Tash invests - From PJ’s to super star influencer & is pet insurance worth it?

In our last episode for 2020 the lovely & clever @tashinvests joins us to talk spontaneous apartment buying, working hard and getting 18,000 views filming videos in your pyjamas. We also look into the ins and outs of insuring your pooch.

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The following is a transcript taken from episode 11 of the We Talk Cents podcast. The transcript is created by AI software so it might not be perfect - please forgive any imperfections or grammatical errors.

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SPEAKERS

Dan Jovevski, Blaize Pengilly, Tash Invests

Blaize Pengilly  00:09

Personal finance, budgeting, cash flow, and investing don't have to be scary words. The We Talk Cents podcast is here to help you learn more about money and take control of your personal finances. We Talk Cents podcast is not a financial advisor. This podcast is made for entertainment and educational purposes only. All information shared is of a general nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate for your needs and where appropriate seek professional advice from a financial advisor

Dan Jovevski  00:45

For more information please check out we money.com.au/disclaimer. Hello welcome to another instalment of we talk scents a podcast presented by WeMoney as always you joined by me Dan, your resident finance expert.

Blaize Pengilly  00:59

And me Blaize your resident shopaholic. Now this will be the last time that we are talking to you from we talk sense for the year. But don't worry, we will be back after the Christmas break. Dan, what are you getting up to? When you putting your feet up over Christmas? What are you going to do with the time off

Dan Jovevski  01:16

This time of the year to usually be on a plane somewhere or going out with the family to some semi exotic location but we planted in return in Perth and we're not moving too far. So between Christmas and New Year, we're going to spend some time at home. catch up on a bit of Netflix and just take a little bit easy. How about you?

Blaize Pengilly  01:33

sounds very nice and wholesome. I love Christmas I love this time of year. So I think I will just be getting in my car every morning heading straight to the beach and getting as many swims and as many milkshakes in as humanly possible over the time off. Yet I love a little bit of fries and dairy so very much looking forward to that. But enough of that Christmas. This is our last episode of The I'm sad to say excited and sad for you know the year ending but excited for the year ahead. We've got so much in store for 2021 for the We Talk Cents podcast, heaps of amazing guests lined up. But what are we talking about on the podcast today?

Dan Jovevski  02:12

Today we're going to talk with a TikTok an Instagram influencer by the name of Tash invests, we've seen a huge explosion of these category of influencers known as thin talkers or influences will really just take a magnet. No I didn't. I'm going to give that to the Australian Financial Review published an article just very recently talking about this very phenomena. But I think it's very true. It's really emblematic of all the guests that we've had on. So think about insurance like Justin and Tash. And Emily, of course, on the first episode here we talk since they're all people in that category, and we think this is an exploding trend. And I'm very excited as I'm sure you Blaize to have Tash on today's show. What else is on the radar?

Blaize Pengilly  03:00

Well, after we talk to Tash We will also be taking a look at pet insurance to see if it's all it's cracked up to be. But before we get into that news, Dan, what headlines have been grabbing your attention this week?

Dan Jovevski  03:18

One of the biggest headlines to come out is the ACCC report or the inquiry to home lending. This one is pretty big. Basically, the ACCC is one of Australia's largest regulators and regulates everything to do with financial services. This report really delves into some of the core systemic issues that the homeland industry has faced for pretty much forever. And they've come up with some four recommendations as part of their report to government and some of these, I think are going to be exciting for a lot of Australians. So those four points are is basically the ACCC has recommended that lenders prompt borrowers to engage into the home loan market and see if they could benefit from switching products.

Blaize Pengilly  04:05

Wait so you mean encouraging refinancing that lenders will be encouraging. Is that what you mean? How does that work?

Dan Jovevski  04:13

Blaize Yes, it is really interesting. I'm not sure how much the banks will actually embrace this particular recommendation. And we'll have to wait and see whether or not the government actually mandates the banks to take up recommendations This or this report. But Mu 2.2. It's also requiring lenders to provide a standardised discharge authority form to borrowers to complete to allow for appropriate authorised third parties, for example, mortgage brokers to complete the submit the discharge forms on the bars behalf This is really big because every time you try to refinance your mortgage, the bank is going to ask you or please go and download the standard discharge forms from the website. And that is a pretty painful process.

Blaize Pengilly  04:52

So you've completely asked me, Dan, what is the standard discharge form? How does this actually benefit that the borrower?

Dan Jovevski  04:58

Why is this benefits all Australians who have got a home and they're looking to switch because one of the core documents that can become incredibly confusing for a lot of borrowers is that banks have their own forms, which you need to fill out and were discharged your mortgage. Now, these forms can be very complicated. All of these forms are required to be sent by a fax or in person directly to the bank branch themselves. Yeah.

Blaize Pengilly  05:21

Oh, my God, I have to travel back in time. So whenever we used faxes, Goodness me.

Dan Jovevski  05:27

Exactly. And that To be frank Blaize. I think we all know why that's the case is add more friction to the process that people don't switch their mortgage. And so I think that the government is really cottoned on to these tactics that a lot of the banks use in order to prevent people from switching their mortgages. I think that's a really good point. But maybe the point of the three is suggesting that all lenders should be subject to a maximum time limit of 10 business days to complete the discharge process, which is phenomenal news, it basically puts lenders on the spot if there is a discharge form that has been submitted. So this is the process where you tell your current bank that you switch into another bank, that it's going to happen. And that is really good, because it means borrowers can start saving quicker with the new moon too, and particularly go to a cheaper rate.

Blaize Pengilly  06:15

So with that, as a recommendation, I'm guessing that in the past, banks can make it drag it out and make it a 20 day 30 Day two months sort of period, which means that they're still getting paid the extra interest in getting their home loan repayments in that time from that customer before they completely let them go in. And let them refinance with another institution, I guess.

Dan Jovevski  06:37

Absolutely. And the final recommendation is that the recommending the government of the ACCC should continue to require monitoring competition and pricing in the online market. And it's led to some speculation about what this potentially might mean, with some industry groups saying that, you might actually see something on your bank statement that tells you how efficient you are, what and what will actually, and what people are speculating in the marketplace, including some consumer groups is that you might get something on your bank statement that will tell you the current home loan that you're with and whether or not it's actually competitive or not by some type of rating scale, which I think would be really cool to tell people whether or not, you know, they're paying too much, you know, on their mortgage, or if they're on the right appropriate product, which is really a massive change to where the current market is at the moment. And I think plays for people's into the podcast, who do have a mortgage, we all know how this system works, you get a home loan you're in during that mortgage for about two to three years. And then you know, over the period of the years that you have that mortgage, that the rights start to go up in the background. And then while are five years later, you wake up and you realise that you're paying probably a percent more, then you know, what's currently available in market. So I think these measures from the government couldn't come soon enough. And let's hope they enact that into some type of law or legislation, or potentially some very, very firm guidelines that most banks have to follow her in Australia,.

Blaize Pengilly  08:06

That sounds really positive? So these are just recommendations from the agent? We'll see at the moment that for suggestions, but they're not set in stone, they're not a 100% going to happen. Is that right?

Dan Jovevski  08:17

That's correct, I think is the way that these typical reports get handed down is that they're for informational purposes for the government to consider then potentially consider legislation and hopefully, that some of these points actually do become legislation, because if they do, I think that a lot more Australians will be much better off than there is precedent to this. There was discharge fees that were abolished about sort of five or six years ago that basically allowed lenders not to keep you within that product and charge you onerous fees to keeping you locked in and the government moved pretty swiftly after they received their last report from another government agency to make that amendment. So hopefully, that we get four of them. But even if we get three or even two, I think we're in for some, some interesting times ahead, particularly for the for the major banks.

Blaize Pengilly  09:03

Yeah, that sounds awesome. The first point you made about banks, letting their customers know when a better product is available. I think that will be really interesting. And I also am excited, because I feel like what will make the market more competitive, and will also it's sort of taking a proactive approach. It's I guess, it's similar to most things, you know, they want to save on your phone insurance, if you want to save on your home insurance, your car insurance, whatever it is, you should be reviewing your policies each year, and calling up your lender or your institution or whatever, to get a better rate. Where is instead of putting that on the consumer to be doing that this time. It sounds like the onus has been on the lenders to push a better product suggestion back onto the consumers and let them know, hey, you're paying 2.1 do you know you could be paying 2% with this product here? So yeah, I think it will increase competition in the market which will hopefully have consumers or borrow is winning out in the end.

Dan Jovevski  10:03

Absolutely.. I'm very excited. And I think from, from a woman's perspective, you know, this is something that is only going to encourage the new era of people looking at their finances or paying more attention and removing the friction and barriers from getting the best possible outcomes. And I think we should probably keep this under wraps until New Year. But I think a lot of we many members are going to be very excited about some changes that we're making in order to make this very easy for them to get the best possible outcome in the year ahead. So stay tuned, folks.

Blaize Pengilly  10:42

Dan, cast your mind back to when you were 23 years old, when you were 23? What was the best way to learn about money and personal finances?

Dan Jovevski  10:52

Well, because we don't have the plethora of information that we do now with the Barefoot investor, all these internet ways of learning about money. Back in my day, at the age of 23, I was thinking about entrepreneurship. And the best piece of advice that I got was from my parents. Just imagine a very thick Eastern European accent. me telling my parents that I wasn't going to get a full time job at a bank and work there for 20 odd years. I was going to go out there and go it alone. And the advice that I got was You're silly, you're crazy. You shouldn't be doing any of that. So to be frank lies, my financial advice isn't what it is today, thank goodness. But I'm lucky to go through that process, especially with my parents. How about you?

Blaize Pengilly  11:35

Well, when I was 23, that's interesting. Good, good advice for your parents. I guess. Maybe it maybe that advice is what spurred you on with the motivation. You have to start to start your own thing. But yeah, learning about personal finances and money for me at 23. I would ask my family who wouldn't know a lot to be honest, or I would go to the internet and internet forums. But the reason I asked is because today joining us we have a special guest who spreads information about personal finances and managing your money through social media. She is a 23 year old uni student who managed to save over $96,000 last year, and she's also recently bought her own apartment and has already amassed a net worth of over $141,000. This self taught personal finance influencer now has over 18,000 followers on TikTok, and another 7000 on Instagram and those numbers are continuing to grow. As well as sharing information on personal finance. She's also an avid traveler and loves having fun in the ocean diving and wakeboarding. She joins us now via the magic of the internet. Welcome, Tash. As you may know her Tash invests.

Tash Invests  12:47

Hi, thanks so much place that was such a nice intro. I love that.

Blaize Pengilly  12:51

How are you going Tash?

Tash Invests  12:53

Yeah, I'm good. Super excited to be here.

Blaize Pengilly  12:55

Thank you so much for joining us. Now. I am super curious. Talk us through your investing story. How you started off and what what's your strategy?

Tash Invests  13:05

Yeah, so my first ever investment I bought full shares of the s&p 500 index. And I was saying, but I had no idea what I was doing. I just bought it and then I let it sit there for ages. And then I was super scared on the share market for a while I knew nothing about it. So I just saved and saved until I had my apartment deposit. And I bought my apartment. And after that I was like, Okay, cool. What's next? And I decided like reading all through the internet and following himself on Instagram. And now I just invest in index funds. So I buy and hold index funds, which is really cool. And super exciting. That's super interesting.

Blaize Pengilly  13:36

Now, Dan, I'm sure you are very curious about this as well. We touched on it in the intro, you save over $96,000 last year. How on earth did you do that? Are you ever sleeping? How many jobs do you have? How many, but are you actually a robot person?

Dan Jovevski  13:56

Before before we started the show today plays and I said oh my goodness, I was reading through all your achievements. And we thought if you ever going to change your name, we would call you terminate Attash. Because you're absolutely killing it in terms of what you can say by the very, very young age. Yeah, we'd love to know how you how you went about doing that at a formative part of your career.

Tash Invests  14:20

I just work a lot, I guess. Like I don't feel like it's that big of an achievement. It's it's been super normal. So it kind of started off when I first left school when I was 17. I really wanted to travel but to travel, you have to save a lot of money. So I worked like three or four jobs at a time would work every single day would work like three jobs in a day going from one to another. And then I would do that for three months. And then I would travel for a few weeks and then I would come home and just repeat. But then I kind of got into the mindset of working a lot. So when I started working normal hours and having days off, I was like oh this is easy. Like you can work five days a week and then go home like this is so good. So now like I work one job and I work overtime and I also work like my side hustles and my side jobs, but I still have free time so it doesn't feel that hard. But yeah, it's just like a lot of working. But I can't like I love my job. So it's fine. And like I love working and I love like achieving things. So it's just been a lot of fun. But yeah, just working, I guess no special secret.

Blaize Pengilly  15:10

I know you said you have free time, but how much free time we talking because that sounds like keeping yourself very busy. Three minutes a day,

Tash Invests  15:19

I have a lot more free time now than I used to. I used to never have free time, I would literally just like work and work and work. And I wouldn't have free time until I went on holiday. But since COVID happened I've unfortunately had to learn what work life balance is, which is quite quite hard. I used to like freak out when I had free time, I'd have a whole day free and be like, Oh my god, what am I gonna do. But now I'm, I'm I have a bit more free time. My job at the moment I work like two days on and I do like sleep over shifts at a group home. So you're like on call for two days, and then you have two days at home. So that's a lot better, because then you have the days off. But then I guess my days off. I do like fashion stuff now. So but that's more fun. It's more fun than like normal work.

Dan Jovevski  15:53

Amazing. Tash talks about buying your apartment and while set a big goal for you, and how did you go through that sort of process and maybe walk us through the saving journey and also the property buying journey and how you navigated that?

Tash Invests  16:06

Yeah, so I kind of always knew I wanted to buy property. So I've kind of been saving like since I was 17 like my whole life. Even as a kid I like saved my pocket money because I always knew I want to spy property because that's what my parents do. They invest in property. But yeah, buying I apartment was actually really random. Like it was the middle of COVID all my trips that got canceled for the year. So I had a lot more money than I was planning to have. And I just went to American and loves it and bought it like three days later. There wasn't much like preparation. Oh, I just saw one I liked and was like this is perfect. And it's like so in my budget as well. And it's brand new, because I really like like new modern things and not older houses. And the amount of money I had. I couldn't really afford like a new apartment in a really nice area. So I sold it sounds like this is great. And I bought it, sir. Yes, no, no wise words there

Blaize Pengilly  16:49

I would love to have enough money saved up to spontaneously go to a home open and decide Three days later that I was gonna buy the house?

Tash Invests  16:58

Well, I would kind of like, because I just started learning about shares. And I was kind of especially like, during the, like the drop with COVID. I was like, oh, maybe I'll just like put all of my deposit into shares and not buy property for a few years. But then once I saw it, I was like No, like, this is it. This is perfect. It's so nice. And it's like so affordable. The home mortgage is $234 a week. Like it's super cheap. And I think the breakeven was like, council rates and strata fees only need 300 a week, which is ridiculous. It's so good. That's the same as renting. I love it. Um, but yeah, that was good.

Dan Jovevski  17:29

And it seems like you've, your parents are also involved in property that sort of inspire you in terms of your parents talk about property, a lot of the portfolio ownership when you're growing up.

Tash Invests  17:39

My parents were about money very openly. So even as a kid I knew what mortgages were and my parents were very open about what we couldn't couldn't afford. And my parents worked so hard, like my dad was overseas, most of my childhood doing Pfeiffer but he's like, sacrificed a lot to save and be where he is now. But my whole childhood, they were like, Oh, we can't have Foxtel because they have to pay off our mortgage first and stuff like that. And like if we want to go on a holiday, we had to plan as a family, that how we were going to save for it and how much it was going to cost. And we would like to pros and cons lists of different holidays as to what costs like what and I thought that was really cool, because I found that a lot of people didn't do that as kids. I was like, What do you mean, he didn't just like talk about mortgages when you attend. But yeah, they were super open. But the really hard thing is that they're afraid of shares, like my parents don't like the stock market. And they're just like, No, no, like, you have to buy property. So that was quite hard, researching shares and being like, no, this is what I'm doing. Like I don't want to buy all property like properties, a lot of work compared to just buying an index fund.

Blaize Pengilly  18:31

Tash I am fairly jealous of your upbringing. I mean, I'm sorry, Mum and Dad, if you're listening to this now, but I wish I had that sort of training instilled at a young age. What have you taken from your upbringing about what are the good habits they've taken from your parents that you still instill now that are really really beneficial towards having a good money mindset? I guess

Tash Invests  18:53

Yes, I think that your money habits? Yeah. I think one was don't get into debt for things that you can't like, get into debt for a mortgage show. But like don't buy a car if you can't afford it. Don't get a credit card. If you can't afford it, don't get personal loans. Like I didn't know personal loans were a thing until I was like pretty much an adult. And I was like, What do you mean, people are like borrowing money to go on holidays like this blows my mind that this is the thing that people do. So the main thing is just Yeah, not buying things that you can't afford. And making sure you have a plan for the things that you want to buy. Like you can't get all these nice things in life if you don't work hard and save for them. And also my dad, like his work ethic is insane. So I've learned a lot from him in terms of like sacrificing my spare time to work a lot but I could all works out good in the end.

Dan Jovevski  19:34

Tash you talk a lot on tech talk about the importance of mindset a lot and that was the biggest importance of view for getting a good money mindset. What is a good money mindset and what what are some of the reminders you keep telling yourself to change when it comes to this type of mindset? I mean, it sounds like to me that you've got this game fairly down pat, you know what you are doing? And you're very passionate about achieving your goal but maybe unpack mindset for us and how that might might help your Audience sort of understand, you will drive motivation to hit your goals.

Tash Invests  20:04

So this might be a bit brutal, but like you don't deserve things just like you don't just like deserve a new car. Like, I find that really interesting when people just buy a new car that they haven't saved for, like, it sounds a bit brutal, like you don't deserve a new car if you haven't saved for it. And I think that's like a lot of people get really offended when you say that. But like, You don't deserve it, if you haven't saved for it. But like my biggest, like my best owner, I'm really bad at living in the moment, and not planning for the future. Like I'm such a forward like I love thinking about plans I love like planning out my whole life, like planning is great. But I think that's really makes it a lot easier to save money because I have all these plans, and I need money to achieve all my goals and to get all these things. Like my main goal is I'd love to like achieve financial independence and have a million dollar share portfolio. But you can't have a million dollar share portfolio if you don't like work really hard and make sacrifices along the way. So I find it easier for me to save money because like, my whole mind is like focused on what's happening in the future for other people who focus more on what's happening now. And like, that's a bad thing for me too. Because I'm so bad at being like, cool. I'm going to enjoy this time of life. Instead, I'm just like, Oh, no, like, I've got my next plan and the next big thing. And I find it really hard to like, celebrate achievements. I'm like, Oh, that was cool. Let's go next. what's what's the next plan?

Blaize Pengilly  21:09

Okay, Tash, I am going to try not be personally offended seeing as last week on the podcast, we did say Tesla about 14 times in the hopes that I would be sent a Tesla brand new

Tash Invests  21:20

I would love to Tesla. Yes, please.

Blaize Pengilly  21:21

Shame on me. I would love them to but now I am realising that Yeah, I probably don't deserve one. Very, very interesting that it's it's the it's the mentality of expectation, you shouldn't just expect to have things I suppose. Yeah, very interesting input there. When my questions are around, so you said you had a lot of travel plans that sort of had the spanner thrown in the works due to COVID. So this is the last episode of 2020. So I'm really curious to say, your mindset around how you manage things, when things don't go to plan. So when your travel plans were canceled, what changed? And how do you react when something happens that might be considered unexpected? Or even a failure? Like how do you deal with failure? And how do you deal with change?

Tash Invests  22:13

I love change. Like I know a lot of people don't, but I really like change, and I love making new plans. So when my trips got canceled and COVID happened, I was like, Okay, I'm going to buy an apartment. And that was my plan. And then I spent the next few months like buying furniture and like designing what my I want to buy apartment to look like. It's like I don't I don't know. So you can have like the moments of disappointment when you're like, Oh, that's a bit shit. But I'm really good at making new plans and setting new goals. And a lot of the time when I fail at something or when something goes wrong, something better comes out of it. It's like I failed a unit in my first year of uni, which I was like devastated about for a little while. But it ended up being like the best thing that's ever happened to me because it forced me to go part time and I went part time. And then I started working full time and I traveled more, I have more time off. Like I worked a lot I got switched jobs like full time jobs that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. And like I probably wouldn't have started my Instagram if I had just done uni normally and graduated it was working full time as an OT, like every failure. Oh, bad thing that happens always turns out to be something better because it's like gives you more time and more choices or time to step back and reevaluate and be like okay, cool. What do I actually want to do with my time now?

Dan Jovevski  23:15

That's amazing, Tash. And what about projecting to 2021? What are your biggest goals, the 2021 in your life?

Tash Invests  23:22

I want to save more money and invest more. No, I really want to build like cash invest into like a bigger business as well. So I'm starting off a blog soon, which would be really cool. And I'd love to start making YouTube videos. And I have to go back to uni unfortunately to finally finish this degree. That's been like seven years coming. So I've got a few projects to do so I guess just focus on that and like not get too carried away with like work on the side of it. Yeah, I'd love to grow this into like a really cool online business. It'd be so much fun.

Dan Jovevski  23:47

Oh, that's fabulous. Tash This is actually really important thread because I think the work you're doing right now in terms of spreading the word of financial wellness, financial education to a lot of young people is a phenomena that wasn't really around, say five or so years ago. Maybe talk about the story about your own journey in credit your own following, particularly around the topic of money and finance, all the way from when you first started to sort of where you are now and where you want to take into the future.

Tash Invests  24:14

Yeah, so I only started posting on Instagram. I think it was like the first of August or something. I like shared my first post and then I seem to Yeah, it's been crazy. And people seem to really like it. And I was like, Oh, this is cool. Cuz Initially, I was like really nervous about putting a face to it. Because there's so many like anonymous Instagrams. But I was like, all you can like break down the stigma of talking about money if you're going to be anonymous. Anyway, that kind of like defeats the purpose of it. So I was like, No, it's fine. I'll just like see how it goes. And it's gone really well. And then I started making TikToks like end of September, like that was really recent, too. And they just blew up. And it's like being really cool. Like, it's so exciting that people actually like care about what I spend my money on. Because to me, it's so normal to talk about money and what I earn in investments, but it's not about other people. Some people find it interesting. I'm like, Oh, that's so cool that you find what I spend on interesting but like it's great. I've been so much fun. Like I'd love to grow it and like a bigger community. Unlike I've got to kind of figure out what's allowed and what's not allowed in terms of like talking about finance in Australia a bit more. But yeah, I'd love to just grow it and educate more people about like, basic personal finance things. That's super exciting.

Blaize Pengilly  25:10

Tash, what fascinates me about your TikTok is that the way we use the internet has changed so dramatically in the last couple of years. I remember, you know, 2010 everyone's falling into YouTube 3am holes, watching cat videos on YouTube. And now I'm up at 3am desperately scrolling through TikTok learning about personal finance. It's so good. It's, it's insane. It's actually insane. And like, it's bizarre, how addicted you can get to learning more. And I think what you're doing is so fantastic. Because you're really empowering other people. And you're delivering information in a way that is so easily and to understand and so accessible to so many people. Did you expect your tik tok to go this big? And also, second part of the question is you say you want to expand your touch invest business. What are your what's your big dream for that? What's your big goal?

Tash Invests  26:04

So I didn't realise it was gonna blow up this quickly. Like it was so unexpected. I was like, Oh, yeah, cool. I'll get like 1000 followers, and I'll just like touch my 1000 followers. But the Daily Mail did an article on me. So I got like, 2000 followers overnight from that. And like TikTok's insane, like so many of like, the dumbest videos go viral. I'll be like sitting on my floor, wearing like, the most basic clothes with no makeup on rambling about personal finance for 60 seconds, and then it will get like 100,000 views. And it's just like what? People care about that so much. I'm not really sure what my big golf attached invest yet is because I haven't really had time to think about it. Like it blew up so quickly. I was like, Oh, yeah, I'll just make an Instagram. But then, like, accidentally made a tic Tock. And that worked really well. And I'm going to try the blog and see how that goes. And I'll try YouTube and see how that goes. Well,

Blaize Pengilly  26:45

What do you mean, you accidentally made a tic Tock?

Tash Invests  26:48

I just, I didn't know like I just made what I always hated the photo making videos. I was like, there's no way I can feel myself talking like this is so embarrassing. So I made one and then it did really well. And it didn't even have my face in it. I was just like filming the compound interest calculator, and it got 20,000 views. And I was like, Wait, what? Like that's a bit easy. That's way easier than trying to like, build a following on Instagram, which takes a lot more time. Then I started posting more I posted like, like 15 or something without my face in them just to like my computer screen. And they did really well. So I was like, Okay, I'll actually feel myself and see what happens. And it blew up really quick. I was like, Oh, this is so cool. But I never expected to feel myself making videos ever. And now here we are. I feel myself all the time. Just like talking in my pajamas. It's great.

Dan Jovevski  27:27

Cash, the topic of personal finance is very, very broad. And it comes off a lot of areas, it seems like you've got a really good grasp on how you manage your own set of personal finances. But what about the other things and topics in personal finance, like an emergency fund? how you go about doing budgeting? What is your own personal finance stack? What do you do to keep yourself sort of on track with your own finances money?

Tash Invests  27:53

Yes, I have like a $20,000 emergency funds because I like to have a big buffer. And I know that's considered quite a bit because it's just me and my like living costs are really cheap. But I feel a lot safer having a big buffer in case something happens, which gives me more freedom. Like I'd hate to invest heaps of money and then not be able to make choices because I'm like quite spontaneous, like buying the apartment or going on trips. Like I don't want to lock myself into investing. So I have about 20k just sitting there in my emergency fund. And then my budgeting I'm all like, I don't pre budget, I just track my spending. So I don't like transfer money. And it's like, this is how much I've got to spend. I just track my spending, which makes me be a lot more mindful of it. So I'll write down literally everything that I spend into like an Excel spreadsheet. And then I'll sit down at the end of the week and be like, was that a good week? Did I overspend? Did I understand? Like, what did I spend too much on because on Wix, you sit there and you write down like five coffees in like four days and you're like, Oh, crap, that wasn't great of me. And then you can reflect on it and then move forward like I don't like I don't like limiting myself with budgeting Exactly. But I know that works for some people to have set amounts. But I really like to be able to do all the things that I want to do. So I don't want to limit myself in that way. So I find it easier just being more mindful and tracking my spending versus having really strict budgeting limits like all the people might but it's like personal finances personal, whatever works for everyone else.

Blaize Pengilly  29:04

Yeah. Tash, where did you learn or where do you Where do you learn your information? So you're self taught? What's your favourite places always to learn about personal finance?

Tash Invests  29:16

Podcasts are my favourite like the first ones I listened to were my millennial money and she's on the money like the season one of she's on the money was so good when they did like the breakdown of like, What's an ETF and what's an index fund? Because back then I had no idea I was like all shares cool, but like what really all shares. So that was really awesome. And then my millennial money went into like, breakdowns with like different fund managers and stuff like that, which I thought was really interesting. And then just googling like, you can go on to all the ETF provider websites and see exactly what's in the ETFs which is really cool. I loved following my wealth. Tyra, she's in the US and she has like, like really like transparent and she says exactly what she spends and what she invests in. And then I just found like the Australian versions of those ETFs, which is really cool. Personal Finance club pays on Instagram and he's in the US and he breaks down like personal funds. It's concepts really basic as well. He's awesome. Yeah. And then also read it like all it's fine, it's on read. It's really cool because people give away lots of secrets in that that's a fun one to

Dan Jovevski  30:08

Tash. It's it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. And I think what you're doing right now we're helping a lot of young people in particular, learn about money instead of the boring ways that people used to learn about money back in the days absolutely amazing. And I think your cohort of other influencer, friends that have joined you on your mission to promote financial wellness is absolutely amazing. What's one big takeaway, that you would only read the audience today around a tip that they can take on board to help them on their own personal financial journey?

Tash Invests  30:40

This probably isn't like what everyone wants to hear. But personal finance is personal. You don't have to do what everyone is telling you to do. And you don't have to follow the first person that you followed on Instagram. Like before you invest to learn absolutely everything you can about investing, and then find a way to invest that works for you. There's no like one way that'll work for everyone.

Blaize Pengilly  30:58

That's awesome. Tasha and I have one last question for you before we go. Now, Christmas is just around the corner and a lot of people will be taking time off if this Christmas break. And time off means reading by the beach. Do you have a book recommendation for those listening?

Tash Invests  31:14

Yes, I don't really read finance books, but I just read the space between by Michelle Andrew and stellar and McDonnell Douglas around the shameless podcast. And that was such a good book. It was all about like going through your 20s and navigating your 20s. And it was it was really good. rate setter recommend that one for sure.. Awesome.

Blaize Pengilly  31:29

Well, Tash, thank you so much for joining us today. We really really loved having you on the show. It was so interesting to learn about you and your journey and your mindset. And everything from spontaneous apartment buying to taking videos of yourself in your pajamas. Tasha if our listeners want to find out more about you, where can they find you?

Tash Invests  31:47

So I'm on TikTok and Instagram and as Tash Invests.

Blaize Pengilly  31:50

Awesome. Thank you. Tash. Thanks so much for joining us. You have a lovely Christmas.

Tash Invests  31:54

Thanks so much for having me.

Dan Jovevski  31:55

Thanks, Josh.

Blaize Pengilly  32:02

Now, Dan, Christmas is just around the corner. Really? anyone in your family be getting a furry friend under the tree this year?

Dan Jovevski  32:11

I don't think so Blaize I think me and my wife are firmly controlled by sons desires. And I think if it was up to my son, we'd have a tiger underneath our Christmas tree. So no furry friends for us, what about you?

Blaize Pengilly  32:25

I hope not I like I love animals. Don't get me wrong, but I couldn't I couldn't possibly have another pet in this house, I don't think. But the reason the reason I'm talking about pets on the Christmas tree is because today we are looking at pet insurance. Whether or not it's worth it. And if you are someone that is you know, spoiling your kids or spoiling yourself with a fairy friend this Christmas season or if you've recently adopted a pet during the the pet boom of COVID-19. Yet, we wanted to take a look at pet insurance and see is it actually worth it? What benefits you get from it? And I'm just super interested to see whether or not it's something it's a good financial decision. Then did you know that the last dogs home in North Melbourne recorded 566 adoptions in May? Which is the most it's ever done in a single month in two years? Like that's peak? COVID. That's peak people going up spending time at home? Let's get a dog.

Dan Jovevski  33:28

No, who would have thought hey, during COVID. I suppose maybe people will feeling like, a little bit lonely at home that's getting much social interaction. Maybe we started by getting ahead, and now's the right time. That's an amazing start.

Blaize Pengilly  33:41

Yeah, as impressed. Also, with pets, you know, their long commitment, their financial commitment, their emotional commitment. And if you're looking at getting a pet, or you've recently got a pet, and you're thinking about taking out pet insurance. I want to know Dan, what is the point of pet insurance? What do you covered for what is it?

Dan Jovevski  34:02

Firstly, for mostly talking about pet insurance, pets are an incredibly emotional topic for a lot of people. And people really see them as an extension of their own family. I think it doesn't say to surprise me that the financial industry has now spawned a new category of you know, protecting something that's incredibly precious to us. And it can be really part of the family for for a lot of people. So in essence, pet insurance really covers your pet, and gives you the added peace of mind that if your pet gets sick or injured, that you have the ability to claim any costly vet bills, if they meet the criteria of the insurance policy. So you're not really out of pocket a large deal when it comes to you know, that bill shark when the vet sort of presents to you, hey, it's going to cost you, you know, multiple 1000s of dollars to save your cat, your dog or another pet. So, in essence, it just works the same as a typical insurance product would work the way you insure your home the way you insure your contents, the way You know, quite frankly, we insure ourselves with health insurance. It's the same thing, but just for your furry friends. That's in a nutshell.

Blaize Pengilly  35:09

Alright, so I have to admit, I am quite skeptical about pet insurance, especially after a couple episodes ago, we looked at phone insurance, and then when you really break it down the math didn't really seem worth it. But I'm curious, maybe you can change my mind in the different types of pet insurance? Is it similar to a car where you can have no third party only comprehensive? What are the different types?

Dan Jovevski  35:32

I think there are people right now just dealing their ways in this episode, probably hearing about pet insurance for the very first time, but the term itself Yeah, I do know how I get my third party car insurance my car, you know what blows. To make it even funnier, it's always exactly the same. There's a couple of different levels. So levels are accident only, which just comes your pet in the event of an accident. Accident illness covers you for the extension of if your pet gets sick. And then comprehensive pet insurance. The term that I think a lot of they weren't heard before, during your V dub, but this cover is the is the big daddy of law that covers you for accident illness, any preventative care, and some routine vet checks, which can be quite costly. vaccinations and worming so it's the Top of the Pops when it comes to complete cover for your peers. So that's three levels plays more or less.

Blaize Pengilly  36:38

So you're right, it is pretty much completely exactly modelled off the way that car insurance works. However, I can't remember if worming is covered in my comprehensive coverage, my car insurance or not, I'll have to check that. Then, when you are if you are looking at getting pet insurance, what is it that you're covered for? And what is it that you should look out for

Dan Jovevski  37:02

Blaize like a lot of insurance products, it depends on the level of cover that you're after, and what you're sort of comfortable in painful, versus the protection that you get in terms of the cover. Obviously, if it's just for accident only, you're going to be covering of your pet things that are you know, maybe outside of your pets control your control, where you may be able to recoup some of those costs. In the event that your pet does go to an accident. This thing is more comprehensive, which you know, covers a lot of other incidentals and sort of optional sort of extras that you can potentially claim on or you can pay out of pocket depending on the excess, of course, that there is a whole variety of ins and outs about pet insurance. So I think we should probably get into some more lacing socks, I think people give people a better understanding of what you're covered for. And more importantly, is it going to be worth it? And we'll cover that off towards the end of the episode.

Blaize Pengilly  37:55

What are people claiming for when it comes to pet insurance? Like what are the most common claims?

Dan Jovevski  38:00

The most common pet claims over $1,000 buys number one, a torn knee ligament or cartilage number two intestinal or your dog or your cat, you know swallowing a foreign object, you know, it could be a play ball it could be something rather home, etc. And then number three is stomach related claims again, dealing with a foreign object that's into your pet's mouth. So they're the three big ones blys. And when when you kind of listen to those are one of them can make a lot of sense because our pets are known to go after weird and wonderful things. And they think that washing their throat, they swallow them. That's probably the main time we probably gonna end up going to the vet and getting that stuff out of there.

Blaize Pengilly  38:48

That makes sense, I guess. Animals love eating and running. So of course they would be the top three claims. Den. I know when it comes to health insurance, a lot of the times you have to go through waiting periods and whatnot to be able to claim on things. What's it like in pet insurance into the waiting period still apply? Is it the same is it different?

Dan Jovevski  39:15

For example, if you're waiting for an eye test or glasses that typically have say a three month waiting period where you just have to wait three months and then pop you go to the optometrist and get your eyes checked out with pet insurance is a bit different. When it comes to your pet. If they develop a condition, say within the waiting periods of when you take out the insurance, he will be considered a pre existing condition and won't be covered. So I think it's really important that if you think that your pet might be getting sick, probably not a good time to consider pet insurance given that anything to do with that particular injury or ailment may not be covered during the during that waiting period.

Blaize Pengilly  39:56

That sounds a little bit suss. You're taking it out and then they happen to get some In the three months that you're waiting for the waiting period, then you're right, you're leaving it too late. As far as if you want to get pet insurance, you want to take it out early before they potentially develop anything if they do have any respiratory conditions.

Dan Jovevski  40:14

That's correct and there are some other general exclusions that people should think about. So for example, number one, there is no hereditary conditions. So there could be some pets that experience conditions to do with hips, which may cover multiple breeds of animals, I conditions that can also affect a lot of breeds of animals, dental is also not covered by most plants. And that can be quite a big one. Particularly if your dog or your cat is very active and uses their teeth in their mouth quite a bit. That one is not covered, and can also be the most expensive if you are going to a vet if your dog or cat or other animals experiencing any dental pain, the cost of any elective treatments, so any orthodontics or the sexing, which is clearly optional, that is not covered, there is a whole stack of other conditions that people should look out for. So just like you mentioned, at the top there, you know, it does sound a bit soft, but when you break down most insurance products, really you get what you pay for. And if the cost of making the claim for some of these expenses really high, that will probably be reflected in the price. So I guess the overall piece of feedback here is Watch out on the exclusions because you really need to know what you're buying with the product to find out what you're covered for what you're not to avoid any nasty surprises when you rock up to the vet.

Blaize Pengilly  41:40

The general exclusions, seem, very, like almost too general to the point where you don't really seem like you're getting covered for a lot of things that you mentioned hit conditions, eye conditions, hereditary conditions, dental desexing, orthodontics illnesses, like I'm beginning to wonder what you're actually covered for then what else do you need to consider when you're looking at pet insurance? Is there anything else sneaky?

Dan Jovevski  42:06

Why is I think one of the big ones that is in the water policies is what's known as bilateral conditions. Most policies do have a special clause where they say if your pet has say to have something like obviously ears, eyes and legs, this bilateral condition means that if your dog, for example, has a bug I then basically both your eyes will not be covered. The same goes your legs. If your dog or your cat, or any other animal has one type of element or one of those limbs, then none of the limbs will be covered. Which really sounds quite intense when you really think about it because dogs are always and cats are always going to give you some legalese here and there. And it basically excludes anything to do them. As I was just reading this by as I was wondering what else is there left? You know? That's actually That's right. And I was gonna say knows, but you've got to national. So surely that would be considered but it does seem like the exclusions are fairly specific. And if I'm if I'm just reading more into this, the more things that happen as you go along with your pet, the more likely you are to probably trigger one of these exclusions and so I think will be really interesting to uncover is what are you actually covering for them? What are the benefits?

Blaize Pengilly  43:25

The bilateral conditions sand a little bit ridiculous. So if you have a pre existing condition on one limb or something that you have more than two, you're not covered if something else happens in the future. So that sounds a bit ridiculous. I'm guessing that if you're getting pet insurance, get pet insurance verse 904, like so. Except you might be you might be a little bit stuck if one of their eyes is bang, but is god Okay, so there's a lot of exclusions. What are you covered for?

Dan Jovevski  44:03

Depending on the level of cover covers you for quite a different range of things. So if we think about the basic cover the bare bones one, and so the accidental injuries, it could be things like bone fractures, burns, any type of motor vehicle incidences, or even snake bites. And then when you got to the ultimate covered include things like major dental, routine care and alternative therapy, which is quite interesting left to come on. alternative therapy is,

Blaize Pengilly  44:36

Wait what's the alternative therapy? I'm imagining like a naturopath for your pet? Well sound healing perhaps laughing laughing yoga for your dog. What's alternative therapy?

Dan Jovevski  44:48

We gotta love this Blaize Just when you thought just like you with your own health insurance policy. You can go down to the acupuncturist. Your dog may be eligible your cat or anything pet therapy.

Blaize Pengilly  45:05

What? Okay, okay, so this is this is just bizarre to me. You're covered for acupuncture, but you're not covered for hereditary conditions, the dental bilateral conditions de sexing, like, surely, surely more people are having their pets de sex than they are having their pets have acupuncture. Maybe that's why they didn't cover it because then they'd have to pay it out Totally Blaize I suspect that is the case. What other alternative treatments are there? Things like chiropractic, manipulation, hydrotherapy, and also video therapy as well. I am becoming completely illuminated on this other part of pet wellness plays on this stuff existed. I thought I thought careers in the pet world, I thought you know, professional groomers, people, trainers, even pet psychics perhaps are specialists. But I was not imagining pet physios, Cairo's or acupuncturists, absolutely, I'm actually spending to have your pet covered for acupuncture and all that jazz. Each month.

Dan Jovevski  46:16

Well, the typical coverage is anywhere between 20 to $60 per month per pet. So when you consider that per pet is generally going to live in between 10 to 20 years, the emotional and financial commitment that it all contains, that could be an overall premium on the life of your pet of approximately about sort of 12 $100 worth of insurance premiums that if you speak to any pet owner, you probably would call that investment rather than a cost. So it's it's actually quite a reasonable degree of cover in terms of costing, but I think we're really going to boil down to blys. Is it actually worth it? Is it worth it done by someone I consider here would you consider all the potential exclusions of all your pet is going to get into and all the things that you might be up for as a pet owner in terms of costing, I'm going to be on the fence on this one. And the reason why I'm going to be on the fence in this one is that it's a fairly low cost. And depending on your own financial situation, sometimes $20 or $30, to cover you for those really big out of pocket expenses. If they can't pass and they don't meet the exclusion criteria could actually be worth it. Insurance, often one of those topics that you wish you had it, when you had the event and you there's no turning back when you died. So I think if somebody is really managing their own financial fears, you could argue that that's probably the time you should have insurance because you're more likely to have a shock in your own household situation, when it comes to actually paying for your pets. bills. If however you think that you're not going to be predicts or exposed to those type of conditions, or you haven't only runs if your pet has accidentally had accidents, you actually made a considered to be worth an all by as the result I'm also torn as well as because it's one of those things where people that often can't afford insurance are probably the ones that needed the most. If you're in a low enough income, and you're going to be more susceptible to a shock of where you can have a huge out of pocket expense. It could be a great peace of mind particularly it only comes down to say $20 per, per month. It could be something to look into. But I think it's going to be and pardon the pun, horses for courses. Were having a look at the PDS and considering whether or not it is appropriate for you. I know it's a classical sort of answer that we often give you these type of things. But it really is the case. Having a look at the policies and uncovering what you're eligible for what you can claim on is the key critical differentiator. And I'll just end on this sort of example is I've I had an own personal situation where I was reviewing my home and cost insurance. And one of the things that I thought I was covered for actually turned out to be not covered, which was covering the home contents when I was going out of town. And I was quite thankful that I checked that because I was traveling very frequently. And for me paying insurance on an ad hoc basis to travel the title ended up being quite expensive, and actually moved to an insurance policy after carefully reading a PDS that said that I could be covered for expenses out of the home. And I think that analogy applies to your life and pets if your pet is susceptible, or is really active, or maybe before has gone in situations where I've been a little bit dicey. Maybe investing in pet insurance could be the right thing. But again, the PDF is going to tell you exactly what you need to know. So you can make the best decision.

Blaize Pengilly  49:46

All right then. So you've read the PDS. What are your final thoughts on pet insurance? parting parting words of wisdom parting thoughts,

Dan Jovevski  49:54

Blaize, I think you you you probably would expect this answer but my phone for On pet insurance are, is that whilst pet insurance does cover up some pretty big out of pocket expenses if they arise, what I think is probably the more prudent thing is, if you are going to encounter a lot of these expenses, what you should probably be doing is incorporating managing your pet or pet care in your own budget. And I think that's probably the best precaution just like you have an emergency fund for yourself, and you have any short term situations that you can get yourself out to, which would cover things like pet expenses, consider the lifetime that you're going to have that loved part of the family, all the enjoyment that you're going to get and actually putting money aside, so you can protect them at a time of need. And I think that will basically make you self insured. So you don't have to consider any type of insurance product, that would be my first piece of, you know, General commentary here is that if you can afford to do that as part of your own emergency fund savings plan, then I think that's probably the best place to go. If however you feel like there's some things out there that potential risk factors, then maybe consider insurance or Blaise, there is no shortage of skepticism here about insurance. And beloved friends over choice to candidate you have awarded pet insurance in 2019, a shonky Award. And for those who aren't familiar with the chocolate award, is basically the lemons of any type of electrical device insurance policy, financial products, that gets called out by choice.com that I use in the overview of whether or not these products are actually live up to the hype or live up to what they said they can do. And one of the overarching themes was, is that the reason why they won the shorty award because of the huge number of exclusions when it comes to claiming, and I think there's probably a lot of exclusions that we haven't covered off today in our conversation, which is something that I think the more you read, the more you'll say, actually, what can I actually claim on and that's that's the for people to consider, as well as that. If you don't feel like some of these items that that are covered, are worthy enough for insurance, then, you know, in your case, you probably shouldn't be taking it. But yeah, I think there's more than the 10 insurance could actually do to make the insurance more worthwhile to people and cover them for things that you actually do like health insurance. The reason why we help health insurance is because it's going to cover us in them to need. Whereas here what it sounds like is we're going to cover you for everything else besides the most important stuff. So I think the markets probably read along, people are probably going to be more than happy to pay for higher insurance premium if they're going to get the coverage. So that would be my final thoughts. How about you?

Blaize Pengilly  52:44

Very interesting. I can't believe the entire pet insurance insurance industry was awarded a shonky award. That is, that's insane. You know what I feel like? We discussed the ease at the top of the episode about the age of policy providing some recommendations in regards to the mortgage lending. I feel like the Asia policy should do an overhaul of pet insurance and come back with some recommendations like make your general exclusions not so general that they cover almost anything that could potentially happen to your pet. My skepticism hasn't really traveled anywhere down. If anything, it's gotten worse. Now having an understanding of how much is excluded with the policies. It's tricky because you're paying for peace of mind really, however, when the insurance doesn't really cover anything, how much Pacey really going to be getting by paying out this insurance premium

Dan Jovevski  53:34

Absolutely Blaize and I think the first thing for me to do is actually consult Google and just find out where my local dog acupuncturist is because I don't think I've ever seen one of those billboards.

Blaize Pengilly  53:47

Who knows that's I like dogs. Perhaps that will be a later in life, career change for me acupuncture and dogs. Very, very nice. Thanks for tuning in to the final episode of The Year of way talk sense. If you like the show, please do us a favour and share this episode or an episode that you really like with a friend or family member so you can spread the word. Now if you've got any feedback on topics you'd like us to cover, or you've got any questions or there's something that you'd love to know, feel free to send us a message on Instagram, our handle is at getwemoney.

Dan Jovevski  54:22

Ladies and gents this is our last episode of the year. It's been a blast making these podcasts and we're looking forward to 2021. We'll be back on the fourth of January. And we're really excited about the next episode because we're going to do something a little bit different. We have two guests both teaching us skills on how you can start 2021 stronger than ever and put more tools in your toolkit so you can get the most out of the year ahead.

Blaize Pengilly  54:46

Thanks for listening all throughout the year. We really appreciate it. We love making the show and hopefully have a lovely, lovely Christmas season. Whether you're taking time off for working or whatever it is that you're doing. We really hope you enjoy the show. festive season. We'll catch you next year.

Dan Jovevski  55:02

See you next time and happy holidays.

Blaize Pengilly  55:05

Enjoy!

Disclaimer:

The author is not a financial advisor and the information provided is general in nature and was prepared for information purposes only. This article should not be considered to constitute financial advice. Accordingly, reliance should not be placed on this article as the basis for making an investment, financial or other decision. This information does not take into account your investment objectives, particular needs or financial situation.