Latest / The Curve / RTC67: Low-maintenance investing and how the $100 challenge could make you RICH in 40 years with Bryce & Alec from Equity Mates

Transcript

RTC67: Low-maintenance investing and how the $100 challenge could make you RICH in 40 years with Bryce & Alec from Equity Mates · The Curve

0:00
Welcome to Raising the Curth, a podcast designed to teach you everything you need to know
0:05
to be better with your money.
0:07
And the wise words of Amy Schumer were slipping carrots into the brownie recipe.
0:12
I don't really get the saying.
0:14
It's kind of like eating vegetables that actually taste good.
0:17
You know, I'm like, still not wearing it.
0:19
Are you on the script?
0:20
It's basically like saying, investing in finance can be boring but it totally doesn't
0:26
need to be.
0:27
OK, OK, so we're making it fun by putting the carrot.
0:31
OK, the vegetables are just good for you.
0:34
It's the brownie recipe.
0:35
OK, we got there.
0:36
OK, OK.
0:37
Well, you've really got a finance mate.
0:39
Yeah, one of us has to.
0:41
This is a joke.
0:42
OK, come and learn alongside me from Vic Harris, ex-fun manager, where I'm going to ask
0:46
all the questions that you wish you could.
0:49
And I'm going to be eating all the brownie you wish you could.
0:51
No, that's so not the joke, Vic.
0:54
OK, just come and talk and learn and laugh with us.
0:56
Because together we really can raise the curve.
1:00
So I wanted to welcome Alec and Bryce from EquityMates is our first male podcast.
1:05
Round of applause, I think.
1:06
Oh, my God, I swig it up.
1:07
What do you say?
1:08
On the podcast.
1:09
Oh, God.
1:10
She's new, this is OK.
1:13
Oh, God.
1:14
Thank you.
1:15
It's an honor to be the first.
1:17
Wow.
1:18
Hopefully we can do our billing justice.
1:21
So are you guys a number one podcast in Australia?
1:24
What's the ranking at the moment?
1:26
According to Bryce, we are.
1:27
Yes.
1:28
We're always enough.
1:29
No, we're always quite smart.
1:31
Well, we oscillate.
1:32
We're top 10 of the best thing.
1:35
Of the best thing.
1:36
Yeah, yeah.
1:37
No one's knocking Hamish and Andy or case file off the top.
1:40
Now, obviously, you're our two first male guests.
1:43
We've got a very female dominated audience.
1:47
And we just need to know love life.
1:49
Either of you single in on the market,
1:51
you just need to get that out of the way before we get going
1:52
on TV finance chat.
1:53
Nice.
1:54
I'm liking this episode.
1:56
Yeah.
1:58
I am married.
2:00
I got married in October last year.
2:02
Damn, that's one down.
2:03
OK.
2:04
Yeah.
2:05
Oh, gosh.
2:06
I am not married.
2:08
I like his single.
2:10
No, I'm not single.
2:12
I've been dating my partner for about two years.
2:14
OK, that sounds serious.
2:15
Yeah.
2:16
OK.
2:17
The international voice is telling me it's a no for everyone
2:19
listening.
2:20
So we're going to interview some more males on the podcast.
2:22
And the podcast is done.
2:23
Thanks so much for joining us.
2:25
Oh, no.
2:28
No, in all seriousness, we are really excited to talk to you.
2:30
So just for context, Vic is the expert.
2:33
She's been in funds management for what, 13 years.
2:36
She's just quit.
2:37
She's now full time on the curve, which is very exciting for us.
2:40
That's right.
2:41
And I actually wanted to say for me,
2:43
equity makes was the first finance podcast that you've listened to.
2:46
So you're like the OG of finance podcast for me.
2:49
And I'm so like fan knowing about it.
2:52
Just blushing.
2:53
I love it.
2:54
It would basically like if these two idiots can do it,
2:56
I can do it as well.
2:58
It looks like I've got an idea.
3:01
No, so I don't know a lot about finance and investing.
3:05
I've been sort of learning kind of teacher student vibes
3:07
on our podcast.
3:08
So some of the questions will sound very high brow from this side
3:12
of the room.
3:12
And mine might be a little bit more, you know, simplistic.
3:16
But yeah, we've been really loving your content.
3:19
I think one in particular thing that I saw you speaking about
3:22
recently was like the lifestyle creep.
3:24
And I was kind of interested in hearing about this from,
3:27
from like a more holistic standpoint
3:30
in terms of how you speak to your audience about that
3:32
because I love the term lifestyle creeping.
3:35
And for anyone that doesn't know,
3:37
they're basically referring to the idea of you getting more money,
3:40
but then like not investing anymore of that.
3:43
And I'd love to hear your explanation
3:46
and maybe what you tell your audience in terms of how they can avoid
3:48
doing that.
3:50
So for me, lifestyle creep, I mean,
3:51
Ren and I talk a lot on the show about the power of getting
3:54
as much money into the market as early as possible
3:57
and letting the beauty of compounding do its thing.
4:00
Oh, speaking my language.
4:02
Sorry.
4:04
And there are ways that you can get more money in the market.
4:06
And one of those is to earn more income.
4:09
But we've seen from experience through friends
4:13
and it's a lesson that was kind of drilled into me
4:15
for my parents as well is that
4:17
it's very easy to spend more as you earn more.
4:20
And for us, the message is very much
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if you're getting a pay rise,
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if you're getting a bonus,
4:27
there is huge advantage in being able to maintain
4:31
a lifestyle that is comfortable to you
4:33
and investing all of that incremental amount
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as much and as early as possible.
4:38
I think it's a really important message.
4:39
It's very hard to do because if you're...
4:42
I think particularly out of uni for me,
4:44
it was as well.
4:45
We're living on very low income.
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So when you get that paycheck and the pay rise,
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it's hard not to kind of increase your spending.
4:53
But I think as you get older,
4:55
you can, I guess, learn to budget a little bit more.
4:58
But yeah, for us, it's all about getting money
5:00
in early, getting as much as possible
5:02
and trying to avoid the feeling of getting a pay rise
5:06
and then spending that pay rise.
5:08
Oh, I can afford to have more pay more rent.
5:12
Oh, I can afford to get an extra subscription.
5:15
Oh, I can afford to go out dinner twice a week
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rather than once a week.
5:19
All of that is obviously possible
5:20
because you probably can afford it.
5:22
You should be thinking about it from...
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Oh, I can not afford this in 40 years.
5:26
I'm going to be loaded.
5:28
I think the other thing to keep in mind is,
5:31
you know, we...
5:32
So I'm 30, Bryce's 31.
5:35
And you mid to late 20s is this perfect time in your life
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when you're working and you're earning a full-time salary
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but you don't have any of the costs that are coming.
5:45
Most of us don't have a mortgage.
5:48
Most of us don't have kids.
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And so you've got this golden window
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where you can really spend less than you earn
5:55
and start investing.
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And we're going to lose that opportunity very quickly.
5:59
Kids are expensive, housing is expensive,
6:02
life is expensive,
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and avoiding lifestyle creep when you're young
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means you can take advantage of that opportunity
6:08
and get started because I imagine...
6:11
I don't have kids yet,
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but I imagine it's going to be a lot harder
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to spend less than I earn once I have kids as well.
6:17
So speaking of age, you said 30 and 31.
6:21
Have you both been investing for a long time?
6:23
How did equity mates actually start?
6:25
Did you guys will you both like uni friends
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and, you know, started investing really early?
6:29
We'd love to kind of hear how you came up with the idea
6:33
and when you started investing.
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So Bryson, I have the complete opposite investing stories.
6:40
Bryson is the textbook version of what you should do
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and if there are any parents out there,
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how you should take your kids.
6:47
Well, see, like a five-year-old.
6:48
I'm investing, I bet he was.
6:52
He looks like he's...
6:56
Well, yeah, so at five.
6:58
Holy shit, you damn it.
7:00
Holy shit.
7:02
Damn, I always ate and I thought I was good.
7:03
Damn it.
7:05
I was in the markets at five,
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but I started learning the lesson.
7:08
My parents sat me down and said,
7:10
we're going to give you $1.50 a week, I think, or a month
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or something like that.
7:16
And that $1.50 needs to be split three ways,
7:19
$0.50 into spending, $0.50 into saving,
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$0.50 into investing.
7:24
Of course, I had no idea about the investing,
7:26
all of that stuff, but that $0.50 was saved
7:30
until I got the $500 required
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to buy your first packet of shares,
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which to be fair was when I was like in year seven
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because it took me ages to save 50 cents a week
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and get $500.
7:45
But the point was that I was putting a money away
7:48
every paycheck to invest.
7:50
And then I hit $500 and we bought a listed investment company
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and that really formed how I think about money
7:58
and think about investing.
8:00
The habit of putting money away every time you paid
8:03
regardless of the amount 50 cents, $500
8:07
was the lesson that was instilled in me.
8:10
So that was my journey of starting to invest.
8:14
Didn't know what I was investing in.
8:15
That kind of did that.
8:17
And then he instilled in me the idea
8:19
of a world-versified portfolio of stocks
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which was why we did a listed investment company.
8:24
That's amazing.
8:26
Price was so disciplined with money.
8:28
So that's the investing bucket.
8:30
Then there was the saving bucket
8:31
and you wanted a drunk it
8:33
and you literally worked at the local KFC
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until you had the exact amount
8:39
you needed to buy the drunk it to the bottom.
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Oh my God, I love that little price.
8:41
How cute was he?
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Like the money lessons that Bryce learned as a kid
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are the money lessons that you should teach your kid.
8:49
Me on the other hand, I grew up with a family
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where my parents never learned about investing
8:54
in the stock market.
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So I never learned growing up for them
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and for so many of our parents
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and for people our age, you build wealth
9:01
by saving, getting a down payment, buying a house,
9:04
paying off that mortgage over 30 years
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and hoping that the New Zealand
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and the Australian property market
9:08
continues to do its thing.
9:10
And so I met Bryce at uni
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and he really opened my eyes to the stock market.
9:17
But we were dumb uni students
9:18
and we thought we were so overconfident.
9:22
We thought reading a couple of pages
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of the Australian financial review
9:25
was all you needed to do.
9:27
I saved up my first $1,000 working part-time jobs at uni
9:32
and invested it all in one company, Slater and Gordon,
9:37
which promptly went to zero.
9:39
Even I know that's a good idea.
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And I lost so much money
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that I couldn't even sell the shares
9:46
because they wouldn't cover the brokerage cost
9:49
of selling them.
9:50
I think I had $12 left
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and Consec at the time was charging $19.95 in brokerage.
9:55
So Slater and Gordon sat in my brokerage account
9:58
for years as a reminder that,
10:01
I'm not very good at this.
10:02
I'm quite amazing that you are still investing.
10:05
That would have put off so many people
10:07
and they would have been like,
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no, I'd be packing my time for sure.
10:10
Yeah, you'd be like, no, and I've got no money.
10:12
I think being a naively overconfident uni student
10:16
is a double-edged sword.
10:17
It was the reason that I lost all that money
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to begin with, but it was also the reason
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that I thought, oh, no, I can figure this out still
10:23
and had another crack and had a crack after that.
10:25
How much did you put in that company?
10:27
$1,000.
10:28
Oh, which at the time would have been a lot.
10:30
It was one of the top topics.
10:31
Yeah, I was working in the fund that I managed as well.
10:34
And we doubled down with it.
10:35
Yeah, Slater and Gordon.
10:36
And we doubled down as well.
10:37
And I was like, oh, oh.
10:40
Can I have some context?
10:41
Who has this company?
10:41
And they bought another law firm,
10:45
which was like multiples of size in the UK.
10:48
And it's kind of like a small company eating a big company
10:50
and, like, should hit the fan,
10:51
shed it out, and it was no good.
10:53
Yeah, let's see.
10:53
You're talking about accounting.
10:54
Accounting.
10:55
Yeah, and there's like always other things.
10:57
And, yeah.
10:57
You know, they do a whole bunch of work,
10:59
but a lot of law firms are like, no, no, we're no fee.
11:03
And Slater and Gordon were booking the work
11:05
that they were doing as revenue,
11:07
even if they didn't win, they wouldn't get any money.
11:10
And so then that all came out.
11:11
Could be a good podcast, if so.
11:13
Yeah.
11:14
And so where did equity mates come about?
11:17
Did you, like, help me?
11:18
I need to not do that again.
11:20
Let's do a podcast.
11:22
You know, how did it all sort of happen?
11:23
We wanted to start a business while we're at uni.
11:26
We were in Canberra,
11:27
which gets phrasing cold at night.
11:29
All of the restaurants and cafes closed at six.
11:33
At the end of the night.
11:35
But the libraries won't open till midnight.
11:38
And so we had this idea that in the depths of winter,
11:40
we would cook soup and sell it outside the library.
11:45
At least you all have entrepreneurs.
11:48
What flavor is it all for?
11:49
Well, I think we did.
11:51
We cooked a pumpkin.
11:52
We cooked a pumpkin soup.
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Eight the pumpkin soup.
11:54
We ate it.
11:58
Throughout that time,
11:59
we were learning about investing
12:00
and talking about companies and reading all the books.
12:02
And we wanted to find some way
12:05
to learn more, hold ourselves accountable.
12:08
And I guess keep going on this journey together.
12:10
The prices like, well, why don't we do a podcast?
12:13
And that was really where it all started.
12:16
Yeah, it was a massive flick to be where we are today.
12:19
Like the intention was never to do what we're doing.
12:22
We set it up, set up a microphone just to record ourselves.
12:25
I think the first episode was us trying to explain value
12:29
investing or something that we had no right to try and explain.
12:33
Yeah, I think we were, I just remember before we recorded,
12:36
we were still trying to figure out the difference between an ETF and an LIC.
12:40
Oh, I got it wrong.
12:41
We got on the behind the mic and then tried to explain to our audience.
12:44
I know.
12:45
What right do we have to, who are we?
12:47
But we use it as an excuse to just go and talk to fund managers.
12:51
We tell them we'd have a podcast just to be better investors ourselves.
12:54
Like that was, it was a selfish endeavor.
12:57
And we did it for three years as a side hustle every week,
13:00
did a podcast, then did two a week and just played with format for no reason
13:06
and just scratching our own edge and managed to build an audience along the way.
13:11
That's so amazing.
13:12
Yeah.
13:13
It's kind of like you were like, oh, we've got to do a podcast.
13:15
And I was like, I was like, nobody listens to podcasts.
13:18
So true.
13:19
I was like, but I need to know.
13:21
It was actually genuinely a selfish thing.
13:23
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:24
So all of me had no idea.
13:26
I was like, okay, I guess I'll put it on for the right.
13:28
But honestly, like the commitment to doing a podcast or two podcasts a week,
13:31
it's a lot of work.
13:32
I think a lot of people listen to them and have no context.
13:35
So to be doing that as purely a side hustle for three years is pretty impressive.
13:39
And so it's a huge company now, right?
13:41
Like you've got quite a few different podcasts and a bunch of all working for you.
13:46
Yeah, we've got eight shows in our network.
13:48
The idea was that we would, so Ren and I quit our jobs in mid-COVID
13:53
and we had two shows up and running and we wanted to expand the network
13:58
so that we could have different shows talking to different parts of the sort of finance investing community.
14:04
So if we've built that and along the way, we wrote a book and we've grown the grocery channels.
14:10
And now we have eight and a half people working for us.
14:14
Yeah, congrats.
14:16
That's so epic.
14:17
And so what are your approaches to investing?
14:19
I mean, you were saying that you've got quite different like upbringings
14:23
in the way that you introduced to investing and money.
14:26
How about now?
14:27
Are you in a similar trajectory in terms of like what you're investing in?
14:30
All the kinds of companies you're interested in would love to hear.
14:34
You're both like kind of individual investing style.
14:37
And who's better?
14:38
Yeah.
14:39
Right.
14:40
But he's got longer to practice.
14:43
I think at our core, we both have a pretty similar approach.
14:47
You know, we speak a lot on the show about you don't need to go out there and pick stocks
14:52
and try and beat the market.
14:53
It's a very, very hard thing to do.
14:55
And there is nothing wrong with just building a very solid core portfolio
15:01
with world diversified global ETFs and just taking that average eight 10% return year on year
15:08
on year for the next 40 years and then being very content with what that does for your lifestyle.
15:14
Like if that means you don't have to rely on a full time check or if it means that you can retire
15:18
completely before you need to access super great.
15:21
So we kind of embody that approach.
15:23
And I think, you know, we put most of our money into just a core diversified portfolio.
15:28
We then the caveat that we speak to many experts multiple times a week who then throw enticing
15:35
individual small cap stock picks at us that ran particularly has trouble not by.
15:40
And so we then take sort of 20% or, you know, some small percentage of what we're investing
15:47
on a fortnightly basis and put it aside for things that really just interest and excite us and
15:52
we're comfortable if it if it doesn't go anywhere or we lose money on it.
15:56
And maybe it does 10 bag great, but at the end of the day there is nothing there is nothing wrong.
16:03
And there is great merit in just taking a consistent market return.
16:08
And the maths is there that the theory is there to show that it works.
16:13
And it's a stress free way of doing things as well.
16:16
We don't we don't have the time to sit down and and dedicate, you know, research to the same level that institutions do.
16:23
So, you know, there's not a lot of point point in us trying to feel like we need to beat the market.
16:29
Yeah, that concept of enough and what is enough is something that you don't really see spoken a lot about in finance.
16:35
And in the world of professional funds management and, you know, high net wealth investors.
16:41
It's not a concept that is super relevant because they're just trying to beat the benchmark and they're trying to outperform their rivals
16:49
or they're trying to grow their wealth.
16:51
But for everyday investors, people like us and people listening to the podcast, that concept of enough is really important.
16:58
Like, what is me doing enough today?
17:02
So I will have enough when I need it, when I retire or, you know, when I want to afford my kids private schools or whatever,
17:09
crazy expenses you want to incur in your life.
17:12
And I don't think we speak enough about that.
17:15
And I think that's where financial advice can probably play a really valuable role.
17:19
But in Australia, I'm not sure what it's like in New Zealand, but in Australia, financial advice is very difficult and very expensive to access.
17:26
But yeah, to Bryce's point, dollar cost averaging into a globally diversified group of market tracking index funds.
17:34
And I know there was a lot of jargon in that sentence, but that is enough.
17:38
Yeah, I love that concept of enough because you, you know, when you hear stories about friends that have made 80% on Tesla or, you know, and it's hard to be like,
17:47
oh, you know, but I'm just an ETF that's doing 8 to 10 or like, you know, but it's, it's so the slow and steady kind of wins the race.
17:54
It's not the one that's gone up 80 and then down 50 and then up between it.
17:59
You know, like that for me, I'm like, oh my gosh, that is such a headache.
18:03
I'm going to get so many great years from investing in that kind of thing.
18:06
So she's already booked to die to get that done.
18:09
So they can't afford any more.
18:11
Yeah.
18:12
Well, look at me.
18:13
I lost all my hair in my face.
18:15
Maybe I should have stood up.
18:16
Maybe I should have stayed my hair.
18:17
That would be better.
18:18
They're making invest in the high-risk things.
18:20
So how do you have a whole podcast then?
18:23
I feel like you're basically just encouraging people to do it.
18:25
Like, how do you feel?
18:27
How do you feel?
18:28
Because it's pretty straightforward, like, okay, invest an ETFs team.
18:32
You know, like, how do people keep coming back to listen for more?
18:34
I'm kind of curious to know from a content perspective.
18:37
You know, we do like to dabble in individual stocks and we enjoy hearing from fund managers.
18:44
And I think even if you're not going to invest a large proportion of your portfolio in individual stocks,
18:51
the thought process of being an investor, it helps you sort of approach the world of business.
18:56
And maybe the world more broadly in a more curious way.
19:00
Like, people often think that investing is about finance.
19:03
But you can invest in any industry and all of the most exciting and innovative new technology
19:11
is coming through the stock market or if it's smaller companies through venture capital markets.
19:16
All of the biggest companies in the world, all of the best entrepreneurs are commercializing their ideas through the stock market.
19:23
But it's just like it's this window into the world and even if you're not investing in individual stocks,
19:29
it's fascinating to see what everyone is doing.
19:32
And so Warren Buffett has this quote that I'm a better investor because I'm a businessman.
19:38
I'm a better businessman because I'm an investor.
19:41
And I think that's really true.
19:44
I think I, you know, I'm not working a day job anymore.
19:48
But when I was working a day job, I was certainly better at it because I was investing on the side and being curious and learning on the side.
19:56
And I think, you know, however you invest, being interested and being curious is really valuable.
20:02
Have you found that stuff as we've been doing this for a couple of years?
20:06
You know, have I got more intelligence in general?
20:09
Oh, you got more.
20:11
Well, that's well that.
20:13
But do you even have you noticed yourself just like being more interested in what's going on in the world?
20:17
And I just sit in investing and yeah, I think it's interesting because I for so long it felt like the conversation of business and money and finance and everything in between
20:28
was so confusing and out of depth and just like not a place for me that I was I'm always been really curious.
20:38
I love asking questions, but I think because I felt so disconnected from what any of it meant.
20:45
Yeah, I wouldn't look at news and be like, Oh, that's so interesting to hear about this all that I wouldn't I just couldn't connect the dots even listening to watching movies.
20:52
People would make jokes about stocks or businesses never fly over my head, you know, whereas now I definitely feel.
20:58
Yeah, I feel excited about learning about business, even if I'm not planning on investing.
21:03
It's definitely it's a kind of becomes a hobby, I think.
21:06
Yeah, it's taken a lot of our time.
21:09
Yeah.
21:10
What kind of investments are you do so you say you pick a couple of spicy stocks every now and again with that 20% have either of you invested in a stock
21:18
recently that you're really excited about?
21:20
I've got my ETA.
21:21
So I think the most recent individual stock I bought was ironically just the conversations they've been having but was Google or Alphabet.
21:29
I've just been, you know, taking the opportunity over the last sort of 18 months or maybe 12 months to get into some of those big tech companies.
21:38
Some of the stock tips.
21:40
No, it's just.
21:42
You know, if I was you, what would I do?
21:45
If you happen to have $5 we would it go.
21:48
I get us it all.
21:51
That's the way to do it.
21:53
But otherwise, no, I haven't I haven't invested in anything individual for a while.
21:58
I've just really been pumping it into into my core.
22:01
I think that's because I have wanted to take the opportunity to just average into the market as it's as it's been down.
22:09
I think right on the other hand has probably been a bit more active on the single sides.
22:13
One thing I wanted to ask was just around obviously the cost of living is through the roof at the moment inflation interest rates all of that.
22:20
It's kind of like a never ending narrative that we keep hearing.
22:24
And our audience we've definitely noticed is, you know, having to either pull back on the investing or wants to invest in different things, you know, for heading into a session.
22:33
I just wanted to know what you guys are hearing from your audience, what questions you're being asked in terms of, you know, over the last kind of six to 12 months are people getting more nervous.
22:43
Yeah, people are definitely more nervous where feeling at ourselves and we're seeing it in the community.
22:49
And it can be hard to keep engaging with financial markets when there's a lot of red and it's quite scary and you're seeing in financial media, the forecasts of, you know, a housing market collapse or, you know,
23:02
business bankruptcies on the rise.
23:05
But it's really important to keep reminding ourselves and what we're really trying to do in the content is that in hindsight, these are often the best opportunities and people who didn't invest in 2000 or didn't invest in 2008.
23:21
Look back and kick themselves.
23:23
What was 2000 and what happened in 2008?
23:26
So yeah, good, good clarifying questions 2000 was the tech bubble bursting. So in the late 90s, all of those internet companies were just running up and investors were going crazy.
23:41
Then there was a big market crash in 2000, 2001 and then similarly in 2008, it was the global financial crisis and America's housing market collapsed and stopped markets around the world.
23:54
Really? I look back at 2020 and I'm like, damn it. Damn.
23:58
I was pulling on my money out because I was so scared about what was going to happen to the world and now I'm like, you tell us not to do that.
24:04
I know.
24:07
Looking forward these moments are really scary, but in hindsight, they're big opportunities and you've got to keep reminding yourself without.
24:13
But then the second thing that we're really trying to stress is that small things now can make a big difference and you know, you might not be able to invest as much as you want to because you want to be building up your emergency fund or
24:26
paying down your mortgage quicker or whatever it is.
24:29
But just taking those small steps can make a big difference and on the get started investing podcast, we've launched the $100 challenge and the math is $100 invested every month over 40 years at the stock markets average return of 8% is $350,000.
24:48
So just doing those small things, finding $100 every month to invest really can add up over time.
24:55
And so every month, Bryce and I are trying to find either trying to earn an extra $100 or save an extra $100.
25:02
We don't want it to be that, you know, stop eating avocado on toast and buy and take away coffees and you can afford a house.
25:09
We're asking each other for pay rise.
25:11
Yeah.
25:12
Reynolds out every day.
25:14
I know my gosh says no.
25:16
But you know, it's just a if we can have some fun and do it and try and find some ways to just earn a little bit more or save a little bit more.
25:25
Hopefully we can really share that, you know, those small changes can add up over time.
25:30
We haven't had a lot of success so far.
25:32
Bryce tried to sell a drum kit that he had, still hasn't sold it.
25:36
It's still available if anyone wants it.
25:38
So $100, $100 anywhere.
25:40
So have you done any other creative things? I'd love to hear what's been done for $100.
25:45
Yeah, I tried to do online surveys.
25:47
God, the hourly rate online surveys is not great.
25:51
I just want those at university, I remember that.
25:55
I owned about 20 bucks and I was like, this is, this is a nightmare.
25:59
This month I have taken a simpler route and I'm just not, I looked at how much I'd spent on take away lunch at work over the last month and it was about 150 bucks.
26:10
So this month, I've just said, I'm not, I'm just cutting that out so far.
26:15
We're recording this about halfway through the month.
26:18
Haven't bought any lunch so far.
26:21
So what's something that you've done to get a bit of extra cash?
26:26
Look, I've had a bit of a dark past when it comes to.
26:30
It's not dodgy. It sounds like solar.
26:32
No, no, no, no, not like English.
26:34
No, I didn't turn to prostitution.
26:36
However, I used to produce a radio show.
26:40
This was when I was like 21 and we were meant to be going over to Australia
26:44
to interview Juliana Rancek when she was cool and her e-news days.
26:48
And I couldn't afford to go and the company wouldn't send me.
26:52
And I was like, well, I've got to go on the producer, you know.
26:54
So I did some kind of horrific.
26:56
I looked one of the presenters' fate.
26:59
He put jam for his toes.
27:03
And it was like, get the toe jam out and he gave her like a hundred bucks.
27:07
Oh God, I look back at these videos and I just think, I know, I'm like, it feels fairing,
27:13
but at the time I was like, brilliant, another hundred dollars.
27:16
Oh man.
27:17
Oh my God.
27:18
It feels kind of exploitative of your work to be like, you're doing all this to get money to go to Australia
27:24
and then you're working in Australia.
27:26
Yeah.
27:27
What are our souls like?
27:28
Like pay for my bloody flights.
27:29
Yeah, yeah.
27:31
I mean, yeah, you know when you like your first job and you're kind of just like a glorified shit kicker,
27:36
they were like, you don't need to be there, which is fair.
27:39
But yeah, anyway, we've had some, we've had some really interesting times.
27:44
It's making me think I want to join the hundred dollar challenge.
27:47
Like maybe we should join it and like get creative.
27:51
Yeah, what if you go up with something and then we'll get you on our next episode.
27:55
You can give us some ideas.
27:56
Oh my God, I'm so excited.
27:57
I'm not going to see any slides.
27:58
I refuse to like toes.
27:59
Oh my God.
28:00
I'll put up with some plans.
28:02
You know, because honestly, I think this is quite a good thing.
28:05
She's for me.
28:06
I actually embarrassingly spent every single dollar on my account over the weekend.
28:10
And our pay didn't come through.
28:11
It was delayed.
28:12
I don't even know if it's come through yet.
28:14
But anyway, I literally was like to back, I don't, I've spent my entire emergency fund.
28:18
I have no savings because I've invested it all.
28:20
I was like, I've never in my entire adult life had no money in my account.
28:24
I'd be like, oh, see, I'll just transfer.
28:26
And I was like, shit, I'm going to have to join the hundred dollar challenge and actually commit.
28:31
Yeah, let's do it.
28:32
Oh, yeah.
28:33
You're not going to do it.
28:34
I'm just like, I just feel like so uncommitted.
28:36
She's like, yeah, yeah.
28:37
I'm just so scared at once.
28:39
I'm just going to make me do that.
28:40
That's why I'm so uncommitted.
28:41
I can cut out copies.
28:43
I can cut out lunches.
28:44
I'll be the most boring challenge participant in the relay.
28:48
Yeah.
28:49
But that's good.
28:50
I think we kind of need that.
28:52
Because this month, Bryce is trying to sell clear umbrellas on rainy days.
28:56
Like, he's gone so just.
28:59
I'm targeting the wedding market.
29:01
The wedding market when it's raining.
29:03
How do I like those umbrellas?
29:05
I'd buy one of those.
29:06
Hey, and you say weeding and you just can bump up the price like six times.
29:10
100%.
29:11
Yeah.
29:12
Wedding deaths.
29:13
Wedding's funerals and baby and births.
29:16
You're a premium on anything.
29:18
That's all good.
29:19
Well, but you haven't sold an umbrella.
29:21
You don't know that.
29:23
I'm wondering if we strike a deal here, Bryce.
29:26
Maybe I'll buy you umbrella.
29:27
And then when I come up with whatever my concept is, you can support the cause.
29:32
Well, let's take this offline.
29:33
Yeah.
29:34
I feel like we could get something going here.
29:36
Great, great, great.
29:37
Oh, quickly.
29:38
Just on the $100 challenge talking about budgeting.
29:41
So is this, oh, do you budget?
29:43
Firstly, do you have like a strict monthly thing in place?
29:47
And there's this extra $100 above that.
29:49
So there's obviously no way you can cut down on things like.
29:52
Yeah.
29:53
Obla stuff.
29:54
Like, how is your budgeting planning working?
29:56
So I do budget and it's changed over the years.
29:59
I used to be very diligent with how I tracked my money, you know, every time I was paid,
30:05
I'd go in and update myself in Excel.
30:07
And now I've sort of become comfortable with what I need on a weekly basis.
30:13
That the biggest hack for that is every time I'm paid.
30:18
I get trans, automatic transfers from my pay account into various different accounts.
30:23
So I just do not see it.
30:25
And so I get a transfer X amount into my investing account.
30:29
And then from my investing account, everything is automated.
30:32
I don't make any physical investment decisions at the moment,
30:35
other than the individual stocks.
30:38
I've got money going into cash savings.
30:41
Everything's automated so that whatever's left in my transaction account,
30:44
I know is I play money for the fortnight.
30:47
That's that's how I budget, but it did take me a bit of twoing and throwing and transferring
30:51
and overdrafts and credit cards and bits and pieces to get to that point.
30:57
So I'm similar.
30:59
I was never one for incredibly itemized budgets.
31:04
You know, I'm not as organized or as disciplined as Bryce.
31:08
And it just didn't really work for me.
31:11
But we've we've seen so many different spend truckers over the journey of equity mates.
31:16
There's this great Instagram account and podcast money with Katie over in the US.
31:20
And we bought her spend trucker to see what she was doing.
31:25
And it was like 12 XL tabs worth of incredibly detailed,
31:30
you know, net worth tracking every every cent accounted for.
31:35
And that's great if you want to do that.
31:37
But that's not me.
31:38
Bryce used to have the Google Sheets going with a number of formulas.
31:42
And one of our podcasts in our network, you're in good company.
31:45
They've created a spend trucker as well.
31:48
It's in their Facebook group.
31:49
If you want to go on download it for free.
31:51
Thank you for the last time.
31:52
Thank you.
31:53
Oh, nice.
31:55
The way I do it is similar to Bryce.
31:57
It's I have a money in account and a money out account.
32:01
And we get paid every fortnight.
32:03
And I have automatic transfers set up from my money in account to my emergency fund.
32:09
I'm traveling later this year.
32:10
So I've got a travel savings account automatically transferred to my brokerage.
32:15
And then it transfers some money to my money out account.
32:18
And then like that's my spending money for the fortnight.
32:21
And the game for me, the challenge for me is just spend less than that amount.
32:26
And so the weekend before we get paid is always very cheap.
32:32
Sounds very organized.
32:33
Someone who's not organized.
32:35
You know, like I'm pretty lazy when it comes to a lot of this stuff.
32:38
Automating it is the key to success.
32:41
So then you just don't have to think about it.
32:43
Automating your dollar cost averaging into a call portfolio.
32:47
Automating your spending.
32:49
So your money's in the right place without having to think about it.
32:52
It's never been easier.
32:53
And so it's definitely worth spending the time to set it up.
32:56
I do have an ongoing gripe with my bank Commonwealth Bank.
33:00
I've called them out.
33:01
I'm going to call them out.
33:02
Tell us how you really feel when you're here.
33:05
The spend trucking on their app sucks.
33:08
And so I am looking for a better spend trucker because I'd love it.
33:13
If it was an easier way to do it, then how they set it up.
33:17
We'd like these overly broad categories that don't actually give you any insight.
33:20
But yeah, for me right now, what I'm doing works for me.
33:23
And until I find something better, that's what I'll do.
33:25
That's the thing is there are so many different types of trackers out there.
33:28
It's just finding what's right for you.
33:30
Because I've definitely had a gold, a few in the heaven really stuck.
33:33
But our one has.
33:35
I got a call on my holiday the other day from BNZ.
33:38
And she was like, hello, it's Beverly here.
33:41
Now I can say that you've overdrawn your account again.
33:44
And yeah, and I'm just like, you're off.
33:47
Oh, bloody hell, Beverly.
33:48
Give a Gallup break.
33:50
But like, really, I just need to be not be such a child and automate my stuff.
33:55
Well, how about today?
33:56
When I, so so exploring my car at the moment, I've got the Audi curve car.
34:01
And I went outside and it's the car's my car is being clamped in the car.
34:07
And I'm literally like walking past.
34:10
I'm like, excuse me.
34:11
And he's like, your car's been clamped.
34:12
I was like, oh, why?
34:13
Oh, because you've got too many parking finds outstanding.
34:15
And I was like, I was like, oh, dear God.
34:18
I was like, don't worry.
34:19
I'll pay them right now.
34:20
I'll pay them right now.
34:21
And yeah, I was just like, walk back inside.
34:23
So I was just like, oh.
34:25
Your $100 challenge for this month can be parked in proper parking spots.
34:30
Yes, there you go.
34:31
I do not like to work.
34:33
I'm going, I'm probably going to have to walk to work.
34:35
You're probably going to have to have one of Bryce's umbrellas and just walk to work.
34:38
Sorry, bloody rain in Auckland.
34:41
So I just want to know what your best and besting tip is.
34:45
I mean, it's the same every time.
34:47
Yeah.
34:48
We're going to sound a bit like a broken record.
34:50
Just a dollar cost averaging.
34:52
Yeah, it kind of ties into all of that.
34:54
I think the overall message is that it's never been easier to start investing
34:59
with very, very small amounts of money.
35:02
And the name of the game is getting in as soon as possible
35:05
and understanding who you are as an investor.
35:08
And you don't have to risk huge amounts of money to do that.
35:11
And so the sooner that you can get in there and figure that out
35:14
and figure out what works for you and how to do it, the better.
35:19
I mean, there's a reason that literally every expert we talk to
35:22
and the reason that we say the same, get in as soon as possible.
35:26
We're not saying it as a joke.
35:28
That is the best investing tip.
35:30
And you can literally do it now with sense.
35:33
So there almost is no excuse to start investing.
35:36
There is no excuse.
35:37
There is no excuse.
35:38
I think my investing tip is not going to be too different.
35:42
We started this conversation talking about how we started investing.
35:47
And I saved up $1,000 and bought shares in an individual company
35:52
and lost all my money.
35:53
And my biggest learning from that.
35:55
And my biggest tip is that you never have to invest in an individual company.
36:00
You can invest for decades.
36:02
You can build all the wealth you need to live a happy and stressed money,
36:07
stress-free life without ever investing in an individual company.
36:11
And the reason that stock market indexes, or index ETFs,
36:16
performs so well over time is because they are constantly every quarter
36:23
rebalancing for the best companies.
36:26
And we have this thing that we say here at EquityMates,
36:30
which is that companies die, but indexes are forever.
36:33
And if we look at America's S&P, I think.
36:38
The 500 biggest companies in America has changed massively over time.
36:44
In 1980, the biggest company in America was IBM.
36:49
In 2000, the biggest company in America was GA, General Electric.
36:53
And in 2020, it was Apple.
36:56
From 1980, IBM, its fortunes changed and other companies overtook it.
37:01
In 2000, GA had a terrible 20 years from 2000 when it was the biggest company.
37:07
And while it might be unimaginable now, at some point, Apple will start to slide.
37:12
And other companies will overtake Apple.
37:14
That's the nature of capitalism. That's the nature of technology.
37:17
But the great thing about stock market indexes is that they're constantly rebalancing.
37:22
So you're getting less of GA as it gets smaller and more of Apple as it gets bigger.
37:26
And that's just, that's why indexes just keep driving upwards, keep perpetuating.
37:31
And that's why companies die, but indexes are forever.
37:34
And so my biggest learning and my biggest lesson is,
37:37
you don't have to invest in an individual company to build all the wealth that you need.
37:41
Okay, I've just come up with an idea for one of you to earn $100 in your next week's challenge.
37:48
And it's to get that tattoo as a tramp stamp on your lower back.
37:54
Yeah, okay. All right. We have to enjoy it.
37:57
I will pay you $100.
37:59
I'll pay you $100.
38:00
In fact, I'll pay you $400.
38:01
You've got it sort of for the next four months.
38:03
I mean, wait, sorry.
38:04
I'm afraid you'll find us.
38:09
Yeah. How are you going to pay up?
38:11
I will literally get the cash out of my account.
38:13
So many toes.
38:17
Where are you going with that?
38:24
I was like, Victoria, that is not podcast appropriate.
38:29
No, toes, toes, toes.
38:32
No, those are very, oh, I actually would like to ask,
38:36
in terms of the indexes that are your favourites, I mean,
38:39
I'm assuming it's not this in p500.
38:41
Have you got any fun ones that you love?
38:43
That is my favourite.
38:44
Well, surprise.
38:46
We know where four finance podcasters,
38:50
when the question is, what's your favourite stock market index?
38:52
No, I don't think so.
38:54
Probably not for four.
38:55
She'll suck toes for you though, okay?
38:59
Yeah, right.
39:00
But in FD50, I'm big on India.
39:02
Yeah.
39:03
FD50, largest 50 companies in India.
39:06
It absolutely ripped last year.
39:08
It had a phenomenal year.
39:09
The domestic economy of India is incredibly strong.
39:12
Was incredibly strong last year.
39:14
Also retail investors are booming just like they are kind of here
39:19
in the US.
39:20
So fascinating to see how it's all playing out over there.
39:23
I don't think it's going so well this year.
39:25
But yeah, good to get out of the US and Australian buyers.
39:30
Cool.
39:31
Yeah.
39:32
Generally, generally.
39:33
Oh, yeah.
39:34
Oh, god.
39:35
Oh, yeah.
39:36
Don't see us to jail.
39:37
I must want to go to jail.
39:38
I'm just trying to educate.
39:39
I don't know if I have a favourite.
39:41
I think the thing for me, as Bryce just said,
39:45
we are really repeating each other a lot aren't we?
39:48
It is Rooroke.
39:49
It's like me and Vett kind of.
39:51
I think the US has just been on an absolute tear.
39:55
And the 2010s was America's decade.
39:58
But there's been a lot of stock market research done and is very
40:03
rare that one market or one country backs it up decade after
40:08
decade.
40:09
You know, there are times when Australia or New Zealand has had
40:12
the best stock market.
40:13
There's times when the UK, India, Japan.
40:17
Everyone has a time, but it's very rare that countries
40:20
go back to back.
40:21
If you've lived through the last 10 years and you've been
40:24
investing through the last 10 years, you're likely to have a
40:27
lot of American exposure because that's sort of what everyone's
40:30
spoken about, all the big American tech names and the S&P 500
40:33
and the Nasdaq 100.
40:34
But there's a whole world out there that you can access
40:37
through the ASX or through the New Zealand stock market.
40:41
And so look at Europe, look at Asia and build a globally
40:45
diversified portfolio because who knows which country is
40:49
going to win this decade, but you can invest in them all.
40:53
We should have a bit and come back in 10 years' time.
40:56
Absolutely not.
40:57
You always bang on about investing not being betting.
40:59
No, no, no, we're having a bit on it.
41:01
Which market's going to be the next decade winner?
41:04
Hey guys, thank you so much for being on our podcast.
41:07
How fun.
41:08
Well, thank you for having.
41:09
It's been a lot of fun.
41:11
Yeah.
41:13
If either of you break up with your wives or girlfriends,
41:15
be sure to let us know so we can tell our audience that you're
41:18
now available.
41:19
And have a thing on that tattoo thing, right?
41:23
Yeah.
41:24
You just will come up with the same ideas, but you let us know.
41:27
You could get it behind your ear.
41:28
You know, it could be the tiniest tattoo you've ever seen.
41:30
But it's a tattoo.
41:31
It would make good content.
41:32
It would make bloody good content.
41:34
All right, well, we'll think about that.
41:36
You guys think about what you're going to do for the $100 challenge.
41:38
Yeah.
41:40
When you come on, get started investing.
41:42
Yeah, sounds great.
41:43
Okay.
41:44
Bye guys.
41:45
Thank you.
41:46
Bye.
41:47
Thanks guys.
41:48
Thank you so much for listening to Raising the Curve.
41:50
These conversations are designed to teach you everything that you need to know
41:54
to be better with your money.
41:55
From saving, to investing, to talking to your friends about your salaries.
41:59
And if you liked what you heard, we would love it.
42:02
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42:04
Or, leave a review.
42:06
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42:08
And it would really make our week, our year, our month.
42:11
Okay.
42:12
Lots of love.
42:13
See you soon.
42:14
Bye.