Latest / The Swan Effect - Creating and Sustaining Your Financial Wellbeing / S3 E6: You Are Your Greatest Assest

Transcript

S3 E6: You Are Your Greatest Assest · The Swan Effect - Creating and Sustaining Your Financial Wellbeing

• 0:00
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Your legacy is about more than just investment returns. It's about the peace of mind that comes with knowing your investments are in the right hands and that you've partnered with an investment manager who has the right skills and experience to grow your wealth. Old mutual wealth is an world class investment destination, offering you a wide range of investment strategies and specialist wealth management solutions, whether your goal is to grow your wealth, generate income or preserve capital, old mutual wealth selects the best and most suitable investments based on your investment strategy and their extensive research and insights. Together with your financial planner, old mutual wealth team of experienced specialists go to great lengths to understand what really drives you. Once they know your priorities, they model a strategy around your specific needs supported by a multi skilled team dedicated to taking your wealth further. Whether your goal is to grow your wealth, generate income or preserve and pass on capital, old mutual wealth is here to partner with you on this journey so that you can do more, have more, leave more and be more.
• 1:23
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Old mutual wealth is an advice led wealth management business aimed at providing financial planners and their clients with a full suite of industry leading strategies and services. For more information, please visit their website on www.oldmutual.co.za/wealth, Hi there. I'm Arthi rabikrisson,
• 1:56
  Malika Petersen: Hello. I'm Malika Peterson.
• 1:58
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Welcome to
• 1:59
  Malika Petersen: The swan effect podcast.
• 2:01
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Money makes the world go round, yet it's not so easy to understand its complexities, particularly when it comes to investing.
• 2:10
  Malika Petersen: That's why Arthi and I are using this platform to educate, inspire and help you gain confidence in your relationship with money
• 2:19
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So that you can better manage your finances and investments.
• 2:24
  Malika Petersen: We are two women in finance.
• 2:26
  Arthi Rabikrisson: That's pretty cool, isn't it?
• 2:28
  Malika Petersen: It certainly is. You've been in stockbroking, private wealth management, asset management, and now an award winning businesswoman who is coaching and assisting businesses with capital and strategic advice
• 2:41
  Arthi Rabikrisson: and Malika, you have a wealth of experience in wealth, excuse the pun, in financial planning, investments and relationship management. So you're also at the cold face when it comes to where and how people are investing, both getting it right and getting it wrong,
• 3:00
  Malika Petersen: and stuck in the grey areas too. Indeed, I've seen the many phases and moods of financial cycle and how our decisions at those times impact us. So listeners and subscribers, if you are looking to get unstuck, feel empowered and make some strides in how you tackle your money, we are here to help you,
• 3:22
  Arthi Rabikrisson: and it all starts with listening to this upcoming episode. Enjoy.
• 3:30
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Hi listeners. We are officially into the second half of 2024 and for those of you in the swing of summer season and holidays in the northern hemisphere, I'm so jealous. But for us in the south, it's winter, and actually, well, it's the season of comfort, yay. And I find, at least for me personally, I'm not sure if it's the same for you, Malika, it actually puts me in a very reflective state. I often start to check in with myself about how I'm doing, what's going my way, what isn't. Am I in line to finish off the rest of the year strong. I do all of that thinking during this time.
• 4:04
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Everyone in terms of the swan effect podcast, for example, our advent calendar of investments has seen us go through some really, really interesting types of assets. And I'm going to share these examples with you.
• 4:15
  Arthi Rabikrisson: We've covered property, cryptocurrency, crowdfunding, investing on and in our youth. I mean, don't those sound really, really interesting. And I think now we may be at the point where perhaps we actually want to talk about the most important asset that you have everybody and the one that absolutely requires your investment as much as possible. Always. Can't iterate this enough. The reality of any wealth creation plan is that you, listener, you and me, Malika, we are the number one assets that we need to achieve our goal. So what do I mean by that? Everyone? It means our knowledge, our skills, our abilities, our earning abilities, our work. Think all of these things are essential to building long term wealth. So today, everybody, we are going to be exploring the various ways of investing in this asset, which is the asset of you.
• 5:12
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Hi, Malika, how are you thinking about this? And what are your thoughts too?
• 5:17
  Malika Petersen: Hi Arthi, I am super excited to see what the second half of the year has in store, right? I think there's this sense of opportunity and excitement in the air that has just been so contagious. So I can't help by being infected by it. I think there are so many lists that quote the habits or traits of Highly Successful People out there, and while some of them differ slightly on what these habits are. There are a few habits or traits that are in common across all of these lists, right?
• 5:47
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Okay, yeah.
• 5:47
  Malika Petersen: For example, the ability to relax, prioritise your self care and exercise are pretty much mentioned on every list.So essentially, the ability to take care of one's holistic well being is a common trait amongst successful people in general, right? And I'm actually really happy that we get to discuss this topic today, because we get lots of feedback from our listeners. And thank you, listeners, please keep the feedback coming. But we get lots of feedback that our listeners like the fact that we make our subject matter so practical. So today, I'm quite excited for us to share the practical ways to ensure the holistic well being, or our holistic well being, and ensure that it's protected as it is our number one assest.
• 6:31
  Malika Petersen: Absolutely.
• 6:31
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Oh, yeah, we are number one for sure. So let's get into it. Okay, so let me share some interesting pieces to add on to what you're saying, Malika, okay, more than half of the countries in the world are having elections at this point in time, or at least some point within 2024 everyone that does make for Well, I mean, yes, there's anxiety, but there's also excitement that comes with that, because there's a sense of opportunity, of renewal, of growth, okay? And yes, very mindful that there is that anxiety and there's stress.
• 7:02
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Because look, coming off the back of the last few years where we've seen the covid pandemic hit, we've had changes to our family ecosystem as a result, change to our work ecosystem as a result. And of course, I mean, look at how we're doing this Malika, this like hybrid kind of being on virtual platforms and things like that. All of these things have led to unprecedented reports of burnout, everybody.
• 7:27
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And you probably even sitting there thinking, oh, gosh, I think this is resonating for me.
• 7:33
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I could be under so much stress that I'm burntout. It's true, right? Madika, and then, in fact, a recent report that I actually saw from indeed, they found that employee burnout is on the rise everyone so 52% of all workers are feeling burnt out, and that is actually from 9% which is in the pre covid survey. Okay, might not seem like a big number, but actually it is a massive number. Okay, so it actually can't be easy to ignore the effects of stress, and we have to be deliberate in ensuring that our stress management skills are on point.
• 8:05
  Arthi Rabikrisson: The ability to cope with stress is such a big thing, and I guess what I want to offer to you, everybody today is practical ways to manage stress. I think the key to success is actually ensuring we build these kind of activities into our routine, so that it becomes those habits that you were talking about Malika, that just leads us down a path of success.
• 8:25
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So let's start with maybe step one. Step one, connecting Okay, connecting with others can really help us feel close to people, to be valued for who we are and what we bring to the world. So be deliberate about having quality time with family, with your really close friends. I mean, I know Malika, you spoke a few episodes ago about game nights and braai and all of these lovely things that you do together as a family. So connect in that way with those that are near and dear to you. Connect with the planet as well everybody. There's so much research even now being doing around the positive effects of getting outdoors, going hiking, canoeing, even just a walk in your garden, you don't have to go very far, spending some time fishing, just having that beautiful fresh air coming into your body, connecting with the planet. So much to be said for mental, well being and health.
• 9:16
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Yeah. Okay, so that kind of takes me to step two, especially on the nature part, where you're going and you're doing a few activities. Step two is about getting active. Everybody. Okay, so many people, and I know many of them, including myself, find that physical activity helps us to maintain positive mental health. Alright, so I'm by no means suggesting that now you suddenly need to take up that gym contract that's been dormant and suddenly push yourself for five days. Let's not go for guns blazing, because you might set yourself up for failure. I'm just being honest. Let's put it out there. But actually what you could do is just a very simple 10 to 15 minute walk every day, go and even think about having a dance party at home with your kids, any small bits of these consistent activities. I really want to underscore that word, consistently doing it, it's actually going to go a long way to ensure improvement of your overall health. So you know what? In this age of tech where YouTube and Tiktok and all of that is available to us, go and check out a few of those short fitness videos. There's so many different types and options out there. I particularly like things like Pilates and yoga and also some high intensity hey Malika. So you'll find me in front watching and doing those videos.
• 10:30
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So yeah, again, these things are available. Let's push the excuses aside. I'm sure we can fit in 10 to 15 minutes to get it done. Everyone okay? And again, I'm just going to say it again. Consistency is key. Okay, okay, cool. So step three, then, now we've got the connection.
• 10:46
  Arthi Rabikrisson: We've got the activity going.
• 10:50
  Arthi Rabikrisson: It's about being present, okay?
• 10:50
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And this is something I find in my kind of coaching practice, it's often difficult for people to do, to actually be solely in the moment of what they're doing. So they always say to us, you know, you must stop and smell the roses, you must watch the sunset, you must take in the environment around you. Why do we get these being coming up and up and again all the time? It's because it's challenging us to actually just be still everybody, and also it allows us the opportunity to listen intuitively to what our body is saying and attentively, right?
• 11:21
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Something as simple as breathing everybody. I was having a conversation with a client recently, Malika, and I was talking about the fact that we actually don't take time to actually breathe properly on a regular basis. And you know, she even said to me, You are so right. I often breathe very, very shallowly, because I've got so much on the go, so I don't actually take a full capacity long breath. So something as simple as that, just to breathe in fully take in oxygen into your body, can do wonders for your stress levels, for relaxation and all of that. So let's think about bringing in these things more. And again, this is all backed by research, everybody studies show we're more likely to succeed if we focus on our task at hand, even for a short period of time.
• 12:06
  Arthi Rabikrisson: There's great time management tools like the Pomodoro Technique, like the Eisenhower matrix. Google them, if you're not sure what they're about, but they can actually help us to box time, to focus on one task at a time, get it done and actually get it done to our best ability.
• 12:23
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Okay, four, oh, goodness. I love this one because I am such a proponent of this. It's about to be having a mindset of being open to learn all the time. And for me, you know, I do a lot of work in neuroscience, Malika and around the concept of neuro agility, and, oh, for all of those listeners that have come to me on my offer on the last episode, yay. So cool. You're definitely going to learn a lot about neuro agility for your kids. We do this for adults as well. So it's about understanding, how can we become more brain fit, or neuro fit, and this can actually stem any potential onset of memory loss or other brain related diseases.
• 12:58
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So learning new things, stretching yourself out of your comfort zone and just find something different can really, really help you to feel more energised over time. I would say maybe the last step I want to mention on this everybody is the ability to give, to give back. I think it's part of our humanness. We are wired to support others in need. It's that human spirit. I mean, it goes back in evolution as well.
• 13:23
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And if you think about it, when in that evolutionary process, we would actually fight as a pack to keep each other as strong as possible, right? And I think everyone says you're as weak as the weakest link, but I think you're as strong as the strongest link. Let's look at it from that perspective, right? So view humanity as this pack that's actually trying to get stronger and stronger, and let's elevate away from divisiveness.
• 13:47
  Arthi Rabikrisson: There's just so much around this in the world at the moment, isn't it, Malika can be very depressing to see what's going on there. So if we take this kind of lens about we can actually give and support and build up others. I think that can just put us in such a better outlook and a mindset. And there's simple ways to do this, everybody, a simple act of volunteering at shelters, offering some sort of services that you have in your community, at your schools, other organisations that would benefit from it. Think of those. And I mean, I know, for example, there's somebody who is actually a student, and he is offering free tutoring services to his colleagues and others that are less fortunate as well. And I think, well, you know, that's amazing. He's learning, and he's imparting that knowledge to others as well for free. So let's think about, how do we utilise all of this? What do you think of these Malika in terms of these steps?
• 14:42
  Malika Petersen: Oh, no, absolutely. And I think medical research kind of estimates that as much as 90% of illness and disease is stress related.
• 14:50
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So it's true.
• 14:50
  Arthi Rabikrisson: It's really true.
• 14:51
  Malika Petersen: The tips that you shared with us, they really are key to ensure longevity. And I want people to understand that it sounds simple. We kind of know it in the back of our The second point that is key for us to consider is that they have minds, but we have to be deliberate about these steps to ensure our longevity. The other part of our holistic well being is that we need to consider our physical well being now, while exercise and stress management are absolutely key to our physical well being, there are few other ways that we need to ensure that that we are well taken care of. This is the only body that we going to have, yeah, for this lifetime, and we definitely need to take care of it, right. So as a first kind of point, we need to consider our health legacy. This is such a key factor that many people often overlook, guys, and we need to understand that our history, our family legacy, our genetics, may potentially put us at risk. Let me use an example.
• 16:34
  Malika Petersen: If there is a family shear heart disease, we may mitigate that to have regular general checkups. Can't stress the risk by ensuring that we seek cardiologists like regularly, enough There are many medical aids who cover annual health checkup without those checkups affecting your normal day to day that we watch our diet and exercise, etc. In my family, for cover, and it is essential that you diarize those checkups. Make it let's say it's July, for example. Make sure that you go example, there's a history of Alzheimer's among the females, for these checkups. Make sure you take your kids for their dental checkups, etc, etc, but ensure that you diarize as a right? As we get older, we live females in our family tend to health month where you are going for these checkups, because this will really help you to identify any potential health threats early enough so that you are able to deal with them quite live very long lives, and as they get older, they develop quickly. Third point, take your vitamins. Now, Alzheimer's. So I, for one, make an effort to do cognitive
• 17:16
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I'm guilty.
• 17:16
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I'm guilty.
• 17:18
  Malika Petersen: Yeah, I was just going to say this is, this is such a key one. You know, I was having a conversation with the kids the other day. We were actually talking about this, exercises on a daily basis, like Sudoku, I practice my non right? And I was saying that, growing up, playing outside, being outside, in the sun, we had enough hours where we got primary languages regularly to try and mitigate the potential enough vitamin D from the sun.
• 17:33
  Malika Petersen: Yeah, to it was enough that we effect, or the delay of those effects later on in life. But it got what we needed. Nowadays, kids don't get enough vitamin D.
• 17:42
  Malika Petersen: Adults don't get enough vitamin D. I mean, if you think about is important that we put that effort in now. Right?
• 17:45
  Malika Petersen: it, our moms used to do their own washing. They used to hang up their own washing outside. We don't do those things right? So it becomes a little bit more more difficult to get in the vitamins that we need. Also, our eating is very different. So we're not getting in the fresh fruits and vegetables that we need to be able to get the vitamin. So it's essential that we replace that with a multi vitamins we're able to get what we try. That takes me to my next point, which is about healthy eating. So I'm guilty of this one. This is my I love food. I'm such a foodie.
• 18:19
  Arthi Rabikrisson: No, me too. I love food,
• 18:20
  Malika Petersen: but I think it's going to be more trying to make here Arthi is that, we're not asking people to diet. We stay and commit to a healthy eating plan. Simply just be aware of what you're putting into your body. Mm hmm. Limit eating fast foods. Eat fresh food as far as possible. It really goes a long way to sustaining your lifestyle. I always say to people, especially guys, they're very cognizant of what goes into their vehicles.
• 18:47
  Malika Petersen: That must be a specific kind of oil and you know, but when it comes to our body, we can't put anything inside, and we should really be cognizant of what we're putting in our body. Try to limit snacking. Yeah, I must admit, for me, working in a hybrid world means that I'm at very close proximity to the fridge more regularly.
• 19:11
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Okay, yeah,
• 19:14
  Malika Petersen: I kind of now set up specific snack times for myself, and I ensure that there's fruit and nuts available for snacking during those snack times, as opposed to kind of just snacking randomly. This is all about preparation. If you have these things in your home, then you're less likely to grab unhealthy alternatives, which are more convenient, right?
• 19:36
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Yeah, true.
• 19:37
  Malika Petersen: Then the next one drink plenty of water. So this one, I'm very good at I I'm a big water head. I love water.
• 19:43
  Malika Petersen: But just for those that are having difficulty getting that water intake, especially now during winter, it's quite tough, right? Fill up a two litre bottle and kind of set times for yourself to finish portions of that. Now, there are some bottles on the market who have the times preprinted or the portions preprinted on them so that you can kind of pace yourself, but try to at least finish one two litre bottle every day. Yeah, technically, we need more water than that, but I don't want to scare anybody something to finish two litres of water every single day, and that's literally by taking, starting in the morning, and taking the sips throughout the day, so that you ensure that you finish the whole thing.
• 20:23
  Malika Petersen: Then the fifth point, which goes back a little bit to what you say, move a bit more right, even if you're not doing full on exercise, yeah, take the stairs.
• 20:30
  Malika Petersen: Add walking breaks into your day. Just kind of get up from your desk and walk around a bit.
• 20:37
  Malika Petersen: Park, a little bit further when you go to the office or or to a mall so that you need to walk a little bit further to the door or walk the dog, even if you don't have one. I have a lovely, beautiful dog, but I often find when I walk outside and walk the dog my neighbours, some of them don't have dogs, and they're still walking outside, and that's quite fun to really get Then get plentyof sleep now, this is quite a big one. People to have a chat often underestimate the value of sleep, and studies that link a lack of sleep or sleep deprivation to illness, weight gain, you're at a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease, overall stress. There's so many things linked to your sleep and having good quality sleep. Oh, yes, set your phone to do not disturb after a certain time.
• 21:23
  Malika Petersen: Make sure that you set aside at least eight hours every night to be able to get some sleep. So you know, make sure that you think more clearly, that you perform better at work, and that you get along better with people, which is always a good thing. Then limit alcohol use, right? Besides the fact that alcohol is high in calories, it does lead to or does put you at greater risk for other health conditions, especially among older adults. So try and limit to alcohol use as far as possible. Avoid tobacco product.
• 21:54
  Malika Petersen: There's obviously vapes and cigarettes, etc, etc. They should be avoided.
• 21:59
  Malika Petersen: And then my last point, which, to be honest with you, is, in my opinion, the most important point in much the same way that you're visiting your dentist once a year or having your checkups once a year, speak with professionals such as therapists, counsellors or coaches, those with the tools to equip you to be the best that You can be for yourself as your mental health is as important as your physical health, to ensure that you prioritise it.
• 22:27
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I love all of these points that you've put forward to us. Malika, I mean, I would say, you know, as a practising coach, I often find especially on this last point that you've mentioned about speaking with professionals in the more therapeutic kind of space. Some people often have very, very mixed feelings about, you know, talking to somebody, and especially somebody that they don't know. There's this kind of view about I'm a bit uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I want to share with them. And of course, yes, for those who are using these professionals, they have the complete opposite view, that actually, I love the fact that there's somebody who's non judgmental, that I can just be free and talk about anything, right? So for those that do have that, that little bit of trepidation, and not sure, oftentimes, when I'm exploring with my clients, it emerges that the root of this is actually a sense of shame, interestingly, but also ego. Okay? So here's the interesting thing, it's where the ego comes to the fore and actually berates yourself for saying, Oh, why is it that you feel that you need help?
• 23:26
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Don't you know how to keep things under control? Don't you know how to keep things together? It's like this internal voice. But then, because you're berating yourself, you suddenly have this sense of shame washing over you, because now the result is you're going to have to ask for help.
• 23:40
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And there's that whole thing around pride as well, right?
• 23:43
  Arthi Rabikrisson: That comes into it sometimes.
• 23:47
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And I guess I want to share with the listeners that, you know, vulnerability can actually bring so many rewards in different forms. Okay, there's so much of work being done in this space. I mean, you know, Malika, for example, Berene Brown, she's so big in the space written lovely books around this topic, it's because of the language. The word vulnerability has always been associated with weakness, and she's helping us to shift that and to shift our mindset.
• 24:11
  Arthi Rabikrisson: And I guess that's the heart of what this is, right? It's a mindset challenge for all of us.
• 24:19
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Malika, not just about this everybody, but other things too.
• 24:22
  Arthi Rabikrisson: We've said it so in our other episodes that this mindset that we have, the narratives that we have about our lives, our lifestyles, our finances, our ability to handle money based on so many factors, cultural, contextual, religious, even.
• 24:40
  Arthi Rabikrisson: These narratives can sometimes be unhelpful for us, and we need to be able to unpick them, to replace them with better, healthier, progressive thoughts.
• 24:51
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Now, the reason why Malika and I are putting all of these aspects around holistic well being together and why it's so important to everybody because they're iIndicative of a balanced lifestyle, and how this balanced lifestyle can actually lead us towards ensuring that holistically, physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, even, we can be in a much better space. As we even introduced earlier, we are our biggest our own biggest assets.
• 25:19
  Arthi Rabikrisson: So if we're taking care of number one here, it means it protects our ability to earn an income, to create wealth. I'm sure the penny is dropping. Now, can you see this direct connection between you looking after yourself and what this can do towards your financial future and freedom? So while all of these other things really, really important. It's additional steps that you and I would need to take everybody to ensure that we are feeling in such a strong position to care for our family, and, of course, for any emergency or unforeseen events that may come our way.
• 25:54
  Malika Petersen: Ja, that is so true, Arthi. And this is actually making me think about, how does one go about helping oneself to disrupt those unproductive narratives around our finances, right based on on how we are experiencing our life? Well, okay, for me, it starts with taking some deliberate and sometimes this is grudging, right action in the right direction. I think, okay, you and I have always spoken about how those practical steps are really what it's one thing to know, and it's one thing for us to share all this information, but this practical steps is what really makes the difference for our listeners, right?
• 26:32
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Yes, yes.
• 26:33
  Malika Petersen: So how do we take those back draching action in the right direction towards the various forms of protection for our health and wealth, okay?
• 26:39
  Malika Petersen: And obviously this can be in the form of endowments, insurance, policy, medical insurance, etc, gap cover. I mean, there's such a plethera of products out there, and yes, it does feel like a grudge purchase. That's only because we are so uncertain about what our future hold. And this gives us a sense of safety that we are financially covered in any of eventuality, it'll put us knowing that we are covered, knowing that we are protected, will put us in a better level from a stress perspective, right? We recently performed an exercise with a group of business people, and we asked them to close their eyes and visualise their ideal holiday, the usual stuff that we like to do. They needed to visualise the scenery. They needed to tell us what they were smelling, what they could hear, what they could taste, what they feel. And the reason we were doing this is that we wanted them to allow their minds to visualise what set looked like. Okay, we then asked him to imagine what would happen if they were no longer able to go to work. Now, what was interesting is that when they were visualising the holiday, they could in actually detail, give us the scenery, tell us exactly what it looked like, tell us what they felt like, what they could smell, etcetera, etcetera. The minute we asked them to visualise what would happen if they were no longer able to work. The last thing on their minds was that holiday, it was the furtherest thing from their mind. Mm. They brought forward things like educational costs, medical aid, living expenses, food, clothing, and all of those things and provisions, basic provisions for their family, became more relevant. Yeah. And this is why it is so important that while we share how to create wealth, we also need to consider, what do we need to protect that wealth and protect that lifestyle that we've created? Yeah for themselves, yeah. I have a client who her husband was a police officer, and he was killed, right? In fact, in a car accident. He was killed, but it was while on duty, and she had no idea that he had provided for her. And what happened was that we noticed that he regular payments towards his life cover that stopped, and we couldn't understand why, so we kind of picked up the phone, because he was such a good client, and we picked up the phone and asked the question, and she answered, and she said, My husband been killed by 30 young, 30 odd years old. That is seven year old son.
• 29:05
  Malika Petersen: And I said, Well, please come in. We'd like to have a conversation with you. When she came in, she had actually just, she'd actually just come from collecting his results, because he was actually studying to be a lawyer, and he was doing very, very well. And she had come from there, she was in a state. She said, You know, he was not everything. He was the main breadwinner. Her and her son lived in one of the township in South Africa, and she said she was really worried about so I said, Well, your husband's left you life cover of a couple of million as well as funeral, cover of a couple of 100,000. As well as life cover for your son of a couple of million and her life went from being where she didn't know how she was going to afford food and school fees and her bond to everything had been taken care of. In fact, we even had debt cover that covered. All of their debt, the bond, everything else amazing, sure, completely turned their life around. Of course, she didn't even know that. He had to tell us. So I think the reason I tell this story, and I couldn't obviously give a few full details, she's one of those people that I always think about, because she really is my why, right? It is inherited to that we ensure as providers, as people who are building wealth or growing wealth, that we ensure that we are covered, that we have our life covered, that we are covered for disability.
• 30:31
  Malika Petersen: Imagine a scenario where you are unable to continue to do your work. We need to make sure that that income is protected and that you have enough to be able to take care of whatever additional medical costs may be incurred by your disability.
• 30:47
  Malika Petersen: Imagine a scenario where you develop a severe illness and you're not able to work through a period of time. We often see very sad stories of people who have cancer, who have all these severe illnesses that they're fighting, they continue to work sometimes, yes, because they just can't afford to stop correct. So we do need to make sure that we protect our families against these eventualities.
• 31:10
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I mean, Malika, I mean, this is a story that equally tugs at the heartstrings but also just brings such a sense of comfort as well that this family is so well provided for it's such a powerful story. And imagine everyone being able to provide for your family in these kind of
• 31:24
  Malika Petersen: I would actually wager I see that for circumstances that are unforeseen. Right? It's not a great thing to think about, but it does happen in the example Malika has shared. So I guess what I'm taking away from this Malika from our chat today, is actually we need to ensure that us as our greatest asset for ourselves, that we're actually in Ship Shape condition, okay, peak mental, physical and emotional health, okay? For me, what that's translating into is we need to be very deliberate about forward planning, so that actually we're reducing our levels of stress and everyone, I think even you haven't connected the dots yet, it's actually what we're saying, I think, is that stress is actually words actively causing us to potentially fall short on some of the other objectives that we're hoping to achieve. Right?
• 32:12
  Malika Petersen: Because when you're really stressed, you're not at your optimum or peak performance to be able to do things. And certainly, that example that you shared with the execs on the visualisation technique, the fact that with no income coming in, they started to think about everything except the holiday is so telling, right? So there were so many financial stresses that they were actively thinking about. So isn't it interesting, then everybody how stress money and well being is actually so interlinked, many people, the largest stress in their lives is the guilt
• 32:46
  Arthi Rabikrisson: it's like a little ninja that creeps up on around financial planning like sitting like a monkey on one's back growing bigger ever day and that toll can be life threatening, right? Stress is actually a silent kind of almost, I dont want to say killer, but it's a silent opponent to our well being, but ja, you.
• 33:04
  Malika Petersen: It's a horrible ninja.
• 33:08
  Malika Petersen: We've come to the end of our time. It's always been we have these interesting topics that time kind of runs away from us.
• 33:17
  Malika Petersen: But I think for me, the parting shot is most definitely that while it's important to create wealth, it is essential to ensure that we protect that we've created thus far and help the next generation to get a boost up off to spoken about the intergenerational wealth in previous in previous episodes, yeah, making sure that you've got protection like life cover, can ensure that you give the Next Generation of youths and leave them with the legacy that they can build on. How about you, Arthi, what is your takeaway from our chat today?
• 33:48
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Ja, I mean, again, I love I love this topic.
• 33:50
  Arthi Rabikrisson: I love what we've been talking about. And I guess I would say that integrated wellness, everybody, think of it like this backpack that you carry with you onto your journey for financial freedom. Okay? I mean, , what's the point of having achieved financial freedom down the line if you're not in the right physical, mental, emotional state to actually enjoy it?
• 34:12
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Okay? So let's not drag ourselves over the finish line like we do on a Friday after a really long and taxing weekend.
• 34:20
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Let's actually just go for it.
• 34:20
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Yeah,
• 34:22
  Malika Petersen: Definitely.
• 34:22
  Malika Petersen: Let's be like the Tour de France riders and stride over the line with that yellow juice.
• 34:28
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Oh my goodness, yes. Or like our South African cricket team, who will hopefully win the first World Cup this weekend, isn't Wouldn't that be amazing?
• 34:38
  Malika Petersen: Do you need to get past those semis first?
• 34:41
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Okay, okay, okay, I think we got this.
• 34:44
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Though. I think we got this. I'm going to be so positive.
• 34:47
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Awesome, awesome to chat.
• 34:47
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Malika, until next time.
• 34:50
  Malika Petersen: Alright, until then. Ciao.
• 34:52
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Ciao,
• 34:55
  Malika Petersen: Sharing is caring,
• 34:57
  Arthi Rabikrisson: and knowledge is power.
• 34:59
  Malika Petersen: Time for you to be daring
• 35:01
  Arthi Rabikrisson: and let your money confidence bloom like a sunflower.
• 35:06
  Malika Petersen: Thanks for joining us. We hope you found these ideas and guidance useful.
• 35:11
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Do subscribe, share and write a review or send us comments. We would love to hear from you.
• 35:18
  Malika Petersen: Catch you on the next episode
• 35:20
  Arthi Rabikrisson: of the swane effect podcast
• 35:22
  Malika Petersen: bye for now.
• 35:23
  Arthi Rabikrisson: Ciao,