Why you should start investing now with Victoria Devine

0:02 A listener production. This is Crappita Happy and I am your host Castunn. I'm a clinical and coaching psychologist and mindfulness meditation teacher and of. Course author of the Crappita Happy books. In this show, I bring you conversations with interesting, inspiring, intelligent people who are experts in their field and who have something of value to share that will help you feel less crappy and more happy. Today, I have the pleasure of having on the show for the second time Victoria Divine. She is, of course, an award winning financial advisor and author helping people to change the relationship with money.

0:45 Her podcast is called She's on the Money. It's a personal finance podcast for millennial women that helps to empower us to make smart money decisions. So in this chat, Victoria and I talk about how to get started with investing, you can start with as little as one cent, how to make the most of your super so important, and how to make your money. Work for you. I really hope you enjoyed this episode. Victoria Divine, Welcome back to the Crapy a Happy Podcast. Victoria Divine Part two. Oh my gosh, thank you for having me Cas. I am very, very excited to be back. I feel like we got really nice feedback from your community after the first one, so when you invited me on for the second time, I was like, yes, let me add it.

1:29 Your community are the best. They are the best, And I just love this topic too. I really really feel like more women need to be empowered around money. So I know you feel the same way. So let's talk today then, specifically about investing. I guess we talked generally about finances and budgeting and strategies that people can use to set themselves up financially and why that's important last time, and anybody can go back and listen to that episode. But you have written a new book particularly focused on investing. Is investing so important for young women in particular? It is the thing that is going to create wealth for you, which is why it's obviously incredibly important, And I mean it was also demanded in a way. I feel like that's really self serving. But after I wrote the first book, obviously I got to come and chat to you and chat to so many beautiful people about this, and people would finish the book and go, yeah, okay, so more info about investing, where do I find it?

2:26 And I'd be like, oh, that was all I had with the first book, Like that's my entire intelligence packed into all of those pages. Yeah, let me let me go find some more info. So yeah, I spoke to lots of people and they just wanted more information about investing, and so I decided to write a second book. And I guess it comes from us knowing that. You know, I think as women, we already feel behind because it's not a conversation that we have been welcomed into. In fact, even in twenty twenty two, it still feels like a conversation we're pushing our way into. And even sometimes as much as I adore what I do, I don't feel welcome in this space sometimes too. So if you're not feeling welcome, or you're not feeling like it's approachable, like I hear you, I get you because I am you.

3:10 And I guess that's where this book has come from. It's just, as women, we're already behind in so many areas, particularly when it comes to finance. I mean I was talking the other day to someone about how the gender pay gap is still at fourteen point one percent, which when you go, oh, that's like a big percent like, if I was getting fourteen point one percent return on my investment portfolio, I would be stoked. But what does that really mean? And cas disgustingly, that means two hundred and sixty three dollars each and every single week a man takes home above and beyond what you or I might to me like, obviously, two hundred and sixty three dollars. That could be a family's entire grocery budget. It could be someone's entire rent. It could be medication for somebody, It could be so many things. And I just think that women shouldn't be behind for the same obviously, same same job, but also women need to be putting theirselves even further ahead because we're already even further behind, which is a bit of a joke. So I guess this book has come from one my passion for financial literacy for women. At this point in time, if you're only saving it, honestly, is not enough to be creating financial freedom for yourself. Obviously, you know, interest rates are increasing, but savings rates when you get your high interest savings accounts kind of like a pipe dream. Nowadays, we're really going backwards, and I think that the only way for women in twenty twenty two, to actually get forward is to get investing, and you know, as much as it can be overwhelming, I'm hoping, deeply hoping that this book

4:44 kind of demystifies all of that and makes it something that you're not only excited and engaged, but really, you know, empowered to get involved with. I guess I'm actually really encouraged by that, the fact that more women are asking and wanting information, and thankfully there are people like you her able to provide it. So you're quite right. Obviously, saving money is just not enough. We have to be finding ways to make our money work for us. So I guess for a lot of people, the first roadblock is well, number one, not knowing where to start and number two feeling like they don't have enough leftover to be investing. So can we address both of those points? Victoria, Oh, I don't know.

5:26 I don't know. I only have a whole book on it. So the first place I would start is by answering one of your two questions. So answer the question about where do we start, obviously with investing with She's on the Money, the book that came out on the twentieth of September. But in all honesty, you're not actually starting with your outcome. You're not starting with you know, if you and I sat down cass in a financial advice capacity and you said what should I invest in? I'd be like, wait, well, wait, Like, that's not the question you need to ask. We actually need to look at the when, where, the why, the how all that stuff before well what do I invest in? However, the most common question is what should I invest in? Right, So we actually need to look at your circumstances, your location, what you're trying to create, like are you investing for one year, are you investing for ten? Are we investing for the next thirty? Because those different areas are going to determine what you actually invest in. Then we're going to look at what's called your risk profile, So that's how much risk you're willing to take on, Like are we going to go buy a whole heap of direct shares or are we going to go buy some ETFs or some bonds or are we going to hold money in cash? Because if you know on your risk profile you come out as a defensive investor, you're not going to hold any shares they're not within your risk profile.

6:44 That's not what's right for you. But if you came out as an aggressive investor, as someone who's a high growth investor, well all of your money would be in shares and you wouldn't hold any cash. So we actually need to work out one, why are we investing Let's be clear on that too, What is our risk profile? Three, you know time frame? What does that look like? And from there it's kind of like a funnel. We go from the top and it kind of gets smaller and smaller, and the deeper down into the funnel we get, the more directed towards one asset class or another we are. So, you know, back to that example of a high growth investor, you're going down the route of having shares as your predominant asset class insider share portfolio, as opposed to bonds or fixed interest or having some you know, savings in the bank. You're going to be really directed towards shares.

7:35 At that point, we say, okay, well, what are your ethics? What types of shares do you want to buy? And you might say, oh, Victoria, like, I really don't want to buy oil companies, you know, I want companies that are positive for the environment, and then we'll whittle it down even further. Then I might say, okay, like how much involvement do you want with these shares? And you go, oh, I want like kind of like a set and forget strategy, at which point we might choose an ETF for an exchange trader fund over and above buying direct shares, because as much as direct shairs seem really sexy and are really exciting from my perspective, they actually involve a lot of maintenance in ongoing rebalancing and ongoing management, whereas an ETF that does it for you, there's a manager of that.

8:17 So it really depends on I guess the who, what, why? When we're in how before what we actually invest comes into the conversation, because that's the number one question. But in reality, we should have this plethora of questions asked to us before and I guess, this is what I want to sit down with women in particular with and just go this is what you need to do, and here's how to create an investment strategy. And because I'm an advisor, I'm legally not allowed to tell you what to invest in or how. I couldn't even because I don't know you well enough, but I think this book has really taken you on genuinely a garden path of Here is how to do your risk profile. Okay, get that information, put it to the side. Here is how to pick an investment strategy. Okay, take that information, put it to the side. Okay, here's how to work out what type of investment asset makes sense for you. Okay, put that to the side. And at the end of the book we bring it all together and you can kind of create your own financial plan. So it's not hey, here's what a share is. It's hey, here's how to create a plan. That is going to mean that you can be an investor. At the end of this you're not going to walk away with us. Oh, I think I need some more information because, as you know, cas as women, we seem to think we need to know everything about everything before we make a decision. And sometimes you learn most of the information that you need to know on the job. So sometimes just getting your feet dirty and diving straight in is actually what you need to do. And we need to stop pretending that you need tens of thousands of dollars to invest. Try it with five bucks. You can do it with five bucks you can invest. Honestly, it is wild. In twenty twenty two,

9:50 you can invest with as little as one cent. So online shares this platform not as sponsored mentioned. They're just a platform that my community talk about. You can buy fractions of and you can literally invest with as little as one cent, and I think that that is wild. Like Grner the days of cost being prohibitive for women to start investing, because that's as low as you can go. Anyway, Yeah, that's amazing. Actually interesting that you mentioned ETFs because I hadn't heard of them before it came up on this podcast, and I remember going, Okay, well, this feels like a really safe way to just put a little bit of money into shares. And I gathered up a thousand dollars, would you actually yeah, like I'd sold off stuff around.

10:32 The house and yeah, good get it. I love this and. Got a thousand bucks and put it into an ETF. Now I've got a question about that ETFs, because I think we could talk more about ETFs, because I do think that they are a really they feel like a safe investment strategy for somebody who might be a bit like I don't know what I'm doing, but they still go up and down like they still got stage with the markets. Right, But yes, ETFs are not. I think I'm asking you this more for my own interest, Victoria. That's okay, this has become a personal financial planning session for cast done. Yeah, but it's not. It's not.

11:13 It is not. I'm sure other people would be very interested in the answer as well. No. Absolutely, when it's going up and down. That h I do with ETFs is that somebody else has taken care of it. You just let that sit. That's a long term sort of investment, Is that right? Is that correct? Yeah? So an ETF is an exchange traded fund, and that sounds a little bit more complex than it needs to be, but essentially it is a basket of shares that are pre selected. And there are heaps of different types of exchange traded funds or I like to call them baskets because one it makes it feel more approachable and two that's exactly what it is. There are like stock ETFs or share ETFs which have a whole heap of different shares, So there is you know, the top two hundred, so you could go and buy the top two hundred companies in Australia just by buying an ETF instead of directly going and buying all of those companies, you buy the ATF and you get instant diversification. There are bond ETFs, so these are ETFs that are made up of corporate or government bonds. They are less risk because obviously bonds are a little bit more stable than a share, but you know you can get ETFs made up of them.

12:18 There's specialty ETFs nowadays. I was talking to a girlfriend the other day and she's like, oh, yeah, but like I've got all these ethics that govern the way I invest. And I was like, did you know that there are ETFs you can buy that are made up of companies that only invest in women, or that are made up by companies that are only governed by boards made up of women. And she's like, what, No, Like they get so specific. There's just so many different options. Then there's obviously like sustainable ETFs, which use like environmental, social and government data to help grow wealth. But you're right, it doesn't make you immune to what the industry is doing. But it means that instead of feeling the ebbs and flows of individual stocks, actually getting the average of what that basket of stock is returning. So if one stock is down twenty percent, one's up fifteen percent, one's down five you are actually just getting the average of that, so you can feel a bit more like your smooth sailing.

13:14 It doesn't mean that you're immune to the market, but it does mean that you're going to be long term a little bit more comfortable. And if, as you said before, you want a hands off approach, that seems to be a really popular option for a lot of people in my community. To be honest, like it's actually really fun too. Well, I find it really fun, But that sounds really lame to say, so I'm glad you said it first. No, No, when you look at all of the different options, like you said, there's an ETA for particular these little niche categories. So if you particularly interested in some industry or some ethical perspective or whatever it is, you can actually go and find a basket that represents that, and you can choose to put a little bit of money.

13:57 Just in to that little sector exactly. And like if you're a little bit unsure, you can just start doing some research on like most popular ETFs in Australia or you know, like I never say rely on performance, So as a financial advice I always say past performance is not a reliable predictor of future performance, which is absolutely true. But you can literally look at them based on performance. You can look at them based on their performance over one, three, five, ten, fifteen years, depending on how long they've been around, to give you a little bit of stability. But in saying that I would never pick an ETF based on their past performance, I'd pick it based on do you think that that ETF is made up of a group of shares that you want exposure to. So for example, if you went with the SMP five hundred, that's the top five hundred companies in a market. If you went with like the ASX top two hundred, you're buying the top two hundred Australian companies. You might go and buy a tech ETF and that's made up of you know, maybe fIF of the top American tech companies. So there's different horses for different courses, and a lot of people in my community don't just pick one. They pick you know, one or two or even three ETFs that make most sense to them. So they go, oh, I really want some exposure to the Australian share market. So I'm going to buy an Australian Focus one. Then let's get some global in there. I'm going to buy a global ETF, and then I might buy one that just tickles my fancy and I want to follow. So it obviously is

15:29 going to look different for everybody. I mean, they're not the only investment option out there. There's direct shares, there's robo advice, there's full service financial advice, there's managed funds. There's literally so many different things. But as you said before, like ETFs are a good way of introducing yourself to the market, and they are relatively low cost. Even as you talk about all of those options, it becomes very clear why this can feel really overwhelming to people, because even all of those terms that you're throwing out of bonds and manage funds and ETFs, like, I totally understand why anybody, women or men, but women probably particularly go oh, it's all too complicated.

16:11 I've got too much. I've got too much to think about it, as I don't have the time to go on research all of that. No, you do, you absolutely do, because do you know what, you don't have time for a terrible retime broke, you don't have time to be homeless in the future. I think it's you know, it is a very entitled position to see in the position I'm in where I do have all this education. But I guess that's why I put out so much free content on my podcasts, on my website. I do a whole heap on Instagram. I'm trying so hard to make this approachable and understandable for our community, because it is hard. And I mean, if you take one thing from this podcast, I want you to take this note, it is to invest. The second I want you to take is to care about your superannuation because if you have a super fund, you're already an investor and you have one hundred percent control of that money. And three, an ETF is an exchange traded fund, which means a basket of shares that you can buy into for instant diversification. And diversification is just basically not putting all your eggs in one basket. It's that simple. Yeah, But I think historically it's funny because we've been pushed out of this conversation about wealth and wealth creation. But if I sat down and said, all right, cas, let's talk about like eyeliner and lipstick and mascara, and you and I I know that that sounds so flippant, but you and I know immediately what part of the body that goes on, how it works, what it means, like we know the different you know techniques, or you know you might not be as advanced as somebody else, or I, honestly, I've got one. Look it is this. We are ride

17:43 or die with my makeup. But there are people who are experts in it. But that seems like a more I guess, approachable topic because it's been around since we're tiny, Like it's never been made to feel like it's not our space. And if you don't know, you're like, oh, I've never heard of magnetic eyeliner. Like you don't feel bad about asking because you assume that you're already meant to be in that space, like, oh, I don't know what that is? Tell me, whereas you would feel a little bit off being like, oh, VI, what's the SMP five hundred? Like for some reason you feel guilt around that, Like that makes no sense to me. They're both topics that you just didn't understand, and asking more about them just means you're going to be more educated. So I think that you know, mediocre, middle aged white men have done a really good job of making us feel like we don't belong there, whereas in reality, they're just a whole heap of acronyms that you know, we should know and we deserve to know, and if we don't know, we should have someone explain them to us in language that makes sense to us.

18:40 That is very true, very true. Another thing you said earlier, which I thought was really interesting and relevant, is that you can choose to invest based on your personal values. Yes, I think this is something that is really important. We can choose this is a bigger conversation, but we can choose what industries we're propping up with our money as well and with our superannuation. One hundred percent. So it's called a values based investing strategy, and it's one that I think absolutely every person in this entire world should implement. And it's basically making sure that you have alignment in the investment decisions that you make with your personal ethics or your own values. So basically what you consider is like that is important to you, We make important to the investment decisions that you make.

19:32 And it's not often actually more complicated, it's not hard, I promise it's actually quite easy to start investing in line with your values, because like, do you want to buy this? And you'll be like, no, I don't really want to support them? What else can I do? But the interesting thing about values based investing is that you do have to have a good understanding of your own values. And it's not often that we give out ourselves the time or the grace to sit down and go, well, what do I care about in this world? Like when was the last time any of us sat down and said, do you know what? I'm going to document the things that are important to me in life. And as much as we should all do it, I think that first things first, we'd all go all right, family, our friends, our loved ones, maybe for me my pets, like and though that's kind of where that list would stop, whereas I think that list needs to go on. Like I care a lot about financial literacy, I care a lot about the great Barrier reef, I care a lot about a lot of different things. I care so much about women in leadership roles, and all of these things can be supported through investing. And that's really cool, Like I want to put my money behind companies that are championing women in senior leadership positions, and I can do that.

20:45 And as much as sometimes we feel like really small fish, women are so powerful, Like we hold the majority of the purchasing power in this world, and men don't seem to be worried about our power in the investment world. Yet move over, like we are coming and I think we are coming in hot, and they definitely should be worried. Yeah, for sure, we know that women have the purchasing power in the home, and yet I still think, to your point before, when it comes to big decisions around finance and investing, we still sort of see that as men's business. Like it's a complete contradiction and it's obviously it's completely wrong. Oh, absolutely, it's completely wrong. And studies show that women spend more time researching their investment choices and are better investors than men are when they are compared. Really, yes, the more of us that are in the market, the more power we are going to have. And I mean literally, when you base it on gender, which I don't believe many things should be, but when you base it on gender, women are more balanced in their decision making. So it kind of makes sense that we're going to be better investors.

21:52 And I mean, yes, we spend a little bit longer researching our investment choices, and sometimes we have to pull our fingers out and just get started. But over a long period of time, women earn up to one percent better investment returns than men. That's a lot when you look at the entire investment market across the world. Yeah. Wow, can we talk about superannuation as well? You just mentioned before, I think this is super's my favorite thing. Excellent, well you talk. I just feel like what you said before is so true as well, that we absolutely have a choice over how our super is invested. I think a lot of people still don't know that that, oh, it just goes into this super fund and it just builds up or I don't know, maybe that's old school thinking. But let's talk about the power we have over our superannuation and what we should be doing to maximize that.

22:38 We have so much power over our superannuation. I guess to start though, did you know that women have obviously significantly less saved for their retirement, but half of all women aged between forty five and fifty nine have eight thousand dollars or less in their superannuation funds? Is that a fact that that is messed up right? That can't support a retirement. I mean, at the end of the day, we do have to be really clear that superannuation was only ever man dated from nineteen ninety two. So if you started working professionally in nineteen ninety two, you would have started to get superannuation compulsory after that date. Before it was just like an elective that people could give you if they wanted to give you. So that like the numbers check out when it comes to you know, it wasn't compulsory way back when. But how are these people building wealth? And why are women so far behind?

23:31 Because men in the same category have thirty one thousand dollars. It blows my mind to think that we are so far behind. And I mean, there's a lot to discuss about the gender pay gap when it comes to retirement savings, but as women we need to care about super. Yes, that statistic is real. We also know that on average, women only retire with two hundred and ninety thousand dollars in SUPER compared to men who retire with three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, which you know, due to a plethora of things. And we can't just say, oh, women get paid less, like that's not it. Like women often take more unpaid time out of the workforce. Like there are just so many things that we won't get into because I could go on and on and on. But at the end of the day, your superanuation is, as of today, ten point five percent of your take home pay being invested on your behalf. And if you're not caring about it, you're not putting future you first. Like at the end of the day, if you're not putting future you first, your retirement is going to be detrimental.

24:33 Your retirement is not going to be what you deserve. And I think people just see retirement or superanuation savings is completely overwhelming because it is scary, right, if you've never dealt with super you've got a few accounts, it feels overwhelming. But I promise it's easy. You can log into my gov and see everything. In a heartbeat. You can roll supers over to just one account in a heartbeat. You can call up Australian Super or whatever super fund you're with, have a good chat with whoever works in the call center and talk about what am I invested in, how am I invested does that align to my risk profile? You can ask all these questions for free, because that's what your super fund fees are paying for. And I would encourage each and every single person to literally pick up the phone. Like the people at the call center, they don't buy it. They are trained so well to put you in the best possible position. They're just like us.

25:25 They're regular people who have regular jobs. It's not like you're picking up the phone and calling the CEO of your super fund company and they're going to be like, oh my gosh, Cas, it's been so long since you last touched bait. They don't care. They just want the best for you, Do you know what I mean? It's not scarier promise. I've never even considered that that you can just call them up. You can just call them up. You're paying fees for what you're paying fees for a call center. You're paying fees to have your questions answered. And if you're not having your questions answered, I would be arguing that you probably with the wrong superfund. I hope that you're enjoying this conversation and realizing the benefits of positivity in. Your own life. If you are enjoying the show, please be sure to like and subscribe so that you get notified when you apps drop and head on over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and leave us a rating and review.

26:23 So what are the things to look for if you're thinking of moving your money? You know, I guess higher return is what you're looking for. But what are the sorts of questions people should be asking of their super fund or considering if they're thinking, I don't like this fund, I want to shift to a different fund for example. Yeah, look, I think first things first, I wouldn't be chasing chasing higher returns. There's this really great my super tool nowadays that has come out in Australia that gives you Apple for Apple comparisons on all my superproducts in Australia, and up until this point, we haven't had a comparison website that has been freely accessible by people who aren't financial advisors that wasn't a advertising platform. So you know, you look at like can Start and Finder and at the end of the day, all of them have paid recommendations.

27:13 At the top and maybe aren't as clear as they could be to put you in the best possible position. You might pick the best one, but it's like rated five star because they paid to be rated five star. You know, Like that's just it gives me the ick, and we're already so far behind. We don't need companies profiting off us, making comparisons and trying to put ourselves in the best possible position. So looking at this my super tools, it's really powerful because it actually puts us back in the driver's seat to pick the super fund that makes sense to us. The government is also jumping down the throats of super funds that aren't performing. Some people who are listening might have gotten letters from their super funds literally recommending that they leave because their performance isn't good, because yeah, the government is making them send them out. Now they're like okay, cool, Like we haven't met, Like we're on up to scratch. So the government's told us that we need to tell you there are better options out there, which I am all for, like shape up or ship out my friends. So I think it's one of those things where do your comparisons, make sure it aligns to your values, because the more aligned to your value something is the more you are going to care about it. It's not me just going oh, it's such a nice to have thing, like, you are going to care more. If this is something you're interested in, I would be looking at I'd look at your insurances.

28:29 So most superannuation funds offer default insurance for death and disablement when you join. If you are over the age of thirty, it is very likely that you have a very sexy policy that still exists that has no exclusions on it. So as we get a bit older, cast we might have been playing netball. Cough at me. You roll your ankle and you end up needing a little bit of surgery, and then when you go to apply for insurance, they're like, ah, you rolled your ankle, We're not covering your ankle. That's going to be excluded from insurance. So if ever anything happens due to that black you're not covered. So a lot of our insurances are default, so they don't have any type of exclusions on them. It doesn't matter when it was written, if you've been paying for it, it will still be in force. So that's one thing I want you to look at before you roll over your super because you might lose that cover.

29:18 That cover can be really powerful. Like if we get a bit older in life happens and you need some more insurance, well maybe you might not get it. And sometimes if our BMI is too high, insurance companies these days are like, no, I'm not going to cover you. And I just think it is such a joke to not put yourself first. But we don't know what we don't know, right, so consider your insurances. I would consider consolidating your super so having more than one super account isn't just complicated, it costs more and obviously paying multiple sets of fees is going to chip away to the overall balance you have in super. So I would make sure that you know you have only one super account. But if you've got to, maybe you've got a alority of your investment money in one super account and then you've got like the bare minimum amount in your other super account, but you're holding onto it to keep that sexy insurance. So what we want is you in the best possible position, and you to know why you have each super fund, not just collecting a plethora of them, like Baby Victoria did because she worked in retail. Then she worked in hospitality. Then she went and worked for a government agency. And then I decided to get another super fund because it sounded like good. I like a good one because my girlfriend had it, like I had so many. I've been there. I've been there exactly, and I think we all have. And given how you know, up and down the workforce has been over the last years, I wouldn't be surprised if most people have numerous super funds, but I would be consolidating it. Another thing I would consider is contributing more if you want to, or if that's in line with your values. Obviously, if it's not

30:50 in budget, then don't worry. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. We all go through different seasons in our life. But if you're worried about your superbalance, or you're planning a child in the future, like, how can we support ourself now that if you know, I take a year off in the future to have a child and not go to work, I don't want to be behind. So there are a number of things that you can do. Firstly, you can contribute more to super. Secondly, you could actually discuss with your employer to pay your superannuation while you are on leave. And thirdly, you could start a discussion with your partner because did you know that they can get a tax rebate for paying some of your super? Did not know that money win? Money win? And why should you be financially backwards if you're the one taking time off to have a family and start a family when that was a joint decision.

31:41 That's what really irks me that women are disadvantage because of a couple's decision to have a child or she'll stay home and then she's so much worse off financially. Yeah, and in my community, it's a really common topic to now bring up with your partner. Okay, well what's going to happen with my super? Are you contributing? More like what are we doing? And to be honest, I think that partners have just never thought about it because they haven't been in the position where they've had to. So now they're thinking about it, they're like, yeah, well, cass, I don't want you to be behind. Of course we'll do something to make sure your super is isn't behind. And to be honest, it's a bit of a red flag to me if my partner's like, no, you need to take that here no, sir, sit. Down, This is probably off topic or out of your kind of area of expertise, Victoria. But how does the family court look at super now? Like, if there is a divorce, is superinuation considered like a joint asset like a home?

32:33 Yeah? Yeah, so it's considered a joint asset in every other state except Western Australia, where it's considered a personal asset. Right, So obviously not legal advice. Please go and talk to somebody. But from my understanding as a financial advisor who's had a fair bit to do with the legal system, every other state will take it into consideration when going through a divorce, except in Western Australia, where they see it as individual and that can be quite toxic. So from my perspective, I have seen, you know, not to get too deep into a bit of a wormhole, but I have seen people go, oh, well, I don't want my wife to have you know, that extra hundred grands cash in it. I also just don't want to lose it, and they hide it in their super which means the wife can't get it out.

33:19 I think it's important for people to be aware of that though, because I just remember, I mean years and years ago. I remember somebody that I knew going through a divorce and the fights for him to hold on to his SUPER and I believe in the end that I think in his case he was allowed to keep it, which was like really unfair, really really wrong. But anyway, so just an important thing to consider with regards to super. Absolutely, And you just don't know what you don't know, rad Like, no one signs up to a marriage to get divorced. Why would you be thinking about the superannuation side of things unless you're me and you made your partner sign a completely binding financial agreement before you even moved in together. Like, no one is as crazy as I am. So I'm here to you.

34:00 You know something to be said for that? Isn't there something to be said for that? Because that women need to be empowered to protect themselves and protect their. Finances, So good for you. Can we just touch on that point again? So if a, if your spouse is working or your partner is working and you're not, he or she can get a tax rebate for putting money into your super. I just want to say that again. I think that's so so important and. I think it's real, real, hot that's hot stuff. But yeah, you can contribute to your partner's super by splitting up to eighty five percent of your before tax super contributions. So before tax super contributions include like your employee contributions or salary sacrifice or any contributions that you make like and then if you make any contributions after tax, you can then make a claim for a tax deduction, so like their amounts, and it's called a tax offset for super contributions on behalf of a spouse. And you can find a whole heap of information on it on the ATO website, so that's ATO dot gov dot au and there is like a limit on it. But in saying that, that is a very good position to be.

35:10 Just while we're on the topic of super, a lot of interest amongst people that I know in self managed super in what circumstances. I know you can't give individual advice, but in what sort of circumstances does self manage super work for people versus just putting it into a fund. Yeah, Look, self managed super is for a lot of people are really attractive opportunity because you go, oh my gosh, I'm going to have so much control over my super and it's self managed, right, but it's also twenty twenty two and twenty years ago that was a really good idea because you could get into property. But now as SICK and the ATO are absolutely cracking down on that and making sure that people are doing an audit on an annual basis, they are actually well diversified in their portfolios to make sure that they are saving for retirement, and there's a lot less flexibility than there used to be.

36:02 There's also a lot more flexibility in the pre existing superannuation funds than there used to be. So most of them enable you to obviously pick your risk profile, but some of them, like Australian Super Obviously I've mentioned this twice now, it's just because I was reading about them today, not because I'm endorsing it by any stretch of the imagination. But they actually enable you to take a portion of your super and invest it in whatever you would like, and they help you enable that, and I think that that's really powerful At this point in time. I would never let a client who didn't have a fair few hundred thousand dollars in super considerate because as much as you will quote save on fees, the thing you save on super fees, you have to spend on accounting fees.

36:44 So the average cost of an SMSF or a self managed super fund would be three to six thousand dollars for accounting fees, and then another three thousand dollars each and every single year on top of that for the ATO and a six audit that is as mandatory option. Yes there's a lot more flexibility, but it's not the flexibility you think it might be. And I do find them quite risky because the owners is then on you to manage it properly, and there are pretty big ramifications if you don't do that correctly. So yeah, from my perspective, they're not something that I see a lot of people these days go into. When I first came into the financial advice space, like seven years ago, the practice I worked for was writing them all the time because they were really good. But nowadays they are few and far between, and I just can't write a statement of advice that you actually puts a client in the best position having an SMSF unless they are big business owners who want to own a whole heap of commercial property inside that.

37:44 And I mean, again, that's clearly not personal advice like go talk to your accountant, talk to your financial advisor. But from my perspective, I just think there are so many options out there that carry so much less risk that put you in a good position. Yeah. I actually know some people who have got property in a self managed super fund, and this is something that I found really interesting, so I thought i'd mention it. They bought this holiday home in New Zealand. He's a Kiwi and apparently legally they're not allowed to spend time in that holiday home. No, they're not because it's an investment asset. Yeah. So even though it does a rental like it is a holiday home that other people can rent down.

38:28 Yep, they're not allowed to use it for personal use. Yeah. Yet I think a lot of people wouldn't realize that because I had no idea. No, it's crazy, right yeah yeah. Yeah. So if you're thinking you can just use you stupid to buy a holiday home so you can have your weekend, you know weekends and your Christmas can't unless you're going to get in big trouble. Sad, isn't it, because you're like that plugger that could have been really good. Yes, And I think there's probably a lot of people trying and find a way around that or just like not telling anybody but legally you're not allowed to. In an SMSF, they can be super colorful casts. I have seen it all. I have seen people have luxury car collections. I have seen people own artwork and like e collectic and you know, rare wine in their SMSF.

39:15 The thing with that is it all needs to be documented and audited and kept at a location because it's an investment, Like you can't drink the wine if it's an investment inside your SMSF. Like it's not as sexy as you think it is, I promise. In fact, we even had one client who had Irme's Burken in her SMSF and she was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to do this because she just thought it was really fancy. And then you know a few years later we'll like, you know, you can't use that right, Like it literally has to go and sit in a vault, like you can't have that. So, yeah, it came out of the SMSF pretty quickly. Yeah, I think that a lot of people wouldn't realize that. So that is good information to have. Good tips don't keep a burken inside your SMSF. I mean they're a great They're a great investment. Like have you seen her bags sometimes, especially luxury ones. I think it was like five years ago a Chanel bag costs six thousand dollars. Today are the same Chanel bag costs eleven thousand dollars. That's a pretty good return on investment if you ask me.

40:11 Yeah, it actually is. It actually is interesting. Like Victoria, as always, you are such a wealth of information and I need to thank you for the work that you do in empowering women financially. Anybody listening to this now who feels empowered to do something about their investments, about their super what should their next step be. I mean cas to be a little bit self promotional for a hot second. Obviously, go check out my book Investing with Sheese on the Money, obviously, But to be honest, I said this year before we started recording, I don't even mind what book you're reading, as long as you're reading a book that is putting you in the best possible position. There are so many good investment books out there these days. Find one that resonates with you and start, like, if you do one thing after listening to this podcast, it's just going and checking your super account like you don't have to do anything, just check that it's there and it's what you thought it was going to be.

41:02 Too many times employeers aren't paying our super. And I promise if every single person listening to this podcast goes and looks at their super, I promise we're going to find at least one or two of you who are missing a few payments that we need to follow up. And you deserve to follow up. So from my perspective, care about your super, have a check out of your insurances, and start really thinking about investing, because you are putting yourself behind by not Yeah. Absolutely, Victoria, thank you so much. And obviously also apart from reading books, consuming podcasts is also a great way to just. Of course, I have a whole podcast as well. So she's on the money. Unsurprisingly very popular winner of all the podcast awards, and congratulations to you on that. But thank you so much again, and we will make sure we put in the show notes where to find you can people book an appointment with you, Victoria.

41:54 Is that something that you still do? It's not I'm sorry, I spend my life advocating for financial literacy. See I do have a mortgage broking firm called Zella Money these days, where I get my community into their first homes or their next home. But I have really stepped back from the financial advice space because, to be honest, I think that empowering people on a platform like this is just so much more powerful than one on one advice in saying that if you are looking for an advisor, head to my website and I can point you in the right direction of an advisor that would be the right fit for you. I have a whole heap of friends in the space, and I can make a recommendation that would be the right fit. Perfect. Thank you, Victoria, Thank you so much for your time again.

42:34 Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. As always, that was an absolutely fascinating chat. I'm so glad the Victoria came on the podcast again to share all of that info with. Me and with you. Finances can sometimes be really confronting, so it's amazing to have someone who can break it down so simply. Victoria's new book, Investing with She's on the Money helps young women take control of their finances, and it is available now in all good bookstores. As always, if. You enjoy Crappy to Happy, please do make sure you subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a five star rating and a review.

43:14 It really does help us get in the ears of more listeners and I can't wait to catch you on the next episode of Crappy to Happy. Listener