She's On The Money - What Would You Spend An Inheritance On?

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Join V and Jess this week to celebrate your money wins, share your confessions and some broke tips! This week's Money Dilemma is about HECS repayments and inheritance. And, we dive into your D.M this week all about sharing costs to visit your family when you've moved overseas for your partner. Who should cough up the cash? 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 for millennials who want financial freedom. Today, my friends, it is Friday, which means it is time to get my little team, it's actually just Jessica, together to celebrate you guys, my incredible She's On The Money community. Today, Ms. Jessica Ricci, she's got a heap of money wins that we are going to be sharing from our community. I get to share Bexbroke tips, which I'm very excited about. We're going to be helping to answer a very juicy money question, which this week is all about Hex repayments. I promise it's more exciting than just Hex repayments. And we're going to be unpacking something that you slid into our DMs about, which this week we are talking about

sharing the cost of visiting home when you're living overseas with a partner that you moved away for. I feel like that'll be really good. But before we get there, Jess, where's Bec? She's enjoying sunny Queensland. She got a girlfriend and ditched us. Oh my God. One out of 10, cannot recommend. But the pics are real cute, so we can't be too She looks really cute. I mean, I recommend that everybody goes on holidays, but like, does she have to leave us? We miss you. But how's your week been, Jess? You didn't go on holidays. Sadly, no, but there's been lots going on this week at She's in the Money HQ. We're shooting lots of content for something very exciting, which is coming out soon.

What have I done? Brooke's been trying to kill me because I keep trying to share it online and she's like, stop telling people what we're working on. Is she in this room? No, she's not. It's the investing course. So that's been really fun. Apart from that, just working our lives away. Nothing exciting to report in my world. How have things been in your world? A shit show.

So last weekend, my husband was playing soccer and got in a little bit of a bingle. He jumped to head the ball, which sounds real fancy. I'm like, oh, yeah, my husband headed the ball. Well, he didn't well, did he? because he got knocked, fell down, got taken to the hospital and we thought, okay, cool, like he's got a concussion. That's a pretty standard, I would say, injury for playing soccer. I didn't think it was that much of a contact sport.

Turns out it is because the man has two broken ribs, a punctured lung, an AC separation in his shoulder, a fractured scapula and is recovering from a concussion. He did a really good job on that. Go hard or go home. And somehow, in addition to all of that, he managed to dislocate his sternum as well. Just a cherry on top. Just go hard or go home, sir.

So we went from our local hospital. We went to Cabrini and they said, this is a bit too serious. So we spent a few days in the Alfred. Where everyone was so nice. I actually met a few nurses who were like, yep, so Steve, you've got your medication. Yep. Also, we love your podcast. I was like, oh my God, I love you.

Thank you. It was a lot. But we are now at home. thank god and working out what next steps are oh so that has taken up I would say most of the week we have been doing content but we also recorded a business bible episode before and I was alluding to how the business doesn't stop when you're the owner and I feel like this is the perfect example I'm like I have so much going on in my personal life but like work just has to get done doesn't it Jess yeah it's crazy I wish I could call in sick sometimes we're all sending all of our love

to poor Steve-O. And to you, he now has to do double the work. He is lapping it up. And I laughed before because I'm bathing my baby and my husband now. Slay. You're pulling double duty. I love it. All right. Let's get into the episode. Jess, I want to know what community money wins have you brought to the table this week? All righty. First thing this week, I've got a money win from Chelsea who said money win. My daughter paid for her coffee and my coffee using her own money from her money box, which is really wholesome, teaching good habits. Next, I've got a money win from Robin who said it was her birthday last week. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Took full advantage of all of the freebies. She got them from Sephora, from Mecca, Krispy Kreme and Boost Juice as well.

Okay. Genius. I always say I'm going to do that and then always forget. Yeah. The one I will always remember is Mecca, but like there's so many out there. Because Mecca are really good at it. And you can collect it for a while. Yeah, like they also send me an email reminder and say your little birthday gift is here and I got mine in June and it was like full, like a skincare range. Be for real. Amazing. Next, I've got a money win from Alana who said,

I was able to put $1,012 towards the little actionable steps to moving my family over to Australia. She said this is the first month she started planning to help them make this move and she feels like she's making really great progress. Oh, I love this. Just absolutely incredible. Then I've got a money win from Caitlin. A bit of a theme this week.

She said money win. I went to collect my very humble level one Mecca beauty loot box, but they were out of level one boxes and they were out of level two boxes. No. So she got a level three box. Oh, my gosh, money win. I feel like Mecca are going to have to start paying us. Jo, if you're listening, you just call me up because not only have we spoken

about you on the last two episodes, I did a money diary yesterday, Jess, with a girl who works at Mecca and all she did was like rave about how I've been there for five years it's the best job I've ever had like it's incredible and I'm just like what are we like and the staff discount is schmick too yeah you used to work at Mecca I know I miss that like I said we have to hit our money to her so if anyone wants to share their Mecca discount with us we'll make your budget for you lastly this week I've got a money win from Kim who said she has set up an auto investment every four nights so that the money is going to auto debit into her micro investing account. Oh, I love this. And I just think that that's such a good habit. If you're

someone who forgets, turn on the auto debit, let it just tick away, and then you're investing without even having to think about it. I feel like that's genius, Jess. As always, I'm going to definitely advocate for everybody investing because you can literally invest with one cent nowadays. Where's your excuse? Be for real. That's not even an ad. I'm like, just go invest. I don't even care what platform you use. Just put your money where it needs to go to put you in the best possible position when you're getting older. Yeah. And even just the little bits, I know cost of living is really hard right now, but a lot of platforms, I know Sharesies does it, I know quite a few others do it. You can round up your purchases. So if you spend $1.95, five cents goes

into your account and you can choose to invest it. And I think, I know that it's really hard because it seems like we all are so skint right now. We are. It's really, really tough to prioritize things like that. But those little features that can get you started, even if you feel like it's small, it adds up just like some of our listeners were saying. All right. Jess, I have the broke tips. They have actually come from Beck. Beck has given me two community ones and then I'm going to have to come up with my own. She didn't help me with that, which I feel like is quite rude. So my first broke tip to share with you guys is from Jess. Jess sent Beck a lovely message. It says, Hey Beck, I love your work. I have a broke tip for you. I understand it doesn't apply to

everybody, but potentially get a job that provides accommodation. I have been doing this for four years and it has allowed me to save so much money, which I'm now able to use to pursue so many of my goals and save lots along the way. Jobs in agriculture, healthcare and mining, in-home care, so like elderly or childcare or becoming an au pair, are the main industries I know of that do this, but I'm sure there are so many others. I hope this helps. That is actually such a good tip. I know that if you do snow season a lot of the time if you work at the resort you can stay out there for free a lot of your meals and stuff are covered too like turbo charges your savings because you'll have way less bills and you won't have to pay rent yeah which is the biggest expense

arguably for most people like that's a good one so thanks Jess also great name all right the next broke tip Jess comes from Gladys and I say Gladys because this broke tip has come from someone who said can you please make up a name for me instead of my actual name when you read it out so it goes. Hey guys I have a broke tip because you were discussing cleaning products the other day. Everyone forgets we do though. I have a whole highlight section on my Instagram for me cleaning things if anyone's interested. So dishwashing powder is so good and so cheap don't waste your money on pods. It's four dollars and lasts for ages. You can also sprinkle a little bit into the dishwasher directly as well as in the tablet holder so it uses the detergent in the pre-wash

and saves water as you don't need to rinse before it goes in. I feel like that's so smart. I haven't thought about dishwashing powder in a really long time. No, or where to put it either, to be honest. I never would have even thought twice about that. Very smart. No, so smart. Do you use rinse aid? Is that the thing that you, the liquid? Yeah, it's like the liquid. It's often blue and it goes in your dishwasher where the little flashy light will be. I feel like we used to. I think that's something that like caused your living life. I haven't thought about that in a long time. Oh, okay. So I've always thought about that because like rinse aid, that sounds like a scam to me. It reads scam. I'm sorry, Morning Fresh. Like be for real. I just fill it up with vinegar.

There you go. Vinegar is like the Alan Key of the cleaning world. She does it all. All right, Jess, I have a broke tip. And it involves washing. Washing machines, not dishwashers. We're on theme for today. And it involves making sure that you are washing all of your clothes in cold water instead of warm water. Okay. Tell me more. So quick back of the envelope calculations over the period of an entire year, assuming that you are doing one load every single day of the year. That's a lot of laundry. I'm sorry. I've got a baby. Oh, fair. So this makes sense, but you're running with a kilowatt average of 0.34. So 34 cents per load of power is used, quick back of the envelope calculation means that it will cost you $11 for a year of

cold washes versus $99 for a year of warm washes. There you go. You're welcome. Also, if you're using hot, it would be more, but I didn't work that out. If you're using hot, you might shrink your really nice yellow jumper and then you'll be sad. Who washes? Do you actually use your washing machine on hot, Jessica? Yeah. Well, not anymore, I think. Why? In my brain, it makes it cleaner. it's like when I wash the dishes I will burn my hands scalding hot because I'm like it's cleaner than if I washed it in like kind of warm water I mean boiling water is definitely like sanitized yeah but like is warm water cleaner than cold water probably not I get where the logic is

kind of coming from I didn't say I was an expert I just said I thought what I thought but I've always done things on cold because I'm always so anxious of ruining stuff and the other day I ruined a whole load of washing by putting Harvey's baby stuff all together and now his white baby cloths are blue because I put a new pair of like those dungarees in the wash that were navy blue and so now everything's blue but lucky he's a boy and that all makes sense. Perfect it's just new clothes it's like having a whole new wardrobe. Exactly so don't do what I do because that's not a broke tip but cold washing machine cycles it's not going to be cleaner if it's hotter. It's a game changer. Exactly. You're going to save money and we love this for us. Also, Jess, it's better

for the environment. Okay. Julie noted. Let's go to a really quick break. On the flip side, we're going to be talking about HECS repayments, which don't sound that sexy, but we're going to make them sexy. And we are also going to be unpacking something that you slid into our DMs about. This week, we are going to be talking about sharing the costs to visit home when you've moved overseas to live with a partner. So guys, don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi there. Have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve? The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week, we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning

money, career and life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now, let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma. Hello, I'm reaching out because I'm in a bit of a pickle as my hex debt is currently sitting at $98,000. I did two undergraduate degrees and then followed by a master's, which obviously took up a large chunk of that. And I graduated in 2022. I'm making the compulsory repayments out of my pay. However, thanks to our friend Indexation, need is going up and up. I've recently received a large amount of inheritance at about 100,000K around that. And I don't necessarily feel comfortable putting my family's hard-earned

money towards my HECS, but I'm only learning now, I guess, the real repercussions of having such a large HECS debt, whether it comes to my tax return, borrowing capacity, and it's just on my mind constantly, how it's got so, so big and yeah, my compulsory repayments aren't doing anything, but I don't really know where to go from here and I'd love some advice. All right, Jess, in this situation, what would you do? It's hard because I totally understand the sentiment of not wanting to, you know, feeling like it's not a good use of the money. But at the same time, I kind of think that, you know, you're acknowledging it's reducing your borrowing capacity, it's causing problems

a tax time, all of those things. I think removing that mental load from you is something that your loved one would see as a good thing. And if using that money to pay off that debt is going to make you feel a bit better, I also see value in that as well. But that being said, you know, we've said before, you don't have to do much to pay off your taxes. Yeah. I've worked in the inheritance space for a number of years now. And I mean, I don't now technically, but I would be fiercely protecting that inheritance so that it can go towards something that is tangible. So it can go towards, you know, your first property, or it can go towards shares that are going to help you in your future. Your HECS debt is something that while it does reduce your borrowing capacity,

it's not the end of the world. Like if you lose your job tomorrow, right now you have that plus $100,000 asset that's going to help you. Nobody is going to come for you to keep paying off your HECS debt if you can't work tomorrow. And I think that that is the difference here in making sure that you're putting future you first. Like, yes, being in debt, it is not sexy. It is not nice. But HECS kind of sits in the middle of being a good and a bad debt. It's what we often refer to as an okay debt because ultimately, if you're in financial distress, you're not going to be paying it back. Yes, it does reduce your borrowing capacity. But if you then pay off your HECS completely with that amount of money, you're not going to be talking about borrowing capacity

because you don't have a deposit. So I think it's really important to go, well, how do I actually honor this money in the best way possible? And that might be by not paying off your HECS and putting it aside, putting it into an investment for the short period of time so that it can make some money, maybe a high interest savings account so that it is working while you're doing life and making a decision later. Potentially paying off your HECS will mean that, yeah, you kind of get back to ground zero, but is that actually something that is honoring the money and the life of the person who gave it to you? And I think that to me, that would be the more important factor here. Like, yes, pragmatically you could pay off your HECS debt, but is that

that tangible asset that hopefully creates long-term family wealth? Probably not. And HECS over the long-term is not going to be the thing that cripples you. Yes, it takes back your, you know, taxable income, but I don't think that that's the worst thing in the entire world. Yeah. And if you want more info on that, we've got two episodes that I think that you will find really helpful, how to treat an inheritance with the respect it deserves and indexation and HECS, which we'll link in the show notes for you. All right, Jess, I feel like that wraps up the HECS conversation. Agreed. So let's dive into our juicy DM. Are you ready? Oh, yes.

All right. So this week we got a DM. Hi guys, I need advice. I met my partner when I was living abroad in America. We did a couple of years long distance before I finally decided to move there permanently. It was a really hard choice because ideally I wanted him to move to Australia and leaving my family, who I'm very close with, was really hard. But in the end, it made the most sense as I didn't have a job at the time and he was trying to grow his career where he was. I've been here for more than a year and a half now, and I've flown home to see my family three times. I've asked him to contribute to the cost of the flight as it's very expensive for me to fly 20 plus hours but he said it's not him flying so it's not his cost to pay. He also doesn't think

I need to be visiting as often as I do. I think he should be contributing seeing as I'm the one that moved and the reason I'm coughing up thousands of dollars on flights is due to this decision. I don't regret it at all and I love our life but it's starting to feel really unfair. What do you think oh it's hard I fully agree that I think that you've picked up your life you've uprooted it's I think it's extremely reasonable to expect a level of contribution to that like if the roles were reversed and he'd moved here for you and you were saying my partner wants me to contribute his flights home I would say yeah sounds fair to be honest three times in a year and a half feels like a lot to me I don't know like hard to say maybe there's like weddings or something along the way

like you had to come home for but there's also like no hard and fast rule of how many times you should be completely especially if you're really close to your family I can understand that being far away from them would be really challenging and so I think I do think it's reasonable for you to ask him to contribute in some way because you've literally had to start over like for him it's been really easy like his partner's come to live with him and you know he's just living his life as normal but you may have had to find a new job and probably buy a heap of new stuff because it would have been hard to ship everything over and you've left your family and you've left you gotta make new friends and you have to find a new favorite yoga studio like you've really started

from ground zero and I don't want to minimize that because that's such a big thing to do even if it is for somebody that you love it seems like the least he could do is help you pay to fly home because he doesn't have to do that I agree but I think we need to also zoom out a bit on this conversation and ask how as a couple you guys are managing finances completely because we know from the message you sent that he's focusing on his career and at the time you didn't have a job so how are you splitting rent how are you you know are you living in his house rent-free like there are lots of conversations to have around this but I would actually zoom out and have a chat about how as a couple do we manage finances I'm assuming this is a very serious relationship

you were together for a number of years before you moved overseas and then you've moved literally you overseas for somebody. So I would assume this is a very serious relationship and we need to talk about, well, how is a couple of you managing finances? Which is perfect because I recorded an episode yesterday on managing couple finances. I did a little solo rant, Jess, like it was a solo episode. So it'll come out as a bonus very, very soon, which is very fun. But I think it's quite interesting that you're like, I think he should be paying and he thinks he shouldn't. We actually need to then step back and go, well, as a couple, these are expenses that I'm going to incur for the rest of my life. I'm consistently going to be coming back to see my family. So even if right

now it's not impacting you as my partner, in the future, maybe we have children, maybe we have a family or overheads, we might get a mortgage. How are we still going to fit this thing in that's really important to me into our budgets and into our lives? And I think that that's where the conversation should ideally start, not, well, I'm going to mom and dad's in February next year, and I think you should help pay. We actually need to talk about why he might be on the same page about that or why he might go, well, actually, if we're going to, as a couple, manage this expense together, what's a reasonable amount of time? What's a budget for this? How does that work? Because to be honest, you've just moved. It's only been a year and a half. So I'm assuming

it's pretty responsive. Like, oh, I want to go home and see my family. Oh, I'm free at this stage. Moving forward, is it going to be once a year? Is it going to be twice a year? Like, what does that look like? Because that's really expensive. Yeah. The other thing I would say, if you're not already, and we're definitely not recommending that you get a credit card, but if you are using one already, is it earning points? Are you banking the most of it? Yeah. There's lots of different options out there. If you are using one, can you earn points when you do your groceries as well as when you travel all those sorts of things are there ways that you can minimize the cost of flying overseas are you booking during sales are you booking far in

advance when it's cheaper things that you can do to lessen that cost as well because we all know if you book a last minute flight it can be from here upwards of three grand so like I think the summary of my thoughts around this is it's a much bigger conversation like you've permanently moved overseas this is going to be ongoing is your life now yeah like is this a couple cost is it a single cost. What does this look like? We did ask the community as always. So we asked them, do you think the partner should contribute some money? They're on your team, Jess. 67% of people said yes, they should be splitting the cost. But 33% said nope, not their cost to pay. Interesting. We also asked if your partner had moved for you, would you be happy to assist with

the financial costs of flights home? Would you, Jess, before I answer it? I think it's only fair. Like, in my mind, as I said, I would because I've got the good deal. Yeah. You moved to me. Your life hasn't changed. I think that that is a cost of that convenience. Yeah. And if you don't like it, flip the narrative.

Be like, okay, well, why don't you move to Australia with me for a bit and I'll help you fly home. Let's see how you like that. Yeah. Let's see how you like it. Yeah. Put a different tone on it. Let's see how it works for you, sir.

Yeah, exactly right. 56% of you said yes, of course, they were the ones that moved. You will help pay. 41 said only if we discussed it before the move and then two percent of you said nope not part of the deal like i feel like in you know international relationships it kind of is part of the deal like one of you has moved you've decided to continue a international relationship there are going to be financial ramifications yeah it sucks it's not fair all of those things come into play but pragmatically you guys have decided it's even like when you're living

interstate yeah it is how it is like we've got family in Queensland Jess you and I are going to have to jump on a plane at Christmas time like it's a cost of choosing to live in Melbourne yeah and wanting to maintain those relationships exactly so we asked for your two cents we said do you guys have any thoughts Miss Bec Syed who couldn't be here today actually responded five times to this and said, so you're ready. So Beck does have an opinion here. This is anonymous for everybody else but Beck, for those of you listening. So Beck said, guys, I'm not here. So I'm chiming in here. Both their emotional needs need to be met and hers are currently not being met and needs to be. So he needs to chip in for sure. There's so much to say that

his boxes are so small. I can hear it in her voice. So Beck thinks that he does need to pay, which is fair and also hilarious because where's Beck, Jess? In Queensland. She's in Queensland seeing her partner's family. What a perfect timing. But for those of you who are in the community and not on the pod, a lot of you said this is something that you should have talked about before. Yes, absolutely. And I think it's a good reminder if you're in a long distance relationship, maybe have that conversation. Hindsight's 20-20 though. We say that every week. Should have spoken about it previously, but they didn't. Yes. So many people jump in DMs and they're like, well, they should have already talked

about this. I'm like, okay, sis, but they didn't. And now they're on the show. Yeah, literally. But yes. Where's your advice? Good reminder if you're dating long distance. Someone said, it's a couple's values mismatch. His value for wealth is higher than hers is for family and it's going to cause friction in the future. Oh, that's very insightful. Yeah.

I wish I could tell you who that was. Someone else said, I'm responsible for my own life. I also want to visit home more often than he probably might. So I think it's my cost. That's fair. Yeah. Someone said, this has all the traits of being a really big old red flag. Call it how you see it.

All right. Someone else said, it doesn't sound like right now their relationship is equitable. We definitely need to be having more conversations about money and how it's going to be divided, especially before they start a family. Someone else said, it's an unspoken rule. I go home whenever I want. Lucky for him, it's only Perth and getting there is really not that expensive, but I pay for it.

Someone else said, my partner and I live in Australia, but are from the US and Ireland. Early on, we realized seeing our families less was a sacrifice we'd have to make for our relationship. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's also a really good part. Cause like, don't get me wrong. I'm so glad that you've been able to fly home and see your family three times, but there are so many people who even flying home one time during that period of time would be completely unfeasible, especially after an international move. Like that's. Yeah. I think no matter what you've got to be on the

same page, it's not going to work. If one of you thinks one thing and one of you thinks the other, like you've got to find a compromise somehow. Yeah. A lot of people actually did say in the comments three times in a year and a half is a lot. And I mean, I don't know your relationship. I also don't know your financial situation. And that's not what I'm commenting on today. I'm literally just talking about how you manage money with your partner. Someone said, I'd be reassessing if the person really loves me and I want to be with someone like that. That's dramatic, but okay. And then someone else said, it's bizarre because she's moved all the way across the world, yet he's not trying to even help her get home yeah i feel like there's a lot of like nuance in this

but i guess it comes down to what it comes down to always mr scroogey and that is communication is key so i think there needs to just be more conversations and i say this time and time again when in doubt zoom out and look at the bigger picture like yes you want him to pay for this flight but this is an ongoing issue that is going to exist for the remainder of your relationship if not life? And how often are you traveling home? Is this financially viable? Because if you're traveling home three times a year, that's a three times a year international flight. I can almost promise you that's going to get in the way of buying property. I can almost promise you that's going to get in the way of your wealth creation in the future. So what does it look like?

Yeah. Well, I think it's about to leave it, I think. I agree. We'll be back next week with Miss Bex Syedge. Until then, we hope you have a beautiful weekend and we'll see you bright and early on Monday for a Money Diary. 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.