This post is based on an interview we conducted with Tahlia in July 2023.
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: Tahlia
Age: 41
Where do you live? Sydney
Please tell us a bit about yourself.
I have been living in Australia for the last 20 years, and originally from Europe. Seeing people having very little and then so much have definitely shape my views and plans.
What's your current net worth?
$490,000.. I also have property worth about $400,000 back in Europe, but that is tied up, so I don’t think about it or count it towards my net worth.
How does it break down?
- Spaceship Voyager - $60,000
- Shares - $15,000
- Home - $540,000
- Super - $130,000
Do you have any debts?
Mortgage - $255,000
How did you build your net worth?
Because of my upbringing I am really great at saving.
I can live quite happily on very little.
I have put myself through both Bachelor and Master degrees by myself by working a lot and living on very little.
I have done many different jobs from childcare, hospitality, aged care, animal care, HR admin and tried to learn as much as I could and excel in each.
I am terrified of loans, and only ever planned to have a debt when purchasing a home or an investment property.
I never had any role models for investing so my start was late and slow, but once I gave it a go and learned tons, I got lots more comfortable.
I started with Spaceship, then got into shares, then purchased my home.
Earn
Tell us a bit about your career.
As an international student, all work was basically unskilled. With residency and citizenship I got to use my brain as well. My masters is in HR so I have spent a few years doing that. For the last eight years I have been working for one of the Big 4 and slowly climbing up the ranks.
Do you have any income sources outside your job? How much do you earn from each and how did you develop them?
In my spare time, I do quite a bit of animal minding.
I always grew up with animals in the house, so this way, I get the fun, play time and love, but no vet bills. I have been doing it for over 15 years and have about six steady clients.
I used to have many more, but I hated saying no to people, so recommended my friend instead and only kept those clients I like and animals I love.
What’s been important for you to learn about money?
Try to do something you love to do or something that you can imagine doing as your main job if you lost your current one. I know people tend to want more money, and I am sure I could get lots more doing something else, but animals make me happy.
Save
What's your savings rate? How has it changed over time?
Many years ago, I read the Barefoot Investor and set up my buckets. Somehow, the 'splurge' one always got emptied into my home deposit account.
I have a bit of an obsessive personality so if there is a goal I am trying to achieve, I would just go for it and forget the fun in life. I would ease up if there was no immediate goal.
I think I used to save about 60-70%. Since I got a mortgage, about 85% goes to that. Like I said, I hate owing.
Do you have a budget?
Absolutely. I only keep food money in my daily account. Everything else goes to the offset account. My animal minding money also finds its way to the offset account.
How much do you spend per year?
I think I spend around $12-$15,000 a year. Not counting the mortgage of course.
Do you make purchase decisions carefully, or are you loose with your money?
Super carefully. I often sit and ponder whether I really need something or not. I do not like to be surrounded by stuff and buy things just because.
How is your work-life balance?
Mmm, good question. I do work just a bit more than I am required to, making sure my work is done right. Then you add weeks at a time with different animals . But all and all, I am happy. I have a few good friends and love spending time with them.
What's your favourite thing to spend money on?
Travel.
Invest
How do you invest?
I did all my shares as big purchases and then left it alone.
Same with Spaceship Voyager. I have put quite a bit in, then set an automatic weekly saving plan for $300 for Spaceship Universe, $200 for Spaceship Origin, and $100 for Spaceship Earth.
Once I got a mortgage, I stopped that and all is now going into my offset. I may start again, but at the moment my mortgage is my priority.
I plan to purchase an investment property once my mortgage is below $200,000.
What's been your best investment?
Finally making the decision to get into debt and buy a home. I spent so much time being scared and looking for the right home. When I found it, I got over being scared. :)
What’s been your worst investment?
I do not often listen to anyone, but somehow I did listen and purchased some shares which dropped like 80%. I try not to look.
What’s been your overall return?
Not sure really. Maybe like 10%.
How are you building wealth?
Working hard and learning lots. The better you do at work, the higher the salary, the more you can save and invest. Purchasing my home was a big one. I plan to purchase an investment property in early 2024.
What are your main roadblocks to building wealth? How are you addressing them?
Being scared. I should have started investing way sooner or at least started educating myself in that arena.
I used to think investing is for the rich only and I certainly was not rich.
Debt is not the worst thing in the world if you can afford to pay it back and buying a property when I had the deposit ten years ago, would have made an incredible difference on my net worth now.
Do you have a target net worth you want?
I am thinking $2 million outside of my house is doable.
Behaviour
When did you make your first significant behavioural shift towards wealth building?
I think you can look at my life in Australia as pre-university and post-university.
Prior, it was more of a survival and uncertainty.
After, I got better paid jobs and felt like I too can live the Australian dream. Realising I can have it all, made a big difference and I started to save smarter, invest and contribute to Super etc.
If you could start again, what would you do differently?
Be kind to yourself. Nothing needs to happen right now. That said, for goodness sake, stop wasting time and learn about what to do with money to achieve financial freedom as soon as possible. Putting it in the bank may not make you rich.
What are some mistakes you’ve made along the way?
As I mentioned above, I may have spent more time saving money and less time having fun. Also I’m not good at selling. I buy and hold. Don't do that either.
Do you have any worries about retirement? If so, how are you planning to address them?
Not really. I think I may retire back home and knowing I have property there and money from here I should be fine.
How are you learning about building wealth?
I have read many books, and listen to numerous wealth building podcasts. Once you get into it and you make mistakes and have little victories, you also learn a lot.
Do you give to charity? If so, what percentage of your time/money do you give?
I give blood regularly and money monthly to numerous charities such as CanTeen, two animal shelters and Red Cross. I do need to look into giving more.
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.
