Season 2 Episode 1: Financial interdependence vs codependency
IN THIS EPISODE
Mel and Darlene share personal stories and practical advice on managing competing priorities like private health insurance, income protection, and saving for family holidays. They emphasize the importance of planning for financial resilience and discuss the impact of traditional gender roles on financial dynamics in relationships. The hosts encourage listeners to strive for interdependence by actively engaging in financial management together and modelling healthy money behaviours for children.
RESOURCES IN THIS EPISODE
Mentioned: Ayal Fernando, Financial Adviser of Fern Financial, a Financial Planning company: https://www.fernfinancial.com.au/
Take a look at your buy and sell numbers to see what the costs might be with our buy and sell calculator.
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0:00
Welcome to The Money Collective Podcast. We're here to uplift your financial wellbeing. Your hosts are me, Mel Pearce, and Darlene Neu. We are the co-founders of The Money Collective and together we have over 50 years of finance and banking experience. We provide the tools, information and guidance to better understand your money and feel confident making money decisions.
0:22
Hello. Hello. Hi. Hello. Hi. Welcome back. Yeah. Well, thank you. We are very excited again to do another podcast. Yeah,
0:32
we love it. We love getting on here and you know, just talking to each other about the stuff that we talk about everyday. So it's really feeling good to get it out there to a broader audience and I'm really hoping it's connecting with you as well. Yeah, we do. So
0:50
lots of things to talk about today and some things have gone down for me actually.
0:58
So my partner Percy he's got some not so great health news this week and he needs to have a hip replacement. It's huge right? My daughter's laughing cause she's like haha, that's like an old thing and I'm like, well you’re 49 how old are you? Right, Right. Anyway, he’s little bit sad.
1:32
Yeah, so it's a little bit. So there's a lot of emotions I think running through our home this week.
1:39
Is it a bit of a reality check of, you know, your age or, you know, we take things for granted that people are always going to be alright? Yeah, yeah. Well, that's totally is true. Because the thing I wanted to share about this situation is the cost and the fact that we don't have hospital cover in our insurance. And that has
2:08
stressed me out. I think it's funny because like, I don't know if I stressed out more about the money or the health problems. I think it's always both. Like they came on. I was actually very aware of how much the money meant to me, like, not that I was, I really wanted to solve the problem too. And it actually made me realise how much I care about him as well. Like, I'm like, this is no good. We have to solve this straight away. Like I don't had talking to his GP, she had said
2:40
that the public system, the wait time to get that surgery is three to six years on average. How crazy is that? Yeah. And so he might be able to push through for the majority of the year. It's obviously something that's been there for a while and causing him problem.
2:57
Yeah, but we I cancelled our private health insurance hospital cover in 2018. It turns out I went back and had a check and I at the time I made that decision. It's really interesting because I made the decision like you said because I'm thinking oh maybe if I'm using it. Do you know what I thought I'll put the money aside. I was going to say that as one of the thoughts why,
3:23
Yeah, I could put the money aside if I never did that. Did I did not look that up that that is an idea for people though, you know, like if you really don't know, especially I do especially think in those younger years, like if you're in your 20s, thirties, you know, you think if you put that monthly insurance premium away for hospital all that time, then you'd have it in your later years. I would love to hear from someone that's done that.
3:53
I'm making Darlene sit on her hands, I bang, sorry, no more banging.
3:58. But like, who does that? Who put this money away for later? Yeah, not me, apparently. But apparently, I'm sure there are good people who would do this. But yeah, you know, I definitely think it would be a great strategy. But yes. Who has done that? I'd love to hear from someone. Yeah. So the where that's left us is so the cost of the surgery is $20,000 out of pocket. So we could do that. But as you know, I'm trying to get on this holiday over to Canada. So there's all these things going in my mind.
4:28
I'm like, right, holidays, canned food, let's just do the surgery. But and then his mind in he's saying, Oh no, no, no, I can wait the 12 months. So what we did on day one is actually sign up again for health insurance. The premium is about $400.00 a month just for him. I just covered him.
4:45
And then the wait time is 12 months too, if we do that surgery. And then I thought if it gets unbearable, we could, you know, just do it, you know, Yeah, think of, you know, just, yeah, do it. And then the other thing that money wise is that he is self-employed and he works on his own. So there's nobody else in his business other than him. And it’s eight weeks of recovery is $40,000 worth of lost income and then the cost of surgery. So it's $60,000
5:16
huge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And for some reason, which I can't remember the details, he doesn't have income protection insurance either. So it was something to do with him being self employed and the wages that he paid himself or something. So I have had some sort of income protection, but it's left us in this tricky situation. But I totally thought that maybe we were invincible or that we would be in a situation. I think it's just at other times
5:47
might have been easier too. But like we've got, you know, these interest rate rises, the cost of living, it's compounding all at once. Like coming in this reading and then, yeah, and I hold that responsibility. I think, how am I gonna solve all these problems? I don't think he thinks that way. Like, I think he's not as worried about it as I am. And I think it was just the hardest those first few days and now it's, yeah, going into those troubleshooting things. But I wanted to share that with everybody because I've, I've been talking about my journey and if you've been listening
6:18
along about my money personality and you know, the effort that we've been going to save, you know as well. So it's funny that because the reality is that you get setbacks, you know, the reality is the reality. We talk about them and then experiencing it yourself and ourselves as how it actually feels and what it means to people.
6:40
Yeah. And I think it does bring out like Mel already said she's a saver on personality. But I don't know. A Spender/Saver. I said, yeah, I'm a spender. Sorry. I mean, OK, But I have definitely saw this week Saver and the protection of that emergency money and that money, you know, like, yeah, I don't wanna lose it, you know, I need to still have it there and deal with this, you know? Yeah, Yeah. I think my fear was like using
7:10
oh, but all the money's gone. And then there's no backup. That and starting again. Yeah, you gotta shoot. Like, I suppose in my brain I felt like
7:19
I should be onwards and upwards at this stage, like and not having to. Yeah, worry. Yeah, but it's interesting, I suppose that's exactly what it's there for, isn't it?
7:30
Yes, it is. I'm part of that. But yeah, tricky times and you know, and sometimes they don't come in ones like you said. Sometimes you'll get a few setbacks altogether and it feels like everything's on top. So
7:44
yeah, but the best tip out of all that is understand your numbers. What can and can't happen, Do some projection. If I do all those things how much money I've got left and then like you said troubleshoot problem solve one of my prepared to prioritise over what
8:02
OK and you know it will land I'm sure and but yeah it it yeah, it's hard to get a setback it is. Yeah. But As for his wife, isn't smooth sailing anyway, which brings you to my my truth, which is sort of related. My I have income protection insurance, and with all these things, obviously Mel’s story, and I've got someone else around us at the moment that's had some unexpected surgery come up and it's a reminder that
8:33
things do happen. But I I'm conflicted because I get renewal of insurance near my birthday, my birthday soon, and it's a lot of money. I pay an annual premium and I've had this policy for,
8:48
Oh my gosh, maybe 20 years. And The thing is, with the policy, it's got a fixed payout. So
8:59
it doesn't matter what my income is anymore because I took a certain type of policy out that doesn't exist anymore. Apparently that, you know, that will pay me a set amount till I was, till I'm 70 if something happens to me. So every year I always go through this. Do I pay it? Do I not? I've never used it. It's so much money I've sunk. And then if I give it away, it's gone. But then you know it and you gotta find the money as well, you know? So
9:30
it's a really tricky 1 insurances and then you know,
9:35
you know it's it's actually funny or not funny, interesting. You know those things bigger than us that are happening around us maybe trying to tell us messages. So having insurance might feel a waste,
9:51
which is how I feel sometimes because I have never had to use it and I hope I never how I felt because I cancelled our hospital insurance, right. But on the flip side,
10:01
and I don't have the answer by the way, but on the flip side, you know what if I'd be feeling if I had insurance and I’m Percy right now and I've had I have a hip operation, I'd be feeling, you know, really sad that I've gotta have the hip operation and what that means, you know, to my invincibility. But besides that, you know, financially I'd be OK. So
10:24
I don't know, I don't know the answer. It's a really tricky one. And what I have been advised, I've been working with a financial planner. Hey Ayal, give you a shout out! That, trying to do a compromise. So at the moment if I did have something it would pay me out to the age of 70. We're investigating paying me out to the age of 60 because at 60 we can access superannuation
10:52
and then we've got different money to be able to call on. So really it is about
10:59
that financial resilience and planning scenario. The what ifs, how much will we need and their circumstance. You're gonna do that for the next 8 years then then you've gotta work out you know like plan that instead of it being am I gonna do it every year, like almost go, hey, am I gonna commit to it and then make that part of the plan. So then it doesn't feel like it's like every year I'm going through this. Yeah. Because yeah, yeah. Like is it something you actually want. Are you prepared to do it, do the costing, think about that bigger picture And then it's just done every year like you know,
11:30
you'll find allowing for us rather than because my budgeting, I don't allow for it. You need to think about that really, you know, like your full, full financial position like where all your assets are sitting and whether you're prepared to use whatever because it's basically taking away from investing or saving or some sort of asset that you've got to that's right to have the insurance. So are you willing to do that? What does it look like over 8 years? And then am I cool with that? That's the plan. Go with it. That is super.
12:00
I'm gonna help you with how you feel in your body instead of resenting it and being ****** *** once a year. Yep, about paying it. That is such great advice. The other thing too that I didn't take into consideration when I cancelled that hospital cover cause I've had fantastic public health experiences personally and I've had to have surgeries and things and I've had
12:23
awesome care every time including the birth of my children. And I thought, no, the public system is awesome. But what I didn't consider is wait times cause I don't think you're getting inferior surgeons, I don't think you get inferior healthcare. It's just these wait times, which I did. I didn't even consider that as when I cancelled it. Where is all you'll be able to go in when we're now in a position where we have to make wait 12 months or if we didn't take out the insurance three to six years, like that is untenable. Or
12:54
like I could, he could have been having this surgery, being booked in and basically getting this sorted out now. So it's interesting to things. And this is all about education, isn't it? So it's like when we feel like something hurts and this came up for one of our clients during the week as well. Insurance, like she's like thought that she had a bad deal or raw deal on the insurance. But then we talked about all of her health values and how much she uses it and she'd actually had a hip replacement herself and thought, well, maybe I might need the other one. So the value was really high. And when we looked at the premium, it was
13:24
awesome. Like, yeah, it was she was like and she And then that let go that resentment for that line item that she's paying for. Hmm. So it's about education, understanding your values, what you want. Yeah. It definitely cause you say you've got a really high health value as well. Yeah. Very. Yeah. So you'd want things to get sorted. I would. I wouldn't want it to hang around. I'd want it to get sorted really fast otherwise, you know, to wear me down. And then it's the balance between all of these insurance policies because like when one comes in, you know, then then the others, you know. So
13:58
potentially you need them all to be fully covered, I know or run the risk or and be where I am and you're gonna have to do some problem solving to get out of it. But I think what you said is absolutely key. It's doing that, planning out that you know it comes back to what we talk about building that financial resilience. Those play out, those what ifs scenarios and do them for health issues. You know, like if that happens, what would I do? What would I call upon? How long could I survive? How much do I need to set aside for those
14:28
things? Yeah, where can I get comfortable with that? Yeah, yeah, awesome. Alright, that's it. That wasn't heavy. That was heavy we've had, we've had a heavy week, so heavy things, but they are life things and life throws us stuff. So I need to build other thing I've been super aware of this week is how much everything is linked back to money. So if we're participating in this capitalist system that we have going to work everyday and buying things and, you know, using the services that are available,
15:00
then almost all decisions are based around money. Like, it's so hard to not link anything back unless you're deciding not to participate in this at all. But it's very hard not to, right? Because that's the society we live in. Well, yeah, that's right. It's very hard to be not in it at all. Yeah. Anywho,
15:20
well the topic of today is we wanna talk about the difference between interdependence and codependence. Hmm, and you might say what that is. So to start with I've brought up a definition and then on the Internet and just to get it started and what doctor do with doctor Google says the key difference between codependency and interdependency is the codependency involves dependence on another to the point where it is
15:51
negatively impacting their life. Interdependence involves sharing roles, but not being so dependent on another person that you lose yourself. Hmm, it's pretty good definition. It is pretty good. And we this is a pretty significant
16:07
issue that we see in relationships. Yeah. And and related to money. Yeah. So
16:16
interdependence is what we would advocate for striving to say yeah, where you you can still have some independence. You understand your situation and you're able to have some some level of autonomy but you're making Co decisions and there's compromises within a relationship. But yeah. And that opposite to that where you're dependent on someone who's where you don't have that you're dependent on them. Can I can. We cannot. You know so we we kind of giving yourself away and somebody's holding all the power. Somebody's holding the power in the relationship,
16:46
somebody doesn't. And we do see this play out with clients that we've served over the years in many different ways and a few examples. I guess let's talk about that.
17:01
One of the hardest ones is relationship breakdown. If you've got a codependent relationship with money, it might mean that you're not the money earner. You might have stayed home being the caregiver of your children, not kept up skills like career skills and maybe not even making the money decisions or know how it works. Yeah. And can I rewrite rewind a little bit like in that scenario where somebody's in the relationship,
17:31
so when that relationships in operations hmm that person how's it feel isn't feeling good probably Well they might they might be completely unaware and that the status quo, they might just be OK with it. But the fact that they might just be drip fed money, not being able to decide where to go, what to do, what to where and how to live their life. That's right. And subtly, these things can take take effect in a relationship. When somebody,
18:05
the common thing isn't, it's mainly women. But it doesn't have to be. It's when they decide to be the caregiver at home with the family. And sometimes if you're not making, you know, earning the money in your household, then you're letting go of being the decision maker. And vice versa. The person that is the money earner might be deciding that they've got more,
18:32
you know right to make the decisions cause they're earning the money. So the easiest way sometimes end independence within a relationship is to become an like, not let go of your income earning capacity. But there's ways to be a caregiver and not be the codependent relationship. It all comes down to communication and standing up for yourself and being able to recognise what's happening.
18:55
The key initially. The key thing is to be really mindful about it and understand it and have a really good open relationship and communication. Communication right from the outset or if you're not from now that you, this conversation might bring away, Yeah, bring awareness. Understand those roles in your household. If you've got a partner and how it is actually working and whether or not you're codependent
19:26
or you interdependent. Because what happens if you're in my situation and then your partners are unable to work for whatever reason, What ability and what resilience do you have in that relationship? If you need to step up, step it up, basically, and start making the decisions. So that's why it's good to stop. Leave it to like this point in time when it's required for too late. That's right. It's good to have that balance in a relationship. Always. Yeah.
19:51
I think this is really an interesting one because then there's the practicalities of what you can do. So one of its definitely being really mindful to be equal in your relationship and your money decisions at home. No matter who's doing what job, it shouldn't matter.
20:06
The second and then practically the things you can do is definitely understand your money flow and how it goes.
20:14
You know, where the bills go, where the money goes. Making sure you've got an equal seat at the table with making money decisions for your lives. First thing, don't miss something. First you might, might, might be, how do I access Internet banking? Oh my God, how do I see the account so good. Yeah, the practicalities. Do I have to do all of the things? Yeah. And this places for money personalities too. Because somebody could be like, Oh no, you're about it. Money. You can't manage it. So then you feel like that. And then I know, I I know,
20:44
yeah. What I'm doing, it's like that Spender Saver. Risk Taker. That's right. Avoider type of power play coming in. Yeah, of course. Yeah, as well. So it definitely is overlaid with personalities, but also
20:59
it can play out different lines. So definitely you can be the person that's doing the bookkeeping, so to speak, and paying the bills, but you're still not making the money decisions Totally. That can happen as well. And you feel the responsibility of it all because you're doing that, but you're not
21:16
really. We see that a lot with trading, don't we? Like trade? Like, I'm just gonna call this out right now cause it's like, ohhhhh, no, my, like we'll talk about this and they'll go, no, my wife does all the bookkeeping and it's like they're just like the bookkeeping ***** at home. Really. The book, isn't it?
21:34
Oh my God, it drives me insane. And then there's still like doing that risk taking behaviour and making all those big money decisions and then it's like to for that bookkeeping ***** to pick up the pieces basically, but then still not making the main money decisions. So that is a thing that I'd love to see change and I think that maybe we are seeing less of that. I don't know. We are evolving. We are evolving as a species, and I know that we talk a lot about gender roles, but there is truth in that.
22:04
So we're here to call it out a little bit, yeah, definitely. But it's not reserved for we. We love exactly people and to be it, it happens subtly over time. I don't think it's
22:19
intentional. I don't. Mostly by most people. I mean it definitely there is money abuse going on in households, but generally I don't think it's intentional. It's not intentional, but it's it's role playing and how society, I don't know. Maybe it's how our parents did it and how it can play out over time. Definitely generational. Like these things start because maybe there was, you know, you've grown up in a household and there was one main income earner and then it became your
22:50
role to be the main income earner. And that responsibility is a heavy, heavy burden for those people, especially when you want to start a family. And yeah, what happens if that income stops coming in? So they've got to keep ploughing on. And I think that's why we have so many mental health issues and why we need to be careful about this, especially with women in our lives. I I definitely see that in coaching sometimes you know where
23:17
say a male partner has been the income earner this traditional scenario and
23:25
female partner potentially or their partner stayed home and and being the caregiver they that feeling of needing to be the provider that's their place that's their responsibility that's their to break free of that they feel it all and that burden on their and their partners generally trying to pretend they're good too and provide a safe place for them to actually do that and be the provider as well. So yeah, it is role playing it. But if we can bring some awareness to it and just open up some
23:56
conversations around it, so it becomes an even safer space for them because they're vulnerable a lot of the time. Very much, yeah. And they feel stuck. I I see it a lot. They feel stuck in their job or their relationship, you know, with the type of work they want to do. They might even want a career change, you know, You know, But they actually feel they can't because they've got to keep this level of income up to the family. It's their responsibility. That's their job. They have to provide for everybody in the family,
24:27
yeah, and it can't be shared. So it definitely plays out from all different aspects. But this is where interdependency is super important. So it is firstly open communication, sharing. Be really mindful and conscious about having equity in your household, about the decisions you know the roles and how that equity isn't equality is. It doesn't mean you have to be doing the same things or spending the same amount of money earning the same amount of money.
24:57
How you said at the table when equal seated at the table. Really. Yes. And make decisions. And I think also,
25:04
yeah, coming back to the personnel is another way it can play out because more and more people these days, two people in a household have to work just to make ends meet. It's just the way cost of living, housing prices and that have taken us. So to be able to afford those things that people want, it means that two people need to work. So
25:24
that shifts the problem of saying, oh, well, I might not be earning the money coming into the house or it's my responsibility, but there is still, like you said, some of those traditionalism, you know, maybe in personalities about who's making decisions. Yeah. But yeah, really be thoughtful and open communication and keep an even seat. Know your money. Both people in a relationship have the responsibility to be able to log on to Internet banking as well, says understand where the money flows, where it goes. Having open money communication.
25:55
Yeah. Is, is key. So I've had I said that's just triggered my memory. I've had people tell me who have been very wealthy and had a lot of money and saying, do you not tell my wife you have that much money? I don't want her to know we've got that much money. Yeah. OK. So that he doesn't want her to participate in making decisions basically with how it might be spared or he might have thought she's gonna spend the money. Yeah. Because he had a different ideas for the money. Yeah. Yeah. And his values over that. Yeah. I've had. Yeah. Other people say they
26:25
not go out for coffee with me and I know they've got $1,000,000
26:29
because I can't afford it so that they can come down to the values, so whatever. But I know that there's money control. There was money control in that situation as well. So just being, yeah, I don't know if we've got friends in those situations, maybe we could help guide them kindly. Yeah. Somehow that's right. That's hard and genuinely support. And you know, again, if we're gonna change this, when we talk about, talk about it, and it might be uncomfortable, but we need to talk about it. And I think we see it
27:00
every day and we don't even see it as a problem. Yeah, we just unaware that it's going on around us or even ourselves. So I think this is huge going on in today. You know, today's world, but money needs to be spoken about at home and you need to understand it.
27:20
Everybody needs to understand how it works in their part and participate in those decisions. And it is about interdependence. You know, my own story, yeah, I didn't understand it at the time, but innately I've always worked and I've had a desire for career and drive and, you know, doing things. So that's probably been the key reason. But the secondary one was that I always felt when my kids started school that if I didn't stay in the workforce I was going to be left behind.
27:52
But I also wanted to be that contributor to money to the household, no doubt, because I grew up, I'm 52, so I grew up. My traditionalism is dad work. Mum stayed at home and I saw what that did. You know where Mum didn't have as much say around the money and I did not want that I and the only way I saw that that could happen is that that I was an equal earner to the household
28:18
to not let me give that away. But I don't think my learning is. I don't think that's the only way. It is about communication and relationship that you have and money in the house. Yeah. Mines quite similar. And in fact I had some time off work where I wasn't earning money and I felt like I didn't have an equal seat at the table and yeah so it's on us. It's our belief system as
28:44
it's not somebody else doing that to us. No, you're right. It's all going on. It's our own beliefs. Exactly right.
28:53
But also like how do you get out of a relationship too? Like, yeah, I've always thought about that too. Like what happens if I don't want to stay in this relationship, then how do I go about being on my own? I wanna addition, I wanna be self sufficient. I don't wanna be left in that situation. Or what happens if something happens to him regardless, you know, like I want don't want to be at somebody else's mercy. That's just not my personality. My neither. I think that's key though. I want to be seen as an individual even though I've been married for
29:24
30 odd years. It's very, very important to me to be seen as an individual and self sufficiency for me as part of that, it's not for a fear that
29:37
we don't stay together, it's just because, you know, I wanna be independent.
29:45
Yeah, it doesn't come from anybody else. It's just at me. Yeah. So I think I just want to round up and just say like again, where does it all come from? So they all weren't behaviours around our beliefs. And then what are we passing on to our children again? Because they're going to watch us. They're going to see how we treat each other in our relationships.
30:07
How are they getting behaving there later on. It doesn't matter if you're working or not, but they want to see a strong mum in a strong dad And that how that connection works between the two, you know, that is so important. Yeah. What we model to them. Yeah. So it doesn't matter if you're working or not working so long as you're not giving yourself away. I think that's right because they absolutely will see that And it plays out. Yeah. And I don't think most people want to perpetuate for their children. Definitely now. And I did touch on at the beginning. I just wanna finish off and saying though we do see the other
30:38
end of that. So through divorce and divorce is one of the most common reasons. Well, common reasons why divorce happens is because of money
30:51
so first of all, we can have better ones, maybe we'll have, you know, less relationship breakdown. But also,
30:59
you know, think about I've talked about this previously, but for financial resilience planning, I actually think it would be healthy if couples could do that together and say, well, what if we weren't together? And that's a really hard and confronting thing. But
31:15
what would be my plan? Because if you do that, you're probably more likely, I would say, you know, hypothetically speaking, but maybe, yeah, you know, better communication around that and, you know, having skills and, you know, but getting to know your money and your numbers goes a long, long way. And then, yeah, being able to work that out. Mel and Darlene your relationship councillors come here for all your professional advice. No, there is a disclaimer at the end. There's no personal. This is general advice for me.
31:45
Totally our opinion. That's right. Exactly.
31:50
OK, cool. Hmm. Yeah. You're happy with that? I am, Yeah. So. But really, you know, after you've listened to the podcast, just put your mind to. Yeah, interdependence versus codependence. And yeah, whether it's working for you or not and people around you, like you said, you know, let's start having those conversations.
32:12
Cool. So the question that we have today came from somebody who reached out and said they're very worried about not being able to continue to afford the things that they have. And you know, it was a bit of catastrophising too around some fixed rates coming off and repayments going up a lot and not being able to hold on to. They've gotten investment properties for these people, bought a house,
32:43
um, their first, you know, first home buyers, and then they've bought a second home and kept the original one as an investment property. So the idea was to hold on to that for a very long time, to build equity and help them in later years. But they weren't anticipating all these interest rate rises. No, I don't know, they're coming off a fixed rate, is that right? Coming off a fixed 2% fixed rate into six and a bit percent and across all their lending
33:14
it goes every premise will increase by $2500 a month. Yeah, but they were kind of thinking in their brain, oh it's going all out like a like a probably go up by $6000 a month. So it's less than and so they thought we can't afford that. So they hadn't done their numbers. So knowing the numbers it's the first thing you got to do that's right. And also if I sold that investment property after all of the sale costs and etcetera that would have only cleared $50,000. So it's not ideal to
33:44
sell that property like none. After you've paid stamp duty and you know things like that, you're actually probably do the negative position to try and hold on to that property use the A game. Yeah, yeah. So then it comes back down to them knowing their numbers and what is it going to take. So they do have extra income earning potential. They've got side jobs and Commission earning jobs as well. So there's potential to increase income, but also just buffer down and
34:15
get really intimate, I suppose, with knowing what their numbers are and what they're spending. ******* what? Yeah. Decide where they can cut some discretionary. Yeah, creationary. And then also increase rent as well, if that's something that they haven't done or wanted to do. Yep, Yep, definitely. And then exhaust everything else first
34:37
would be the answer, you know, So look at your numbers, look at your actual spending. Can I reduce my discretionary, have I got income extra, you know, ability to earn to cover
34:49
then you know and then the last thing would be if it got down to that, do I need to sell the investment property, actually understand what that's going to do to your cash flow, You know, how much different, you know, what amount are you contributing after rent. So yeah and you know
35:07
because once I sell it, it's gone, I'm not getting the rental income anymore. So what is my net benefit and then and also think about an ongoing strategy passed beyond that as well too. So it comes back down to values priorities, goals didn't want to do with that money. Well you big life milestones as well you know where you are in your life. Do you see any changes in, you know, are you dropping to 1 income? Maybe, you know, if you're starting a family or, you know, have you got future pay rises in your in your vision or your future
35:38
that you think are coming? Because if it's short term, you know, maybe you can ride it out you know as well. Hmm.
35:47
Very much. Well, thank you for joining us today. We do love talking about money. We do. And our lives. Really. Yeah, we do. Our lives. Thanks for staying with us. Right through to the end. Yeah. And we'll catch you next time. That's right. Spread the word, listen to podcast. Give us a great five star review. Please do so more people can access it and listen too. Yeah. Thank you.
36:11
At The Money Collective we provide financial wellbeing, premium coaching, mortgage broking and workplace financial wellbeing programs which we couldn't do without the seamless support of our fabulous team. If you'd like to find out more, head to themoneycollective.com.au or our socials to take action and engage our services. In our Facebook group join the conversation and help us break down the taboo around money. All content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is generally nature. For tailored personal advice, please seek out a professional.
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Podcast by:
MEL PEARCE & DARLENE NEU
Co-Founders, Financial Wellbeing Coaches and Mortgage Brokers
The Money Collective
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