Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud your the Order Kerni Whalbury 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 On the Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome to our very special recording of our show, coming to you live from the Melbourne CBD where we are recording a live podcast episode in celebration of the launch of the new investing Wishes on the Money Book. As always, we are here to celebrate our community, but I am joined with the gorgeous jessic Rici.
Hello. Hello.
Hello. As you guys know, Friday is the perfect time to sit back with a bevy in hand to recap the week that was and chat about the highs the lows. We're going to share some money wins and conversions, and we're going to talk about everything that is happening not in the finance world, but in my book, which we're really excited about. Let's get into it, though obviously we are going to be joined by a very special guest, Victoria Latu in the second half of this episode. But
before we get there, how about Jess. We just catch up on the week that was. How's your week been?
It's been pretty good, it's been pretty crazy. We're in Sydney two days ago doing this exact thing, although when you're listening to this on the pod, it will have been a whole week from now, because that's how things work in podcast land. They sound like they're all happening one after the other, and sometimes we're lying, but that's okay.
We are, and sometimes we edit out things we don't want you to hear.
Like the F bombs.
We don't swear we are angels. I'm wearing wite uring peach that could not come out of our mouths. How have you been for the last six months? I feel like she's on the money, has been wild You've had to put up with me finishing this book. You've had to put up with me dragging you, arguably all across the world to do. She's on the money stuff. Are you dealing with it? Okay?
I am having a lot of fun. We just got back from the States. Anyone who follows us online would have seen lots of Disney content because that's where I had fun, not so much at the finance conference.
Excuse me, she's not wrong, but I didn't think she'd say that on stage. That was actually our bargaining right. So I was like, I really want to go to FINCLN. It's a finance content creators conference, which none of you are going to find interesting. I do, though, and I said to Jess, let's go. She's like, oh, you know, there's so much happening at home. Maybe you just go
and you make some new friends. And I was like, I don't really want to go alone, Like I know it's going to suck, but I want the information take you to disney World, and she was like I'm in. So it worked. We went to Disneyland. We also were lucky enough to go to Disneyland in Paris earlier this year as well. So I feel like it would only be fair for the people who are running the sponsorship for the Disney cruise to give you a free cruise so many people.
I'm really glad.
If I'm known for anything in this community, it's for being a Disney adult. Because I reckon, about fifty people sent me the post when that was announced, which is very, very fun, and that is my contribution, not the finance content. I hope you're not here for that because I don't know anything about it, but Disney I could talk about all day absolutely.
All right, Well, I reckon, it's time to get into our budget direct money wins and confessions of the week. What reckon jazz sounds like a plan. Let's say I kick off the very first one you can. Fantastic.
I have a win.
It is from our friend Kelsey, who I believe is here tonight. She says, small money win. I want to buy my daughter one of those personalized name blankets for her first birthday. They're between one hundred and one hundred and fifty dollars depending on the design, and my daughter is now going to be in a photo shoot for them because I emailed them. Are we going to get a gift bouncher to spend at their store, and she gets to keep all the images.
I feel like that's so wholesome, Like imagine wanting something and then being like, not only do I get it, my child is now the face of it creepy either way, depending on how you look at it.
Kelsey, the audacity you had to email them and be like, my kid's cute, give her a free blanket, and you're through in our marketing.
If you are here, Kelsey, I'd really like to see a photo of the blanket, because now I'm super sure why to see the baby? What if the baby's on
the blanket like her face? Why not both? Yeah, I've got a win from Esther, who said money win, absolutely out of it after my wisdom tooth removal saved five hundred dollars from what I was quoted, absolutely out of my mind trying to pay dribbling everywhere, what a money when it was, and how I needed to tell Victoria divine And when I wrote this one down, I was just really picturing Esther. I don't know if anyone's ever seen the videos of people post wisdom teeth removal when they're.
Real and you can't sleep tonight, google it or put it on YouTube. It's actually the funniest thing I've ever seen. But the way she wrote it, I was just like, are you writing this? Like in the car on the way home, particularly when she's like dribbling everywhere.
Gotta tell Victoria divine.
It was just I feel bad because I had my wisdom teeth out a couple of years ago, and it doesn't matter that I'm now in my thirties. I still called my mom and was like, hey, Mom, I need to get my wisdom teeth that.
Will you come with.
Me and help me? All four were impacted. Long story short, had to go into hospital for it. That's fine, but I had Mom pick me up after. So she takes me home and if you know me, I under eat me. I demanded a big Mac on the way home, and I ate it so quickly that I didn't know i'd had it and asked Mum for another one. Ten out of ten. If you have been is it anethetized? Yeah, you just do things you don't want people to see
on the internet. So I'm glad that I didn't get on my phone and all I did was get through Mac's drive through. I have one it is from Nicole. She says, small but consistent money win here. I locked in fuel cheap and I topped up my tank before it expired. Not a full tank, but it's so much better to pay a dollar fifty one per tank instead of a dollar ninety four.
I really got a heart attack when I got off the plane and saw how expensive petrol was. And we've spoken on the podcast before about how I am a very irresponsible driver in the sense that I will drive my car on empty for kilometers, like I have had to call RACV three times because I run out of petrol, and my boyfriend twice, who is here somewhere today, Hi, James, love.
You so Also sorry James.
Yeah, also sorry James.
But we got off the flight from Sydney, and I had driven to the airport with no petrol, and it's always more expensive at the airport anyway, And when we had left, I think it was like a dollar maybe forty five fifty something like that, And we got off the plane and it was a dollar ninety seven. And I told her to fill up before she left, and I get mad anxiety.
When Jess's like, oh, drive, I'm like, no, you will not, absolutely not all right, I have a very wholesome money win. Oh no, I don't, nuns.
I have a wholesome money win from Rachel, and she steal my stuff money win. I stole it because I really really liked this one.
Rude.
It says, my super talented girlfriend is showing me some cute outfits for Falls festival instead of me spending heaps of money on new ones.
Bonus win.
She uses mostly recycled and reclaimed fabrics from op shops, so it's a win for the environment too. And I was just imagining her coming up with like these really fun fancy outfits for Falls because people wear really crazy cute fun festival things, and drawing it up and then her go friend like sewing away like Cinderella's Little Mice, and then in the morning the outfits just waiting on the table. I made a whole narrative in my head for this, That's what I love.
Took it off me. Also, Cylinderella is mice didn't consent to that. The flip story of this is like Rachel's girlfriend, did she consent to this or is she now up to like midnight every night when she's got a nine to five sewing These outfits that she doesn't even think of that cute slave labor.
And that's that on being in love, all right.
So my next money, when it is from Melissa. I don't know if I've got a cool thirty thousand dollars that I can tip into this myself, but she said I sold a car for one hundred thousand dollars that I paid thirty thousand dollars for as much as I'll miss it, it will be a heap of fun. I've already got another Honda to buy that replaces it, and I already have two other cars as run arounds needs too. Maybe Chess, maybe she runs all of her cars out
of petrol as well. She says, it's not really a recommendation, but I've been buying old Japanese cars and flipping them, so I recommend other people do two and then get it valued because you can raise your insurance as well. And no one's gonna like that, but I did. I just thought it was real fun.
That's a huge amount of money.
So that's it.
What's I have absolutely no talent. All I'm good at is like ripping my rims apart when I go to park and like, what are they made for if not telling me that I'm at the curb.
I don't know why they don't make them more sturdy, because let's be honest, everybody's done it, and they're made of like mine fell off once.
Because I hit the curb. You were parking smartly.
They fell off and they were like this thin, and I was like, why are these not made of like steal or something that's like a little sturdier.
Honestly, I'm convinced if they didn't want them to get scratched, they'd be further set back. So they are obviously in existence to make sure that I am a good parker.
And she's gonna live by that statement. My last money wh is from Megan, and she said, we went to dinner on Friday night with my partner. We decided to get gelato afterwards, and the store was doing buy one, get one free, and that is my dream and that's why I picked it as my last money win because I feel like, that's so good.
Free ice cream. You're like ten out of ten, buy one, get one free. Her favorite money win wasn't going to Disney World on Victoria like what, Okay, no worries. It has as always been great celebrating some of your budget direct money wins Budget Direct winner of Canctar's Insurer if the year twenty twenty to award Budget Direct Insurance Solved.
We have some fun listener questions that people want to ask you, because turns out everybody who's here is just as passionate as we are. So the first question that we have is how involved in my investing journey do I personally need to be very always?
Is that it always?
No?
It's an interesting question because it really depends on what type of investment you're going to choose, right And I talk about this on the podcast and recently we have done Have they come out yet?
The Passive Investing episode? Is that out?
I don't know one of them is. When one of them is, someone's.
Nodding, it means it's out. You're better at my show than I am.
Thank you.
So we're doing like passive versus active investing And I really I actually just a sidestep for a second. I cannot believe how excited and hungry our community are for investing content. Like I thought I would just explain the concepts, and now people are emailing and they're like, can you do a strategy like can you do an entire podcast on this particular you know asset class or can you do a particular podcast on the way you do XYZX?
And it just it blows my mind because it makes me so damn proud because I'm like, oh, I know that because I'm a financial advisor, but also I just didn't think people cared and I do. So how involved you want to be really depends on the strategy you adopt, and the strategy that you adopt is going to be really based on your risk profile. And I talk about this all the time on the podcast and all the
time in real life. My clients that are here tonight, I'm sorry you've heard this all before, but it goes back to your risk profile, because investing can become really easy if you know what asset cliss works for you. So if you're a really balanced investor, you're going to maybe be less involved, Whereas if you're far more aggressive, you're probably going to want to be more involved because you're more invested in the share market. So it really depends.
I would say at the very beginning, it pays to be very very invested in your journey in understanding you in understanding your money story, in understanding why you want to invest, because that's the thing that's going to keep you invested for the long term. In making sure that you are, you know, putting yourself in the best possible position. But if you want to invest in directions, well that's a far more active strategy than going and investing in an ETF. So I think it really depends on what
you want to be. But if you want to be really hands off and you want to go put your money in one asset class and have it managed by someone else, like we talk about six Park on the show all the time. That's a robo advice platform where you just transfer your money they're going to do all of the hard work for you. That's a money win. If you don't want to be super super involved, but
you want professional assistance. Whereas someone like me, I'm quite controlling, and I love being a part of a passive strategy because I know that I can be quite impulsive, but
I'm really aware of that. So I have what's called a core satellite approach where I have my core portfolio and that's quite passive and I have other people manage that because I can't be trusted, and then I have this satellite of different shares that I personally am really excited in, and I invest in and follow so I know that the risks I'm making there aren't impacting my future wealth. But I can kind of employ both a passive and an active strategy that makes the most sense
for us. Does that answer the question?
Yeah?
Absolutely, In terms of being hands off, at what point do people look at advisors as well? Because I feel like that's a chance for you to be relatively hands off while still being involved because, as you know, advisors do have to keep in the loop. They can't just do something without asking.
Yeah, I've been doing a lot of CPD this week and justice like why. So it really depends. To be honest, I would say that it's not just passive when you go to a financial advisor. I have clients on both ends of the spectrum. I have clients in light victoria. I trust you do whatever you want, and you know what, I actually don't like that, and I don't like it because as much as you trust me, and that is beautiful, thank you, I also want you to be completely aware
of absolutely everything that you are involved in. I want you to be so understanding of the market, ebbs and flows. So when something does happen, you go yes because Victoria said it went ABC and D. So in the establishment part, I would say active is really important, but yeah, you can kind of leave it to the pros. I would argue, because financial advice can be cost prohibitive for a lot of people, that it's really based on your values. It is really based on how much you want to get
out of your financial journey. I mean, a lot of us can do it ourselves, and a lot of our
community do absolutely support that. But if you're really struggling with it, or you've come into a really large sum of money, or you know you've been investing for a few years and want to take it to a level that you just can't seem to grasp yourself, I think it would be worth it, but you really do have to weigh up the costs of it, and if it's investment only, So if you want to go see a financial advisor, you can see them in a million different ways, right,
So you could go see them just for insurance. And our friend Phil Thompson, who is here tonight, maybe he's here tonight. If he's not, that's kind of sucky.
What a guy.
Anyway, he is our insurance specialist for our community, and anytime someone has an insurance question, I'm like, look, go to feel he does it twenty four to seven. In fact, I've gotten to a point in my business where I send my clients to do insurance with him and then back to me for investment because that's what I invest at. Or you could go see a financial advisor who does it all and they are what's called a holistic financial advisor.
Or you could just go for investment advice, and it really depends on what you want as to how much it's going to cost. But if you're going just for investment advice, there's a plethora of different options out there. There's robo advice, there's you know DII platforms, there's microinvesting platforms, there's you know, managed funds. There's so many options that
you can engage in as an individual. But when it comes to stuff like insurance and superannuation, if I'm being brutally honest, and some people aren't gonna like me saying this when they listen to the pod, because I think everyone in the community is going to understand. I just don't think technology is at a point yet where insurance and superanuation can be done via an app or Buya,
a robo advisor. The algorithms don't take into control personal values, whereas with investment, personal values get decided before you choose your investment assets and the way that it's managed, so that can be automated. But it comes down to your will when it comes down to how much life insurance you want. As much as I could calculate it for you, Jess, it's not going to be perfect because I don't know what your thoughts, feelings, and legacy are and I don't
think a robot understands that. So ah, I guess I've gone on a little bit of a tangent because that's me and I love talking about this, But yeah, I just think it depends.
I like that. It's a very good answer.
The next question that we have is is it worth micro investing at the same time as having a portfolio. And I thought this question was really interesting because if you're in micro investing, do you not inherently have a portfolio that exists?
Yes?
Would you micro.
Invest and proper invest at the same time.
Yeah, I do.
I have a spaceship account which I know a lot of the people in our community have, which is, you know, it's all kind of looked after for me.
And that's where I started.
And then, like you said, I graduated to shares these and that's where I pick my individual stocks and my
shares that I want to invest in. And I've kept them both partly because my spaceship is very in the red right now and it would not be a great time for me to sell that down in my opinion, not personal advice, but also just because it's kind of nice having something that just ticks a without a whole lot of thought, and you can have things like the auto invest or the round up feature on that makes it really easy and those small amounts really add up over the long term.
So you don't even need me. There's your answer. It is true, right, Like you don't have to just engage with one platform. I would argue you need to weigh up the cost of investing on multiple platforms because with multiple platforms comes multiple fees. However, they all engage you in different ways, and most micro investing platforms have really
low fees but very high engagement levels. And I would say that with the high engagement levels even though you're in the red, which at the moment, like we've talked about it on the pod, guys, you know we're in a bear market. We're twenty percent down. If your investment portfolio is in the red, that makes sense because the rest of the market is as well. So if you're investing, you're probably caring a little bit more about your micro
investing platform because it's so accessible on your phone. It's an app, like you can just log in while you're on the train or the tram. I do it in bed at night and like I put a candy crush and look at my invest It's real cool, like hot girl shit.
I also watch tiktoks.
Yeah, yeah, a lot of tiktoks.
As someone who has slept next to you many times in separate beds, but many times I can confirm she does that and then when it's time to go to bed, she puts on a nice soothing murder podcast.
I actually do and just had to tell me to turn it off.
The other night.
She was like, do we have to listen to murder? You give me nightmares? And I was like, oh, sorry, sorry, but murder podcasts can recommend morbid the podcast if you want them really gory, awful stories to go to bed.
With, which I do not.
For the requestion, let's talk about investment. I think when it comes to micro investing, as I said before, it keeps you engaged, like I still micro invest even though I have these other investment platforms, and the fees aren't really my concern purely because I like how engaged with the platform I am. I like that I do the roundups, and I feel like I save a lot more with it.
I do get to a certain point on my micro investing platform and transfer it over because I'm cheap and I don't want to get to the point where they charge me more fees, so I chuck it into my bigger account, and then I kind of have these mini goals of getting to one thousand dollars or getting to two thousand dollars depending on which platform it is as to when I transfer it, and I'm kind of like, oh, how quickly can I get there? Like what if I put five dollars a day here instead of getting coffee?
Like I just play with it a little bit more, And I think that that's actually really positive in this space, And even if you're only micro investing. I've heard so many people say, especially recently, they're like, oh, is it worth it? Like I'm just microinvesting, Like, yes, you're exposing
yourself to the market. Market exposure is not just good because it's you going and investing and getting a return, because obviously we're all investing so that we can make use of compound interests, right, But it's not just about getting that compound interest. It's exposing you to the market so that when something happens, you're comfortable with it. And if it's five dollars a day, or five dollars a week, or five dollars a month, or even a dollar a month,
because that's what you can afford at this point. I think that's really really positive because in the future, one day you will invest more and you would have already experienced the ebbs and flows. And I think that there's just this really big misconception that when you start your investment journey, you really need to put in your life savings or put in so much money that a quote
makes sense like, that's not the way investment works. I think small steps in the right direction are what we want to be doing, because it puts us in the best possible position.
So would I do both? Yes, because what I do I suppose.
I love that and I can see us getting the eyes because we're getting close to time. But I have one more question that I wanted to ask you before we headed off, which is, while we know that investments should generally be kept.
Over the long term, again not personal advice.
That people want to know when it comes time to sell your portfolio, if it's the right time for you, what things do we need to be keeping in mind.
Capital gains tax, I think is really important and something that we forget we need to pay because we talk about tax in general, and you think you already paid it on the money that you put into the market. But capital gains tax is a tax you pay on
the profit that you make. So if you made a dollar and you are at a tax rate of thirty two and a half percent, you have to pay thirty two and a half cents to the taxman when you pull that money out for every dollar, for every single dollar, I said, if you made one dollar, Like I was just making it a really small example, Jessica, but I think it's really important to take that into consideration. But
also remember it does get complicated. Remember that losses can be carried forward, so if you've had a loss over a few years, you can carry those forwards so that when you do have a capital gain, it kind of balances out. So the best thing you can do if you are planning on selling is talk to your accountant, and that is not nearly as expensive as talking to a financial advisor, I promise, because you'll just say, what are the tax implications of me making this decision? And
they'll say one hundred and twenty dollars, please, sir. And that is a really good example of a good investment, because you could go, I just want to sell because I'm just not feeling it anymore. That's cool, But do you want to be up for a couple of thousand dollars completely unexpectedly?
Probably not.
The other thing I would take into consideration as buying and trading in really short periods of time, because capital gains tax is taxed at your marginal tax rate. However, if you buy and sell it within twelve months, So say you went and bought some ethereum or bitcoin a month ago, that was a.
Sad time to buy.
But let's pretend you didn't. It did really well, and you were like, oh my gosh, yess, I made so much money on crypto and then you sold it, you actually had fifty percent capital gains tax because it's in a twelve month period instead of your marginal tax rate.
So it's really important to remember time in the market, but also making sure that tax is taken into consideration, because I've seen it in our community where people are like, oh, I did this and then I sold this, and then it got to tax time and I owed so much and I just didn't.
I don't get it.
Why did I have this? And it's something that kind of creeps up on you. So there are tax implications of investing, but the important thing to remember there is actually that if you're paying tax, you're making money.
And we like that.
We like paying tax, but we only like paying tax when it makes sense for us. We don't like surprise tax. So avoid surprise tax, but keep paying your tax. Is that good advice?
I feel like it is, And if it's not, I'm sure Asik will tell us.
Otherwise.
Do you know if I like breached my license? We talk about this all the time, that you know if influencers being held account to exactly the same standard as financial advisors, and people like, what does that mean, guys? It means five years in jail and a million dollars. I don't have a million dollars, nor do I have five years to waste in jail. I could listen to a lot of murder podcasts. I could probably make a lot of murder podcasts. Maybe it is a good idea.
I like some really good podcast guests in there.
All right, we are getting what it would be a great idea from behind the bus. She's in jail. Great, I love it. All right, Well, we're getting the eyes from the side of stage, so we are going to take a very short twenty minute break. It is your time to get a glass of rose, because when we get back on stage, we are going to be having a glass of champagne with our very special guest.
You guys can all grab a wine.
Will we're back.
I am very excited. I hope that you guys have all had time. She's taking a picture of my book.
Guys, should we smile of me too?
I hope you guys have all had time to pick up a rose and obviously pick up a book. Well, I think that we will get straight back into it and introduce our special guest, Jessica. You've got the ramp. Tell us about her.
Our guest is absolutely incredible. Her name is Victoria Latow. She is one of Australia's most influential fashion commentators and creators. After kicking off her media career in LA which included a very fancy roll at MTV, Victoria began her online platform, Talking Shop, which is a bold, modern lifestyle online brand for the millennial woman, covering topics such as fashion, beauty, lifestyle,
motherhood and wellness. She's an advocate for diversity within the fashion industry and helps to promote confidence in women across the nation through how they style and create their signature looks.
And she looks bomb tonight. She looks stunning.
I thought I was fashion. I was like, I'm gonna wear this white dress and just looks like texting it. I'm gonna wear the peach dress and it's like, so she's on the money and this woman she trumps us. So let's have a very warm welcome for Victoria Letto.
Welcome to the show. Victoria, thank you so much.
You know, the thing about me is this is the first time I'm actually ever doing a podcast and you gotta do it live in front of five hundred people.
No pressure, I have no pressure at all.
Well, thanks for joining us. We are genuinely so excited to have you. As always, whenever we have a special guest on the show, we need to kick it off with a recent money win or a confession. What have you got for us?
A money win?
Okay, I actually invested in crypto and I want some money. Well, I say one because it was more like gambling than investing. But I'm so proud to say, were you bagging crypto? Just that was really some money, not a lot, but I actually did did you sell it?
I held it for about eight months for fun with that couple of gains tax.
I know when you were saying that, but it wasn't a big amount of money, so I don't think it doesn't matter.
But the fact is I made my money.
Yeah, money win ten out of ten win love.
Making money, So that was my big money win. Is that what we took?
That is perfect?
But I also have to say, you're obviously with the investing your risk take up, and it makes sense because you go to bed listening to murder podcasts.
I'm actually a little bit sad that that's come out publicly, Like, I don't think it's not public knowledge that I listen to murder podcasts, but the fact that I go to sleep, But it does says to the creepy like it's just like, oh, that's how she switches off. That's a different breed.
No, that says a lot about your psyche because I am the complete opposite in when it comes to investing, I'm like, this is actually going to be fun.
So when you're going to ask me investing questions.
Because I'm more like a mum and pop investor, you know all this shit saying that out the back. I have made some good investments, but in your own fit, Yeah no, not really my I.
Didn't feel like, no, no.
Fashion is not a good place to actually invest, but real estate is.
So I don't know.
I think you have to have a lot of risk taking abilities. I don't even know the actual word for it to actually go to shares and stuff.
Am I wrong? Yes and no? Yes or no.
It's kind of like a spectrum. There are like, say for shares and more risky shares, and it just really depends on what your risk profile.
Okay, that's already risky. Do you like that's fun? Anything to deal with.
Before we get into all the fun investing stuff, Victoria, I'd love for you to tell us a little bit more about you and what you do, because I think you have such a fun background and I want everyone else to know a little bit more about it.
Okay, I was thinking about this because it's so I'm essentially what people call it slashy, which is what my generation is known for doing multiple things. Bottom line is I am a fashion editor, so I do a bit of styling. Still I do you know style expert. I do commentary on style, but for Channel ten and Studio ten, I essentially edit fashion. And I think anybody on Instagram or somebody that works on social media, with any so
of platform, you kind of have your own publication. So since I work in style and I do work on Instagram and with my social media presence as well as television and media, I do kind of feel I edit a publication and I treat it like that because I have pillars of content. So if you come to my page today, if you go on there, you'll see me strutting in a leopard outfit. So that's my editorial. You're
just there for the looks of fashion. Some days you come on and I tell you how to style, so I teach you about trends and what's trending or how it's style a particular piece. Other times I take you shopping with me, and I think people actually love that one because I do affordable brands, and I think most people don't actually like going into store and digging and seeing through all those things, so they would rather watch somebody trying on all. So those are my different pillars.
And sometimes I throw in kids, but you know, they're very hard to wrangle, so.
Very few and far between. Basically, so you're a woman that does it all. She also used to work for MTV, Like are you kidding?
I know what you're about to do, and I'm about TV.
That is kind of what I used to put on my resume to actually get more jobs.
I was what you call it glorified.
In turn, really waiting, does anybody remember MTV TRL or my kind?
I'm still in my thirties, I'm not that old.
Yeah, So that and Channel V were the only things available at that time apart from Channel ten, Channel seven, Channel nine. So if you actually ever thought of working in the media, And I know you work at ten now, but MTV and Channel V were the only places you could imagine me fifteen years ago. Now everything's changed. But yeah, I kind of was. I tried out, you know, maybe I was on air like six times. It was like glorified in But I tell everybody I got my start on MTV TRL.
I think I'm having to tell everybody that because it's the truth. Don't downplay that a little bit of the truth, right, So, your relationship with your career history not as positive as maybe your current relationship with money, which I want to know about. Tell us what's your current relationship with money about?
I would say I have a good relationship with money because like with every relationship, oh my god, I'm going to start I'm sounding like every time I grab a microphone, I start sounding like Oprah because obviously I was raised
at that time where you got her advice. Now, I think every relationship with money, with food, with clothes, whatever is kind of directly reflected on the relationship you have with yourself, which is the most important relationship basically, So how much are you willing to back yourself, support yourself, be there for yourself? So I think I've had a few things go on with my life, and I think I have a relationship with myself, Like I trust myself. I know, like I'm not perfect by any means, but
I'll always back myself. So in that sense, I trust myself more with money. If you know, what does that make sense?
What does that look like though, like in your day to day life, What does trusting yourself more with money look like?
I know myself very much.
I know I don't go to bed listening to murder podcasts, so I am very risk adverse.
I'm kind of a boring You can.
Just do true crime like no one dies.
But I love it because it says a lot about a person. I'm like completely the opposite. I need something soothing and calming, and my investments need to be small. I don't care if I don't make a big win like some people would be like, I'm going to put down a lot of money because I'm going to take a chance at making a big amount back. Now I say I had twenty thousand dollars to my name, I would rather invest two thousand dollars.
Rule of thumb, never invest.
More than you can afford to lose, and what you think you can afford to lose is obviously different for everybody.
So for me, even if.
I had twenty thousand dollars, I would personally not want to lose more than let's.
Say four, okay four not two four.
But yeah, actually like using this example and you're like, hold up, got to make it real.
I got to make it really I am because I'm very Yeah, so I make small steps, but you're talking about small steps. You encourage that, So that's kind of how I am. So I listened to like classical music before bed, and I know she's gonna grow up well balanced, you know, just to like really calm down.
And that's literally how I invest slowly and but surely basically.
I'm so glad I have a podcast because otherwise I would have been a serial killer.
So good talking about investing. You mentioned crypto before, which is very fun. Are you investing in anything else? And if you are, what does that look like?
You just property? I am investing.
I think it might be maybe because I'm a child of immigrants, and I think when we came here, the biggest thing you could do was buy a piece of property, so you stake some ownership, and like I think My parents instilled that on me, so I started investing property really young. It's just that now, with the way the market is, it's kind of it did pay off, although you haven't said that. A few years ago, I did buy a property that was a complete waste of my time.
So it's not.
Always a win if you go the property route basically, so you lose some, you win some. That's what my investing looks like.
Property.
How did you decide property? Because you said before your child of immigrants, was that always in your financial future? Because I feel like immigrants obviously coming to Australia, that's really challenging, and I think a lot of them think maybe properties are pipe dream there exactly Australia exactly. But did you ever think that that would be you?
To be honest, I have to say this is completely my mother. So she did everything, and I remember the only reason I actually could afford to buy property back then is I did a panting I know, I pulled my hair back, but I did a panting commercial.
I think fifteen.
Years ago that I was and that's time they used to pay you big money and buy big money. I mean, like I think they paid me fifteen grand for that camp. I know money, Yes, yeah.
For fifteen grand I know, you don't understand.
I actually thought I had died.
I had never seen and I was so young, well since I am eighteen now is probably three then, and so I honestly thought, oh my god, I had never seen that much money in my life. And instantly my Mom's like, no way, this is going to go down the crowber. So I got the first homeowner's grant and with that and then I could buy something that was like kind of property. I think I bought it for almost It wasn't even three hundred thousand, but that was a substantial kind of deposit and literally no shit.
That set me up for everything.
You could leverage the equity exactly that.
You know.
I'm hopeful that with my kids we can do that. I don't even think it's possible anymore, the way real estate is going. But that genuinely gave me such a boost and even the way I feel about myself having that kind of you know, equity, kind of thing asset just gives you having I just think as a woman, having some cash behind you does for sure change the way you feel and carry yourself.
Gives you some extra confidence for sure.
I am the world's biggest advocate for an emergency fund Have you always had one?
No?
Right, I'm not gonna lie to emergency funds. That is a different rel because I would honestly say some cash.
And then I'm going to be like, oh my god, I love this.
Katia bracelet, you know, and then but speaking of a luxury fashion, Catia Bracelet's actually increase in value every single year.
If you back five to ten years ago.
I had a.
Problem with Chanelle. Sorry this sounds I don't.
I will take what you've got.
It's not that on your Instagram. I just I don't know something about Chanel. I don't know what it is. It's just that's the only thing I don't.
I don't know why.
I've tried to like see a therapist. And I'm not even joking.
I just tried to see a therapist.
No, no, I just can't bring myself to spend eleven thousand dollars on a classic and I have spent money on luxury. I don't even Seriously, if you follow me, you know I've burned some serious cash.
But I can't do it on Chanel.
Isn't that so interesting?
I came to my own show to be attacked. I bought one Chanelle one.
I love it, and I bought it.
I will have you know.
Because I saw that fight and I was like, oh, no, we're going to talk. But I swear to god, I saw on your Instagram together.
I'm like, oh, she like Chanelle.
And she's me because of the Murder podcast. But she needed therapy because of the Chanel Why.
Okay, I'm just not being attacked because I can't afford it.
So what about your emergency fund?
No ah, yeah, but it's not in Chell.
Okay. Last thing about Chanel though, no jokes, this is how are you talking about it? Because it's five years ago.
The Chanel bag cost six thousand, five hundred dollars. It costs eleven thousand dollars today. Said so, and that's when you think about it.
You're like, oh still.
No, okay, okay. So I get from an investment perspective, and I'm not here defending this channel, but what I am saying is I actually I get a little bit equ when people justify fashion like purchases like a handbag or something along those lines, when they say, oh, but it's an investment. Because if i'm buying something, I'm buying it to use it, and therefore, if I use it's probably gonna get broken because it's me and I just
I go, is that actually an investment? So, as a fashion editor, as somebody who works in that space, would you classify fashion as an investment?
I think you can invest your money better, honestly. But it brings me so much joy that I think it's a bit of invest in my personal.
Care and self care.
But I do think some items I wouldn't encourage that you go this way. I'm sure the better place is to put five thousand dollars in smarter ways of using it.
But I do have to say, I'm like a big jewelry person.
Or maybe again I've spoken to myself about it and convinced myself.
About the self or your therapist.
Myself.
But again, I like good jewelry, and I feel like jewelry it could be handed down like to kids, to your children for generations. And again, if I actually ever wanted to sell one of my Katia.
Bracelets, I would get the exact.
Same amount of money back for them, maybe give a take a few hundred dollars because I take care of them.
You know what I mean.
I'm one of those people that I would prefer to kind of save up and buy a good piece rather than buying many crappy little pieces.
Do you know I find really interesting when it comes to jewelry, this is so far off the topic of investing.
I'm very sorry.
In the script we've just gone rogue. I can see it where we can stay broke.
I find it really interesting how you said that you can buy a beautiful piece and you can wear it all the time and you can pass it down, And that's a really common thought with jewelry, and I think it's super interesting that we don't feel that way about our clothes and the element of fast fashion that comes into that, because if you buy a beautiful piece of clothing, you could do the same thing. Theoretically, you could wear it all the time and you could pass it down to your children.
I'm not that rich.
No, I just cotton this cotton silk silk like again, and maybe another thing I need to discuss with my therapist. But no, you can't convince me of that because I just feel how much better is your the law? Then? I understand the craftsmanship, right, But sometime I think it's about a seven hundred percent increase on what it really is and essentially you are.
Just paying to wear the label, do you know what I mean?
Totally?
And if you can and it brings you joy, do it, but don't get into debt trying to check you.
Do you know what I'm saying?
If you can afford it, why not, Like, if it's not gonna do anything bad to your money situation, do it. But it's not something that you should chase thinking it's going to change your life and make you feel better about yourself.
It's maybe an adictua when you actually do it, but it's not.
I mean, there's an overlaying conversation about ethics and how it's sourced and all of that, and we could go on and on about that, but I want to put that part of the conversation to the side for now and ask you a little bit before we get back on track, a little bit about the fashion investment pieces you think we should be getting right, Because there are some things that you go you should spend money on Chanel, and there are some things that you shouldn't spend money on,
Like if you were constructing a wardrobe and you were like you know what I need a basic white T shirt? Are those the things I should splurge on? Or should I be getting the cheap white T shirts and going with the expensive genes? Like where should I be channeling my money? Because I need this advice?
Okay, So I'm a big proponent of people having a curated wardrobe, or at least having a capsule specifically for you. And I know people go a capsule wardrobe and everybody's supposed to have the same thing. Not true, because a capsule wardrobe means you have in essential pieces in your wardrobe essential.
To your life. So your capsule wardrobe will.
Be different from mine, different from somebody that's a stay at home mum, different from somebody that works corporate. You know, we all need the essentials in those wardrobes will all be very different.
Right.
But I do feel if there is an item of clothing that you consistently wear every day, for example, say you wear a white shirt. Right, I'm not saying go spend thousands of dollars in a white shirt, but do get a good quality one because going and buying it cheaply, washing it a couple of times, you're going to have to repurchase sometimes when you buy something cheap, you're going to have to I don't like saying cheap.
I like saying less than expensive. It sounds better.
If you buy something less than expensive, you have to really think about what it is because if you have to keep repurchasing, it doesn't make any sense.
Do you understand?
So if there's an like if you are wearing a leather jacket every single day, then buy a good one. You know that actually starts with vegan leather is another thing, but let's not go there.
That's the best marketing vegan leather.
It is vinyl, it's plastic, vinyl, it's plastic, it's final. I've looked into this.
Let it.
But that's a good marketing spin. But let's not you know.
Have you seen the vegan silk recently? Yes?
What is it?
I was trying to find something on I think it was a door beauty the other day, and I was like in the beauty sleep section because I was looking for like a new I'm asked for travel. Long story short. I could go on about this all day. And they were like vegan silk like pillowcases, and I was like, Jesus, ninety dollars, No, it's like just satin. That's that's a four dollar pill.
No.
Absolutely, marketing has gotten so good. Anyway, we digress because we can go.
I'm gonna shift us back on track for the benefit of everybody listening.
Hold on, hold on. So if I wear it every day, you can invest in it. I could wear a Schnell in the office.
We've spoken about investing in houses and crypto and fashion, but something we talk about a lot as well is investing in yourself. And I want to ask you, what is the best investment that you feel like you've ever made in yourself that isn't necessarily, you know, a monetary share.
Oh my god, watching Oprah all the time I was growing up.
No, that was a good investment.
And everybody gets a cup, but not really weird'rectly don't want me. I can't afford it.
Best investment in myself, I kind of there was a stage in my life where I went not anymore. Maybe I should go back to seeing the therapist. Obviously I still have unresolved issues, don't I. It sounds like a witch for sure.
For sure.
I think we both need to work on that, because it turns out I do too.
To be honest, I think the most Oh this is going to sound so trying, but yoga.
Oh my god, I want good. I swear to you. I'm not a very physically.
I don't love to exercise, but I love hot yoga, right And I think when I was actually kind of looking for ways to get fit and get calm and medit medicated, meditated, Oh.
I just got Yeah.
That was a really because you're so tired and burn out when you come out that you're like, you feel completely zin and it's almost because you're barely hanging onto life. But that worked for me, and I think that physical that investing inself.
Oh my god, I'm sounding like a.
Podcast one podcast one time.
For my first podcast, is it. I'm not gonna lie.
There's nothing I could think of that is worse than hot yoga that turns.
Really.
I have been once and they were like, oh, welcome, rarah, this is gonna be like I think it's like a ninety minute session, right too, It isn't. I walk in and I just think I'm hot shit because I'm so good at yoga at this point in my life, and I'm like great, So I get on my mat and I've got my water and I'm wearing like shorts because it was going to be hot, and they're like, you know what, to take it slowly. It's very different normal yoga. I had so many tickets. I was like, it's fine,
it's fine, it's it'll be all good. And they were like, head straight away, just lay down if you're feeling a little bit dizzy. And I was like, okay, no worries, And like eighty five minutes of that ninety session, like I sat on the floor and I was so embarrassed everybody. Even before I got off and left, I was like, I'm not seeing them in the locker area that I'm never coming back.
But I think there is something to that, because I think the fact.
That your spirit is actually leaving your body actually makes you feel like.
Weight off your shoulders, my spirit.
You're meditated after that.
No, but that's the only and I think actually investing in that and kind of investing in time to do that actually was for a period of my in my life, was actually very helpful to me. But generally, I always feel women especially should take time to find what is that thing that could help them feel healthy, thing feel.
Better about themselves.
Just you know, I don't like saying you know, and I don't want it to be like a face mask and a hair thing, because that's topical. You can do that, but something you know from the inside of physical fitness meditation, and.
I feel like that's different for everybody. I think when I was a bit younger, and this is why I went to hot yoga because everybody else was doing it, and I was like, oh my gosh, I want to be like those Instagram girls that have Chanel bags and go to hot yoga. And I got halfway there with one Chanel bag and one session of hot yoga. However,
I think it is really different for everybody. But I'm consistently still looking at other people and being like, oh, Jess winds down like this, Oh Victoria winds down like that. Maybe I should try it, And I think I need to. You know, this is a good reminder to look a little bit further in and be like, well, what works for me, because you know, Jess and I this year have probably had our busiest year, and like, we are
so grateful for it, we're so excited about it. But what I learned this year it's so lame, is that sometimes switching off for me isn't actually about going and doing pilates with my girlfriends and getting a coffee. It's actually spending an extra hour in bed in the morning scrolling on TikTok because I feel like I've completely switched off and I'm okay with that now, Whereas before I think I would look at it and be like, oh,
I'm wasting so much time. But I'd be like, oh, but I spent this hour just doing something mindless and kind of disconnecting from my responsibilities and my inbox and my social media, and I feel like all of that can be all consuming. So as much as it's nice to do really bougie things which are so fun, do not get me wrong, that.
Is not bougie.
It sounds like something rich mums do. If you live in tour, I can drive and range for ever. Ah yeah, when I drop that kids off, I've got my chrome ut ten.
No, I actually did bigger at six thirty when my husband gets home. I used to love doing the TikTok thing. But do you think that actually kind of well, do you have a different psyche? Obviously, we'll just discussed that. It actually winds me up watching TikTok like I try to do winds you up, winds me up. I get into all this comedy things and I just kind of like, can't sleep, can't RelA.
I get into the side of TikTok, which has murder.
Like true crime people.
There was that TikTok thing recently? Was it recently? It was like a year ago where they found a body in a suitcase and I was one of the ones to see the first video and I thought it was a hoax, but it wasn't.
I actually did And this is what I had to sleep listening to while we were on This.
Is where we're at. Jess and I are very different. What side of TikTok are you on?
Jess?
The side that my boyfriend will show me on Instagram reels. Three weeks later, Hey, mab, look at this cool video.
I just founded on myself.
Actually we need to be nice. Dreams is here? Sorry?
Sorry?
I want to know. You mentioned before that you have kids, which is very lucky, But I want to know where she's on the money. How are you teaching them about money in twenty twenty two.
I am not, but I'm about to start.
We have this thing going so every birthday or every Christmas, they usually get some cash from the grandparents. So we have opened an account. Can I say a bank? Are you sponsored by somebody?
No, you can't say what we want even if we don't sponsored, like we don't have like normal case.
You know, just in case you wanted me to say a specific bank, because it doesn't matter.
The bank of Victoria.
We'll drop in Victoria the other Victoria's voice.
Over Influence by Trade.
Jess is our partnership's manager. In every contract. She you cannot keep us like we will talk about whatever we want to otherwise go away.
That was a good opportunity. But anyway you lost at so let me and I let it go. We okay, So we've set up something.
We come bank. It's I think somebody was telling me there's.
An actual program that compounds the interest that over time, which I think is absolutely amazing. So we kind of initially started. We're depositing some money. We haven't if I'm being honest, we haven't continued because we would have to go to the bank and deposit with you. But we did start. So there is about fifty bucks in one and I think thirty five in.
The other, So they're gonna be rich, no dead.
I know my mom helped me buy a property, and I'm like thirty five bucks, fifty.
Kids going far? Gee.
I hope my husband starts to listen to this. Yeah so, but that's kind of what we've actually started doing. But they're also six and four, so you can't really teach them. I think maybe in a year or two, I'm going to start, you know, spending money now, okay, really enjoyed that.
We all know. What's okay?
I can't see is that the softlika Okay.
Yeah, partner.
If you guys hear her on the podcast, she's Kate the mortgage broker.
She runs Zella money.
She won't forlong and with this attitude.
No, I think in a couple of years we'll teach them about because now it's just Christmas every day.
Mom, I want this.
You'd never actually want to go anywhere with them because they don't get it.
There's no concept of that at the moment.
But I think maybe in two three years, my daughter is going to start understanding that if she spends her fifty bucks that she got for Christmas, she's not going to have any money to buy that extra barbie or that, you know, because it's gone. You know.
I didn't learn that until I left home.
Oh, I was a bit the same actually, Like my parents did a lot to try and educate me around finances, but I was not having it. That was not cool. Caring about money not cool.
I had no choice because we had Like obviously, as I said, I actually came here from I'm half Russian, sorry, Ukrainian. I was Russian six months ago. Now I'm half Ukrainian because obviously the war. I was born in Odessa and my father's Nigerian, so I kind of have lived in.
Both those places.
And when we came here, the education about money I got was actually watching people work really hard for money. So it was kind of innate. It just happened. I saw it. It wasn't ever going to be wasted. I don't know if I learned that well, because I still kind of waste money if you think about it. My mom thinks I'm the worst. She's like, you spent what like or you did that? You know, she can't wrap her head around it. But yeah, I think it's what
you grow. It's so funny what you get. Some people in my that would have had that kind of upbringing will probably you know, save a lot of money and kind of be a bit more stringent. But not Victoria. She's a libra. She goes from one side to the other. We're saving, and we're blowing it. We're saving, then we're blowing it.
You know the balance Well, the Victoria the cancer is a do what she says, not what she does kind of goal.
Thanks for outing the schnelle.
By the way, that was like the biggest purchase I ever made. And do you know what, You've got to make your money back your couple don't want to make my money back. I want to keep my back.
I'm telling you, if everything's burning down, run out of the house with that bag is still going to be Seriously, you're going to have your money. And I just want to know how high you can get, like literally, how much money you're going.
To pay for a bag with four sides of leather?
Like I don't know because I'm on the side of TikTok. I don't know if anybody else is on this side. I don't know how I got there because I can't afford it, but I'm on burken TikTok. No no no, no, no, no, yeah, no, you'll accept I'm ready for it.
I don't know there's a thing which you now I have to go regressive therapy.
All right, you do it?
Why is the Burken? Okay?
Then it's just so cute.
I just don't understand the concept.
Buy heaps of stuff from a.
No that they're light to you. I think they're like not everybody has to do that.
Oh you would just get a Burken?
Not me.
I say, yeah, but I'll tell you in a year.
But sometimes sometimes you just walk in and like somebody sees you, like the Mez gods are like, okay, we'll give her one kind of thing and you out. And so I don't even want to get into it because this is a whole story where there's person She's like somebody on TikTok, like literally had to get hr involved. She was having a mental breakdown because nobody got her me's bag. I mean, like, how much time do you have on your hands? Like really, I mean she has
children as well. She was crying and having like this anxiety.
Attack breakdown over a hand bag.
Full breakdown anyway, But if you took my Chanell, I would have a full breakdown.
I wouldn't do that too, darling, no.
Because you don't want it. Jess though you'd take a chanelle.
Oh yeah, if the house was burning down, I'd take the chanelle and I'd probably leave you.
I think that's very price to leave it, Miss Jessica Ricci.
What do you reckon?
Should we wrap these show? Because I actually want to get out there and meet all of you. Come join us on Instagram, follow Victoria on Instagram. I want to say another special thank you to you. You are an absolute delight and arguably my new best friend. So I'm very excited about it. Yeah we are. We walked in and I was like, is that it? And she was like yep, and I was like, oh, anyway, thank you. Also, thank you to our gorgeous interpreters who have made this
event super super special. A massive thank you to the people who trusted me right not one, but two books, Penguin, Random House, and to Feign for putting these events on for us who would have thought.
Thank you for coming.
We hope you had a good time and you guys will get to maybe here your laughs definitely.
You Kate are on the
Podcast in a couple of weeks, so have a fantastic night and we'll see you all out there,