This post is based on an interview we conducted with Marco name in August 2024.
Real Money Talk is our series where we interview Australians from all walks of life about their personal finances. The views expressed are those of the interviewees, based on their experiences with money, and as such are not necessarily representative of Spaceship's views.
We have changed the name of the interviewee for their privacy.
Overview
Name: Marco
Age: 36
Where do you live? Sydney, Australia
Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello, my name is Marco, and I am an IT Manager.
I was also in the Army for seven years.
While serving in the forces, we weren't paid much, especially during training; this is where my journey to learn about money and investing started.
Once I heard about the concept of money making money, I was locked in for life.
I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by other like-minded, wiser people to pass on their knowledge of how to save and understand the cost of things.
I am currently a father of one and engaged to my partner.
We love travelling and going on adventures. In the short term, we hope to one day have another baby, buy a house, and, if any money is left over, have a wedding or elope (my preference, not hers).
What's your current net worth?
Approx. $625,000.
How does it break down?
- Savings $170,000
- Shares $26,000
- Spaceship Voyager $23,000
- Crypto $6,000
- Super $350,000
- Car $45,000
- Motorcycle $4,000
Do you have any debts?
Car Loan $10,000 remaining.
How did you build your net worth?
Mainly working and saving.
Earn
Tell us a bit about your career.
Before starting my career, I worked in the hospitality industry as a waiter for many years, this is where I learnt my excellent customer service skills.
I then decided to be a network engineer but wanted to do something more exciting rather than be stuck by a desk in an office all day.
So obviously, I joined the army. This was probably one of the smartest decisions I made. I was taught many life lessons that home could not provide and experienced some of my life's worst and best moments.
Deciding I no longer wanted to be told where to live, I decided to transfer to the reserves (part-time Army) and go into business with a friend owning a small IT Business.
This managed to last for a year before deciding that earning minimum wage, and working, on average, 10 hours a day was not the life I wanted to live.
I then started working for a company on a starting salary of $90,000, solving complex network issues (something I love to do) and working regular hours with paid leave.
I have been doing this now for just over 8 years and have managed to be promoted and earn above $150,000.
Do you have any income sources outside your job? How much do you earn from each and how did you develop them?
Working reserves, i get paid an additional tax-free salary depending on how much I work. This can be anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 per year.
My savings currently earns me approx $9,000 a year at 5.5% interest.
I also have some shares that earn dividends about $2-3,000 per year.
What’s been important for you to learn about money?
Education on money and investing is pivotal in transforming your life to be able to make the right choice for yourself now and in the future.
The earlier you can learn or even talk to financially literate people, the better.
Having the ability to appreciate the value of money, to then save that dollar here and there to then invest those dollars consistently should set up anyone up for a comfortable life if it's done from an early age.
Save
What's your savings rate? How has it changed over time?
I save at least $1,300 week. We are currently saving to buy a house so we have substantially reduced our spending.
Before having a partner or child. I would travel on an extended overseas holiday spending at least 10,000 once every two years.
I would also go out almost every weekend and spend at least a quarter of my pay on things that only made me happy at that time.
The only exception to this is food. I will never regret all the beautiful food I have tried in my life.
Do you have a budget?
Not really, but I portion my income into different accounts that have different goals. I try very hard to stick to this.
I have created a budget before, but tracking each of my purchases is not something I enjoy and so I realised this was not something that would work for me.
How much do you spend per year?
Approx $70,000.
Do you make purchase decisions carefully, or are you loose with your money?
Larger items I am very careful. I do believe quality will go a long way for some items so I spend the time to figure this out before purchasing.
I do however also have the ability to impulse buy things that sound good at the time.
It's not an often occurring thing but it does happen. I also love food and adventuring.
These are usually things I try to choose the best value but you need to live to enjoy life.
How is your work-life balance?
I have an excellent work-life balance.
Over the years, I worked hard to get to where I am now.
Having a wealth of experience and knowledge allows me to do my job in a more efficient manner and I also get to enjoy time with my family and getting out and about.
What's your favourite thing to spend money on?
If you haven't noticed, food.
But also travelling and technology.
Invest
How do you invest?
I used to spend a lot of time researching and investing on the ASX. But now being a family man with two jobs, i just don't have the time for that.
I invest $100 in Spaceship and $50 to Bamboo each week.
I also sacrifice $150 a week of my income into my super as part of the super saver scheme, which I have been doing for nearly five years now. It's a great way to maximise my dollar.
I also put the rest of my unspent money in savings to buy a house soon. Which I am hoping will be a good investment.
What's been your best investment?
I bought plenty of medicinal marijuana shares on the ASX when they first started trading on the ASX. This made me about $20,000 profit in only a couple of weeks.
What’s been your worst investment?
My best investment also then became my worst investment as I reinvested most of it due to FOMO. I am still holding and hoping to one day make my money back (this is highly unlikely).
What’s been your overall return?
Making very high risky investments when I was younger to now being more consistent with less risk. I believe I am about even.
How are you building wealth?
I try to divide my income sources to different types of investments. Like savings, Spaceship, super saver scheme and Bamboo.
My ultimate goal here is to buy a house and then slowly start investing money into less riskier options.
What are your main roadblocks to building wealth? How are you addressing them?
I believe the best way to build wealth is understanding the value of money and being wise with how you spend your money.
Making decisions to only spend money on things that make you genuinely happy.
I also believe looking for alternate sources of income like side hustles and second jobs is a great option.
Do you have a target net worth you want?
I plan to retire at 60 and live a comfortable life so that I can assist my kids and travel at least once a year.
I have not calculated how much I need to live out this plan, but for now, let's say three million.
Behaviour
When did you make your first significant behavioural shift towards wealth building?
When I first joined the army I was only making enough money to get by which made it hard to hang out with friends who always had more money than me.
This is where I decided to look into ways of maximising my dollar by reading books that explained money in simple terms and also the art of investing.
If you could start again, what would you do differently?
I would have invested most of my money consistently and regularly in a reputable ETF. Instead of trying to pick the next TESLA, NVIDIA or BITCOIN.
Advice I would give is to never ever ever get yourself a credit card or after-pay account. If you can't afford it then you shouldn't be buying it.
I have seen too many people paying money to the banks paying off loans that charge extraordinary interest. It is the worst type of debt you could ever get yourself into.
What are some mistakes you’ve made along the way?
Time in the market beats timing the market.
Do you have any worries about retirement? If so, how are you planning to address them?
At this stage I believe we are well positioned to retire comfortably.
How are you learning about building wealth?
Mainly from reading books, magazines and newspapers. Also listen to the occasional podcast. I wish my family was able to pass this knowledge on, I am now trying to teach my family about building wealth.
Do you give to charity? If so, what percentage of your time/money do you give?
Every year I give $200 to a charity of choice.
We want to hear your Real Money Talk
At Spaceship we’re big believers in sharing our money stories. We want to hear yours, too. In our ongoing Real Money Talk series, members of our community share what they’ve learned about managing money. We’d love you to take part. Here’s a link to our Real Money Talk survey where you can share your story.
