6 ways to use your tax refund completely guilt-free.

The ATO is expecting to provide a tax refund to 80% of Australians this year so Dan & Blaize put their heads together to bring you 6 suggestions of ways you can use your tax refund completely guilt-free.

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The following is a transcript taken from episode 41 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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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 wemoney.com.au/disclaimer.  Hey everyone, it's Episode Number 41 of the We Talk Cents podcast. I'm Dan

Blaize Pengilly  00:57

and I am Blaize a millennial that pesters Dan every week with many, many, many, many, many, many questions about money. How are you today, Dan?

Dan Jovevski  01:07

I'm doing absolutely wonderful Blaize. The weather is taking a turn here in Perth, Western Australia where the sun is shining a little bit. Thoughts go out to our brothers and sisters over in the East Coast who are currently surviving lockdown and probably seeing some inkling of seeing the other side of it and getting out. But I must say, Today's weather is brought me a smile to my face. How about you?

Blaize Pengilly  01:29

Yes, I am doing fabulously. And part of that is because you know this time of year, Dan, a lot of people are getting well their tax back or a tax refund if you qualify for that. So it's getting to that kind of exciting time of year where a lot of people are expecting to see a lump sum of cash arrive in their bank account. So today, we will be delving into a bunch of ways you can use your tax return wisely. And with spending it without regrets - not a single letter. But before we get into that, let's sink our teeth into some money news. If money news doesn't wet your appetite, feel free to fast forward a few minutes to chat tax refunds. Dan money news - hit me. What have you got?

Dan Jovevski  02:21

Well, Blaize, we can't escape the juggernaut in the room, which is the Square proposed acquisition of Afterpay for $39 billion, which is a huge, massive amount of cash and dough to shell out for an Aussie company. And it feels like well, Australia's just come under the radar of these big US tech giants. And they're just swallowing them up. It's a pretty amazing outcome. What did you take of it Blaize?

Blaize Pengilly  02:48

Number one, I wasn't surprised that there would be some sort of Afterpay buy now pay later news for us this week, because it seems to be. It's just growing and growing and growing. And it's pretty incredible because we manage to talk about it in the news every week. There's always something happening in the buy now pay later space. I was pretty shocked. And when I saw $39 billion, I really struggled to wrap my head around how much a billion is like that is just such a phenomenal, phenomenal amount of money. So I actually I did a little bit of research just so if you're, if you're like me going, I understand a billion is a heck of a lot. But I actually can't figure out how much this is how to quantify a billion. If you wanted to become a billionaire, so just a single billionaire, not 39 billion, which is what Square paid for Afterpay just a single billionaire, just a measly 1 billion. If you saved $100 a day, it would take you 27,397.26 years to reach 1 billion. That's $100 a day. That's a pretty epic savings rate. So that's a long time to reach your goal. Right? And you're obviously not going to get there in your lifetime. Because at the present you know, I think humans were running at about 100 years old, not 27,000 years old, right? So you wouldn't get there in your lifetime? Nor would your children, nor would your grandchildren, or your great grandchildren. If you and one descendant per generation saved $100 per day, and each of you lived for 90 years. It would take you 304 generations living to 90 saving $100 a day to save up $1 billion. What like that is just an absurd, absurd amount of money.

Dan Jovevski  04:48

That's a lot of generations Blaize. I think we'll be well and truly off the planet by then. Hopefully 304 generations sounds like an awful lot of time. I'm actually more impressed by your math in the whole process Blaize. And you're good to get through that. Well, at this point well done.

Blaize Pengilly  05:05

Ah Dan, you know, I'm awful at maths. I did have to Google it. And this is on this is this is Dr. Google coming through with the goods for understanding billion. You know, I can't quantify things like a billion dollars. But it made it easy. It, well not easy. It's still a lot of maths but it made made it easier to understand exactly how much a billion is. And my favorite part of the whole acquisition of Afterpay by Square was the the memes that came out, saying that Square will be making 4 easy payments of 9.7 [laughing] Square will be making 4 easy payments of $9.75 billion, which gave me a good chuckle.

Dan Jovevski  05:47

That's awesome Blaize - well, look, we'll wait and see what happens. I mean, this this, this news is pretty epic and amazing. And I think if you are an Afterpay shareholder, you probably are thinking two things right, you're thinking: Wow, did Afterpay have more legs? Could it have gone further, could it have gone higher? Why do they sell out? Because they didn't they didn't believe in the business? They didn't believe they could take it to the next level? Do they see the competitive threats of every single other miscellaneous buy now pay later provider coming into the market as, you know, a bit scary to continue the journey? Who knows. But all we can say is that Square is a phenomenal company, which has been around for a very long time. And by the CEO, Jack Dorsey, who's also the CEO of Twitter no less, and also the CEO of Square - God can you believe that? 

Blaize Pengilly  06:32

How busy is this guy? 

Dan Jovevski  06:34

Almost like a Elon Musk number two. And that company has gone absolutely gangbusters. They also released some results on the heels of this news, which their revenue growth went up something ridiculous, like 90% of that quarter. So I don't think a lot of Afterpay shareholders right now are too worried. I think they're really happy that a fast growing US based tech giant has swallowed up aAfterpay will hopefully make those Afterpay shareholders even more wealthier and richer in the future, according to where Square is going. So hang in there. If you're lucky enough to own some Afterpay shares. Hopefully, you can enjoy the ride. If you haven't, I suppose it's actually to even consider Square shares as well, if you're interested in following the journey.

Blaize Pengilly  07:21

Yeah, for sure. Now on a completely different tack, we did see this week due to all the lockdowns that are happening, that Quanta has stood down over 2,500 staff and Virgin is viewed to axe at the time of recording that they haven't done it yet. It may have happened by the time by the time you're listening to this, but they're looking to axe over 1000 jobs because of the current lockdown situation, which is just ahh it's just disheartening, isn't it like so many people have lost jobs or have reduced hours or lost work or unable to make their commitments and really struggling to make ends meet financially. And just to see two really big companies that are quite well respected in Australia, I would say, having to axe such a large amount of jobs is it definitely doesn't bolster your confidence. If you are in a situation where you are struggling financially or you're in a lockdown or you're worried about losing a job or you can't make ends meet, we have popped a blog up on the WeMoney blog about how you can get financial support for if you're in lockdown. So please take a look at that you may be entitled to something you're not even aware of at the moment. And like we say every little bit counts. So it's important to get as much support as you can get and as and as you need to get through these times. So if you are affected, I will chuck the that link for that blog in the show notes.  Alrighty, tax time. We are what, five, six weeks into the new financial year now and quite a few people are probably expecting to see a tax refund hit their bank accounts over the next few weeks and coming months. So I did a little bit of research on tax. And apparently last year the ATO refunded more than $30 billion to over 10.8 million Australians and over 80% of Australians are expected to receive a tax refund this year. Dan, can you take a guess at what the average refund might be?

Dan Jovevski  09:24

1500 bucks.

Blaize Pengilly  09:25

Oh, not not a bad guess not a bad guess. The average refund is $2,800 which is a pretty penny right? It actually points to it is a lot of cash I would be very happy if I was receiving that amount. It equates to 208 large Big Mac meals, 80,000 mils or 1600 bottles of hand sanitizer that will fit in your pocket. Could be a nice domestic holiday or you could become the proud owner of 0.05% of Bitcoin which is accurate at the time of recording as we know the market's pretty volatile. So that might not be accurate when you listen to this. Dan, are you expecting a return this year?

Dan Jovevski  10:06

I don't think I am expecting a return this year Blaize. I think I've got a little bit of tax to pay, because my withholding is probably a little bit too generous in terms of not paying the required so tax level. But look, I think some years I've had some great returns, some other years have had some not so great returns. It's one of those years where I'm just gonna have to pay a little bit more than I'm going to get back. So that's okay, these things do happen. But Blaizey, what about you? Are you expecting a nice bit of moolah close to better now?

Blaize Pengilly  10:38

Well, I'm not actually because this is my first year as a freelance, like, this is my first year working as a contractor. So I have been putting away 30% of my income every time I get a paycheck, and putting it in account I can't see. And I'm hoping that that will be the magic number so that I will have enough money in that account to pay my income tax for this year. So that is my fingers crossed. But if I've got leftovers from that, I'm going to consider that my tax refund. And I will be using it as such. So looking forward to that. I actually remember the first tax refund I ever got back way back when I worked at Baker's Delight back when they did it on check. I cashed in a check for $12.75. That was my tax refund. One. Yeah. So not quite the 2800 that most people are expecting the average amount but a tax refund is a tax refund. You know, 12.75 is better than zero back. Right?

Dan Jovevski  11:35

Absolutely Blaizey. Well, I'm so glad that you remember that as well. I think everyone remembers that first job and that first cheque of free money that we get from the government.

Blaize Pengilly  11:45

So good right? Now, because a lot of people are expecting a tax refund this year, I thought we could play a little game of ping pong, and each share three ways to use your tax refund without regrets. So ways that if you want to spend save, splurge, whatever it is, different ways. So you can do it. Kind of guilt free. What do you think Dan?

Dan Jovevski  12:08

I like it Blaize. Let's get straight into it.

Blaize Pengilly  12:11

Would you like to kick us off?

Dan Jovevski  12:13

Okay, so the first one, if you're a person that has debt, this is a good time to consider whether or not you should pay off some more debt. I know it doesn't sound sexy, but you could start all the way down the consumer debt that you've built up could be credit cards could be some residual personal loans. But if you have any of the following, it's time to consider maybe paying that back. So you can catch up or get ahead, depending on where you are. So this could be money that you've loaned from family and friends. That is a loan by the way. A lot of people think that sometimes those people will magically forget, they don't. Everyone has a mental register that you borrow money from them. So please

Blaize Pengilly  12:50

My dad certainly doesn't forget.

Dan Jovevski  12:53

Please pay back your family and your friends. If you own any cash at all. Credit card, any product that has high interest rates that you may have put on for whatever reason being an emergency or you simply will leave a balance there is nothing wrong with that. But please consider paying off those high credit card interest rates. First, your mortgage - I know it sounds like, ell, my mortgage might be say 350 K, I've got a $2,000 check from the government, is that really gonna make a dent? Well, yes, it is. Because every single time that you make your payment on your mortgage, you are going to be paying it off. And better still, if you have a mortgage that's got say an offset account, you may be able to build up more of a buffer. In the event you do get into an emergency a bit later on, you can actually redraw from your mortgage as well, personal loans, any other payday loans that you may have got, any outstanding bills, right? They normally bills. And you know what this time of the year is especially  rife, because not only you're going to receive a good, nice little check from the government. But of course, if you own a home, in a local council, you're going to get a nice, whopping bill for your council rates. And let me give you the hot tip, ladies and gents these fees do increase quite substantially depending on what suburb you live in. You're rarely or if never at all going to receive a letter from your local council saying that your rates have gone down. But more than likely going to uncover your rates have probably gone up. And that's the one that often people miss out. And don't be one of those people if you can avoid it to make those installments in 4 or 8 or 10 or 12 or how much they offer because when you add in all those smaller repayment amounts, you end up paying like 20% more on your council or strata rates. So if you can clear that in one go, that's probably want to look at it. Now the last one which may affect a lot of people but if you do have any medical debt, if you've recently gone out and got yourself into a situation medically where you may need to pay off some medical debt that has been gnawing around you receive some letters from the hospital that you completely missed and forgotten that's been buried in that sea of paperwork, it's hard to dig out those bad boys and give them a nice little payment picture of it before it starts impacting things like your credit card. Now, if you do have multiple debts, you know, you can use your refund to get the ball rolling on a majority of those debts, if you have them if you want to spread it around. And there's two approaches with one, or you eliminate the smallest debt first. So any of those debts that you've got, if you just want to knock out one of them and feel good that you knocked out one of them, that's awesome. Or you can use the avalanche approach where if you feel like you can knock out the highest interest rate debt product first, then give that a crack. Finally, if you don't have any of those debts, but you have gone to uni, and you've accumulated a HECS or HELP debt,

Blaize Pengilly  15:46

I knew you're gonna put it in there, you were gonna say HECS or HELP debt.

Dan Jovevski  15:50

Like all of us, that have gone to university and you know, think of it is as a invisible debt that doesn't exist, it does, because you know what, your paycheck is less fat, or that it could be by still having debt, and you know what the government doesn't like reduce your HECS bill, because you, you know, all of a sudden make additional payments, no, no, they will only get rid of that repayment based on you not having any debt at all. So it's important to pay that off as quick as possible, because you're gonna get more after tax net income from your employer, if you pay that off completely. So it's a good way to look at that. And really dig around is like half a unit or a unit these days, consider this one of those classes that you love doing that you're paying, you're paying it back in a way that can get you out of your education debt faster. That's number one Blaize paying down debt.

Blaize Pengilly  16:46

Pay down debt, I like it very sensible, we must have been on the same wavelength, Dan, because I have a sensible suggestion as well, because it's something I've done in the last year, which is, you know, I think has been really beneficial for my financial health. And that is start or booster, your emergency fund. So if you don't have an emergency fund already, this is a really good opportunity, getting a sum of cash to start giving yourself peace of mind by knowing that you have a stack of cash set aside, in the instance of an emergency, you know, life is full of curveballs. So give yourself that financial safety net. And be sure to keep the money in an account where you can access quickly in case of emergency. So you might be listening, and you might go, hey, I've already got an emergency fund, but maybe you've been building it up over time, why not booster it and add a little bit more in there. Or maybe you don't have an emergency fund at all. And maybe you're relying on something like a credit card or loan a loan from a family member to tide you over in the instance of an emergency. I think having your own your own emergency fund your own rainy day funds that you can rely on without having to put yourself into debt or or to borrow from a family member a friend is just it provides real peace of mind knowing that you have that safety net. If you are setting an emergency fund out for the first time, I would suggest making sure you have a set of guidelines for yourself as to what is an emergency. So you know why you can withdraw. So car breakdown or a quick trip to the vet is probably worthy of withdrawing from the emergency account. But a new haircut or a really fancy jacket probably doesn't make the cut. So I know this is for something that I've had to do for myself is to have to be really strict with what reasons I can draw from my emergency fund. Yeah, I think emergency fund is a great way to start to use some of that cash, and to avoid getting yourself into debt when you need cash fast. So emergency fund would be my number one suggestion for how you could potentially use your tax refund.

Dan Jovevski  18:59

Awesome Blaizey, so important.  Number three is so let's say you don't have any debts. And you've topped up your emergency fund, why not pop your money into a high interest savings account and prepare for Christmas or any upcoming event?

Blaize Pengilly  19:13

Oooh, Christmas!

Dan Jovevski  19:14

I know what Christmas July or now it's August, but you know, it's not that far away. I think next two, three months, we're going to start seeing the decorations start popping up in all the stores and it's going to come around pretty quickly.

Blaize Pengilly  19:28

It will creep up. Absolutely.

Dan Jovevski  19:30

So why not consider putting that money away and tuck it away for a few months and potentially earn some interest or leave it there until you have that event that arises. And so you know that you got that money locked away. So what are some of the benefits here? Well, number one, it's safe, right? You're not going to be investing the money you're not going to be going out and splurge and doing other stuff. You'll be doing anything as they say that's exotic, you're literally gonna be doing the most boring thing in the world, which is putting money into a savings account. That can be boring but sensible interest. And that is 100% free. It could be something else, it could be a kid's birthday party, it could be your own birthday party, it could be anything that you want. And now you have your money on the side, you don't have to scramble and you're not going to have yourself cut short come that payday when that events that rolls around you to yourself. Oh my goodness. Now I've got to rip open the couch, find all the $2 coins, so I can scrimp and save. Don't be that person. Right? Put that tax dollars to work. Get yourself a nice high interest savings account, you do plenty of research online, just literally Google high interest savings accounts, there is plenty of comparative websites that you can go to to uncover what the best one is for you. And better yet, there are specials, some banks and financial institution providers give you bonus rates if you decide to keep your money in there for a specific period of time. So make sure you check those out as well.

Blaize Pengilly  20:55

Very nice. So I know Christmas just creeps up so quickly, doesn't it? And I know yes, we are in August now. But what's that for four months away until Christmas. And I just feel like it's that time of year where all of a sudden, it's November. And you're going oh, I need to start thinking about buying presents or I need to start doing decorations or whatever it is. Or maybe it's that you're taking time off over Christmas or over New Year's and you won't be getting receiving an income for the couple of for the weeks or whatever that you take off. So I think that is a very sensible suggestion. And yet a great way to sort of plan for Christmas or that time of year without really putting any thought into it.

Dan Jovevski  21:33

I've just thought of something else plays well, maybe it didn't actually have your holiday or that plenty of Aussies right now can't leave the country or can't go to places like Bali or wherever they would have gone to at this time of year. But there are some incredible new research that has shown that if you prepay for, say a holiday, you're more likely to enjoy that holiday whilst you're there because you know that you've got that sorted. There's nothing worse than coming back from a holiday or checking out a hotel knowing that you can have this huge sum of money leaving your bank account as you depart and get back on the plane start thinking about Oh, my account now has like $2000 or $3000 or $4,000 less than it did to start with. So if you do want to enjoy yourself and have a guilt free holiday experience, now is a good time to actually prepay for that holiday in full instead of have do things like borrow money or put it on Afterpay or another buy now pay later platform.

Blaize Pengilly  22:29

Yes, I I normally try to pay for my holidays in advance. But the last big international holiday that I did, well, pretty much the only one I've done, I did have to do the old call mom on WhatsApp and beg to borrow some money so that I could eat, catch a taxi to the airport and make it safely home. So thank you Mum so much for that. But yeah, it's not a good feeling going into debt when you're away, you're trying to relax and you don't really want to be thinking about what the kind of sacrifice you'll have to make in the future for your current decisions. Right?

Dan Jovevski  23:02

Absolutely.  Hey everyone, just a very quick interruption. Before we get back to the show. If you want to get better with money, why don't you consider the WeMoney app. You can track things like your credit score and get an understanding of how your credit score goes up or goes down and how to improve that over time. And better yet, WeMoney uses two credit scores - so you not only get your credit score from Equifax, but also experience as well. And wait the news does get better. If you use the referral code podcast, you get $5 when you connect an eligible bank account, how good is that? All right, guys, back to the show.

Blaize Pengilly  23:42

My next suggestion of a way you could use a tax refund is invest in your future. I'm talking super funds baby. I was expecting a reaction for that. I was - Dan, I was expecting you to say WOW. Because I'm talking about super funds, which I never would have talked about six months ago 12 months ago-

Dan Jovevski  24:07

I'm in shock Blaize.. That's that's that that's what I am - I'm in shock. My silence is only shock at just bringing up super funds. Blaize who would have thought that would ever happen.

Blaize Pengilly  24:19

Thank you. And do you know what Dan, I did my research. So over the last 28 years, growth super funds have returned an average of 8.1% per year. So that means you're earning 8.1% interest on average on your investment. So I've got an example for you - if you were to invest your return each year, and so I'm going to go based on averages here. So the average tax return is $2,800. And the average interest end is 8.1% interest. So if you were to invest your tax refund every year for the next 20 years, your total contribution over 20 years would be $56,000. Your total savings, what you could potentially earn if everything goes to plan could be $142,856. Which means, if you were to do this, your total interest would be $84,000, which is bigger than your initial investment of $56,000. Which means 58% of your, the money you get at the end is made from interest earned 58% of that is you haven't even done anything for except for let the market do its thing, and let your account grow by 8.1%. Now, my math doesn't take into account any fees because every Superfund is different. But I thought that was a pretty clever way that you could, you know, look out for future you, do future your favor by putting aside this tax refund. And also you could get a tax concession on your voluntary contribution, which may reduce the amount of tax you pay next year. So you know, it's win win win. And also the government's just released that new your super comparison tool. So it might be a good time for you to revisit and see if the super product you're using is right for you. And make sure you're not getting charged any excessive fees or anything like that.

Dan Jovevski  26:17

Amazing, Blaize. And the power of compound interest, say, well 84k, like yours, compared to a neutral contribution and law 56k. That's the magic and power of compound interest, which is incredible.

Blaize Pengilly  26:29

It's so good. And you know, so that I guess did that example based on the average, if you know how much tax you're getting back, you can actually figure out the math yourself by going to the MoneySmart website, they have a compound interest calculator. It's a really fancy tool, it's really easy to use. And it's really cool because it shows you just how impressive compound interest can be and how much you can earn over time. So I highly implore you to check that out. It's actually really, really fun. I love going on there and seeing over time what compounding can do.

Dan Jovevski  27:04

Amazing Blaizey, that's excellent. Now, if you focus on superannuation, and you have got that sorted in your life, why not potentially take the pathway down to investing and look at a diversified index fund, and make your money work for you? Now, I know a lot of people might be nervous, and they might consider what is an index fund? What does that mean? It sounds complicated. I don't want to get that. And when you first get on the first ear shot, it kind of sounds like this is not for me this is for somebody who takes a briefcase and a suit to work and not for me who's just sitting in my home going about my life, right? But I'm here to tell you that it's not. Anybody can get involved with that, once you get involved in something for the very first time, you kind of realize, Oh, wow is that all it was? And this is the same as a diversified Index Fund, which can be anything at all, it could be diversified in say technology, it could be diversified to say industrials, it could be diversified in agriculture, it could be a mixture of all three of us, it could be anything that you want, all it basically means is that there is a basket of stocks that you're investing in. But you're not investing in those individual stocks, you're just investing in the index of those stocks, or that basket on those stocks itself, which is a more efficient way to get involved into these companies than say, buying these shares directly. Now, if you're nervous, you can start with micro investing apps, like Raiz and or Spaceship, that gives you the ability to buy into some of these index funds with a few clicks of a button. And you can also set a time in which you want those funds to be replenished. So you could do that once every single week, once every single quarter, once every single month with a specific amount if you're looking to do that overtime, or you can also make a lump sum payment as well. Now, bear in mind, while these platforms do have their own individual fees, for example, spaceship is free accounts if you're investing under 5k. For Raiz its 3.5 dollars per month as a management fee. So consider those fees before you decide to make an investment. Great way to also dip your toes in and to start learning and once you're on that pathway to learning, then you can potentially get into other types of funds - Vanguard or you know, other funds that people have heard of or talked about, which we will save for another episode, but it's a good way to get started. So Blaize, what's what's the last tip that we've got for today?

Blaize Pengilly  29:30

Well, just before I jump to the last tip, I want to say I love micro investing. I am too scared to invest into an index fund. I don't really understand what even what that is yet. But if you do consider doing micro investing, I'm addicted. I check my accounts every day I use both Raiz and Spaceship this is not sponsored, just love them both. And it's really cool because you can actually see day to day how your account changes over time and it's really exciting and has made investing seem actually more accessible for someone like myself who isn't super confident when it comes to investing. You know, I don't have the briefcase, I don't have the suit, like you say, Dan, but yeah it makes it super accessible. My final tip, could you do you do want to have a guess? I feel like it might be a little bit obvious. But I want to see if you can take a guess at what might it be, Dan.

Dan Jovevski  30:20

Well Blaize, sometimes the most obvious things we talked about five pretty obvious steps that, you know, one thing that I think you said before is investing in yourself. So I'm going to take a stab at it somewhere in that neck of the woods.

Blaize Pengilly  30:33

Ding, ding, ding, ding. My last suggestion is to invest in yourself. Now, you can take these any way you like. But seriously, your greatest investment is yourself, in your knowledge in your health, caring for yourself, you're not looking after yourself, it's really, really difficult to be able to provide for anyone else, whether it be your partner, your family, your passions, whatever it is that you do. If you're not looking after yourself, it's really hard to do you know, you know, they say fill your bucket first and then fill up then then assist others. What is it when you're on the airline? Put your own mask on before you help others? Is that the breathing one? So, my suggestion would be if there's something you want to learn, why don't you take a course or level up your skills in a particular area, maybe it's buying a good book that can inspire you and motivate you to become more like the human that you ideally want to be. It doesn't have to necessarily be a six week TAFE course or a pottery unit or a masterclass in how to use Excel, it could be you know, something as simple as reading a good book, or taking a yoga retreat. If you need some time alone to destress and relax. You don't necessarily have to learn anything new. Maybe you're really stressed out at the moment, and you need to unwind. So maybe investing in yourself is taking a holiday or having a massage or driving to somewhere and having a really nice bottle of wine. I don't know what it is, maybe it's having dinner at a fancy restaurant. So yeah, my my final one would be investing yourself and make it worthwhile. You know, don't - try not to spend your tax refund on 18 new pairs of sneakers that you won't want to wear in six months time because they've gone out of fashion, you know, try and do something that's really going to make you feel good about yourself and the way that you are spending your money if you're getting a tax refund, maybe not getting a tax refund. Maybe you win the lotto, or come into some money, which I hope we all do. I'm praying to my lucky stars, hoping that everyone receives some sort of windfall shortly. But yeah, I think you can use the money to invest in yourself and improve your own life and bring yourself some joy because we could all do a little bit with a little bit more of that at the moment.

Dan Jovevski  32:56

Completely agree Blaize. That is an amazing way to wrap up those six tips.

Blaize Pengilly  33:03

Yeah, tax refund, baby. And remember, you don't actually have to use all of your tax refund, maybe maybe you really do want to splurge and do something for yourself. Maybe you go Alright, this year, I'm going to put 50% into a diversified index fund and maybe this year, and maybe 30% towards a holiday and 20% towards my super, you know, you can split it up however you like you don't don't feel like you have to spend it all at once or that you have to spend it at all, maybe you do want to save it in a high interest savings account. There are plenty of different ways you know what's best for you because you know what you want to achieve financially and in your life. So make a decision that aligns best with where you want to be in your future.

Dan Jovevski  33:50

Well put. Well, thanks for tuning in everybody to another episode of We Talk Cents. We'll be back again next week. And if you want to get your finances in order this year, then go ahead right now to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and download the WeMoney app. And remember, use the referral code podcast. Make a budget of your very own and you're gonna get five bucks directly on us - how cool is that?

Blaize Pengilly  34:13

Very cool. If you are feeling generous, we would really really love if you could head to Apple podcasts and provide a review. Providing a review is super helpful. It helps other people find the podcast as well. And also you can follow us on socials on Instagram we are @getwemoney. We post a lot of money news, money info and love chatting through to our listeners through the app as well. So feel free to slide into our DMS and tell us how are you spending your tax refund.

Dan Jovevski  34:42

Well, thanks for tuning in everybody and catch you again next week. See ya.

Blaize Pengilly  34:46

Bye!

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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.