Latest / The Curve / RTC108: Our most inspirational story to date.

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RTC108: Our most inspirational story to date. · 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 Shurma were slipping carrots into the brownie recipe.
0:11
I don't really get the saying.
0:13
It's kind of like eating vegetables that actually taste good.
0:17
You know, I'm like staring at it with you.
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.
0:33
It's the brownie recipe.
0:34
OK, we got there, we got there.
0:36
OK, OK, well, you've really got a finance brain.
0:38
Yeah, one of us has to.
0:40
This is a joke.
0:41
OK, come and learn alongside me from Vick Harris, ex-fun manager,
0:45
where I'm going to ask all the questions that you wish you could.
0:48
And I'm going to be eating all the brownie you wish you could.
0:50
No, that's so not the joke, Vick.
0:53
Oh, OK, just come and talk and learn and laugh with us.
0:56
Because together, we really can raise the curve.
1:00
Do you reckon this is our most amazing story
1:02
we've ever had on the podcast?
1:03
Well, we keep mentioning, even when we go to a vence,
1:05
I'm going to be like, oh, and we interviewed this guest on the podcast.
1:08
And she was so bubbly and so full of life and just her story.
1:12
Yeah, I kind of forgot that I was supposed to be interviewing.
1:14
I just keep listening.
1:15
And then I was like, always do that.
1:16
Ask Christian, when they're really good.
1:18
Yeah, you know, you're just kind of like,
1:20
get engrossed in the story, but she, so fear.
1:24
We actually first got in touch with her on Instagram, didn't we?
1:27
Oh, you actually mentioned just like years ago,
1:29
being like, love that you're trying to educate woman about investing.
1:33
I want to tell you a story and we're not going to give it away
1:35
because you have to listen to the whole episode.
1:37
Just give it a listen.
1:39
It's really good.
1:40
It's the most, if you need any kind of inspiration
1:42
as to why you should be investing from a young age,
1:45
she was 16 when she started,
1:46
versus the only motivation that you will ever need.
1:51
Welcome to the studio.
1:52
This is actually the first time we've ever had someone from the curve community.
1:55
And I would say welcome to the studio.
1:58
Like, yeah, you're right, Ashley.
2:01
We are in Victoria Harris's sister's house in the children's room.
2:04
This is not exactly a studio.
2:07
That's enough, you know.
2:08
I went to move, move some stuff in one of the toys, like, seat off.
2:12
And it was like, I was like, oh, my god, what is it?
2:16
Thank you for bearing with us.
2:18
So fear she gets anxious, wow, it's so good to see behind the scenes in your life.
2:22
Oh, we're sorry about the behind the scenes.
2:24
BTS girl.
2:26
Well, I thought it was fascinating.
2:27
Finally, finally got to see what it looks like from the other side.
2:30
So I enjoyed it.
2:31
And I'm very excited to be here with you too.
2:34
Well, so we first spoke to Sophia.
2:35
She sent us, you sent us a DM.
2:37
This would have been like two years ago, I think.
2:40
I'm not going to give the story away.
2:41
I'd love to hear it from you.
2:42
But we were just like, if you need any kind of encouragement
2:46
or motivation, yeah, it would be the story.
2:50
Basically, when I grew up,
2:52
my dad had just retired from a career on Wall Street.
2:58
How long was he retiring?
3:01
35 maybe?
3:02
Oh, that's me retiring now.
3:04
Thank you.
3:07
Amazing.
3:08
Gosh, yeah.
3:09
But he basically left Wall Street
3:12
because he didn't find it fulfilling.
3:14
And so I was very lucky to grow up with him in the house with me.
3:18
So I had two parents at home growing up.
3:21
And that's so rare in itself as well.
3:26
To have your mum and your dad around when you're a kid is quite special.
3:30
And how cool for your dad to be there with you growing up
3:34
and not having to go to work and sign with your mum?
3:36
Yeah, I feel like that.
3:37
No, I mean, pretty extraordinary circumstances.
3:41
So I feel very, very, very grateful.
3:43
But basically, he wanted to move overseas
3:48
with our family when my sister and I were still young,
3:51
so we could experience a life outside of the US
3:53
because living there in California is very much a bubble
3:57
and the rest of the world is not like that.
3:59
So grew up in New Zealand for a couple of years.
4:01
So we actually lived down outside of Nelson.
4:04
So I would say that there was just a level of exposure
4:08
to these topics and words growing up.
4:10
But I always remember listening to my dad's business phone calls
4:14
growing up and just I think through that,
4:17
you kind of hear these words and become familiar with topics
4:21
and certain things that you kind of hold on to for a while.
4:26
So she's a kid.
4:27
You things really stick with you for a long time.
4:29
It's quite scary and that's what I'm scared of
4:32
being a parent.
4:32
Like kids pick up on everything.
4:35
You have to be so careful.
4:37
You swear once and then they're going round and saying,
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Oh gosh, gosh.
4:42
Yeah, which is also why you know,
4:44
if you're fighting a lot with your partner,
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they pick up on that if you're appreciating your partner
4:50
or if you're yeah, if you're talking about money,
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if you're talking about investing,
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all of that, they pick up on.
4:54
So that's crazy.
4:55
Yeah, so there's just so much more in tune
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I think than we give them credit for that.
4:59
Even my goddaughter, who's just turned two,
5:01
she can't speak, she can't say anything.
5:03
But you say a full sentence to her and she will go and do it.
5:06
She understands what you're talking about.
5:08
And that's someone that can't even speak.
5:10
So you think about when they can,
5:11
then speak how much they must be absorbing.
5:13
Totally.
5:14
And it's like, I remember,
5:15
because she still doesn't really say a lot.
5:17
It's like, mummy, daddy, small things.
5:19
But if you're like,
5:21
Ivy, walk over to the fridge and do you feel like a yoga?
5:24
Okay, go over, you know, whatever.
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And she'll just go, you're like,
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Oh my god, you do what I'm saying.
5:29
You know exactly what's going on.
5:31
And so to think from the age of gosh, day dot,
5:34
you heard conversations about investing
5:36
in the way in which it's impacted not only your life
5:39
and your financial situation,
5:41
but also your career and everything is so cool.
5:44
So you got to forgive me if I get the age wrong.
5:47
But you got to about 15 and asked for something
5:50
in particular for your birthday.
5:53
Can you tell everybody listening what you asked for
5:56
and then how that eventually added into being
5:58
something that you now still have totally?
6:01
So to properly tell this story,
6:03
I need to go back and tell I was about 10 years old.
6:06
I just love that we're getting all the holidays.
6:08
You got to have a corporate context for this.
6:11
So when I was 10 years old,
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I was obviously growing up in the Bay area
6:15
and that is a hub of tech and finance and a lot of things.
6:21
And you know, about an hour south from where I was growing up in Berkeley,
6:26
there was the Tesla plant.
6:28
So the first Tesla plant ever was in the South Bay
6:33
in Fremont and I remember, you know,
6:37
driving home from school some days and like seeing a Tesla.
6:41
And this is like, these are like the first Tesla's
6:43
that like ever rolled off.
6:44
I even love how you say Tesla.
6:46
I'm like, you say it's so much nicer.
6:47
So it makes it so much more luxurious.
6:50
Tesla, Tesla.
6:51
Yeah.
6:52
I've never been complimented with that before,
6:54
but that's the New Zealand accent does make things sound
6:57
a little bit more bogan than maybe.
6:58
Yeah.
6:59
Tesla.
7:00
Yeah.
7:01
Tesla, you know.
7:01
I got a toilet.
7:03
Yeah.
7:04
Do you know why?
7:05
Because when you guys say Tesla,
7:06
you say it with a Z or a Tesla.
7:09
Tesla, Tesla, Tesla, Tesla.
7:12
Oh my gosh.
7:13
Have you got a Tesla?
7:14
Oh, okay.
7:15
I'm going to try the Tesla.
7:17
Yeah.
7:18
I even, oh my god.
7:19
I nearly gave it away again.
7:20
So I was obsessed with them.
7:23
From like the second I first saw a Tesla's,
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I love them.
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I was like, I want one one day.
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I'm going to make it happen.
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I'm not sure how.
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I'm 10 years old, but one day,
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I'm going to own a Tesla.
7:35
Did you know that it was an electric vehicle?
7:37
Did you understand the concept of like,
7:39
it's not driven by petrol.
7:40
It's driven by by batteries.
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And, you know, like, did you get that?
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Yes.
7:44
So that was actually one of the things that I loved about it.
7:48
Was the fact that it was innovative technology,
7:51
you know, electric cars.
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I remember seeing the Tesla roadsters as well,
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which were just like the sportiest looking
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cool cars I'd ever seen in my whole life house.
8:02
And I'm not even really a car person.
8:03
So I don't know why I just gravitated
8:06
towards them so much, but love them.
8:11
So I always knew that I was going to own a Tesla
8:13
one way or another.
8:14
Oh, so just the confidence there is just stunning.
8:18
I could really use a bit of that.
8:20
Yeah.
8:20
I'm going to do this one day, you know what?
8:22
Kids so, they don't see the barriers.
8:25
They just, they're quite ambitious in terms of,
8:28
I guess they just have, they just dream big.
8:31
It's like, it's kind of sad that we lose that as an adult,
8:34
that we don't, we're not as ambitious
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or we don't have that same sense of,
8:39
there's no fear.
8:40
Yeah, it's like skiing.
8:42
When you're a kid, you just go straight down the mountain
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and then probably bail.
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Like, you don't have that fear.
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Whereas, in an adult, you're like,
8:49
yeah, it's like slowly down like a snail.
8:53
And I just hear a really terrible ski accident
8:55
that happened to me when I was 10 just for context.
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This is like, I decided I'd like to be a freestyle skier,
9:00
which was never ever going to be in my path.
9:03
But I had a helmet on, I'll just preface this story.
9:05
Yeah.
9:05
I decided I wanted to try a rail.
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So I did like the sideways thing with two skis,
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by the way, quite difficult.
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And they kind of got confused and separated.
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And then like, I flipped up and landed on my head on the rail.
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And then like sort of crumbled down.
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And I just remember there was all these people
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on the chairlift cracking up at me.
9:26
But then all of a sudden, I was like,
9:27
but I had to be like, banana boated down the mountain.
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Like, remember vomiting into the neck breaks I had
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and I had to call the hospital to get my knee.
9:36
It was so...
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Did you ever ski again after that?
9:39
Yeah, I skated.
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I went near a hill or a bump or a rail.
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I was like, absolutely not.
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I'm impressed.
9:44
I don't think I'd ever get on skis ever again.
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I mean, I was like, I didn't actually break my knee
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just to preface the goal I might have.
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But anyway, the point is, I was like, I'll do the rail.
9:52
Where is now?
9:53
I've kind of got this.
9:55
Oh no, I'm going to be quite careful of this.
9:56
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
9:57
I don't need to try that.
9:58
I'm fine, just going all the way up.
9:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:00
Whereas I think when you're younger, you're right.
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There's like a fearless, I can do anything.
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I can get what I want.
10:06
Which I think we need to try and...
10:07
Exactly.
10:08
Actually, I agree.
10:09
I agree.
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100%.
10:11
So you were 10.
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Sorry, I was just going to remember where I left off.
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So I knew I wanted to test someone one day
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and I was going to make it happen.
10:21
And fast forward a couple of years
10:23
and often in the US, which I'm assuming it's similar here,
10:27
16th birthdays are usually pretty big.
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So it's a sweet 16th.
10:31
It's a sweet 16th.
10:32
Yeah, exactly.
10:32
Do you remember that?
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MTV shows.
10:34
Yeah.
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And they were like, come outside with God of Surprise.
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It's like, well, it's obviously a car.
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And they're like, oh my gosh.
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And it's like, you...
10:41
MTV's the end.
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And you're just sexting.
10:44
You're getting a car.
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You're going to be so shocking.
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So my 16th birthday rolls around
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and my parents asked me what I want.
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And I said that I wanted Tesla shares.
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They bought me 16 shares of Tesla.
11:02
Oh, because you were 16.
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That was 16.
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And they bought it with the intention that one day,
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obviously the shares would go up and not necessarily by a car,
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but have some starting money to use in a investment.
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Later on in life.
11:18
How old are you guys?
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A little bit of calculations over there, which I'm sorry.
11:21
How old am I?
11:21
25.
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25.
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So this would have been 17.
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And 19.
11:25
19 years ago.
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Nine years ago, but nine.
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So, wow.
11:31
Don't take offense to that.
11:32
She's not thinking that you're 20.
11:34
No, don't worry.
11:35
So that was kind of what happened is I got these Tesla shares.
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And did you check them at the 17th birthday?
11:43
Did you kind of get them and forget about them?
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To be completely honest.
11:47
I kind of forgot about them.
11:48
Yeah.
11:48
Because it was at a time when you know,
11:51
they're pretty volatile, not going up an extreme amount.
11:57
You know, Tesla was still kind of in its infancy in some way.
12:01
So kind of forgot about them a little bit.
12:03
And I guess even that in itself is great.
12:05
It's not like you got them and you were checking them every day
12:07
and wondering what was going on.
12:09
There was an element of got them pulled on to them.
12:13
A long-term investment.
12:14
I'll track them in a couple years from now.
12:17
So essentially having trouble with calculations.
12:20
She's looking at me with the real confused face.
12:22
So I think it would have been August 25th
12:24
because I'm born in September 1998.
12:28
So there were $100 a share.
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When they were purchased.
12:31
So it was about $1,600 U.S.
12:34
Or original investment.
12:37
Okay.
12:37
So they were gifted to you when there were $100 a share.
12:41
The share price is now $200 a share.
12:44
But that's been split so many times
12:46
that it's the equivalent of you getting your shares
12:49
when you were 16
12:52
for that was $16 each share.
12:55
So you're $16 shares have now gone to $200 a share.
13:00
I kind of felt percentage.
13:01
I knew you would ask that.
13:03
But like a lot.
13:05
That's just like multiple times.
13:09
Yeah.
13:09
It's a win they.
13:10
So I remember when you first told me about the $100 beggar
13:13
which I would like to maybe rename because it sounds really lame.
13:16
But the idea that a share goes up by 100%
13:19
and that's kind of the goal.
13:20
And it doesn't happen very often
13:21
and when it does it's exciting.
13:22
You've had like a 700 beggar.
13:24
No, 100 beggars not 100%.
13:27
That's a one beggar
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because you're just doubling it once.
13:30
100 beggars when you double it 100 times.
13:33
Oh, this is probably 100 beggars.
13:34
Then really isn't it?
13:35
It's a 12 beggar.
13:37
A 12 beggar.
13:38
What the fuck is getting 100 beggar?
13:40
Yeah.
13:41
As if that's like it.
13:42
That's over like generation.
13:44
Oh yeah.
13:44
Or like yeah.
13:45
Oh, it could be probably a little bit longer
13:47
than seven years or whatever.
13:48
So it's pretty much gone up 13 times.
13:52
It's increased.
13:52
It's it's self 13 times.
13:54
100% 13 times.
13:56
Yes.
13:57
Yeah.
13:57
So pretty, pretty extraordinary when you think about it.
14:01
Especially because Tesla when, you know,
14:03
my parents purchased it for me.
14:06
It was very volatile.
14:07
You know, it was a young company.
14:11
Didn't actually produce that many cars by that point.
14:14
So it was a very risky, risky Campbell.
14:18
And yeah, so I essentially forgot about it for quite a few years.
14:22
Did they, when you asked for them,
14:24
did they say, do you want something that's like less volatile?
14:27
Is there a different share you might be interested in?
14:29
I mean, did they question it or talk to you about the fact
14:31
that it's a risky investment?
14:33
No, I think they knew that it was either Tesla or the highway.
14:36
Yeah.
14:37
For me, just because of my personal investment
14:41
in how much I loved the company and the product.
14:44
I also think back in the day,
14:46
like I know $1,600 was a lot back then.
14:49
But I think it's also,
14:52
if it hadn't done so well,
14:54
would also have been a really good learning experience.
14:56
Do you know what I mean?
14:57
I think it's more.
14:58
Exactly.
14:58
And I just got really lucky that I got good return on it.
15:03
Yeah.
15:04
And this is what we say.
15:04
Like if you'd held those shares for even four years,
15:10
they would have still been the same price.
15:12
Yeah.
15:12
So it was, it was the same price for a very long time.
15:16
Like that's why I kind of gave up monitoring it
15:19
because I'm like, uh, chances are,
15:21
unless something crazy happens, it's kind of just going to.
15:24
So the, so she've had them for nine years.
15:27
The first four years, they did pretty much nothing.
15:29
Yeah.
15:29
The last five years they've gone.
15:32
But Anas,
15:33
so if you still got any invested,
15:35
what, can you walk us through the decision of like,
15:37
what have you done since then with those shares?
15:39
So since then, I cashed out some of those shares.
15:45
I think it was about 48 of them, if I remember correctly.
15:50
And I had just enough money to purchase my very own Tesla Model 3.
15:56
I would love if you just said you had a Honda or something.
16:02
That would be, that would be like,
16:05
practically legal to use Tesla shares to buy anything.
16:08
Tesla, you know, like you, you just have to do that.
16:11
I feel like Elon Musk would come after you.
16:12
Yeah. He'd know some kind of, I don't know,
16:15
satellite AI technology.
16:16
He would know. He likes, yeah.
16:18
He's probably spying on me anyways in my car, so, you know,
16:22
so exciting.
16:23
Honestly, I think it was one of the proudest days of my life
16:29
when I realized that I actually had enough money
16:32
in the investment account to pay for a car.
16:35
And how long ago did you buy your Tesla?
16:37
The process for buying a Tesla is basically you order it online,
16:40
which in itself is kind of crazy when you think about it.
16:43
So how old were you when you're ordering this?
16:45
Oh, 23.
16:46
23.
16:48
Imagine a 23 logging on into the Tesla website and ordering a car.
16:54
I did that.
16:55
What?
16:55
Yeah.
16:56
You had to put down the 1000 US and to be on the wait list.
16:59
And I was like, it's, it was, it was refundable.
17:01
If you got, you put your name down,
17:03
you paid $1,000 US and it was like,
17:06
we'll get in touch with you when it's ready.
17:08
And there was, I remember this, I was working at Milford at the time
17:12
and there was so much hype about Tesla.
17:14
And it was like, oh my god, this is going to be refund loosenery.
17:16
It's going to be like, you, everyone was like,
17:18
well, you may as well just put your name down.
17:20
If you get to the point where they're like,
17:21
but your car ready, you can be like,
17:22
actually, I don't want anymore.
17:23
And you get your money back.
17:24
The holy shit I didn't know.
17:26
And then I think it was like five years later or something.
17:28
It was, yeah, it was keeping delayed and delayed and they called me
17:31
and they were like, your car's ready.
17:32
And the price had gone up massively.
17:34
And I was like, I can't afford it now.
17:36
Yeah, I was like, let me not be here.
17:38
I was like, I can't afford it.
17:39
I asked my dad, I was like, do you want to take my position
17:41
in the queue, you know, and just pay me.
17:43
And he was kind of like, I can't afford it either.
17:46
And it was just a case of, it was reluctant.
17:48
See, I was like, okay, I'll give it up.
17:51
It's also just waiting for one reason.
17:52
It's something you can't have, you know.
17:54
Like, did you really want to test it?
17:55
I can't even imagine.
17:57
I mean, you've been an Audi girl through.
17:58
I know, I have, yeah.
18:00
Don't knock it too, try it.
18:01
Yeah.
18:02
Honestly, I could never drive a gas car.
18:04
Ever again.
18:05
Ever.
18:06
Yeah.
18:07
Mostly because the Tesla drives itself.
18:09
And I forget how to drive any other car.
18:12
I drive my mom's car.
18:13
And I like forget to put it in part
18:15
because the Tesla does it automatically.
18:16
It's like rolling back.
18:18
I read Elon Musk's book over summer.
18:20
And it's quite funny.
18:22
All the little quirky,
18:23
quirkisms that he's put in the car.
18:25
Like the fart sounds.
18:26
Yeah, it was like, oh, it's hilarious.
18:28
And like my niece and nephew find it so funny.
18:31
Oh my god, he goes, I was in your sister's and I said,
18:33
do you ever use that?
18:34
And she and your sister did the fart noise.
18:36
And she was like, they love it.
18:37
That honestly, if they're like crying or screaming,
18:39
she puts the fart noise on it.
18:40
And you can choose whose seat is making the fart noise too.
18:43
Yeah, like it'll be like.
18:45
So there's been a couple times I've surprised people
18:46
with that trick.
18:47
So I get back in the car after getting some groceries.
18:49
And it's just like, oh my god, it's kind of your fault.
18:53
So basically forgot about the shares for quite a while.
18:56
And then when I was in one of my finance classes,
19:00
my professor offhand was talking about recent investment news.
19:03
And he said, oh, by the way, Tessa has a stock split.
19:07
I think it was a five, I think this was maybe 2020.
19:09
And it was a five to one stock split.
19:12
And I said, oh.
19:13
For anyone, sorry, for anyone who doesn't know what that is.
19:16
So that's when shares, the Tesla shares were split.
19:19
So every one share that you own, you now own five.
19:22
But the price is reduced.
19:24
So the overall amount that you've invested doesn't change.
19:28
So you still have, say if you had $1,000 of Tesla shares
19:32
before the stocks, but you'd still have that amount.
19:34
It's just the makeup in terms of the price and the number.
19:37
So with an example, a non-finance example,
19:39
B, there's lime key pie.
19:42
And you could either have, sorry?
19:44
Just give me a second and get him in.
19:46
I'm key pie.
19:47
It's a miracle.
19:48
Key lime pie.
19:49
Oh my goodness.
19:51
What do I call it?
19:52
Lime key pie.
19:53
That's what's called key lime pie.
19:56
I mean, close enough.
19:57
You just mixed up.
19:58
What do you mean?
19:59
You're trying to be relevant for the American in the room
20:01
and you just really butcher it.
20:03
Honestly, I've never even had key lime pie.
20:05
So probably the wrong.
20:06
I know you don't have dog.
20:07
OK, there's a hot dog.
20:08
No, no, that doesn't work.
20:09
So OK, say there's a, how about apple pie?
20:12
OK, there's an apple pie.
20:14
So there's an apple pie that you can get a mini one.
20:16
You buy a mini one.
20:17
All they might say to you, hey, you're
20:19
going to get the same amount of pie.
20:20
But do you want, can we give you the slice out of this bigger pie instead?
20:24
It's like, you've got the same amount of mouthfuls of pie.
20:27
It's just a slightly different format.
20:29
Does that work?
20:30
You could, you could just say, hey, we can give you one big slice
20:34
or we can give you two slices that the same size
20:38
as the big slice is just cut in half.
20:40
Oh, that's ways.
20:40
Yeah, that's basically what it is.
20:42
So it's basically one big slice of pie cut into five.
20:46
Got it.
20:47
Yeah, so it's the same amount of pie.
20:48
You're not any better or worse off.
20:50
It's just cut up differently.
20:52
Yeah, that's what happened.
20:53
So I was like, oh, wait, I have Tesla stock.
20:57
I should probably see how many shares I have now.
21:01
So I log in and sure enough, after the stock split,
21:07
I went from having 16 shares to 16 times five.
21:11
Was that 80?
21:12
80.
21:13
Wow.
21:14
Yeah.
21:15
But essentially, I went from having relative amount of stocks
21:19
to quite a few.
21:20
And obviously, the price of each individual stock
21:23
dropped relative to how much of that piece of the pie it was.
21:28
But suddenly, I was like, wow, I have quite a few Tesla shares now.
21:31
Maybe one day, my dream of owning a Tesla really
21:34
isn't that far off.
21:36
But of course, the stock split didn't necessarily mean
21:40
that the stock price went up at all.
21:41
So still average price.
21:45
But did it take?
21:45
You talk a lot about stocks, but it's
21:47
being a really good green flag for company.
21:49
Yeah, because it does mean that usually companies
21:53
will do a stock split because their share prices
21:54
done so well, they want to make it more accessible to more people.
21:58
So they're like, hey, let's split our stock.
22:00
So instead of $200 a share, it's $100 a share.
22:02
So now people can buy it.
22:03
So and because they do it when the share price is doing well,
22:07
usually that means the company's doing well.
22:09
Therefore, it's kind of considered a green flag,
22:11
but also means more people can buy it.
22:13
So there's more demand.
22:14
So all it kind of all feeds into the same thing
22:17
around it being a good indicator.
22:19
So yes, you would have had more shares.
22:21
They wouldn't have been worth any more.
22:24
But probably the repercussions of that
22:26
meant the share price will go up because they've
22:29
increased demand and the like.
22:30
So yeah.
22:32
And so kind of kept an eye on it.
22:35
After kind of knowing about the stock split,
22:37
I definitely had it more on my radar as I was doing uni
22:40
and going about my life than the previous past couple of years.
22:45
And obviously, I think it was end of September,
22:49
beginning of October, 2021, that the stock price just shot up.
22:54
Like it was crazy within a span of a couple of weeks.
22:57
It just it went from to the beginning of 2020.
23:01
It was roughly $20.
23:04
And yeah, in the space of a year, it went from about $20 to $280.
23:12
Yeah.
23:13
So it was pretty extraordinary.
23:15
At what point?
23:16
I mean, it's good to see in hindsight,
23:18
but I don't think I'd be able to sit there and not
23:21
be tempted to react.
23:23
Not be tempted to sell or if it stopped doubles.
23:27
If it goes from $240, I'd be like, oh, amazing.
23:30
I'm going to sell it.
23:31
Or you know, like there'd be that mentality
23:32
that I want to take some profits or lock it in.
23:36
Rather than seeing go up and up and up and up
23:38
because I get scared, oh, it might come down and down
23:41
again.
23:42
So how do you manage that self control?
23:46
To be honest, I was kind of just too busy to worry
23:49
about what to do with that money.
23:51
I was in uni.
23:52
I would probably have just spent it on parting in college.
23:57
So I didn't really have anything to do with that money.
24:01
So it didn't really make sense for me to pull it out at the time.
24:04
And I just kind of thought, hey, look, I'll hold on to it
24:06
and see how much it's going to increase.
24:08
Like what can go wrong, essentially.
24:11
And so I basically held on to it as it's going up, up,
24:15
up, and up.
24:16
And one day I just decided, oh, my God,
24:20
I actually have enough money to buy a car.
24:22
And I don't even have to use all my Tesla stock.
24:24
I have more than I need.
24:25
And at that point, I was living in New Zealand.
24:27
And I remember sitting in this cafe in Nelson
24:31
and looking at my stock price,
24:35
or the current stock price, looking online at the Tesla app
24:39
and seeing how much in real time it would cost to order
24:42
and buy a car, doing a quick little calculation
24:45
and saying, oh, my God, I have enough money.
24:50
And so I can remember that moment so vividly,
24:52
because there's just one of those moments
24:53
where it doesn't really feel real.
24:55
You're like, wait, is this actually happening?
24:57
Can I really do this?
24:59
And I basically called Tesla and placed an order.
25:05
Oh, my God.
25:06
How cool to that sense of achievement?
25:10
Yeah, I feel like that must be so amazing.
25:12
When you want something so bad,
25:15
and then you finally get it, that sense of accomplishment,
25:19
yeah, it's just like, I'm surprised you can store me
25:21
but I'm not surprised you can store me
25:23
but that feeling, because it's like,
25:24
it really is once in a lifetime feeling.
25:27
It's just like one of your dreams are coming true
25:29
and you never thought, well, I did think it was going to happen
25:32
but probably not at the age of 23 while living in New Zealand.
25:38
There's so many things that I was thinking as you were talking
25:41
and I think there's something in the idea
25:44
of you didn't have a huge attachment
25:46
to the money that was invested.
25:48
In the sense that your parents invested that for you,
25:51
it was never money you had, it was never money you missed.
25:54
It was money you needed.
25:56
It sounds like in terms of you at university, you were busy.
25:59
So I think there's something to learn from that.
26:02
And invest money, you know, you've always said,
26:04
invest money, you don't mind if you lose it.
26:07
Exactly.
26:08
And it's never really at home, I think,
26:10
until listening to that story
26:11
because that was such a good example of you didn't need it.
26:14
There was no attachment, there was no emotion to that money,
26:17
it was just sort of sitting there
26:19
and you could let it do its thing.
26:20
And you had already made the decision,
26:22
you believed in Tesla, you understood the product,
26:25
you wanted a car, there was,
26:28
it's like kind of a perfect recipe
26:30
for everything that has ever tried to teach.
26:33
Any real time, you know, because I don't think
26:37
there's that many people that would have left their shares
26:39
and for that long.
26:40
I think that's also a big learning is that
26:42
there would have been people that after four years
26:44
would have been like screw this
26:46
which is done nothing
26:47
and would be absolutely kicking themselves now, do you know?
26:51
And I think there's that whole,
26:54
I think starting young as well,
26:56
nine years doesn't seem like that long.
26:58
You know, like now, it's like,
26:59
oh my gosh, nine years time, it seems like age is the way.
27:02
But when you're like 17 years old,
27:04
like it's really not what you're worried about.
27:07
There's much higher priorities in your day to day worries.
27:12
But it's, honestly, I'm so grateful
27:16
that I chose not to do anything
27:18
because I never could have done this
27:19
if I had taken the money out.
27:21
And for me, I think that's really also hit home
27:24
the importance of never touching investments
27:27
and investing for the long term.
27:29
And just letting it do its thing,
27:30
it might go up and might go down in the short term,
27:32
but not touching it is so important.
27:37
There was a few people that when we shared your story,
27:43
we're like, oh, she sold her shares
27:45
to buy a depreciating asset.
27:47
So an asset that's gonna go down value.
27:49
I forgot about that.
27:50
And she did get a bit of hate on it, actually.
27:52
And I was like, oh, for God's sake.
27:54
I mean, sorry, we need to preface.
27:55
Most people were like, oh, totally.
27:56
They're still amazing.
27:58
How did she do it?
27:59
It was so positive.
28:00
I think it was, honestly, one of our first viral posts.
28:02
Yeah, yeah.
28:03
They were like, whoa, everyone's sharing the story
28:05
around how cool and everyone was so inspired by it.
28:08
But there were people who said that.
28:09
I totally forgot.
28:10
And I totally get, like, little babe in the morning.
28:14
I saw in Facebook that because in the end of the day,
28:17
I'm the one that got the free car.
28:18
So, yeah.
28:20
But I also think it's like, your goal was to own a Tesla.
28:23
And that was your sole goal,
28:25
and you'd had that from such a young age.
28:26
So I think the fact that it was Tesla shares,
28:30
put that aside, the fact that you had invested
28:33
and that had grown to help you achieve your goal,
28:37
that's what we're doing with investing,
28:39
is we are investing for a goal, for an outcome,
28:42
whether it's to have enough money to retire,
28:44
whether it is to buy a house,
28:46
whether it is to pay for a waiting, whatever it is,
28:49
there's always some kind of goal in mind
28:51
when it comes to investing,
28:52
because it helps us be motivated and all of that.
28:53
And I think, yeah, the fact that you were motivated
28:57
to have enough to buy your own Tesla is like,
29:00
that doesn't matter what you buy with it.
29:03
You know exactly, and I think the best part is that
29:05
I still have quite a few shares left over.
29:07
So, you know, it's a net positive for me
29:10
and to be completely honest,
29:12
the joy that my car has brought me over the past
29:16
I guess, almost three years, is worth every penny,
29:19
even if I could sell it for zero dollars,
29:22
and it would still be worth it,
29:23
and I would still go to all over again.
29:25
And that's another amazing lesson, I think,
29:27
two of them, like the idea of setting a goal
29:29
when you get to it being happy, not like,
29:31
I want more, more, more, and feeling like,
29:34
it's this never-ending pit,
29:36
because I do think with money and investing,
29:37
there is a level of, well, what is enough?
29:40
What is enough for you, what are your standards,
29:43
where do you want to get to?
29:43
And everyone's a different, and for you,
29:46
yours was owning a Tesla, Tesla.
29:48
And you got there, and you were satisfied,
29:53
and you're so happy with that decision.
29:55
And yeah, and for someone else, yeah,
29:58
maybe it does seem silly and frivolous to buy a car
30:00
with that money, but not to you,
30:01
and that's not their money, so who really cares?
30:03
Yeah, and it's like everyone's different.
30:05
And I think another thing too is, you know,
30:08
I'm not buying a house right now.
30:09
I don't have crazy life expenses beyond my rent and food,
30:13
and whatnot.
30:14
I don't really need the money at the moment.
30:17
I might as well use it for fun,
30:18
like if you talked to a financial advisor,
30:22
maybe not the wisest choice,
30:24
but I'm totally okay with it, and I'm young,
30:26
and so I can actually make that money back in the long run.
30:30
I think for me, I'm just so happy with it that I don't care.
30:34
I love that.
30:35
I love that.
30:36
The idea of finding the balance between security,
30:41
stability, knowing you're growing your money,
30:43
working towards goals is one thing,
30:45
but also we have one life, and you do have to find
30:50
your own personal balance of how is spending my money now
30:54
going to bring me happiness,
30:55
and how can I give myself enough stability
30:57
to also know I'm looking after myself
30:59
in the future and the other things that I want.
31:02
And I think learning about investing at such a young age,
31:04
and having that implemented and being able to reach your goal,
31:07
take money out by the thing you want.
31:10
Is it such an incredible lesson to learn so early?
31:12
One thing I would say is that people might be listening
31:16
and be like, oh, you got lucky.
31:19
You know, in terms of you picked a stock
31:23
that did really well, that's luck.
31:25
And I guess what I would say is yes,
31:28
you're not going to, not everyone,
31:31
sorry, is going to find a stock that goes up so much
31:34
in the space of nine years.
31:36
And this is kind of why I guess we always talk about
31:38
diversification because yes, you might not find stocks
31:42
that go up this much, but if you do,
31:44
and you've got even some amount invested in it,
31:46
that's amazing.
31:47
And the other stocks that you invest in might go down
31:50
or might go up only 20% or whatever,
31:52
but yeah, it's about spreading that risk as well
31:55
because I don't want people to listen and be like,
31:58
I'm only going to invest in one thing,
32:00
and that's a highly volatile, risky company.
32:04
But you're 16, and you weren't relying on that money.
32:06
And so I think it's more just remembering
32:08
your own personal circumstance and what are your goals
32:10
and what are you trying to achieve,
32:11
what's your, how much time do you have?
32:13
Like, and yeah, for anyone that's listening
32:15
and maybe this is the first curved podcast you've listened to,
32:18
and you're like, oh, shit.
32:20
This investing stuff sounds real cool.
32:21
I can back cars and stuff.
32:23
Go back to our earlier episodes
32:25
and listen to some of those foundational things
32:26
because you're right, there's so much more to it
32:29
than just choosing one company and going for it.
32:31
But then there's also, there's just like so many lessons
32:35
in this episode.
32:35
It's great.
32:36
Is that investing in what you know and what you love
32:40
and what you're passionate about
32:41
and what you're excited about,
32:43
it makes investing so much more fun and interesting
32:45
and could lead you to actually buying their product
32:48
in the future, but yeah, if you actually are passionate
32:52
about something and interested in something,
32:54
it just makes investing so much more exciting,
32:57
which is what we want.
32:58
We want people to get excited about money.
33:00
Definitely, and look, I totally realized
33:03
that I have been so lucky,
33:06
whether it's Tesla stock actually going up over the long run
33:09
and my parents being able to afford
33:11
that initial investment,
33:14
like I totally get that that's so many things
33:17
had to go right for it to all work out in the end.
33:20
But at the same time, I wouldn't change it for the world.
33:23
And no, I didn't do massive research on Tesla
33:28
when I was 16 and examining all of its financials
33:32
and whatnot, but it's worked out.
33:35
And I'm so, so grateful for it every single day.
33:40
Even if you'd invested in something
33:41
they hadn't done well, you know,
33:42
something that you'd like to fit with Disney
33:45
or if it was Nike or something like something
33:46
at a young age, a brand that you knew,
33:49
like even just learning that investing mentality
33:53
would have set you up so well.
33:56
And like, used to might be parents listening
33:59
being like, oh gosh, I can't afford that much
34:01
in shares for my daughter or my son or whatever.
34:04
And that's absolutely fine.
34:05
But even just buying them as much as you can
34:09
or $10 of a share, yeah, $10 of a Tesla share
34:12
where anything is going to start that conversation
34:15
and they're going to start seeing it go up and down
34:17
and they might wake up in nine years time
34:19
and have a lot of money to play with.
34:22
So magic has happened.
34:24
No, exactly.
34:25
And I think honestly, even if Tesla stock plummeted
34:28
and I would have lost that initial investment,
34:31
I still would have learned a lot.
34:33
You know, I would still be grateful for the opportunity
34:36
and for the learning because ultimately
34:38
that's one of the biggest things
34:40
to come out of this experience is the learning.
34:43
Do you think you would have gone back
34:46
for round two of a big investment like that
34:50
if it hadn't gone well?
34:51
Because I know there are a lot of people
34:52
who have invested their first experience
34:54
wasn't great and so they put it off
34:56
or they've heard really bad experiences
34:58
from grandparents or friends or family or whatever.
35:01
Do you think that you understood investing enough
35:05
before that to not put you off?
35:06
And I guess like what kind of thoughts
35:08
would you have for people who have done that?
35:11
As Vic said earlier, it's all about diversification.
35:15
Yeah.
35:15
So I would not have put it all in one stock.
35:19
Obviously I would have done my research
35:22
done multiple different sectors
35:24
and probably thought a little bit more
35:27
about the asset allocation
35:28
and just putting everything into Tesla.
35:31
But I think investing is so important
35:34
that even if it doesn't work out on the first try,
35:38
ultimately over your lifetime,
35:41
it's gonna be in that positive, I think.
35:43
So it is incredibly important.
35:45
Is there anything you've listened to the curve
35:46
and you know the sorts of things that Vic talks about?
35:48
Is there any strategies or things
35:51
that you think you could share knowledge wise
35:52
with those who maybe haven't learned a lot about investing?
35:55
Even if it's just really small little things
35:57
you've learned along the way?
35:59
A couple of things.
36:01
First, I would say invest for the long term.
36:05
Yeah, you know, like.
36:07
So it's like, oh, I know it's not very exciting.
36:11
But when I'm being positive about it
36:13
because I've got a guest in studio
36:14
and I'm not gonna be rude to her.
36:15
Oh, just rude to you.
36:18
Oh, can we be rude after one of the mics are off?
36:22
So I would say long term investment, you know,
36:24
focusing on that is really important.
36:26
And also re-evaluation of your investment.
36:30
So making sure that that risk profile
36:34
actually fits with where you are now.
36:36
A lot of people who don't know where their Kiwi Saver
36:38
is automatically get put into default funds
36:42
at which are balanced funds,
36:44
which is not appropriate usually for someone
36:47
who's young and has a really high-risk tolerance
36:51
because they're low, they're usually low returning.
36:53
So they're not risky.
36:55
They're investing in pretty boring things
36:57
and therefore the returns are pretty low.
37:00
Whereas if you've got 20, 30 years
37:02
you should be investing in high-risk,
37:04
high-returning funds Kiwi Saver schemes.
37:07
Yeah.
37:08
And of course, you know,
37:09
it differs by people's individual circumstances
37:12
but that's the general thought behind it.
37:15
So evaluating that every couple of years
37:18
and making sure that you are in the right fund
37:20
for what you're gonna need that money for.
37:23
So let's give an example then.
37:24
So say somebody was, I don't know,
37:28
they originally went into a high-growth fund
37:30
and then they were about to buy a house in the next six months.
37:33
It might be moving that money into something
37:35
that's less risky, right?
37:37
Exactly.
37:37
So you would probably not wanna be in the high-growth fund,
37:40
right, as you're about to have to pull that money out
37:43
to make your deposit.
37:45
So you'd want to put it into a fund
37:48
where it's not as volatile.
37:50
So you know that you're generally gonna get that same amount
37:52
when you need the money,
37:55
which is important to know
37:56
because otherwise sometimes you're left having to pull
38:01
your money out of your Kiwi Saver
38:02
when it's down quite a bit.
38:04
And that's not good for anyone in those circumstances.
38:08
So I'd say that is really important.
38:11
And also knowledge and continued learning.
38:15
I think the finance industry,
38:17
and this is what I've realized, is complex.
38:19
There's definitely complex topics and ideas
38:22
and math involved.
38:25
But they make it very exclusionary
38:27
by using very complex language
38:29
that the average person can't understand.
38:32
But when you actually dig into what these concepts are,
38:35
if you use normal, you know, English
38:37
and you weren't using this industry jargon,
38:41
the lot of the topics aren't as complex.
38:42
So it does require some fundamental,
38:47
initial learning to get comfortable with these topics
38:50
that actually aren't that scary when you do the research.
38:54
It's like learning a language.
38:55
You know, now when someone sees Bonjour,
38:57
I'm like, ah, you're saying hello.
38:59
You just think for a French kid.
39:01
But I don't know what Bonjour remains.
39:06
I'd be like, what are you saying to me?
39:08
There's something you give me so much
39:10
for the pie analogy.
39:11
That was really averaged.
39:13
I mean, to be fair, it was Keyline pie.
39:17
Like that was totally out of the field.
39:19
So I'm not where you were going with that.
39:21
Sorry, okay, fine.
39:22
But the point is, is that anybody can learn how to invest.
39:26
This is an old and exclusive language.
39:28
Why do you think New Zealand is so far behind?
39:30
Like, what is the culture like in the States
39:32
when it comes to investing?
39:33
Do a lot of your friends back home invest?
39:36
Yeah, so that's a slightly more difficult question
39:38
because so much of that depends on your education level
39:42
and your income and obviously in the US.
39:44
There's a large social stratification
39:47
in terms of financial literacy.
39:50
And a lot of my friends invest,
39:54
but obviously they mostly have university level educations.
40:00
They come from families that are pretty well off.
40:05
And so they've had access to that learning and education.
40:09
Whereas, you know, it's a lot more difficult
40:11
for some people to get that same information.
40:14
If it's not talked about in your family
40:17
or already kind of spoken about in your community.
40:22
But I think it's been really interesting coming from a place.
40:25
And obviously I have degree in finance.
40:29
I went to university, I studied these things.
40:31
So my understanding of these concepts
40:35
is a little bit more than the average person.
40:38
But it's been really interesting coming from the US
40:42
to New Zealand where everything here
40:44
is about investing in property and not the stock market.
40:48
So there's a whole gap of knowledge for a lot of people,
40:52
which is, I'm sure similar to the US in some ways.
40:57
But it's really interesting that people
41:00
know exactly when to buy a house and how to do it
41:04
and house prices.
41:06
But when you ask them about investing
41:08
in anything other than their kiwi saber,
41:10
that it's like a blink to them.
41:12
And it's really interesting.
41:13
I have a flatmate who allowed me to actually share this story.
41:17
She is a doctor, her final year of medical school.
41:20
She's incredibly smart.
41:22
And she got alumsome payment for her yearly salary, essentially.
41:27
And she came home one day and she's like,
41:29
oh my god, I have no idea what to do with this lump sum payment
41:32
I got.
41:33
I don't even know where to start.
41:37
And it was really interesting for me
41:39
because she is so smart.
41:41
It has been at university for the past eight years.
41:44
And she didn't know what to do with that.
41:47
And so I said, OK, I'm assigning you some homework.
41:50
Read your list.
41:51
Come into my office.
41:52
Read this.
41:53
And this will be the first step in the right direction
41:57
in terms of figuring out what to do with that money.
41:59
But it's interesting you say that
42:01
because she would be so clued up in her field
42:04
as you are very clued up in your field.
42:06
And it's so true.
42:07
It's like just because you're smart at one thing
42:10
or good at one thing doesn't necessarily
42:11
mean you're good at another.
42:12
And it's like just realizing, even when I talk to lawyers,
42:16
I'm like, can you just explain it in normal terms?
42:18
I'm like, I now know how frustrating it is
42:21
when the finance industry talks to someone
42:24
from the non-finance industry and talks in jargon
42:26
and is trying to make it confusing.
42:28
It's like, you don't need to explain it like that.
42:30
Why can't you?
42:31
I mean, I got an email the other day from someone
42:33
that's helping us with website stuff.
42:35
And honestly, I reckon three words in this giant email
42:38
I understood.
42:39
The point where I actually replied, and I said, I'm so sorry.
42:41
Like, actually, this is a whole other language for me.
42:43
Yeah.
42:44
Don't know what you're talking about.
42:46
Like, I just had to be honest because I was like, I don't know
42:48
what, I don't want to say these things.
42:50
I mean, also, I call it like that.
42:52
But yeah, I think it's just, I think it's up to both people
42:56
to try and explain things in a way that makes sense.
42:58
But also, don't be afraid to ask a question.
43:01
Yeah.
43:01
Absolutely.
43:02
And good on your flatmate for even feeling comfortable
43:04
enough to come and say to you, hey, I'm in the situation.
43:07
I don't really know what to do.
43:08
But I know I don't have the information
43:11
of the education to make a good decision.
43:13
What do you think?
43:15
Where can I go and look for more info?
43:16
Yeah.
43:17
Also, I hope you send her the curve podcast.
43:19
Oh, yeah.
43:20
Don't wait.
43:21
Thank you.
43:22
Thank you.
43:23
I love that.
43:24
Firstly, Sophia, before we say goodbye, we'd just like to say,
43:28
thank you for sharing your story with us on Instagram.
43:30
I remember when you sent it.
43:31
And I think I sent, like, capitals with heaps of mode.
43:34
You just being like, oh, my goodness.
43:35
And there was a picture of you next to your car.
43:37
And I was like, oh, yeah, we should get some photos
43:40
in front of the car.
43:41
The teaser.
43:42
I did bring it.
43:43
Oh, my goodness.
43:44
I mean, I had to, you know, just put it there
43:45
and have some fart noises.
43:46
Whoa.
43:48
But it's like, I hope people are listening, feel inspired
43:50
and excited.
43:51
And I'm sure that they will, because I definitely did.
43:54
And yeah, we'd love to get you on again.
43:57
Slash, if you ever leave your job,
43:58
and the curve can afford to pay you,
44:00
I feel like you'd be a great employee.
44:02
You've grown a bit.
44:03
I know my boss isn't listening to that.
44:05
Yeah.
44:06
But maybe good leverage for a pay rise, you know?
44:08
And if you ever want to sell your Tesla,
44:10
yeah, we're also new to it.
44:11
OK, I know that you guys have first steps.
44:12
Yeah, yeah, perfect.
44:13
Perfect.
44:15
Thank you so much for listening to Raising the Curve.
44:18
These conversations are designed
44:19
to teach you everything that you need
44:21
to know to be better with your money,
44:22
from saving, to investing, to talking to your friends
44:25
about your salaries.
44:26
And if you liked what you heard, we would love it.
44:29
If you could hit subscribe button, please.
44:30
Yes, please.
44:31
Better yet.
44:32
Leave a review.
44:33
It'll only take five seconds, and it would really make our week.
44:37
Oh, yeah.
44:37
Our month.
44:38
OK.
44:38
Lots of love.
44:39
See you soon.
44:39
Bye.