She's On The Money - Why You Should Always Negotiate

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

$50K tax-free but your partner says no — what would YOU do? In this episode, we unpack a major dilemma: would you chase financial security or stick with relationship stability? Plus, when a $10K settlement is on the table, is it ever enough, or should you always negotiate for more? We’re diving into the risks, rewards, and real-life stories from our incredible community. Tune in for some juicy discussions, money wins, and a few surprises along the way! Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It's actually our favorite day of the week because we get our little team together. It's a little bit smaller than usual, but we get our little team together and celebrate you, our incredible She's On The Money community. Today, Mr. Scorici, she's actually off sick. So I'm going to be sharing her money wins. Bec, you're here though. I am. Yeah, which is very lucky because I don't want to do a solo Friday episode. I know, that'd be really sad.

That'd be so lonely. But you're going to be sharing your broke tips and we're going to be helping to answer a money dilemma, which this week is all about whether you should uproot your life for a $50,000 bonus and your partner won't budge on it. And something that you slid into our DMs about this week, we're talking about a $10,000 payout that's on the table. Is that enough or should she be fighting for more? Those sounds so, both of them sound juicy. I feel like the second one sounds really juicy because we need to know why there's a $10,000 payout. Yeah, what's going on? What's going on there? But also like $50,000 bonus. I think I would, honestly. I don't even know what it is but what if what if your partner was like absolutely not well we're gonna get into

it later yeah we're gonna get into it later but before we get there beck this has become my favorite ego stroking session yes ever yeah same we're gonna read out another five star review of the show and like we've had a few coming in and i love it if you haven't left a review of the show it really does help us because it helps to put the podcast in people's vision, right? So we want to grow our community. We want more She's On The Money friends. And this is a really good way of doing that. But Bec, what is the five star review that you are going to read out this week? Okay. I do have to say looking for these and trying to dodge the really mean ones. Oh my gosh. Why are people so nasty though? It's so true.

It's so mean. It makes me so sad. I'm sorry that my voice is annoying, but it's actually something I can't change. Yes. Well, true. I could get you on some testosterone. Thank you. Thank you. That would be very kind, very generous. Of course. Very not aligned to my values at this point in life. Sure. Should they change? I'll hit you up. Easy. Okay, great. Thank you. What have you got? Today, I've got one from KB who says, listening and putting good habits in place makes me feel so adulty as I should at 32 years old. Love this potty. I love that. I'm 33 and I don't feel like an adult. No, same. I'm 32. Don't feel like an adult. I'm just a teenage mom. Like that's me.

I'm just a teenage mom. Yeah, you really are. I just don't know how life is happening to me like this. Like it all just happened like wild. You know, the age just keeps on growing, but it's I don't think mentally I've changed at all. No. Also, at what point do we feel like adults? Do you remember when you were like young and you'd see your parents, you'd be like very serious adults. Wow. Wow. Am I that serious adult now? I don't know because I see other adults at the supermarket and I'm like, way too mature for me. Yeah. Like those are adults. Exactly. I just think you either got it or you don't. Yeah, I don't. We don't got it. We don't got it. We don't got it. Physical age, 33. Mental age, three. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I love that. I have one and I've

purposely picked it because it's about Tasmania and that's where I'm from. So she said, I've loved She's on the Money since I first came across it and I have all of the books and I'm working my way through the podcasts and masterclass. The absolute girl power that emanates from Victoria and the She's On The Money crew is so empowering. Finance doesn't have to be something for the Wall Street bros. And I now already feel so much more empowered to take control of my future. In the two-ish years of interacting with She's On The Money, I've transformed things already. I have an emergency fund. I've been bucketing my finances. I have a clear budget and I am learning to invest. And then I found out V is a Tassie girl. We know literacy, whether it's

medical, educational or financial is sadly very poor in Tasmania. So I just love to see a Tassie girl giving back. Isn't that so cute? Comprehensive. That is so good. I love it. No, finance isn't for the Wall Street bros. Totally. I visited Wall Street. Kind of boring TBH. Was it? Yeah, there was like a bull statue. I did get a picture with that because if you know, you know. A what statue? There's like a bull. Oh, sorry. Like it's a big bull, like bronze statue. Yeah, okay. Yeah, we did a whole series on it. Turns out it costs like hundreds of thousands of dollars. I see. Of course it did. But there's literally not one thing that's interesting about being a Wall Street bro. I see. Were there like papers flying and like phones ringing? No, they were just really

mediocre middle-aged white men walking around, just like going to work and stuff. I see. It's also a Pret. What is that? Oh my gosh. Pret in the US and the UK. Incredible. It's like all of the good things from 7-Eleven, like all of the food, all of the sandwiches, all of the drinks, but it's just a shop for snacks. Pret. Yep. And they do get these coffee subscriptions. So Bec, you could have a coffee subscription and get as many coffees as you wanted in a month for a set figure. That's a good deal. That is a good deal. It depends how much it is. It's really reasonable. I can't remember the price, but like, let's say it was like 60 bucks for the month or something. That's like, it's unhinged good. Yeah, that's really good. Because I did the maths and I was like, I would

fly through that. Yes. I would fly through that. Take advantage. Anyway, let's jump in. Miss Jessica Ricci, she's away this week. She's under the weather. So we kind of banned her from the studio. We said, we don't want you here if you're under the weather. We want you to stay in bed. So I went ahead and picked my favorite money wins from the community instead. So first one up is from our friend Amanda. She said, when the supermarket mislabels a product as $22 for $16 instead of $2 for $16 and you clear out their stock and make them honor the ticket price, $200 saved. Oh my God, that's hectic. That actually makes me laugh so much because it's obviously an error, but she's like, you know what? The supermarket has made literal billions this

year. I think you can take this hit. Yeah, that's true actually. And 245 people from our community liked that post. Amazing. And those are the... These are the... I don't know what these are. Do you know what these are? Yes, of course. Oh my God. I'm constantly perpetually in the protein aisle and those look like those little... They're very expensive. Those little balls. Well, yeah, they are very expensive. So they look like protein balls. It says four protein and probiotic-filled balls, any two for $16, but the spelling mistake says 22 for $16. That is a lot. That is an incredible, incredible money win. She could have got more, but at the end of the day, she just cleared them all out. She took what

she could and she ran. Isn't that iconic? That's great. Okay, so next one. I don't know if you guys have been following along, but this week I have been on an epic rant about multi-level marketing companies, how predatory and deceptive they are, how I want to make sure that people in our community are protected but educated about them because I'm all about you making the right decision for you. But I get so frustrated when I see women putting themselves out in a position where, Bec, you know how hard it is to make content. You work in content. To get in front of a camera and post on Instagram about a product, about a service, about your business is hard work. These women are doing this, but putting

themselves behind long-term. So it actually kills me. But this week, Holly's money win. She says, money win. Didn't join a multi-level marketing cult as a new mom looking for side hustles. Good on you. And I laughed so hard. Like Holly, you're a real one. I have a money win from Sophie. She said, I bought my wedding alcohol from Dan Murphy's and everything that was unopened and not refrigerated can be returned. So we have 800 bucks back in our pockets. Oh, that is great. That's so smart.

800 bucks. I know. And like, you wouldn't have got a refund for that otherwise. Yeah, totally. Wedding venues aren't going to cough that up for you if you didn't drink them out of house and home. Absolutely. That is so good.

And to have that in the back of your mind, like, oh, I'm going to purposely not refrigerate these and make sure. Yeah, 100%. But also making sure that you know that, you know, you didn't get to the venue and the bar staff just opened every slab and put it in an ice bucket or something. So smart. That is clever. It's very clever. I have another one from Gabrielle, which is really, I have another one from Gabrielle, which for me is really relevant because if you follow me on social media, you know, I am meant to be renovating my front garden at the moment, Bec.

And my husband and I, I'm not paying for demo. It's not happening. Zoe. Like, I feel like you can't mess up demo that bad. Demo would be fun. It is fun. But also, like, once you've knocked down the fun things, like, you then have to, like, weed the whole garden

and pull out bricks and stuff. But it's fine because it's free, Bec. But my landscaping quote came back at a significantly higher amount. So I've actually just parked it and been like, absolutely not. I will revisit that when I have the mental capacity. So currently my front yard looks barren. I see. You know when you, like, get halfway through a project

and then you're like, leave. I actually don't want to do this anymore. Yeah, but, like, I didn't want to do it because, Bec, the quote was astronomical. Turns out Gabrielle's having the same thing. She said, we got quoted for landscaping, $41,000 to have our yard excavated, topsoil and grass. Went ahead and got another quote, which was $38,000.

But then I went to the local nursery and got prices for the materials to do it ourselves. Much cheaper. Yes. And found a local business that will excavate, supply and lay all of the topsoil for only five grand. Oh, great. We ordered the grass from a turf company, which will be five and a half grand, which

we will lay ourselves. So instead of spending $38,000 to $41,000, it's costing us ten and a half grand. Oh, perfect. Isn't that good? Yeah, that's so good. I actually need to hit you up, Gabrielle, because I currently am in that situation. Oh my gosh, the audacity. That's wild.

But also it's really expensive. like it's exercise, it's getting out in the sun. 100%. And I'm happy to do it ourselves. But at the same time, it's this, as you know, I'm a finance girlie. It's the balance between understanding property value, then not over-capitalizing on a property that you've purchased. Because, you know, let's say that the quote that I got was $50,000 to have my front yard done, which is about what it was actually. Am I making a smart money decision by investing $50,000 in doing up the front yard? Like, would it actually add value to our property or would just tidying it up and, you know, painting the front of the house and planting some new plants

that we do ourselves basically add the same value. So you've got to balance it. And I feel like so many times, especially as a property owner, you get so excited about like, oh my gosh, I'm going to do this and this, that you forget to look at what the value of the property is and what value you're adding to make sure that it stays a good investment. Because it's so easy to just spiral and go, oh my gosh, no, I really want to put in the fancy kitchen or I really want a new bathroom, but you need to zoom out a little bit and look at the market and go, okay, well, if I put in a new bathroom and the intention is to lease out this house, how much additional value am I going to get from this? Incredible advice. It's very hard. Anyway, moving on. She's a real

money queen. Mate, it's all I think about and breathe. Actually, no, that's not true. All I think about nowadays is multi-level marketing. I have another money win from Janine. She said, with the CBA glitch recently, I decided to check all of my accounts that I don't use and I haven't closed yet. I found $296 in my ING account from AHM Givebacks and Centrelink CSS payouts that I'd paid more than I should have, I guess. Incredible. It was like the equivalent of finding 50 bucks in a random pair of pants for me. Yes. God, that feels good. It also reminded me to change my bank account. It also reminded me I have to change my bank account for my health insurance and my Centrelink payments.

Oh, perfect. I love this, but also $296. Yeah. Girl, that's some groceries and a few nice drinks. Oh, God, yeah, that'll save you. I love that. All right, I have one more. This is a fun one.

This is from Ebony. She said, I've been eyeing off Devotion by Dolce & Gabbana, but held out because of how pricey the perfume was. I looked it up again the other day because I noticed my current perfume was running out. Turns out that the 100ml bottle was on sale for half price at Priceline and Chemist Warehouse, but still full price at my own David Jones. So babies, run, don't walk.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great. Don't you love that feeling? Isn't that cute? Also, I'm not buying at full price. No, don't buy anything full price, you guys. Do people buy perfume full price? I have. I feel like it's illegal.

It should be illegal. Yeah. It should be illegal. Yeah, I mean, I feel like that kind of stuff always is on sale somewhere. Somewhere you'll find it on sale. Somewhere, somehow, you're going to get a money win. Totally. You just need to look for it.

A.H.M. actually gave me cash back. I don't know. That's a good deal. I really don't know why. I just got $100 randomly and I'm not asking questions. No, no questions, only answers. Thank you for your money. Thank you for your money.

Smile and move on. Exactly. That's a good broke tip. Check your actual bank accounts. Yeah. That's very true. I should not be giving the broke tips because that was a terrible one. Bec, do you have some good broke tips for us this week?

I do. I do. Good is subjective, but hopefully these are objectively good. You know what? It is subjective, but at the end of the day, I just think everything you do is good. So 10 out of 10. Thank you. That's so sweet.

think the same. Okay. This first one comes from Alyssa who gave me a really good bro tip. So this is more for like, if you want to go for like an outing or you want to take someone out for their birthday, but you don't want to spend any money. I don't know if you remember. I mean, when I say remember, this is ongoing. This has been a thing back in the day and still today. But if you go to a show with a live audience and you get someone a ticket, yourself and your friend a ticket, it's usually free. Usually free. Really? Say if you're going to like. A live show. And I think it's good for both parties for free is that what you mean maybe you could ask you could ask but i'm thinking more like the project or oh you know what i mean do you know how mad i am beck this is

niche content but i applied to be in the audience for thank god you're here oh that would be good this was like 12 months ago gabby and i so gabby's my old ea yeah she and i were like let's go we really want to be in the audience for thank god you're here like i can't think of a better show to be in the audience for, we got it. I was on holiday at the time. Oh, no. They wouldn't let Gabby transfer tickets. Oh, I see.

So she went by herself and she's like, night of my life. It would be so much fun. Thank God you're here, though. That would be a great one to see live. Exactly, but that's a good thing. Sign up for all of those and you can go to the show for free. For free and it's such a fun night out. And if you want to, you know, make food at home

or you want to go to 7-Eleven, grab yourself a really cheap sushi, You don't have to spend that much money to have, honestly, one of the best nights ever. Also, it's coming into summer, so low-key, picnic dates are back. Picnic dates are back, exactly. My mother's group has been doing that a lot. That's very cute. I have a day off a week to hang out with Harvey, and it happens to be on the day that mother's group happens, which is very, very lucky. Very lucky.

But we've been just taking some picnic blankets to the park, packing a few snacks in our bags, and just hanging out in the park for a couple of hours. It is elite. That's very cute. It's so wholesome. And I always say when you're in the elements, you're a little bit sillier and you have a little bit more fun. You're a little bit silly. When you have a fire, when you're sitting on the grass,

when you're in the wind, in the water, silly and fun. Also, kids, for some reason, are just happier outside. Absolutely. Harvey's mad, take him outside. He'll love it. Exactly. Exactly. What else have you got?

This is one that my friend told me about. And on Reddit there is a subreddit, I think that's what you call it. It's called Aussie Frugal and in Aussie Frugal, and I can give you the link to this, there's a thread that it's updated fortnightly, food box slash meal kit referral thread in there. Oh, genius. Yeah. And so you can, but I did have a little squiz. It's not just food kits.

It's there was, there were other things like coupons and all this kind of stuff. Yeah. Being involved in a community like that. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, it's pinned. So if you, if you search Aussie Frugal Reddit. it it'll be at the top it should be at the top yeah all close to the top and yeah just go in

there and see if you can find like any kind of food box or whatever whatever you've got but yeah it was really fun i almost just spent like hours on this thing even though i am meant to be working that's okay it was research it was research it was research it was research for your business it was really really cool it's like how i've been going down rabbit holes on tiktok watching mlm videos. It's for work. Hours. It's for work. Exactly. I need help. You're doing it over time and we appreciate you for it. Thank you. Thank you. I do go above and beyond. I can't wait to give you the next update about that. But Bec, what's your broke tip? Okay. So my one, I'm not sure if I, I might've mentioned this already, but it was Jess's, my partner's birthday just

on the weekend. I didn't say that. It was very cute. Your posts on Instagram were very wholesome. thank you so much very couple-y I was like I love love oh my god it's really getting real um I mean it you know it is real we went to Daylesford and I am I did something really silly capital it is the gay capital capital that makes sense that makes sense rainbow flags everywhere and we just felt so like I we wanted to go somewhere where we could hold hands without being like yelled at or something I don't know I'm just really scared of that so is that a thing still um every now and then it's like someone will maybe say something under their breath or people will just stare or something it's just very like I think I'm more conscious of it than I'm so angry

for you. Thank you so much. I'm just like, maybe I'm just hyper aware of it. I mean, it's not like even the fact that you have to be hyper aware of the person that you're holding hand. Like what? I know, I know. It's, it is like, it's probably not as big anymore, but it's like, it's still every now and then you'll, you'll, it just feels like comfortable. But anyway, Daylesford is cozy. That's real shit. Thank you so much. Oh, it's all good. Daylesford was lovely though. Like I just felt so, so at home there. Did you go for a walk around the lake? I've been hearing about this lake? I never saw any lake. Bec, that's like a free activity. That lake is stunning. Oh, okay. That's good to know. So what's your actual broke tip? I did go to Lavandula.

It's really beautiful. Oh, that is beautiful too. I bought Jess's birthday gifts too early in advance and have no self-control. So I gave them to her before it was her birthday. And so I was like, how do I do this? I thought I was genius. I bought Harvey's Christmas present here. He has it. We're going to have to get you another one. Exactly. Exactly. That's another broke tip. buy the present right before the last minute because I just, there's no way anyone has that much self-control. Can't keep a secret. I'm sorry. I can't. And so I was like, okay, how do I do this cheaply? So I just bought a glue stick, scissors, and I feel like I always talk about being crafty, but I bought some paper as well. And I think all of it cost me $3. I made a handmade box. Inside

were little like love hearts that had turned into envelopes. And in there were just like a bunch of little letters or like all the things I love about you and that in itself is like a perfect gift and it was three hours yeah like I have a beautiful husband that I'm very grateful for he would never oh he would never I will oh honestly straight's not a choice Beck I'm starting to see this yeah It's not. Well, if he is listening and if he's ever like. He's not. Well, that's a shame.

But tell him if everyone's out of money or just doesn't want to spend that much on you. Do you know what? I actually would prefer a gift like that than like a super expensive one. Like to me, the idea that someone wrote all the things that they love about me on little love heart. Be for real. That's so cute and wholesome. Thank you. And honestly, the reason why it's a broke tip is because it literally cost me like $3.

Maybe you could probably do it with stuff around your house. Absolutely. Like magazines or whatever, whatever crafty stuff you've got around your house. It doesn't even have to cost anything, really. You could still print a paper from work. Print a paper from work. Exactly. There you go.

So that is my broke tip. That's a really sweet broke tip. I love it. Thank you so much. All right. Let's go to a really quick break because as much as I love hearing about your love life, I really want to hear about your thoughts about what you would do if offered a $50,000 bonus and your partner wasn't on board with moving because of it. And I also want to talk about the DM that

we got this week, which is about a $10,000 payout that's on the table, but we don't know if it's enough or if she should be fighting for more because we don't have enough context yet. So let's talk about it on the flip side. Okay. Welcome back, everyone. Here's our 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 hi she's on the money so my money dilemma is i have been with my partner for four years We aren't married. We don't own a house. We're not financially set up. And I got offered an amazing opportunity with my job. So with that, I would get paid $50,000 tax free if I relocate out rural and work there for the year. When I spoke to my partner about it, he was quite negative, said he wasn't prepared to move because he will have to find a new job. He doesn't want to sacrifice his life here so it puts me in a tricky situation yeah what do you think i should do what do you reckon beck it is a tricky one because i can understand not wanting to move not wanting to like give up your lifestyle and stuff it is just for a year but it still feels like a big

amount of time a long time to spend away from family and friends in your life but i guess the risk is that like if your partner can't find a job then that 50k exactly go toward supporting you both you know what I mean so I'm like if your partner you know what I know this is crazy but if it were my situation I would suggest long distance for the year but every month visit each other or do like two weeks at two weeks here depends on the working situation if the partner can do work from home then you could conceivably if it's not too expensive just kind of go back and forth for the year until or just do like a month i don't know it doesn't have to your partner doesn't have to do the whole year is what i'm saying

but the risk is there that if your partner moved with you couldn't find a job there goes that 50k you know i mean percent and i think that that's what's really important to consider yeah like my advice you're going to be surprised about this beck when in doubt zoom out yes so what are you currently earning? What's your partner currently earning? I think this is probably a bigger question. I don't know. I feel like the way she framed the question was like, we've been together for four years. We're not married. We haven't financially set ourselves up together. I feel like you're thinking about the bigger picture and it's probably time to have a conversation with your partner about the bigger picture. Like, let's zoom out. What does the next 10 years together

look like? Are we planning on staying together? I know that that's a really big discussion and I'm not going to turn around and be like, beg. So should I just move? Like, are we done? Like, that's not the conversation, but like, are we planning on getting married? $50,000 tax-free is a heap of money. If we put that in perspective, if you were on a 32.5% tax rate, that's a $66,000 salary. So to be able to save a hundred percent of that and have it deposited in your account, you'd need to probably earn way more than that. That's going to take you a number of years to bank up. Like most people don't even have access to $500 in an emergency. So, to me, this could potentially be a life-changing amount of money. And if you're in this situation, you're like,

well, actually, I'd love to have 50 grand in my bank account and I'm going to go do this job where I'm going to earn a really good income. This could put me significantly ahead. I don't want you to say no to this opportunity for some dude that's not going to be your future, if we're being brutally honest. Like, I don't mean to be rude about it, but like, if you've been together for four years, like, are we staying together? Are we planning on purchasing property together? Are we planning on, you know, getting married at some point? You don't have to do any of those things if they're not in your value set, that's fine. But like, if it was me and I go back to when my husband and I weren't married and didn't have a

house deposit, if you'd put 50 grand on the table and said that you have to work remotely, I kind of would have been like, oh yeah, okay. Like that is my house deposit. That is my whole wedding paid for. Like, do you know what I mean? Like those are life-changing amounts of money. Definitely. $50,000 invested. Like be for real, that's so much, Bec. That's true. So I'm not saying do it, but I do want you to have a bigger discussion because if it is you and him against the world and you are going to be together forever and that's the plan, but then, you know, let's say he earns $110,000 a year moving regionally, you lose that income. Maybe it's not worth it for both of you and that's okay. But if the bigger picture is that you're like,

we've been together for four years. And the additional context is we're not married because we don't really want to marry each other. Like I think you need to have a think about the actual relationship and what that looks like and how that works. Because I don't think it's about should my partner uproot for 50 grand? Well, not necessarily. But how would that fit? Like sit down and brainstorm it together. Be like, you know, you and I, Beck, we sit down and go, how would $50,000 change our financial situation? You know, if we were earning this, what would that look like? Okay. $50,000 would impact us like this. Okay. But now, Bec, you might not be able to get work. Is that a good idea still? Maybe, maybe not. Like you need to put your thinking caps on

because I think at the moment you potentially are a little bit tunnel visioned because $50,000 on the table, like is working remotely a good idea? Maybe you do go. Maybe it is the advice that you gave back and you have a long distance relationship. That's not so that you put yourself first. Maybe you both decide, okay, partner, you keep your job, kill it for a year. I'm going to go work remotely for 12 months, get these 50 grand. And when I get back, we're going to be set. We could buy a house together. Like this is a sacrifice that we are making for our relationship. Right now, it doesn't feel like you're on the owl page. Does that make sense? Like the way she spoke about it was like I want to do this and my partner wants it like where's the we if you're going to

be in a relationship that's very true I my other thought is if work is paying for accommodation and moving fees whatever they look like then it feels a lot bigger for me yeah how much more could you save so 50 grand as a cash payment but how much you're saving during that year and if it's if they're not paying for accommodation and things like that then I'm like well if you're both not moving. Yeah. Like are they giving you this 50 grand because accommodations few and far between and you actually have to pay a lot for it. Exactly. Like how much of this is just saving and you could put it toward your future and how much of it has to go toward paying for your things to be moved and paying for accommodation and paying for food and paying for all this stuff. I think

you need to take off the emotions hat and just go pragmatic hat and go, okay, cool. What would it mean financially if we both moved? What would it mean financially if I just moved? What would it mean if, you know, and just like workshop the strategies that could be in play and then pick the one that you think is right for you and your situation. Completely agree. Yeah. And it's hard to take the emotions hat off. I know. Because you're like, but I want my partner to want what's best. Yeah. I promise you'll be on the same page if you get a lot of clarity. Yes. Great advice. All right. Are you ready? The juicy one we've all been waiting for. Are you ready? Here's the DM we got this week. Hey, she's on the money. Hoping you might be able to help me with my money dilemma.

Of course, we can help you. I was injured in a car accident at the beginning of 2021 and as a passenger, I'm covered under CTP insurance. I broke some bones in my hand and required surgery and time off work. The insurance company has proposed a payout of $10,000 to settle the claim, but I'm lost. I don't know how to counter this, whether the amount will be enough to cover potential future costs, whether I should seek lawyer's advice as they may end up taking more in fees than the amount I was actually offered or just accepting the amount of money that they have proposed and just take it as a win. I'm coming up to the three-year deadline and it's been something I've been stewing on for a really long time. I would love the community's

input on this one. Thank you so much in advance. God, that's a really tricky one. Like what I would do is probably not smart, but admin for me is my worst nightmare. So I would probably be like, oh yeah, I'll take it. Or I would maybe inquire just with the insurance company and not get anyone else involved. I would inquire once, be like, I've done the best I can, take it and run with it. But it depends. I wonder if our listener is currently working and back in 2021. Also, I'm really sorry has happened, by the way. Sorry, I forgot to mention that first, but this does sound terrible. I'm so sorry. Yeah, clearly there are long lasting impacts.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, if in 2021, you lost a significant amount of work and a significant amount of money due to that, then, but you can currently work because I'm a little bit mentally on the, let me take the easy road. I'll be like, I'll just take it. That's fine. But if it's like, if it was something that was still affecting me, I'd be like, let's get some people involved. I don't know. I don't know. This really is tough. Yeah. So of course I have thoughts. So first things first, CTP is compulsory third party insurance. Yes. So that is to make sure that you are protected and in Victoria and New South Wales, non-negotiable, you have to pay it. Second to that, what's the worst that could happen, Bec?

So zooming out a little bit, I love to do a little zoom out, right? Oh yeah. an insurance company has offered you $10,000. That means that the insurance company has admitted that you deserve a payout. So they know you deserve a payout. Asking for more is not off the table. We negotiate everything as she's on the money. Like you wouldn't be a money queen if you're not just going, I know that there's probably better there. Like everything's up for negotiation. Would I get legal advice? Yes. Because I don't believe that the legal advice would outweigh the $10,000, but also you can inquire on how much legal advice would cost. I think a lot of us get a little bit of analysis paralysis and think that when we call a lawyer,

that's going to cost us, you know, $50 million a minute. But you can call the law firm and be like, hey, how much would it cost to get some advice on a settlement payout? At the moment, I'm assuming you probably get all your documentation together pretty cleanly and get a short period of consultation where your lawyer might not speak on your behalf, but might go, yeah, actually, Bec, you probably could get more. Or they might provide some insight where they go, actually, I've seen similar injuries happen. And on average, they do pay out 10 grand. Okay, no worries. Thank you for your time. Or they might go, I've seen similar injuries happen, Bec, and they're actually settling for 25 grand. So ask for 25 grand. And when you go back,

you tell them that you know that. That's the power in getting advice. So I'm not saying that that's going to be the outcome. But often we get a little bit scared seeking advice because we're scared of how much it would cost when the reality is you can actually just ask them, well, how much would it cost to get your advice? At the end of the day, they're a service and they need to be clear about their pricing at the start. So maybe even call a few different law firms. I would look into injury specific law firms so that they're not a lawyer who needs to do a whole heap of research in the background because they don't know the space. But I'm not saying it's a simple injury. Obviously, there are ongoing impacts because otherwise you wouldn't be getting a payout.

But what I would be doing is having a chat with someone going, how much would it cost me? Because I can tell you right now, even if you're only still going to get $10,000, I'd love to spend $500 to make sure that I'm covering my butt. It's kind of like an additional insurance policy. Yes. Would you like to lose $500 and get the $10,000 or lose $500 and maybe there was an opportunity that you could have turned that additional money into 15 or something like that. Get the advice because what if you then accepted it, Bec, five years from now, you don't have the cash anymore in the back of your mind. You're thinking, man, maybe I should have negotiated that a bit better. We don't regret things because we dot all our I's and we cross all our T's and

you did the right thing at the time. That's actually fantastic advice. I didn't even know that was a thing because luckily, touch wood, I haven't had to really be involved with that. At the end of the day, if they're a service provider, you can get a quote, you can call up, hey, how much would it be to do this? Like same thing with financial advice. Like if you want financial advice, you don't have to jump boots all in and pay a financial advisor. What you can do is call up and be like, hey, I'm looking at getting a financial plan. My name's Beck. I earn about this much and I've got a few goals that I'd like. What kind of realm would my advice be in? A financial advisor is going to be able to say, oh, look, I can't give you a strict number,

but it'd be between A and B. Oh, okay. No worries. Thanks so much. Like ask questions about anything. Like so many times, irrespective of whether it's a payout for insurance, but like how many times are we not picking up the phone and just asking because we're scared of how much it'll cost? Find out what it costs. Yes. And if they can't find you because you've just called them, they're not going to charge you anything yet. Ha ha ha. Run. Call from a blocked number. Exactly. All right. So we did ask the community. We said, what would you do? 16% of you said I'd take 10 grand 29% of you said I'd negotiate with the insurers myself and 55% of you said I'd get legal advice even if it cost me some cash oh I love that for us yeah the next

question we said what would stress you out more 40% of you said it would be dealing with negotiations but 60% said wondering if I could have got more oh I know yeah like imagine I know you said the life admin's not your thing, but imagine getting the 10 grand. You're stoked. But the week after you're like, could it have been 15? I don't know. It's either short-term mental stress or long-term perpetually wondering. They don't want to perpetually wonder. And I mean, I'm being pretty dramatic here, but of course the insurance company is going to want to get out of this situation for as little as possible. An insurance company's job is to mitigate risks. The reason we pay insurance is because we want to make sure that if something happens, it's covered. But the way an

insurance company makes money is essentially betting that the amount of claims that they get in a year will not be as much as the amount of remuneration that they bring in each year. Because like if all of us are paying a hundred bucks a year in insurance, not all of us are claiming on insurance each year. That's why I say I want insurance to be the biggest waste of your time ever. Like I want you to, you know, do your budget at the end of the year and be like far out. I've spent 500 bucks on this premium and I got nothing out of it. Good. Cause you're safe. You're healthy. Nothing happened to you. Money win. But I want you to spend that money again next year. But the insurance company on the flip side is like, great. We have so many customers paying us a hundred

bucks, but then we had to pay back 50 grand. That's okay. Cause it all comes out in the wash and we're still a profitable business. That is how insurance works, right? So the idea that you could have more. Definitely exists because the insurance company wants to make the minimum payment to make this issue go away. But can you imagine the heartbreak if you didn't get advice and then a year from now, far out. Colleague, same thing happens. You're in the lunchroom at work. You're like, what happened to your hand? They go, I was in a car accident. This happened. I needed to. Far out. That's the same thing that happened to me. They're like, oh, I'm so lucky though. My dad's a lawyer, got paid out 50 grand. Yeah. Sorry, what? I just accepted 10. What do you mean?

Like, get the advice to put you in the best possible position, even if it means settling for exactly what they've offered you. Yes. So that there are no regrets in the future. So true. Peace of mind. Exactly. It's priceless. We then obviously said to the community, what are your two cents? Someone said broken bonds in a hand is definitely worth more than $10,000. Consider all the future ailments, for example, arthritis. True. See, I don't know these things. I'm not a health professional. That's why you shouldn't be asking me. That's why I told you go to the lawyer. Someone else said, no way. They're a money-making business. They are always going to lowball you. That's very true. They wouldn't give you the top offer immediately.

Why would they? Yeah. Why would they? That's why you negotiate. Someone else said, don't accept. I'm a lawyer. 100%. Calculating damages is actually quite complex. Oh, there's a lawyer. A lawyer said that. There's a lawyer come in. There's your advice. There's your advice. Someone else said, absolutely get legal advice. I did.

I got $50,000 more than the original offer. No way. I'm so excited for this person. You know what? I'd spend five grand on legal advice to get an additional fee. Yeah, but you don't know what you don't know, right? You don't know. Someone else said, I got 12 grand for whiplash.

The original offer was $4,000. I mentioned a lawyer's name and weirdly they upped it immediately. Oh, actually, I forgot to mention, it's extra $8,000 for you. Oh, yeah. Do you still want to talk to your lawyer? Probably. Someone else said, I was told no need to get legal advice. I did it anyway.

$500,000 payout. Always, always get advice. Oh, my God. I don't know what happened to you, money diarist. Not money diarist, but anonymous human being from my She's On The Money community. But I hope you're okay. I hope you're okay because $500,000 as a payout tells me that something happened that was not great. Yes. I hope you're happy and safe and healthy. Someone else said, go to your union

and get assistance with this. They do this for work every day. Union. Yeah, that's kind of cool because obviously they're there to advocate for employees. You always see the EAP posters on the back of the toilet door here at work. Yeah. And they always like, call us for advice on anything. True. I'm going to call you. Thank you. Maybe I will. And someone else, last one I'll share, said, see if you can talk to your local community legal centre or law access, which I think is really important as well. Good call. I was going to suggest legal aid, but I don't know if they're legal aid. Yep. A hundred percent. What's the worst that can happen? You reach out and they say, sorry, we can't help you in that department. Thanks. Glad I checked. Totally. Would have been

free. Now I'm going to pay for some advice. Yeah. Now I want to recap though, Bec. So now that you've heard all of this. Yes. What would you do? Honestly, now that I know. You said, I'm going to just take $10,000. Yeah. No, now that I know this and now that I've heard from an actual lawyer and also from people saying that they... From the community being like, we want more for you. Then now, absolutely, I would. I'd probably call the insurance by myself first and see what I can do. And then I would get legal advice and just name drop. Just name drop. Should I get another lawyer? No, they're always going to say, you don't need legal advice. You can just take this cash payout. Yeah, just take this. Doesn't this look nice? But imagine.

Yeah. Imagine being in the lunchroom and hearing someone else got $50,000 more than you. Exactly. It would just not feel very good. I mean, like $10,000, $10,000, that's great. We advocate for ourselves, though. Yes. Because even if, at the end of the day, you advocate for yourself and the situation doesn't

change, you've gained a whole heap of confidence, you've learned a little bit more about negotiating and knowing your worth. Like, to me, that is so important. Yeah, I completely agree. I think get some advice, whether it's legal aid or you have to pay for legal advice or whatever that looks like. Just do it. Peace of mind. 100%. That is unfortunately, Bec, all we have time for today. We'll get Miss Jessica Ricci back on the show next week. Currently, she's recovering. And if you haven't before, leave our podcast a review. We have

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