Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
the Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery 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 a wondery 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 a brand new you with She's on the Money.
The Happy Yeah, Happy newv Oh my gosh, how exciting.
This is so exciting.
I feel like the last five years have like flown by. It wasn't just like the last year. It's like the last five years. Do you know twenty nineteen was five years ago?
I cannot believe that.
It's actually insane anyway, what are we doing? Beck?
Okay, so new year, knew you, knew me, knew us. So obviously I feel like we're you know, setting intentions and goals and those kind of go hand in hand. We're seeing happy new year at this time of year.
Which I'm really excited about because side note, in two days my Best Year Yet course is coming out and it's essentially a course for setting goals and intentions. Oh, not about investing, not about money. It's more like amazing you know how sometimes I get like my ADHD side gig things that happened. I was like, I'm going to sit down with all of my friends and set some goals, but like tangible ones so that we can set ourselves
up for the best year yet. So do that, or we can talk more about money, which is obviously why you're on this podcast, because we want to be the best investor ever. Like it's your yet for being an investor.
I think it might be. I've got a good feeling between twenty four.
Are you gonna start investing this year?
Be genuinely, Like I know you probably don't believe me, but genuinely, I think I will.
I feel like you've had your toes like dipping sort of in the water, even doing a bit more research. Yeah, like you know, getting excited about it. Like now when I talk to you about investing. You're not like wait, why, You're like, where do I start? Which is really fun? Yes, thank you, thank you for it's really fun, even if you don't do it right now, like maybe even in six months when you're actually ready, because how many times
do people go when's the best time to invest? The best time to invest is when you're ready, Beck, Yes, because otherwise it's overwhelming and you're going to back out and run away.
Yes, exactly. We don't want you doing.
Something early just because you think it's a good idea.
Absolutely, But that takes me to the point of the episode. Today we are talking five ways to be better investor in twenty twenty four. But in true She's on the Money style, we want to make sure it's all sustainable.
It's all they talk about, right, Like, Hi, welcome to twenty twenty four Victoria Divine back on the mic being a broken record again, like I love it. But that's why we've got to talk about. You know, when it comes to sustainability, it's not about investing in sustainable shares.
It's actually creating a strategy that's sustainable for you, Beck, creating a strategy that you can commit to, because I think there's this misconception still even in twenty twenty four, that you have to have lots of money to be an investor or, you have to be going big or not bothering at all, whereas we don't need to go big or go home. We actually just need to commit to something small and continuous and sustainable, and that's what
this episode is about. Obviously, if you want to go back and listen to our Ethically Investor podcast or our sustainable investing podcasts, go do that. Will make sure that you know they're linked in the show notes, but this is more like an episode to make sure that you beck and everyone listening is just really confident about going into twenty twenty four because obviously we haven't heard from
the RBA yet. Slightly nice thing. They don't actually meet in January, so like interest rates aren't going to go up until February. Okay, so we've got a bit of time, got a bit of time before the RBA have their big board meeting. So obviously in December they were like, no, we're going to give you a little bit of reprieve, and we were like, thank you so much.
Yes, they're not.
Going to stack it on us in January, but in February, I think that we might get a rude surprise, but that doesn't mean we can't thrive still. Yes, so I think it's super, super exciting, And I mean, this is not going to be like a Hey Beck, here's actually a list of investments I think you should buy to
have your best year. Yet it's actually more of a you know, give a gal a fish in your feeder for a day, Teach a gal to fish, and she'll teach the rest of you know, the community to fish, and we'll all be better off for it, because that's what we do here at She's on the money. Essentially, when one of us rises, we all rise because we all gain I guess a bit of confidence.
The ship rises with the tides.
Orter rely, we are the tide.
We are the time tie, and our community is the ship.
I mean, I could give you a list of my favorite I guess shares, but I actually can't now I think about it because I'm licensed to give general financial advice legally not allowed. But I mean over the next year, like last year, so obviously side note New Year. Knew us very excited to be back on the show, but like we sat down and did all this strategy for she's on the money content for the next you know, twelve months, there's a lot coming up, Like very excited.
There's so much stuff coming up on like you know, picking shares and the right shares and like kind of taking it to the next level, which I'm really excited about.
But this one's really more of a confidence episode, getting you on the right track and at the end of the day back even if I was like, all right, well you know what, I will give you my favorite shares, that actually only would help you in the short term, not in the long term, because what happens in six months when the markets change stressing out about what's going on, So it would get me in trouble as well. So
we don't want to do that, of course. So my job here is to get you educated, get you on your journey, keep you on your journey, help build I guess, your intuition around investing and the instincts that are gonna last a lifetime when it comes to the investment world. Before the breakback, we've got a lot to cover. But before we get there, I'm actually going to give you some things to think about to help you get into an investment mindset, because this year, for me, it's all
about mindset. It's all about reframing about mindset, about making sure that we're not comparing ourselves. I've talked so much historically about comparison culture, and perhaps this year I'm more passionate about it because I'm doing that a lot. Or I found myself in the last six months, just like really looking at other people and what they were achieving and making myself feel bad about it. And I'm assuming if I'm doing that, because social media is so prevalent.
You know, you're on TikTok, you're on Instagram all the time, I'm assuming I'm not the only one. So let's get over this. We're gonna have our best year yet. Like, let's get on the right track. Let's do a little bit of I guess an investment and mindset spring clean so that we can all be super pumped for what we can achieve and not be worrying so much about what we haven't achieved yet, because that doesn't help us, does it.
No?
Never, So after the break, then we're going to go through my top five key things that are going to help make you a better investor in twenty twenty four. So I feel like I've written this out. Yeah, I think it's gonna be powerful, beck.
Yep, I think so. I'm very excited for after break, but I'm also excited for before break.
We're gonna be a bit more fluffy before break, but before break, maybe I need to stop using the word fluffy. We need to be more like. No, mindset's actually really important. Yes, mindset is ninety percent of your or even ninety nine percent of your investment journey. Like no, if you're not committed, if you're not confident, if you aren't you know, trusting your gut and actually doing the research, like, you're not gonna have a good investment journey totally.
And you know what they say about mindset starts in the vocal or something like that. Probably don't say did.
You just make that?
I made that up? That's really good, thank you, no v So we know that historically men were more inclined to invest than women, but what are the latest stats on that?
I mean, before we get there, men are more likely to invest than women, probably because they get paid more than us and have much, you know, money to play with. Just an issue that come March, come International Women's day come equal payday. I'm gonna be having some words with you about women are better investors if we do the research than men. But I'm not who that is a
big call. Last year the ASX Australian Investors Study, they surveyed five thousand, or around five thousand, five hundred Australian adults and they found a few things that I think you're interesting here. Fifty one percent of Australian adults invest Oh isn't that cool? Fifty one percent percent more than half, more than half. Forty two percent of those are women.
Okay, okay, okay.
Obviously the stats aren't as exciting. So the average age of an Australian investor beck Actually, guess what do you think the average age of an Australian investor is?
I'm skewing younger. Oh yeah, I just I think twenty seven. No, it's forty.
Seven, okay, which is really good because lots obviously we have forty seven year old listeners. In fact, I got a letter the other day, a handwritten.
Letter, and written letter.
I cried for like two hours.
Oh my goodness.
A woman in her seventies had written in and said that she had finally started investing for her future. Whoa, and it made my heart so full because there's obviously no such thing as being too late.
Yeah.
But what excites me most about that stat, Beck, is most of our community sit below that, so that she's on the money. Community sits between the age of twenty five and thirty five on average. Obviously, we have heaps of outlies and absolutely everybody is welcome, but like we as a com community are starting earlier than the average.
Great.
You know what that does puts us significantly ahead. Like that's epic to me, and it makes me so so excited because it just means, Beck, our community is ahead of the game, even if you haven't even started investing yet.
Yeah, I love that, will Genia says, look at us go Yeah, seriously, I'm really excited for so excited for everyone's future right now. But often getting started speaking and getting started that is kind of the worst part of the process.
Because everyone's putting it off until they're a.
That's why I've put off like literally the whole year.
But can you give away with three days into the year.
Yeah, I forgot what day was. Oh my gosh, it's twenty twenty four.
I have've literally been been putting it off all years.
Yeah all ye all year, three whole days. V. But can you give me and the community some tips on how to make a start when you can't really get started analysis paralysis?
Yeah exactly. We call it analysis paralysis. And you know what, women are worse at this than men, Like men are more likely to just like jump in, give it a crack, no worries, mate, Yeah, I don't really know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to make it up as I go. That's not us, is it like we've got more to lose? Yeah exactly, that's not us at all.
And what I see, I guess in our community is our community picks up the information goes, oh my gosh, I have never, you know, really thought about this before, or it's never been presented in a way that's been appealing to me before. And so they start diving into the content. Right, they might read my books, they might
read other finance content creators books. You might be absorbing lots of different podcasts like You've got She's on the Money, You've obviously got my millennial money and a heap of I guess other people in our network and beck that to me, does beautiful things because it educates you and it makes me so so excited because I know you're
on the right path. But sometimes you get a little bit too deep and you go, all right, well, you know, last year they put out her top ten performing ETFs, and then Glenn put out here, and a few other you know, finance podcasts have started doing the same, and you start comparing them and being really critical, and then you go, oh, they're not all the same, and they're
never going to be the same. Beck like everybody in this space has different opinions, different methodologies that they work with, and you get what's called analysis paralysis, which is where you go, I've been doing so much research, and I've been trying so hard to become a good investor, and now I'm more confused than ever because you're trying to get too much into the nitty gritty before even diving in. And the best thing that you can do is actually
pick a platform first. Don't try and pick your first share before picking a platform. Pick your platform, work out you know the pros and cons of each platform, because they're all very different. Pick the one that works for you, and then start doing your research using that platform, not using everybody else's opinions, because opinions they're like butttholes. Everyone has them, and no one really cares about each other's right, Like I.
Care about yours?
Do you?
Thank you so much? I'm pregnant, So there's a lot going on. But I think it's really important to not get analysis paralysis and get too deep and think that you're going to mess it up. Especially in the She's on the Money community, we are always saying, beck, just start with five bucks, Like we're not trying to risk your life savings. That's a really dumb idea, because we want to build your confidence over time. It's five bucks.
I have lost more on less, I promise, And like, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that five dollars isn't a lot of money, especially like when you get to the end of the month and there's still not enough money left. Yes, like five bucks far out that can stretch, right.
That'll save your life, that'll save your bi like you can buy a.
Lot of dry pasta for that. Pinitely, we need to also realize that if you're on your investing journey, you've probably got a few things set in place. You probably have a budget, you have your cash flow sorted out, you have a bit of an emergency fund. So that five bucks that we're investing with for the first time, Beck, it shouldn't impact your day to day life. It shouldn't be the thing that is make or break. And if
it is, now's not the time to invest. Now's the time to focus on you and maybe getting a little bit of an emergency fund behind you, even if you are really passionate about money. So I have four things that I want you to consider here. Okay, So first things, First, set yourself a deadline and make a decision, like just do it, like do it, just do it, just do it.
If you have no timeline for when a decision needs to be made, you're ultimately going to spend a lot of time, just like I guess, waffling back and forth between different options and then ultimately not making a decision. So set yourself a deadline or a specific timeframe for when that decision needs to be made. So, and I
want you to do this, Tue Beck, great idea. I want you to go, all right, I know I'm going to invest, you know, my first five dollars by the end of February yeah, but where you don't know right now, but like at least you know that that deadline's coming up, and you go, oh, I'm really going to have to make a decision on where this is going. Otherwise it will be June and then it will be September and then it will be December and we'll be talking about content for twenty twenty five.
That's true. Yes.
The second thing I want you to do is narrow down your options early. So if you have an overwhelming amount of options, which often we all do, get rid of some of them right away. So like there might be heaps of options on the table that you're like, oh, that one's really nice, but it doesn't really suit me, but I'm going to leave it on the table. She's
in the bin for now. Yeah, So figure out what you want your expected outcome or decision to be, and then get rid of any options that don't actually fit the qualifications I suppose of this outcome. So if you're like, oh, I really want good diversification and I don't want to manage things actively myself, well let's get rid of all of the direct shares and only focus on like the
ETFs or managed funds. Because even if your friend said, you know, NAB or BHP or an individual share is a good option, that's not going to work for the strategy that you've got. And I feel like so many times when we're starting our investment journey, we like want to take everybody's opinion into account. Well, beck, she's investing in direct shares, maybe I should copy her, because you know,
beckst a really good job. But if you then didn't want to ultimately manage direct shares, well, why is it still on the table? Why are we overwhelming ourselves?
Right that put in the bin? Put in the bin, don't think.
Twice number three, We're going to practice decision making quickly. So this is where impulsivity, it's not the worst thing in the entire world. You and I we are going to thrive with this. Forot impulsive, I would get out.
I wouldn't have put impulsivity and investing investing in the same sentence.
But hear me out, hear me out.
Okay.
The inconsequential things like deciding where to eat for dinner or what path to take when you get to work are going to help you be more decisive when you're making bigger decisions. So when It comes down to it, like if you're doing analysis paralysis on a few different investing platforms and you've whittled it down to like three, just pick one. I promise they're all going to be very similar, Like, just pick one back if you don't like it. Down the track, We're not trying to invest
your life savings. Swapping platforms is not going to be the end of the world.
That is very, very true. It's like the start of Pokemon when you have to pick any kind of one of the three creatures. Just do it. Yeah, just a Meani miney Mo situation exactly.
I really like to saying. And I feel like I've embraced this a lot in the last six months. It's not that deep, Beck, It's not that deep. Like when making decisions on different things, I feel like I've been really overwhelmed. And I mean it makes sense because in the last six months, Beck, I've been preparing to have a baby, and there's a lot of decisions that you need to make, Like far out. Everyone's got an opinion on the snoo, which is like this automatic basinette for
your baby, like rocks your baby back to sleep. Right, Oh, cozy sounds great, but then you start reading mum forums, and then you start listening to people on Instagram, and then you're in some random mum Facebook group which you never thought you were going to be in, and you're taking all these opinions on and some people are like, beck this snoo's the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life. And then other moms are like, I would never let my kid in a snooz. That's irresponsible.
You cannot have a bacinet rocking your baby back to sleep when you should be connecting with them. You're like, oh, oh, didn't think of it that way, and then someone else is like, that's a very expensive basinet and my baby hated it, and you're like, oh, what if that happens to me? Like so you're getting all these conflicting opinions from different people, but in reality, what matters is whether
I want to do that or not. Sure not what Shirley on an internet forum has said about how her baby did it, because her baby's not actually going to be my baby. And they're all different, and the same goes for investing. Sometimes, Becky, you just got to pick one.
Give it a crack yep, that's so true.
I did get the snow.
Did you get the snow?
I got the snow. We're going to give it a crack. I love it.
Do you think you could fit an adult in there?
Honestly, my husband's already like, do you reckon? There's like an adult version of this? Seriously, that rocks you back to sleep, right if it notices you're awake as well, it gives you like sleep sounds. Oh that is so considerate, so cute. And they get strapped in in there like spottles, so they're really snuggy buggy.
Oh my god, I.
Want an adult snow. Anyway. Moving on, that's where we're talking about practicing decision making and you know, being a bit impulsive. We're not saying be impulsive from the start. We're saying, let yourself be impulsive. Once you've done all of that research and you have your list, you know what, you probably like all of the options and they're all going.
To work, right, Yeah, you deserve a bit of impulsivity at that point.
Not that deep. That deep, and number four use a framework for your decision making process, so believe it or not, there is a whole framework for the decision making process. So by following a step by step guide, you can actually help take away some of the cognitive heavy work that's required to make a really big decision. And you can find obviously lots of resources online to help guide you through I guess the steps to effective decision making.
And I'm not giving you a specific resource here because I think you should google it yourselves and find a framework that kind of resonates with you, because there's lots of them. So I would google decision making framework and like then because I'm lazy, and I'm also a visual click on images.
Oh my god, I do the same things.
I don't want to read all of the articles. I'm a click the images and I want to see what flow chart makes the most sense for me, and then I will pick that one. Because it actually doesn't matter which framework you use as long as you're using something to get to an end destination. Yeah, does that make sense?
Yeah?
Absolutely.
I mean I'll probably post a decision making framework sometime this week on our Instagram because I have one that I like. You don't need to use that one, you can use anyone. And I actually think it's really important to have a look at like the different options and methodologies that exist.
I'm going to keep my keen eye out for that.
I'll send it to you direct.
Thank you so much. No worries now that we've kind of gotten over analysis paralysis?
Oh over it? Oh?
Like probably not.
I think we're more aware of We're just not good at dealing with it.
Yeah.
Yes, we've got the tools that we need.
To exactly exactly what would you say? The first step is to getting ourselves into an investing mindset.
I just choose just a choice, that's right, Yeah.
Just choose investing mindset.
No, absolutely not. That's not how the world works. You can't just decide to change your mindset. It's so much work, right, It's like therapy, Like yeah, I mean, if we could just choose to be mentally better, we would, wouldn't we I suppose anyway. That's what keeps my therapist in business. But first things first, I would say, do your budget and cash flow so we know what you're working with.
This is obviously really important at the start of this year, but also before setting any goals, because do you know how disheartening it is? And I'm sure you've experienced this before. Actually, I know you've experienced this before, because late last year you were talking about how you really wanted to go to Meredith, and then you didn't go to Meredith because your budget didn't allow for it, and you're like, oh, I probably shouldn't do this, but like you were all like,
I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. Didn't have a ticket yet, but like you were going, you were going, and then it came closer to the date and you realized, I think quite quickly, oh I actually don't have the budget for this. And as much as you, I guess from memory, took that in your stride, you were like, you know what,
I'm really proud of myself for making that decision. But if you've done your budget and cash flow and known what additional income you had to I guess do that would be I can almost guarantee you would have gone to Meredith because there was like a plan in place and were working towards it. And it's just a good example.
It's not a good or a bad thing. We just all know that Besied buries her head in the sand when it comes to budget still, and one of my goals for this year is to sit your sorry button down and go through.
It with you know me too well.
But it's really important to do this before setting goals, because there's nothing more disheartening than going, oh, I don't get to do that anymore, and I really want to do because you really wanted to go to Meredith. I really did, and it was really annoying that you didn't get to go.
I know.
So we can avoid that in the future, and that can be the same for like literally any goal in our life, whether it is a financial goal or like an emotional goal or any other type of goal. Set your financial goals back. But when I say set your financial goals, let's like take a step back. Obviously I've said this before and I'll say it again when in doubt zoom out. Let's look at the long term. What are your long term goals? Then what are your medium
term goals? And your short term goals. Again, we're gonna use Meredith as an example here. Meredith was more of a short term goal. Wasn't like a long term you'd been planning for years to go. It was more tickets came out and you're like, oh, yeah, I do really want to go, and it's in the next few months, I'm gonna go to work towards that. We actually need to look at all of them, because let's be honest,
in this economy, beck can't do everything at once. No, absolutely, Like, and if you've got this medium term goal of going on and overseas holiday and maybe a longer term goal of buying your first home, you might go, hold up, hold up, hold up. If I go to Meredith, I'm not going to be able to go to Bali with my girlfriends. And that's in November this year, which one would you prefer more?
Yeah?
So, like we're actually sitting down and prioritizing what our financial goals look like and putting in place our own of a framework to go. Actually, these short term goals, they're really important to me. So maybe I will sacrifice that medium term goal not going to go to Bali or do it the next year. Does that make sense? So, like we're kind of renegotiating with ourselves. And the next thing I want you to do is really understand risk.
So when we are in an investment mindset, we're really excited about growth, but we aren't that excited if we hear that our portfolio is going to go down, right, And I've said it before and I'll say it again. Even when I log into my investment portfolio today, if I see it down, I get that little twang in my chest. I'm like, Oh, even though I arguably should be one of the more educated people in this space, investing is inherently emotional. So making sure that you understand risk.
So what is risk? How does it work? What is your personal risk profile? We've done whole episodes on risk profiling. Go and listen to them so that you know what you are willing to take on and what you're not
willing to take on. And it's going to, you know, take you through a number of questions that's going to help ascertain what type of risk profile you have, and if you understand that, you will be whistling down very easily the types of assets you would invest in and the types you wouldn't invest in, and wipes heaps of stuff off the table for you from the get go. Yeah, okay, so that's where I would start and where I would focus. If you're experiencing a little bit of analysis paralysis.
Got he's good. So at this point I would say, let's have a little break, but don't go anywhere, because after the break of fee it's going to give you the five key things to help make you a better investor in twenty twenty four. Let's go, let's go. Welcome back everyone. We are talking about investing in mindset and v You've promised to share with us five ways to be a better investor in twenty.
Isn't that nice of me?
Very nice of you, so very very nice.
Here, let's start, all right, So are you ready?
I think I'm ready.
Are you going to be a better investor?
Or?
Are you just going to become an investor? I think I'll become your jokes on. You have superanuation?
Oh, I forgot about that.
She's already an investor, A good one. I don't know. I haven't looked at your super I can tell you that after the show, babe, Okay, but I think that's a good place to start. You're actually already an investor. If you've got superannuation actually gives me confidence. Well, it gives you confidence, but it also lets you kind of go, oh, I'm not missing out as much as I think I was. Like, I think a lot of people just assume, oh, I'm
not in the market, Like what the hell? Like, my friend, if you have a superannuation portfolio, whether it's one dollar or one million dollars, you are an investor, and that's actually a really you know, side note before I get into my list. That's a really easy way to kind of log in, see what your portfolio has been doing, what's your risk profile in that space, how much are your fees in that space? What are you invested in?
Are you happy you're invested in that? Like, I think it's just take control of that because ultimately that's not going to cost you any money today. You don't even have to put your money where your mouth is. You don't even have to, you know, take anything out of savings to start, right, have a look at that beck because it'll make you feel more empowered and you go, oh, I've been invested in that for ages and it's actually doing okay. Like it'll give you a bit of a boost,
a bit of confidence. And also, let's be honest, if there's something not so good about your super, you're gonna be hundreds of thousands of dollars better off in retirement if you check it today, right, Like, if you check it today, that is a very cheap and easy way to get yourself ahead. Financially in the long term without having to put a doll You could be in mountains of debt right now and still check your super and be in a better financial position. Yeah, that's a sleigh,
I said. I wasn't going to say sleigh in twenty twenty four, but guess we're here.
Well, it's a little bit Christmasy to say slay. I think I'm changing it into an eigh. So I think it's okay.
Again, you think it's okay because Christmas was so recent? Yeah, okay, all right, Well I'll take it. I'm really going to take whatever. But I've written you a list of five things to do to be a better investor in twenty twenty four, after you've sorted your super hour, right, all right, So first thing first, we're just gonna do it. We're just going to make a start.
Just do it.
Just do it.
Sorry, Nike, don't come after me. I'm borrowing your trademark. But that is okay. You don't need lots of money to start your investment journey. Invest small amounts regularly if that's all you have. There's no such thing as investing too little. How many times have I harped on about the fact that investing early and little amounts sets you up to be in the right mind frame for when
you do have more money to invest. If you can't manage one dollar, beck, I promise you can't manage ten thousand dollars, and you ultimately aren't going to be able to manage a million dollar portfolio. If that's your plan, So start with the one dollar and start caring about that a lot today. Even if you go this is fruitless. It's not even going to buy me a coffee. I get that. But you know what it's doing. It's setting up your mindset. It's putting you on the right path.
You've already got the investing platform, you've got the framework. You maybe have already automated the payments to that platform. What you can do over time, as we get higher incomes or you know, birthday money or Christmas money, or like you get your tax return come July this year, you can invest more and slowly start building it so there's no such thing as too little, too late. The next thing we are going to do is do our research. It's not that sexy. Sorry, that seems like work, but
it can be fun. I think it's fun. You have a wine. It can be extra fun. True. You know who I'm going to refer to in this next point. The most successful investor of all time is our eighty plus year old friend Warren Buffett and our mate Buffett. He gives us two key pieces of advice when evaluating a company to invest in. So first look at the quality of the company, then at the price. Okay, so we're not looking at the price first, we're looking at whether it's a good company to begin with, a.
Like values and morals all we talk. It could be.
Values, it could be morals, it could be whether it's a good company or not. I have used this example on the pod before. Remember, obviously I'm never going to work with after pay, so don't mind throwing them straight
under the bus. But remember way back when everyone was talking about how great after pay shares were, Oh my gosh, they're amazing, and they started getting really expensive, and I think a lot of us thought that expensive was indicative of quality and being a good investment option, because why would they increase so much? Why would they increase so quickly? Back the reality of that is they increased because of I guess the social status they had. The media was
talking about them. Everyone on Instagram was talking about them. Everyone in the kitchen at aarn was talking about them, going oh this is great, Oh my gosh, you're going to get so much good return. But we were looking at the price of them, going oh that's cool. We
weren't looking at the quality of the business. You looked at the quality of the business, you would have seen there in debt they are in or were at that point in time, an in debt business that was trying to get ahead, that was investing significantly in what they were doing, which is nice. Sometimes they also weren't paying dividends to their investors. So to me, let's look at the quality of a company, because I know that as a more conservative investor, instead of an after pay share,
I much prefer blue chip stock. Something that is a blue chip stock is a tried, true investment that has been in the market for a really long time. They don't do that many sexy things, but you know what they do do back, They pay on time, They're consistent. They're the tribes and true, steady steed. Like I'm not the sexiest investor ever, Like if you looked at my personal portfolio, be like kind of expected more but but I like her because she's conservative. She does the job properly.
Right.
The second thing is so obviously looking at the quality of a company requires you to read, I guess, a few financial statements. You could listen to some conference calls, or like vet management, you could do a lot of things. You could just also, like you know, jump on your shares z app and read through all the information that they provide on the company so that you can do a bit of research that way. But please don't jump on anything just because the media or your friends are
saying it is cool. And then only after you have the confidence in it being a good quality company should the price then be evaluated and you can go is that a reasonable price for a quality company or not? Right? If that makes sense? As our mate Warren puts it, it's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. You love. I'm in love with that.
It was straight out of the head.
Yeah, that's incredible with him.
So would you say I should be doing what Warren Buffett says?
I mean, lots of people, do d you? He has like an online cult following If he makes an investment trade soda. Like millions of other people, I'm not shocked, actually, and neither am I I'm one of them. By I'm actually not. I just really like following what he does, not necessarily implementing it. Just pervy. You know you've met that. I need to look under the hood of everybody. Absolutely Anyway, I guess that leads me to my next point, which
is trust yourself and have some conviction back. So, how many times have you read an article, watched a news report, jumped online, took a tip from a friend about the next hot stock, and lost money a.
Couple of times?
Yeah, you have bitcoin being number one?
Yeah, doge coin. Doge coin was the other.
Yeah. So like we don't trust Beck with her environment recommendation, listen to me. There is only one piece of advice I would say you should ever act upon, and that's used your own exhaustive research based on facts, not opinions. Those two things are very different obtained from trusted sources. Other advice can be considered and obviously verified, but it
should never be the sole reason to commit money to something. Yep, just because someone said it was good, Beck, and just because your mates were doing it does not mean that it is a good decision at all. Do your research, have a bit of a think about it, make sure it fits your risk profile and what you're trying to achieve. The next thing is look ahead. I always say, when in doubt throom out, look at the bigger picture. I genuinely mean that successful investors don't actually look at what's
happening today. It's why when you know the uproar about the Big four banks was happening last year, Like I remember, everyone was talking about, oh my gosh, they're screwing investors because they're increasing interest rates. What does this mean? Should I still be invested in them? I didn't even second look. I own a couple of the Big four banks in
my portfolio. I didn't even blink. And the reason I didn't blink is because I already know they're tried, true quality businesses, and what was going on was reflective of the market. It did not matter what was going on with other people's opinions because they didn't know what they
were talking about. At the end of the day, Les Warren Buffett is out here telling me, yes, I don't know why my friend that's a doctor or a dentist or a hairdresser is going to know more about the investment world than people who actually work in investment right right. One of my favorite books, and if you're looking for an investment book to read at the start of this year, I read this every year and it's the most dry, bland, boring book in the entire world. But I read it all the time.
You go for it.
I read it all the time because it's like the investing basics, Like it's the start of the start. It's called The Richest Man in Babylon and it's about I guess investing basics, like where investments started, and it started in marketplaces. And one of the things that is said in The Richest Man in Babylon is you would never take advice on buying diamonds from a bricklayer. And you just go that makes sense. That does make sense. So every time someone gives you some advice, go, well, where
is it coming from. Yes, so you can have a really beautiful conversation over brunch, don't shut your friends down. Have those chats. Absorb that information. But when it comes back to making your own decision, be like, did I get this advice from the diamond trader or did I get it from the bricklayer, because if I'm buying diamonds, I probably want to be talking to a diamond specialist. I don't actually want to be talking to a bricky that's beautiful. Does that make sense? Yeah, So anyway, that's
where I would be looking. Look at the momentum of a company as well or an entire economy and how it interacts with its competitors. If you invested now, what will happen in the future. I think it's really important
to understand that most businesses are really forward thinking. If you're looking at investing something now, or trying to jump on the bandwagon of an investment that's already like in its heyday, already had all of that social media momentum that's had short term gains, you've actually probably already missed out.
Like you're probably not going to like if your mate is talking about how they've had really great gains in the last six months with a particular stock, like why would that continue in this economy?
Right?
Like sounds good, sound sexy, but it's probably not going to be sustainable for the future. So we need to look at that. So try and find the next big thing, not necessarily the thing that has been the big thing for your friends. But then always anchor your portfolio with great companies that have, you know, long term track records and steady growth, not like, oh my gosh, dos coin is really trendy, young and for my money in there, sorry to attack you like, which beck leads me to
my final point, be patient. It's a long game.
That's the time parts a long game.
I'm impulsive, so this doesn't work for me either, which is I guess why I had to become so educated, because I just want things to happen right now. If I invest today, right, it would be so good to be a millionaire tomorrow, ideally, ideally right, Like, what do you mean, I'm going to check it tomorrow and it's gonna be worth nothing. It might be worthless.
That's so scaring.
But we actually have to zoom out. So you will have heard me say a million times even in this episode when in doubt, zoom out, look at the bigger picture. Yeah, I promise that is going to make you a better investor, if you are able to genuinely go hold up my portfolios down. Let's actually just like, look at the bigger picture. One of my favorite resources is the Vanguard Interactive Index chart.
Go have a look at that online, because when you zoom out and go, oh, well, what has the market done over the last thirty years, forty years, fifty years, however long you're planning on being invested, I promise it looks far more sexy than what the returns over the last twelve months have Because, like, everyone's a bit of
a hard time during this economy. But if you look at what's going on in our economy right now, and then you compare it to the global financial crisis, which arguably was our biggest financial crisis, you know, I guess you could say, more modern times, that happened in two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine. And if we go back that far and have a look at what the dip in the market there looked like and cut it off, you go, oh, my gosh, the market was
steadily going up and then it crashed down. Beck it was terrifying. But then if you go from two thousand and nine to twenty twenty four, the market recovers even greater than what the crash was. So it always comes back, and we needed to understand that. That's how the economy works. So during the Global Financial crisis, so many people freaked out,
sold their portfolios, that were selling their house. Like there's obviously a lot to the GFC, which we can explain another day, but lots of people freaked out because it was the biggest crash in history. Beck. But the people that made the most money during the Global Financial Crisis were the colme that left their money invested, so that today it is outperforming even what the high of the Global financial crisis market wash.
You'd be absolutely cheering exactly.
And if you had sold, then you're absolutely kicking yourself, right because now you're looking at this bigger chart going wow, like it actually recovered. And at the time it didn't feel like it was going to recover, felt like the financial world was falling down around us. But when in doubt, zoom ount. It is so important to I guess, take a step back and go if this is happening to me as an individual investor, it's probably happening to millions
of individual investors. And if you're on a good platform and you're in you know, a solid ETF for a solid business, I promise they're freaking out more than you are because they want their returns to go back to normal too. Ye, so don't stress too much, don't panic when in doubt, zoom out.
Okay, are there any other things to consider before we wrap up?
I mean, obviously there are some really good books She's on the Money, any investinguish sheees on the Money. Obviously, listen to podcasts. There are so many out there. Obviously we can talk about our own, but if you're this far into this episode, you already listen to us. But I've got a couple of favorites. Obviously, I love my
millennial money. I think that they are really Obviously they can be a lot more technical than I am, which some people absolutely love, and they deep dive into different things. Go have a listen to them. Even just look up money podcasts online and see what other content exists that you might resonate with. Join our Facebook group, keep in touch with the community, have a good chat with people,
Start bringing it up at brunch. Like you don't need to do this alone, even if you don't have any quote friends in your immediate friend circle that are going to talk about this with you. I will jump into our Facebook group. I live there on the daily. Like you ask questions I'm a there to answer. This is why we are here, right, So I think that then gets specific with your situation. So work out what you
can do. Beg, your sitch is going to be very different to someone in their fifties investing for the first time. So don't look at what other people are doing. Look at what Beck needs to do and how she needs to you know, just put one foot in front of the other to get into the market. If you're already in the market and you want to be a better investor,
what does that look like for you? Because if you then compare yourself to other people's journeys, you're going to be like, I've been investing for ten years and then you see, you know Sharon down the road and she's been investing for ten years, but she had so much disposable income and is now rolling in it. Right, what's that going to do for you?
Make me sad?
Exactly? Do we want to do that?
No?
What benefit does that provide?
Yeah?
I see what are saying.
So That's where I'm at, and I think now it's time to wrap because I deserve a coffee after all.
Yeah. Absolutely, you changed my life, that's for sure.
Thanks babe. Because I bought your coffee exactly.
Let's get another one.
All right, Have a good week, guys. We will see you on Friday. Bye.
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