was like, I can kind of expect that I'm tired. Like that makes sense. I was thinking also maybe, maybe there's something not quite right, but like maybe, I don't know, I'm low on iron or something. And then a few weeks after the flu, I found a lump in my armpit and started out reasonably small. And my doctors were considering I was following the flu. Like it's probably inflammation, like in the lymphatic system and it will die down.

Starting point is 00:05:42 I would believe that. Yeah. So they started with just like ultrasounds of like, yeah. And the ultrasound text came back with like yeah it looks like inflammation let's you know wait four weeks and see if it goes down and then each time it was like oh it's actually gotten a bit bigger but it got a bit bigger and then they were like oh but you just got the flu shot so maybe the flu shot made it get bigger so then eventually they did a biopsy and then the biopsy came back with like not quite any results so that had to go to the centre for further testing. And then I got, actually before they even were sure of anything, I got referred to a cancer specialist, a hematologist. And

Starting point is 00:06:24 she was even looking at the results like, this doesn't confirm anything. We're not sure of anything, but we're going to send you for a bunch of tests and act as if you have something just in case. So they sent me for PET scans and they did their own biopsies and then yeah, finally got some results. Wow. I feel like that is just so frustrating hearing that you're like, well, you know, in February, March, I had influenza A and that kind of just acted like a shield for me getting a diagnosis by September. Yeah. Like that's a long period of time, especially given it's relatively progressed, like you're stage four. Yeah. What's the prognosis on that? You finished chemo in 19 days as of writing this letter. When is the actual date? 30th of March.

Starting point is 00:07:07 that is so exciting and what will that mean after so it'll definitely just be waiting for a little while and then doing more tests and hopefully they're all clear hypnosis is very good like lymphoma is a very curable condition even at stage four and thankfully despite the fact that it did take so long to check it apparently it was caught pretty early like oh good i guess you know people can not notice a lump for a long time or like maybe it doesn't have a physical symptom at first so they do think it was caught quite quick and my mid chemo scan was all clear oh I'm glad we're all very optimistic I love that and you look quite young can I ask how old you are because I didn't get that information before I'm 28 she's just a baby I feel like that's so rude but also sorry

Starting point is 00:07:57 one of the reasons I was like this is going to be a fantastic money diary is one you are so positive like you're kind of like smiling going oh yeah we did this and oh it was the flu vaccination I'm like that's not funny babe like that's very serious I don't know I'm like do it for the plot cancer do it for the plot she says just rolling with it but you also had all your insurances set up and I do not know many 28 year olds who have actually got this stuff together because we just I don't know you're under 30 we don't take life that seriously like it's never going to happen to me. All of us say that, right? Yeah. How did you know to get that set up? Why did you get that set up? Well, I actually have to thank you. Are you serious? It was definitely a She's on the

Starting point is 00:08:39 Money episode and you guys had SkyWealth on and they were talking about, you were talking about your like favorite personal insurances and also sharing stories of people who had used them. But yeah, also definitely despite that, I was like, I went through the process of SkyWealth and even when they gave me like the recommendations I was like do I really want to do this like I could do the money for other things. Right you second guess it because it's not cheap like don't get me wrong income protection is not like four dollars like it's a couple of thousand dollars a year in most cases like it's not something that you just go whatever like you actually have to consider it. Yeah for sure and I wasn't like prepared for how much like I was going to be

Starting point is 00:09:22 quoted. And when I did, I was like, whoa, okay, do I want to do this? And I definitely spent a long time like deliberating and almost didn't go through with it. So, I'm like crazy proud of myself that I got it because my life could be very different right now if I didn't have that critical illness. Yeah, that's crazy. So, tell me, you got your critical illness set up, you got income protection set up. What did that look like? So, you know, you had to do all of the crazy administration you know telling people that you had cancer telling your work that you couldn't come back to work what was it like did you pick up the phone and go hey Phil been diagnosed and he gave you six million things to fill out like what's the process when you actually had to claim

Starting point is 00:10:04 and go through that because like don't get me wrong I know there's not heaps and heaps of paperwork but there's also a process and there's also a period of time where you can't have it until you can claim. Yeah. So I basically pretty quick after my diagnosis, I shot an email to the person who set me all up and walked me through it originally. And I said, Hey, just hypothetically, if I have Vickis, what am I eligible for? And what does that look like? And she immediately called me back and said, yes, a hundred percent. You have trauma protection. That's going to be your big one and you can like just let the claims team know and they'll walk you through it and she said and then you also do have income protection within your superannuation so I had a chat with

Starting point is 00:10:50 the claims team and we decided because I was overwhelmed that we'd prioritize the critical illness because that was less paperwork less drama and it was you know a lump sum that didn't have a waiting period it just required a diagnosis right yeah so yeah it was pretty simple like I told them and they said, you know, we just need something like this from the doctor. There was like one form for me to fill out. And then they basically did everything. And there was just updates every now and then going like, hey, it's moved to this stage or hey, it's done this. And then I think it was a text message going, it's been accepted and you'll get it. And I didn't even know how much. And then it just hit my page. Amazing. And what we're talking about here is

Starting point is 00:11:30 critical illness, which is trauma insurance, which as you said before, very succinctly, all you need is a diagnosis. You don't need to go through like a three month wait period. You're not talking to them about whether you have like a 60, 90 or 120 wait period, like none of that. It's just, if you get diagnosed with something, they have like usually a tiered system where, you know, if it's really serious, like stage four lymphoma, you're going to get a bigger lump sum payout than like a stage one melanoma. So talk to me, what level of cover did you have and what type of payment got put in your bank account? So it had up to $124,000 and $124,000 was paid out. So I got the full amount. Great. And now let's talk through what that actually

Starting point is 00:12:14 means because that's fantastic. Got paid to have cancer. That's pretty terrible. I'd probably pay $124,000 to not go through that. So I think that's actually a terrible deal. But the entire purpose of trauma cover is to make sure that you have cash available so that you're not financially stressed so you don't have to you know sell the family home or like downsize or move back in with your parents or do any of the things that you don't want to do during that period what have we been spending that money on in the last few months so actually nothing yet okay iconic so you did just get paid so yeah like definitely i would 100 pay that money back to not go through this life experience but yeah now we're here now that we're here we're gonna make the most of it

Starting point is 00:12:54 so yeah no I got it and I'd I mean unfortunately because I'm using it all up on cancer but I had a lot of leave saved so I've still even though I haven't really worked at all I've been getting my annual leave sick leave everything paid out at half pay so I've basically still been getting a paycheck this whole time it's just ended like this last fortnight I've run out officially but that was enough to cover basically all the bills because also most of my bills decreased because I'm not going anywhere. I'm not doing anything. I'm very immunocompromised. So my social life is at home. People can visit and watch a movie with me. So I'm saving a lot. I wouldn't be spending as much money as if I was out living my life and doing things.

Starting point is 00:13:39 And I guess the beauty of being in Australia, most of the healthcare is fully covered. Not so much the scans and tests pre-diagnosis, but post-diagnosis, everything's been covered. so really all I've had to pay for is the odd prescription or parking at the hospital so so far it's just sitting there waiting to do something after this that makes me so happy that it's just sitting there like don't get me wrong I'd also be so happy for you if it had like taken the financial stress off significantly to not pay you know rent or bills or whatever it is because not everybody has enough leave saved to be able to you know take a significant chunk out of work what did your income protection look like so was that something that you applied for later when

Starting point is 00:14:22 you were less overwhelmed yep so we um applied for that in january and so far because that's through my super and was not set up through sky i originally started the process by like reaching out to super trying to get the forms from them which was a long process of back and forth finally got all that had to send a bunch of forms off to everyone you know employer a hematologist again. So it took a while, but I sent them all off beginning of Jan and so far have no response. I've been following up and following up, but thankfully Sky has also sent a third party and sent things through. So they can do all the follow up now and they've taken it off my hands. Oh good. So I'm really hoping that we can get that sorted by the time

Starting point is 00:15:04 I've finished chemo, because I'm imagining like also I'm good right now and I haven't needed the critical illness for expenses, but now I've run out of leave and I don't think I would be able to return to full-time work immediately after. So income protection would be really good for that transition. Yeah. And I was going to ask, what's the plan? Because you don't just... I was going to say, I'm really lucky to have had experience working with people in your situations, but that's not lucky. I feel like I'm grateful for the experience because I've learned so much, but what happens post-cancer is often more important financially than what's happening during it because during it you've got and like I don't know your personal situation but during it

Starting point is 00:15:46 most people's expenses drop because you can't leave the house and you're just going back and forth like we bitch a lot about hospital parking fees and why are you putting fines on cars of people who are getting chemo rude you should get a sticker to be like you can't get me like I'm actually out of this game at this point. Like that's not okay. But I think the most important thing is like, what's the plan after? Because as you said before, you're significantly immunocompromised. Going back into a full-time work environment is not a good idea. You are going to be exhausted. You're not just immunocompromised, your entire body is compromised and has been knocked for six. So 40-hour work weeks, I'm assuming are not an option yet.

Starting point is 00:16:25 so have you been talking about a go-back-to-work plan or like thinking about it what does that look like so yeah I've definitely been thinking about it I will have to have the conversation with work sometime soon but they have been thankfully local government very understanding but yeah I'm definitely like I obviously priorities change like I do not want to put myself under under stress as well like I want to take the time and get my health back as much as possible and yeah immunocompromised for sure but like I've also ended up with like a really high heart rate and I ended up with like a lung infection and like lost all my muscle mass so like even like leaving the house for like a five minute errand takes like all my energy so it's

Starting point is 00:17:13 like I want to in a very healthy and slow way like increase things over time like it'll be really good to have the money there as well to see things like maybe a physio because like I'm going from not doing anything physically for six months to wanting to move my body again. So to do that in a way that's not going to do injuries or any undue stress or anything. I feel like you sound really balanced about this. Like a lot of the communication that I'm having at the moment with you is just like, you're very positive, which I'm adoring, but also you're like, I don't want to put that pressure on my body. I don't want to do this, that. I'm not used to hearing that. I'm used to hearing people go, I just want to get back into it. I just want to be back where I was like

Starting point is 00:17:56 without identifying that that's going to be a journey. So why is that your mindset? Like how are you in this position? Because it's a fantastic position to be in. I think maybe because of the last year, like I definitely have been the person who would be like, let me get back to work. Let me do this. Because I did not know I was sick for most of last year. And I look back on last year and I was like all the time I was so tired like and I just put it down to I'm working a lot I'm studying a lot like I'm just exhausted but I look back at it and I'm like I was like having naps in the car sometimes during lunch and like going home and like immediately after work having a nap and I also did a bank order of all my spending last year and spent like I think on average like

Starting point is 00:18:45 $150 a week on eating out because I was just too tired to cook and was buying breakfast on the way into work and buying dinner on the way home. And I was like, I can't believe that I didn't know I had cancer. I just was convinced I was overdoing it. And I, despite that, didn't take it easy or didn't do anything to change that. So I think that really shifted going, you spent a whole year thinking you were really tired and exhausted and overdoing it you didn't do anything to change it and turns out you had cancer yeah so I think it's kind of just been a little bit of a a weekly experience of like okay maybe we have to be a bit more careful and put our health first a bit more in the future I mean it's a very dramatic way to have that reminder yeah definitely very

Starting point is 00:19:36 dramatic but I like that you're prioritizing it now I want to know because I want to ask you a little bit more about like goals and the future but I want to know now what do you do for work and how much money do you earn? So I'm a finance officer for local government and at the moment I earn about $89,500 free tax and I'm actually do a pay increase to $96,000 in July. Oh yes please and we will be there to take that thank you we've got a few months we've got a few months to get back on track so talk to me about you took your sick leave and your annual leave and all the leave that you had banked up at half pay and it's just about to run out. Was that enough? Like, do you feel like you were completely sufficient? You didn't feel like you were missing out on

Starting point is 00:20:20 anything during that period of time? No, that was definitely enough. I think I was still putting it back into savings a little bit as well. But yeah, I was like able to kind of let everything just go into my account and everything go out without having to check my bank basically the whole time, which was nice. Like I wasn't having to worry about the bills or anything, all the money was cut. Totally. Now talk to me about big money goals, because I feel like you said before, you know, my view on life has changed and you wrote, I am finishing chemo with a very different definition of what's important in life. And I feel like that's going to change everything. So what are your big goals? What are you working towards? I'm definitely still

Starting point is 00:20:58 considering a home deposit, but I think that in my mind has been pushed off a few years because I know again like that's a major life change and decision that can put a lot of like stress on someone and I would want to be back into full-time work before doing anything like that so I think like that will definitely be something that's happening in the background and saving for that aside from that I think it's just probably like reprioritizing the budget and having more allocated to health things and more allocated to like life experiences. I think like the way I want to spend my money has shifted to like experiencing life a bit more and maybe less on like materialistic purchases or things like that as well. No, totally, totally. All right,

Starting point is 00:21:47 let's go to a really quick break because I have so many questions and we'll get to them in a hot minute. All right, Money Diast, we are back and I'm just so excited that your last chemo treatment is coming up and all scans and stuff have been looking really positive thus far, but I'm also just so happy to hear that you had income protection and that you had trauma insurance and that those things were set up. How do you think you would have felt if that wasn't a thing? So if you'd gotten diagnosed and there was no insurances, like nothing in super, what would have that journey looked like for you? I was actually thinking about that the other day and I know obviously I would feel a lot more pressure to have worked alongside chemo or to

Starting point is 00:22:32 get back to work a lot quicker and I think even knowing I have the insurance before I had confirmed that it was going to be paid out I was starting to feel that pressure already of just like the what if like I don't know how long I'm going to be sick for should I be working when I feel good just in case so one definitely took the mental load off definitely took any pressure of having to work off. But I think the other thing is I was really happy with the fact that I had a full emergency savings. I had some investments. I was really happy with the way my money was going and the home deposits I was saving. And so I think without this, I would have had to probably use those. I would have had to use the emergency savings. Probably eventually that would have

Starting point is 00:23:18 run out and I would have to dip into the home deposit savings or something. So I think I'm mostly positive about the experience, but cancer has taken a lot of experiences from me and a lot of time away from me. And I think it means that it didn't take away my like financial progress and my financial goals. Like it hasn't put me back. In fact, it's probably moved me forward because yes, I've been paid to have cancer. And I mean, that's probably a morbid way of putting it. And maybe people who aren't in the finance space and have had the experiences I have had might be really jarred with me saying that and being like what the hell Victoria that's so insensitive but I'm telling you right now I have never met one person going through this who

Starting point is 00:23:59 isn't like yeah that's a bonus yeah like it is what it is sometimes you've just got to call a pig a pig like you've just got to be like that's if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck but you know what it is it's a duck yeah like I handed over a form that said I had cancer and someone gave me 124,000 I mean like we would go back in time and not have cancer if it was an option, but it's not. So at least we're trying to make hay while the sun is shining. So talk to me, you're a finance girlie through and through, like you're one of us. What were your investments? What were you investing in? And are you still investing? So I haven't been actively investing for a while, but I do have obviously my super, which is about 76,000. Very nice. And then I have

Starting point is 00:24:46 some ETFs in self-wealth, which are about $16,200. Some ethical ETFs, some beta shares, some Vanguard and some S&P 500. Oh, nice little mix. And yeah, I hadn't been regularly investing for a while, but I had that at $10,000 and it's made like a $6,200 profit. Very nice. So, I'm pretty happy. Very nice. We like to see it. And then you've been saving for your first home. What kind of deposit have you got thus far? Yep. So, I had about a $25,000 deposit there and $15,000 in emergency. Oh, look at you. I was about to ask about emergency. Look at you. And then you've just

Starting point is 00:25:25 got $124,000 sitting to the side for whatever will happen, which ideally isn't going to cost you too much. We're hoping so in the grand scheme of things. I used to always talk to my clients, like, I'm hoping that you get to keep all your trauma payment because we get to live off our income protection. Again, for everyone playing along at home, income protection is not 100% of your salary. It will usually be about 70% to 75% of your salary. For some policies, it might be 80%. It just depends on which company you're with, but 80% is relatively rare. What's the plan with that? Do you think that that will be enough income protection to mean you probably don't have to dip into that trauma fund?

Starting point is 00:26:05 I think it should be, yes. So I'm really hoping that that is sorted soon and I have answers about that. But yeah, I definitely think that will be enough. I can live off that. And then if that's the case, then the critical illness obviously also comes with, you can get financial advice reimbursed. You can. Yes. So when that's all locked in and I know that I won't have to spend too much of that, I can go see a financial advisor and we can get some of that invested and see what's best thing to do with that is. Look, if we're going to get anything out of this, it better be a bloody good financial position, I was going to say. So, if that's the case, an income protection ideally would cover all of your expenses and keep you exactly on track. Have you got plans for it?

Starting point is 00:26:49 Like, do you want to invest that $124,000 or would that go towards a home deposit or you split it or you're going on a big cruise? Who knows? Like, have you got any big earmarks for that capital yet? I think I would maybe keep like a tiny bit for home deposit. But again, like I think probably the cancer has like shifted those goals out a few years because I just don't really want the admin of buying a home anytime soon. So I think like I'd probably want to invest most of it and have it going like there and actively, you know, generating future income and wealth. So I think that would be the main thing. Maybe save a little bit for a holiday, but I think most of it get invested. No, I love it. I love it. And I just, I'm so glad you're going to be in a better

Starting point is 00:27:35 situation. Like it's just, it's phenomenal to know that there are things that you can put in place even at 28 to make sure that future you is okay. And it's so relatable that you were like, oh, I got the fees. And I was like, I don't even know if I want to do this. And I'm glad you did. But I feel like we all get that kind of like price shock. We go, oh, wait, income protection is actually a little bit pricey. Yes, but it'll be worth it. Obviously, you're glad that you did it. What would you say to other 26, 27-year-olds who kind of just don't see the point? What would you be saying to them in this moment? Yeah, I mean, I've been saying to everyone now, like you need to go. You should just, and I've been recommending SkyWealth because it is just

Starting point is 00:28:17 so accessible with the like one lump sum and they do all the guesswork for you but I was like you should just go and you should just talk to them because I talked to them and was like you know what actually I'm a little bit scared of how much this is and I think we ended up adjusting TPD down a little bit just to make it a bit more affordable so I'm like you know just go and look into it because you never know what's gonna happen you don't and I think the week of my diagnosis I got an email from I think it was Tal saying you've had cover for one year it's like one year anniversary and I just couldn't believe that one year and it was like the week of my diagnosis so I just yeah tell everyone like no you have to you have to go figure it out like yeah you know even

Starting point is 00:29:01 just talk to the like experts who know see if you can get something that's more on your affordable like just anything's better than nothing still and be honest about it like we're just people as well. Like, yes, we're financial advisors, but like we get that it's expensive. I don't think it's, I feel like a lot of us are embarrassed to go back and be like, oh, actually I got really shocked when I saw that price. Cause we don't want to talk about that. Cause like, is that embarrassing? I don't know. But talk to your advisor about it. I promise they will be like, oh my gosh, girl, I know when I got my insurances done, I thought they were cooked as well. And then we can have a chat about the levers that we can pull or, you know, if you have income protection

Starting point is 00:29:37 and you said that you wanted to wait 60 days to get it, maybe we push it to 90 and the fees drop, or maybe we push it to 120 days and the fees drop again. Just like your cover for trauma, you would have adjusted it slightly and it would have gotten cheaper. Yes, you don't get as much payout, but it would have been more than enough for your situation still, because we're not going to let you go away with incomplete insurances. But I think there's a lot that you can do. And at the end of the day, we're just people who want to talk you through this. Don't let that price tag shock mean that you don't go and get it or implement it and as you were saying before you've got your income protection frustratingly through your super because it's a bit more of a

Starting point is 00:30:16 complex process but that means it gets paid out of your super so that's not being budgeted into your weekly budget which is kind of a money win I think yeah that's the thing as well is like it looks really scary when they're giving you all the quotes and then like 80% of that is hidden away in super and you can like turn a blind eye to it afterwards you can pretend it's not happening you're like that's a tax effective environment so that makes sense for sure so talk to me what is your best money habit I think best money habit is I've always had an emergency savings account even before I knew what an emergency savings account like even baby me with like first job and it was like five thousand dollars I was always like there always has to be a certain

Starting point is 00:30:59 amount of money that is just like that is for the worst case scenario and I've just always done that So I think that's probably my best money ever. And thankfully this time I haven't needed it, but it was there. And you know what? I want your emergency fund to be useless and not need it. I also want your insurances to be the biggest waste of money you ever spend money on. Because if you've got insurances that you're paying for and you're like, look back in 60 years and go, oh my God, Victoria, as my financial advisor, why did you set that up? That was such a waste. I never claimed on it. Good. Like that's the point. I want it to be the biggest waste of money. But on the flip side. Money, Darius, that was a pretty good investment. Not going to lie, you only had to

Starting point is 00:31:38 pay one year of fees before you got $124,000. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a pretty good return on investment. I think I did the math. I think I was paying like $110 a month for it. There we go. I was like, oh, wow, that was a very profitable. You know what? We've got to make hay while the sun's shining and kind of laugh a little bit about it because that's the finance side when we are protected can be laughed about. But it can't be if we aren't protected and nothing else about this journey is funny. So we really do have to find the tiny pockets of joy where we can have a bit of a laugh at literally nobody's expense except for the insurers. My sister jokes. She's

Starting point is 00:32:15 like, it's not what you can do for cancer. It's what cancer can do for you. You know what? I like that. I'm probably not going to use it. I feel like you can only use it if you have cancer, but pop off queen. I'm like, you know what? Yeah, I can get things out. And are we allowed to laugh when people say that? I think so. As the person with cancer, I say it's okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you for the permission because I was like, oh, am I meant to laugh at this? Because sometimes morbid jokes are like, we're not meant to find that funny. Now, Money Diaries, to flip it and maybe be funny again, what's your worst money habit as a self-proclaimed finance girly? Yes. So, I think as a finance girly, I do have an overspending problem and really bad with

Starting point is 00:32:54 monitoring money and keeping a budget. But in saying that, I always make sure my earnings who fund my savings and bills are all fed first. So, it never puts me in a bad position. I just want to get better at it. But you're just self-aware and you're like, I should probably clean it up here a little bit. Yeah. Just like as someone who's been in the finance space, I'm like, we could be doing better. Yeah. Okay. And at the start of the episode, you said, look, given what I know, I think I'm a B, what would it take to get you from a B to an A? Yeah, I mean, I think I've actually like taken some of the time that I haven't been working when I'm feeling good to do your budgeting masterclass.

Starting point is 00:33:36 Oh, I love that. You're fully in the cult. You went and saw Sky Wealth, got set up. You're doing my money masterclass. Like the girls that get it, get it. And then they get paid apparently. And I've started the investing masterclass. Oh, love.

Starting point is 00:33:49 So I think definitely like going and seeing a financial advisor and getting this 100k sorted will be really good but I think for me it's just as I transition back into normal life getting some routines in place like I want to be back into regularly investing I want to be back into just knowing where my money goes because yeah when I did the banking audit I was like have to give myself full grace for last year because we didn't know we had cancer for most of the year so when I see that I spent a lot on like eating out it's like obviously give myself grace but I think I didn't know that I was spending that much so just want to be more in the know about my money I think would take it to an A. Yeah I love that I feel like you've got such a good

Starting point is 00:34:33 level of self-reflection but also humor in this situation like you are so positive I love it you're like nope this is what the next steps are and like you seem so well balanced about going no I really want to like transition well back to work and like give myself grace like these are all the things that I want to hear from people whether you've got cancer or not like let's just give ourselves a bit more grace like let's just let things happen instead of going gung-ho straight back into it because you'll just burn yourself out it'll be a terrible recipe yeah definitely no I am like I want to take it easy enjoy life prioritize friends family enjoying things like even things like just going to the beach I haven't been able to swim or go to the beach so I'm just

Starting point is 00:35:14 like just go and enjoy life and take things easy. Oh and you found out in September so you had to have the full cancer stuff happen over the Christmas new year period where it was like the best time like weather-wise that's extra rude isn't it? I know the whole summer and you're no no pool but no beach and you're more UV sensitive as well and I'm like pale as a ghost so already UV sensitive. You know what you're gonna have flawless skin for staying inside for so long you're aging backwards, I'm pretty sure. Chemo has been great for my skin. You know what? It's the quote you used before. It's not what you can do for cancer, right? Yeah. So yeah, as soon as I'm super well and immunity good, I must travel to wherever it

Starting point is 00:35:56 has summer and enjoy summer. I think you deserve that. Absolutely. Oh my gosh. I have loved getting to know you, getting to know your story. I just feel like I want to be your best friend already. like you're just vibe is a thousand percent my vibe like you're just so fun and nice and just all of those things so thank you for sharing your story and being so open about it because it is hard to talk about like I know that we've had a bit of a laugh during this but this is really bloody rough and it is not something that I wish on anybody and I'm just I'm so glad that your chemo is wrapping up and I'm so glad that all of your scans to date have been showing nothing and I'm hoping that that's exactly how they stay but it is not a miss on me that this has probably been

Starting point is 00:36:35 rough to talk about and I just I really appreciate it and I know that my community is going to be so grateful to hear stories like this and just knowing that hopefully even one more person goes and gets their stuff sorted and they're going to be protected when this happens just makes it all worthwhile so thank you so much well thank you so much it was definitely a story like this that convinced me to go get it so I really hope someone else goes and sorts out their insurances and it helps them or it doesn't help them me too which would also be good I want you to waste your money, hopefully. Go give it all to Sky Wealth and then never look back. Yes. I love it. Thank you so much. And also a very huge thank you to Sky Wealth for making this

Starting point is 00:37:14 episode possible. I'll chuck a whole heap of information about them, how to get in contact, what they do, how they do it in the show notes for you to check out. 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.

She's On The Money - The $110-a-Month Decision That Saved Her When the Worst Happened

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