MONEY DIARIES: She's a Globe Trotting Game Changer!

Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud your

Let's get into it. She's on the Money, She's on the Money.

Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another shot back money Diary Monday, where we get to chat to one of our beautiful community members to learn about their finances and their money story and a whole heap of other interesting things as well. Victoria, Yes, today I have an international diarist.

International diarist.

Yeah, they're coming to us all the way from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which is my gosh, how cool I know. Let me tell you their story.

We've gone international jess, we're global. Is that what we've done?

I think so so, our diarist says. I'm an elder millennial who grew up seeing only stress around money due to a lack of steady jobs, poor career and life choices from her parents and grandparents. And that is all the knowledge I had about money. I thought I would live paycheck to paycheck my entire life and would have to work until I died. However, in the last five to six years, I've managed to turn my life around by moving countries seven times, bold making better decisions regarding

Oh my gosh, I want you to tell your story too. Money dois Welcome to the show. I'm so excited that you're here.

Hi am the one who's excited to be here, super excited.

Oh my gosh, No, I cannot believe you're in the Netherlands.

That is wild to me.

Yeah, I had a penpal in the Netherlands.

Once you had a what pen pal? Oh, that's a blast from the past pen pal. I haven't heard of those in years.

It was when I was a child, but it was still.

Kind of fit. It's still kind of real cool though.

Yeah, and now we can tellone about our digital pen pal from the show.

Oh my gosh.

Yes, Well, let's get into it and ask our digital pen pals some questions.

Money diarist, Are you ready to jump head first into it?

Yeah, let's do it, Lucky Lucky, because I am too. All right, let's go.

Can you tell me a little bit about your money story?

Yeah.

So my own story is a bit complex because I come from a household of mixed raised family. So on my dad's side, they're European and they obviously were quite impacted with World War Two. So my grandparents were good earners and I think they were very good with money, with savers. But unfortunately I didn't have much time to spend with them. I actually didn't meet my grandmother, and

Oh my gosh.

Yeah. And basically what I saw growing up around money was just a lot of conflict and stress around it. Also, my parents used to be business owners, and they were always looking for like that big million dollar idea that would just bring them to become rich very quickly, and it would just blow up on their faces. And on the other hand, also what I saw was that like my Latin American grandparents, they also were hustling until they were in their eighties, and then they were also financially

Wow.

And have you worked your way away from that? Like, what have you been implementing to be on the flip side of that?

Yeah, So definitely one of the things, like my upbringing had had an impact on different decisions of my life. So one of them is that I don't want to have children and I don't want to get married. I want to be like really really financial and independent, and I also don't want to become a burden for you know,

Wow.

So I was always in debt and if something major would come, I would just have to get a loan and then that just kept spiraling from there. And it wasn't until I moved from France to the Netherlands that I was able to get out of that cycle because I got a much better salary and I was able to get some investment that I had in the other

Yeah.

Wow, that's crazy to think that it took an international move or another international move to change that. With your move, was it a big mindset change as well as a physical change.

It was a mix of things. I actually, you're not gonna believe it that I actually lived in the French Riviera, which I know.

You're living my dream. I would spend a lot of money there too. I get it. I get it.

So I was living in knees and I actually hated it from the moment I went to do my first interview. Really yeah, I tell people that it's like dating someone really hot with no brain on personality. After a while, you consistency.

Ah.

So I really wanted to get out of there. I wanted to change my lifestyle. And then I was not really even thinking about the money. It was just the moment that they told me how much when they gave me their job offer, and I was just like in shocked to see how much it was. Because it was a fifty percent increase of what I was making.

Wow. Wow, that is so much money.

Yeah. And then on top of that, there is this financial benefit that you get in the Netherlands when you're a high skilled immigrant. You get thirty percent discount on your income tax for five years.

That's amazing.

Oh my gosh. That would make me move there as well.

Yeah, it's a reason why a lot of people move here.

Oh, I actually had no idea that existed.

Do you know why they offer that or is it just to you know, promote you guys moving and supporting their economy.

Yeah, it's partially that. It's a way to encourage people to move. Because the nether Orlands is a very small country and it has become, like Amsterdam has become quite a tech hub. There is a lot of job offers and there's not enough people to fulfill those jobs, so they do kind of import people from a lot of places.

Yeah. Wow, that's actually really cool to know. Especially you know, a lot of our community have been asking questions recently about moving internationally.

And where they should go and what they should do. That's a big draw card. I like that one.

Yeah, money darist, I want to know we mentioned moving for work.

What do you do for work? And how much money do you now earn?

Yeah? So I am a project manager for professional services in a tech company, so we offer our software as a service and I just changed jobs actually, so I was having the same role but in a different company. And thanks to you, Victoria, I managed to negotiate my salary like I had never negotiated it before.

Oh my gosh.

Yes, I'm not quite sure how much it's going to hit my salary at the end of the month, but my package is at one hundred and sixty K Australian dollars, oh my gosh, plus fifteen percent yearly bonus. And I also have eleven that five percent pension or super for you guys.

Yeah, yeah, wow. How cool is that? Is that what you've always earned? Or I have you worked your way up to that, because to me that sounds like a lot of money.

Yeah. No, I've worked myself. I worked myself up to that, slowly but surely. And one of the reasons also I neiltiated my salary was because in January next year, I'm going to lose this benefit of the tax discount. Yeah, so that has been on my mind from the moment that I moved here is how do I make sure that the impact is not that big?

Yeah, no, that makes absolute sense.

It's crazy because I'm going to be like, for example, I estimate I'm gonna get around ten k per month with this new job, and then after February it's gonna be eight key yeah.

Wow, Oh my gosh.

All right, I want to know with all of that money, what is your big money goal.

So my big money goal it's to be independent when I'm a senior, when I'm old, and have enough money to get me to leave comfortably in my retirement until my deathbed. It sounds a little bit catastrophic bed.

Oh my gosh, so morbid, but it makes sense.

It makes sense, especially given your money story, like to just know that you're comfortable and getting it done. Like I think that that's a really cool goal and really clear as well.

Yeah all right. Next question.

If we are going to achieve this financial freedom, you're going to need some investments.

Do you have any? If so, what are they?

I do? And again this is thanks to you on the podcast, because I was terrified about investing investing, but I decided, Okay, I need to start somehow, I currently have well my pension. But this is something that I need to look deeper into because it's a little bit complicated having switched countries within the European Union and so at the moment there's only one platform where I can see how much money I really have in there. So for my pension, I have thirty five and a half

No, it totally makes it. Thank you.

I appreciate it so preposed, I was like ready to try, we were ready to do.

It for you. I already did yesterday. I already did the company.

Thank you.

My pension is thirty five that five K. I have a micro investment platform here in the Netherlands where I currently have nine that five k from my previous company. I also have shares and it's at forty one two K, and I have a guide a platform for investment with my bank which is sixteen that three K. So I currently have a total portfolio of one hundred to that five k austrillion dollars.

Oh my gosh, So you are doing well when it comes to working towards that retirement of yours.

Well, I think I'm doing good job, although considering my age, I think it could be a lot better. But I'm not going to oh no past. I'm going to focus on what I've done in the last few years.

Absolutely not, I think you are doing an epic job. Or I want to know do you have any debts?

The only dab that I currently have is my mortgage, and that is sitting at four hundred and ninety one.

K And what did you purchase your home for?

So I was one of those people that thought I could rent forever. I was so happy when I heard you say that, you know, money for rent is not wasted money, because I always thought the same. I think that you were paying for something that you are using. It's not really going to waste. Its a service. But when I moved here to the Netherlands, the accommodation here is absolutely crazy. It's really really hard to find a place. Rents are incredibly high. Buying is also very very difficult.

Oh my gosh, I love it.

Yeah, And I was actually very happy to do this move, also on my own and right before COVID, because like, things have gone absolutely crazy and it took me longer to make the decision. But then once I decided to buy the apartment, in two weeks, I already had an apartment, So I feel very low.

Oh my gosh, how cool is that. I love that you, as a project manager, were like, yeah, all right, so what we're going to do is we're going to map it out, We're going to do some forecasting, we're going to work it out, because I feel like so many of us just guess, or so many of us just go, oh, that's not going to be feasible or that's not going to work.

But I love that you've put.

The numbers behind it and said, you know what, I didn't want to do this, but I worked out the financial outcome of this and what that means for me and put myself in the best position.

That is very cool.

Yeah, I do have to say that there wasn't a big advantage as well. Here in the Netherlands you can get up to one hundred percent the loan of the value of the property. So here is very very difficult to get a place, and you usually have to bid for apartments and houses. Yeah, so you usually have to overbid. So for example, I had to overbid around fifty k more my place. Yeah. As long as whatever you overbid doesn't go over the market value of the place, then

Yeah.

Wow, oh my gosh, Jess, I've worked it out. She's a plant. She's a plant from the Netherland government and she's here to tell us all to move to the Netherlands because that loans discounts on tax.

Like, I'm here for it. This sounds epic.

It's freequent or money barist next question is what is your best money habit?

Well, besides putting everything automatic to be paid, including myself first and most like all of my savings, my investment and so on, because I'm also from the ADHD club, so I really need to get that.

Done, the coolest club to be a part of.

Yeah. Another one is roundups, So I use roundups for as much as I can. And one of my favorite money habits is I have a bank account where I have a savings account for holidays, and what I do is whenever I travel, I use the car from that bank account, and then as I spend during my holidays, the roundups saves back to that same account.

Very cool.

So it means well I travel and I spend, I save back for my holidays, my next holidays.

Yeah, very cool. All right, Well I want to know the opposite. What is your worst money habit?

So one of my worst money habits is not being able to budget very well for my parents' needs. So, like I said before, my my sister and me and we are supporting my parents entirely where they live, and whenever there is an unexpected spence, I just struggle to tell them to wait. So I'm usually like, okay, how much is it? Okay, I'm sending the money right away. And you know, it's interesting because I hear so many people freaking out about inflation, and I know, like it's

What where are your parents?

They live in Venezuela.

Oh, my gosh, that is crazy.

So the situation in Venezuela has been humanitarian crazies for many, many, many years now more than two decades. And yeah, it's just quite crazy. It's absolutely insane.

My gosh, both of us screeching wash at the same time. That's actually insane. I have so many questions about that. We'll do it straight after the break, but that is such a special thing that you do for your parents before we do get into the thick of it. Though, I wan't know what would you grade your money habits if we forced you to give yourself a grade.

So I would give myself a B minus because I think I still need to learn a lot more about investments. I want to be more independent, not just have these self guided platforms. And also I need to learn better where my pension money is, what are they doing with it, and how would it be consolidated once I retire? So yeah, I still think that there are things that can improve, so be minus.

Yeah cool, All right, Well, don't go anywhere, because after this break, I want to ask you all about how you're supporting your parents and have moved so many times internationally. Don't go anywhere, all right? Diving back in, you mentioned before that you and your sister completely financially support your parents, which is a massive undertaking for anybody. How did that eventuate? Tell me a little bit more about that.

It has been a lifetime of four decisions. Let's say, like I said before, my parents never really liked working for someone, so they would start businesses that would then fail, and it just went on like that for their entire lives basically. And then the last decision that they made was to move to Venezuela when the political situation of the country was already bad, even though it kind of made sense for them at the time because with what they had they would really be able to survive better

Oh wow.

If you go to buy groceries for like three people in one week, you spend more than two hundred dollars.

What how do people there survive? That's insane?

Yeah, that's a very good question. So there is a mix of people having families abroad like my parents with us, and then there's like hustling. So people hustle a lot, like in the black market. Let's say they just for example, if somebody does a money petty, they can get fifteen dollars with the money petty and you know, like an hour and a half versus school teacher that would be

What that is blowing up my mind.

I had absolutely no idea, which is probably speaking to my naivety on global circumstances.

Yeah, and it's really sad when you go there and see the situation of the country also because you know, it's a country that has a lot of sanctions from the US. It's insane. But the thing is getting them out of there would be way, way more expensive and complicated because we would need to you know, apply for visas.

Yeah.

Wow, having them here would just completely blow up our budgets. So while they are there, they have a house, you know, they are overall they are uncomfortable conditions, Like even if there's no running water, we can send money for them to get one of those trucks you know that bring water. Yeah, of course, So we have the advantage that we can send money here and it just goes a long way more than if we had them here with us, because there it's also three people. My aunt also lives there,

I'm sure your parents are so incredibly proud of you and how you're able to support them like that is an epic achievement for anybody. But I want to know, how did you pick your career? How did you go?

All?

Right, Well, you've obviously got a really good income. How did you end up down the path you're down?

So I started software engineering as my bachelor degree, and then most of the countries I lived in was growing up, but as an adult, I've only lived in my home country where I finish UNI, and I also started quite late, so I moved to France in two thousand and eight. I became financially independent in two thousand and nine once I had my internship from my master degree. My master was in project management, so I was always very determined

I can say, you're very determined. Everything you're doing is to telling me you're incredibly determined.

Thanks.

I had a question about your I suppose journey. You know, you've lived in seven different countries, which is incredible. How have you found managing finances because, as we've just heard, obviously the financial situation in where you are now compared to here in Australia, compared to where your parents are, it's all very different. How have you found navigating a whole new financial system every time you start in a new country.

Yeah. So, like I said, I did most of my moving around when I was younger and when I was financially dependent. But I think what I've noticed the most nowadays is that I actually had no idea about finances. For me. It was just like, Okay, you get a bank account and they pay your salary in the bank account and that's it. You try to budget throughout the month.

Yeah.

I do think that now a days. If I move again, which I'm pretty sure I will be doing at some point, one of the things that I would take into consideration when I move is not do I like the city or the country, and you know, does it seem like a cool place to live? Because that was before kind of my goal is just like, oh, I would really like to live in Paris, you know, when I really want to live in Amsterdam. But I think now I am more conscious of taking care of those things, like

That's so good. We can be the best friends.

Yeah, I think that doubts it. It does change quite a lot, and it's something that you definitely need to research in advance. I'd be more mindful and make sure is this really going to help my financial goals, especially if you're already in your thirties. It's something good.

Speaking of those goals. You just said that you're pretty sure you're going to move again. Where did you want to move and why do you want to move? Because you've obviously set yourself up, You've bought your apartment that you've got for you and your two little gorgeous kiddies. What makes you feel like you will want to move again in the future.

I am a nomad at heart. I mean the first time that I moved to another country, I was four years old and I just started getting itchy feet. So it's going to be five years in January that I live in the Netherlands. I've been wanting, for example, to live for a while somewhere in Asia, so I would love to live in South Korea. I'm not sure if that's going to happen because it's complicated not speaking the

Okay, but what will you do with your apartment if you leave? Will you rent it out or will you sell it?

I would rent it out because like, this is a gold mine to have property in Amsterdam, So there's.

No way I would I did wander.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, So I would definitely rent it out and potentially if I do sell it at some point, I would do it towards, you know, my retirement and buy somewhere something else. I don't want to retire in the Netherlands, that's something that I know for sure, because the health system here is not that great compared to other European countries, so I will probably move back to either France or Spain for my retirement. And yeah, buying a house or an apartment there is much cheaper.

All rightist in Jess, I think that is all we have time for today.

Money doists.

Thank you so much for joining us all the way from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

You're welcome. Thank you very much for having me. I'm so excited that he took an international money dish.

My gosh, I'm so excited too.

Thank you so much with that, though, Jess, unfortunately it is time to rab the boring but important stuff.

Take it away.

Don't forget guys. The advice shed on she's on the money is generally in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the money. Exist purely for educational purposes and should not be allied upon to make an investment or a financial decision. And we promise Victoria divine and she's on the money. Out Authorized Representatives of Infocused Securities Australia Proprietary Limited ABN four seven oh nine seven seven nine seven four nine AFSL two three six five two.

Three, See you on Wednesday, guys.

Bye,