第1章
Breaking the Money Taboo: Why Investing Isn't Just for the Rich
Victoria Devine's "Investing with She's on the Money" has become a sensation among millennials seeking financial independence. As the founder of Australia's leading financial podcast for women, Devine has created a movement that's changing how an entire generation approaches wealth-building. What makes this book particularly powerful is how it dismantles the notion that investing is only for the wealthy or financially savvy. With her background in behavioral psychology and financial advising, Devine speaks directly to readers who feel intimidated by the investment world, offering them a roadmap that feels both accessible and empowering. In a financial landscape where women retire with 42% less superannuation than men, this book arrives as a timely intervention, already transforming thousands of lives through its practical, judgment-free approach to building wealth.
第2章
The Money Mindset: Understanding Your Financial Psychology
Before diving into investment strategies, we must first understand how our thoughts and emotions influence our financial decisions. Your money mindset-the collection of beliefs and attitudes you hold about money-profoundly impacts your ability to build wealth. These beliefs often form during childhood as you observe how your parents or guardians handle finances. Someone who grew up watching their parents struggle with debt might develop anxiety around spending, while another person raised in financial abundance might approach money with confidence or even carelessness.
Recognizing your money personality is crucial for developing effective financial strategies. Financial psychology pioneer Kathleen Gurney identified nine distinct money personalities: High Rollers (thrill-seekers who enjoy financial risks), Optimists (who value peace of mind over growth), Entrepreneurs (high-income earners who enjoy money's power), Hunters (educated but impulsive spenders), Perfectionists (who often avoid decisions entirely), Safety Players (preferring secure investments), Achievers (who believe hard work pays off), Money Masters (top wealth accumulators), and Producers (hard workers with lower incomes due to lack of confidence).
These personalities explain why one-size-fits-all financial advice often fails. A High Roller might thrive with aggressive investment strategies that would cause a Safety Player immense anxiety. Understanding your natural tendencies helps you develop strategies that work with-rather than against-your psychological makeup.
Changing your money mindset requires conscious effort. Our financial behaviors often stem from subconscious patterns established decades ago. Start by reframing negative terminology-replace "budget" with "spending plan" or "financial goals" to emphasize positivity rather than restriction. Remember that thoughts create feelings, feelings create behaviors, and this cycle continues until you consciously break it.
Our money stories begin forming as early as age seven when we absorb family habits and internalize concepts of scarcity and abundance. Those who grew up with little might become risk-averse or, conversely, determined to spend lavishly. Neither extreme serves long-term wealth building. While you can't change your past, you can change how it affects your present and future by examining how your formative years shaped your identity and financial decisions.
Setting realistic, achievable goals is crucial for rewriting your money story. Rather than traditional SMART goals, Devine recommends SOTM goals: Specific, Optimistic, Time-bound, and Measurable. The optimistic component focuses on mindset and self-belief-essential elements for financial success. Working on multiple goals simultaneously across different timescales-short-term (weekend away), medium-term (car upgrade), and long-term (property purchase)-creates a framework that keeps you motivated.
Ultimately, living in harmony with your values makes everything easier and helps shed guilt around money decisions. With money and time, you can have anything you want-but not everything. When you align spending with values, you create a life that feels authentic and fulfilling rather than one dictated by others' expectations.
第3章
Understanding Risk: The Key to Smart Investing
Most people bristle at the word "risk" because we spend our lives trying to avoid dangers. However, the absence of making a financial choice is still a choice-and often a poor one. Keeping money in low-interest accounts means its value diminishes over time due to inflation. Counterintuitively, doing nothing with your finances is actually risky-you might not just stay where you are financially but go backward.
Our perception of risk is often irrational. Many people fear investing in shares but feel comfortable with property investment because it's tangible and familiar. But is borrowing hundreds of thousands for property truly less risky than researching and investing in quality company shares? Property has limitations too-it's not liquid, requires maintenance, and involves significant transaction costs when selling.
The same people who fear traditional investments often readily throw money at newer, less understood assets like cryptocurrency, influenced by media stories of overnight millionaires. These stories feature struggling workers who supposedly struck it rich and now live on yachts making fortunes while sleeping. But such success stories are rarely replicable.
Another concerning trend is trusting social media influencers over certified professionals. For every legitimate financial expert online, hundreds of unqualified influencers are selling crypto schemes or promising unrealistic returns. Would you let your dentist service your car? Then why take investment advice from influencers?
Your risk appetite directly influences your investment decisions. Education is key to making informed choices, as many investors lack sufficient knowledge about their options. Risk is personal-only you can determine what you're willing to accept based on your risk tolerance, life stage, investment capital, and current market conditions.
Common investing risks include trying to time the market (impossible to do consistently), rushing into investments because of FOMO, inflation risk (reduced purchasing power over time), currency risk (for international investments), and market volatility. Understanding these risks doesn't mean avoiding investing altogether but approaching it with appropriate knowledge and expectations.
For those under 35, you have the advantage of time, which can mitigate some investment risks. Even older investors don't need to chase risky get-rich-quick schemes-there are safe, proven ways to build wealth through informed decisions that match your comfort level.
第4章
Building a Solid Foundation Before Investing
Before diving into investing, we need to create a solid foundation for building wealth. This means challenging the idea of looking "rich" versus being truly wealthy. When we go into debt for luxury items, we commit future earnings to pay for things whose appeal has already worn off. Many people avoid investing due to common misconceptions: that it's too expensive (when not investing is actually more expensive long-term), too risky (risk is relative to your situation), requires you to be rich already (you can start with just $2,000 or even micro-investing), locks your money away (most investments are more liquid than people think), requires expertise (that's what education is for!), or could result in losing everything (only if you risk everything).
Can you start investing if you're in debt? The answer depends on your situation. Being debt-free is a privilege-some people get into debt not by choice but by necessity. If you're in debt, forgive yourself for past decisions. Repaying debt is actually a form of investing-it doesn't make sense to invest for a 5% return when you could pay off debts with 15-20% interest rates. Every extra dollar toward high-interest debt gives you that interest rate as a return.
Understanding your current financial position is crucial before investing. Start by documenting what you earn (salary, benefits, investments), what you spend (rent, bills, subscriptions), what you own (super, savings, home equity), and what you owe (credit cards, loans, HECS). This assessment will reveal if you're ready to start investing or need to get your budget on track first.
For those with variable income-students, freelancers, shift workers-take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Calculate your likely annual earnings, then average it out. Review your expenses for the past year, add a 5-10% buffer, and divide by your pay periods. The difference between your average income and expenses is what you could potentially invest.
Beware of lifestyle creep-when our spending increases alongside our income. Even small changes-choosing name brands over supermarket brands or buying slightly more expensive wine-can quickly consume an entire pay rise. The solution isn't to never treat yourself, but to make spending intentional. Commit to saving or investing at least half of any pay increase you receive.
An emergency fund is non-negotiable before you start investing. This safety net should cover at least three months of bare necessities-food, rent, utilities, and transport. The amount varies based on your circumstances, potentially increasing when you buy a home or have kids. This fund gives you power-the freedom to leave toxic jobs or relationships without financial fear.
Estate planning isn't just for the wealthy-it's essential for everyone building assets through investing. At minimum, you need a basic will to control where your assets go if something happens to you. Without one, you'll die "intestate," leaving the law to determine who gets what, regardless of your wishes.
The best time to invest was ten years ago; the second best is today. Why? Compound interest-the financial snowball effect where interest earned gets added to your principal, so you earn interest on a growing balance each period. With just $5,000 invested at age 23 and never touched again, assuming a modest 5% annual return after fees, you'd have around $40,650 by age 65. Add just $100 monthly from age 23, and that grows to $211,790 by retirement.
第5章
The Investment Landscape: Understanding Your Options
Investing has ancient roots, but the modern share market began around 1600 with the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In Australia, investing dates back to early European settlement, with the first company (Bank of New South Wales, now Westpac) founded in 1817. The Australian Stock Exchange formed relatively recently in 1987, merging six state-based exchanges.
The key takeaway? Throughout recessions, depressions, market crashes, world wars and financial crises, share markets have weathered every storm-worth remembering when markets look volatile.
When considering investments, we need to evaluate three key factors: volatility (price fluctuation potential), capital requirements (initial cost), and liquidity (how quickly you can convert to cash). The main investment types include:
Cash is secure and accessible but offers minimal returns that are further reduced by tax. It's like a giant tortoise-slow-moving but nearly indestructible.
Property is a medium-security, tangible asset that can generate rental income and appreciate over time. However, it's highly illiquid (you can't sell off just a room), requires maintenance, and its true value is only known when sold.
Bonds and fixed interest assets offer consistent returns over specified periods. They're essentially loans to corporations or governments that provide regular interest payments. Government bonds tend to be lower risk than corporate ones.
Listed shares, while considered high-risk, are highly liquid and can provide returns through both capital growth and dividends.
Two key factors drive share market success: regularity of investment and time. How consistently you invest matters more than how much, and with enough time, even small regular contributions can yield significant returns. While shares appear volatile day-to-day or month-to-month, stepping back reveals a long-term upward trend.
Investors make money in two ways: capital growth (when share prices increase) and dividends (your portion of company profits). For dividend investors, calculating dividend yield (annual dividend per share divided by share price) helps identify promising investments. The shares that pay the highest dividends are typically boring, blue-chip stocks that grow slowly but consistently-not the exciting, rapidly growing companies everyone discusses.
Inflation matters because you're only growing wealth in real terms if your investment growth surpasses inflation. If chocolate bars increase by 8% annually while your investments only grow by 7%, you're actually going backwards despite apparent wealth increases. This explains why keeping cash in the bank isn't always the best wealth preservation strategy.
第6章
Navigating the Share Market: From Basics to Strategy
At their core, shares exist because companies need to raise capital for growth. Being listed on the stock exchange allows companies to raise money for investing in systems, people, processes and projects, with the ultimate goal of growing their business and increasing profits. As an investor, you provide capital to companies because you believe their stock will become more valuable in the future, receiving ownership and a share of profits in return.
There are two common types of shares: ordinary and preferred. Ordinary shares are readily available, easy to buy, come with minority voting rights, and potentially earn dividends. Preferred shares function more like bonds, giving owners priority ("dibs") on dividends. Most preferred shares have fixed dividends, unlike ordinary shares, and preferred shareholders get paid first when dividends are distributed or if the company goes bankrupt (after debts are repaid).
A share buyback occurs when a company repurchases its own shares from investors, reducing the total number of shares in the market. Companies do this to regain control, reinvest surplus cash, or improve their debt-to-equity ratio. Buybacks typically raise the price of remaining shares and boost earnings per share, benefiting remaining shareholders.
A share split increases the number of shares while proportionally decreasing their price to make them more affordable. For example, in a 2-for-1 split, two $100 shares become four $50 shares. Apple has done multiple splits (1987, 2000, 2005, 2014, 2020) to keep shares accessible to smaller investors-without these splits, a single Apple share would have been worth around US$1,800 by 2021.
Growth shares aim to increase substantially in value over time (like Apple shares growing from US$3-6 in 2007 to US$165 today), while dividend shares focus on generating regular income for shareholders regardless of price fluctuations (like Coca-Cola's consistent dividends despite price volatility). Some rare shares offer both growth and dividends.
Blue chip shares are investments in large, established companies with proven financial stability, strong management, and consistent performance. They're considered safe harbors during economic downturns and typically pay reliable dividends rather than showing explosive growth. Australian examples include Woolworths, Telstra, and the Big Four banks.
Active investing involves hands-on management with the goal of outperforming the market, but comes with higher fees and requires more knowledge and time. Passive investing aims for consistent long-term profits by tracking market indexes (like ETFs) rather than trying to beat them.
Direct investing means buying shares directly from a company and holding them in your name, giving you complete autonomy over buying, selling, and trading. Indirect investing involves buying shares through intermediaries like ETFs, index funds, or managed funds.
Think of an ETF as a big bucket where your money joins others to buy shares collectively. The ETF owner holds the shares, not you, so you surrender control over buying and selling decisions. The major benefit is instant diversification since ETFs invest across multiple companies.
An index fund mimics a financial market index, providing steady returns by tracking averages like the ASX 200. These funds offer lower risk with correspondingly average returns. Unlike actively managed funds aiming to beat the market, index funds are designed to match it.
If you're ready to invest directly in shares, consider starting with micro-investing-investing with as little as $1. This accessible approach lets you become familiar with share investing before committing larger amounts.
第7章
Property Investment: Beyond the Australian Dream
Many Australians find property investing more familiar than other investment classes because real estate is already part of everyday life. While property can deliver significant returns, it's also possible to lose money through poor timing or property selection.
It's crucial to distinguish between buying property to live in versus as an investment. Your family home shouldn't be considered primarily as an investment, as decisions about it are often emotional rather than profit-driven. Today's average capital city property prices are now more than 11 times the average disposable income-a dramatic increase from the 1990s when prices were less than six times income. In Melbourne and Sydney, the ratios are even more staggering at 18 and 23 times local incomes respectively.
While property can be a good investment, it's not suitable for everyone. Property investing is highly personalized-what works for one person may not work for another. You could invest in residential homes or commercial real estate (offices, retail spaces, warehouses) which can yield 7-10% or higher returns. Commercial properties typically require larger deposits (20-40%) and come with vacancy risks, but tenants often cover more expenses like council rates and strata fees.
Property investing requires weighing numerous pros and cons. Benefits include tangibility, tenant contributions toward ownership, leverage potential, tax advantages, and negotiable pricing. Drawbacks include high entry costs, substantial buying/selling expenses, ongoing maintenance, illiquidity, and potential property management headaches.
For those wanting to enter the market with budget constraints, options include rentvesting (buying investment property while renting elsewhere), delaying purchase, or stepping up gradually from smaller properties. While co-buying with friends or family is possible, it carries significant relationship and financial risks that require careful legal documentation.
第8章
Ethical Investing: Aligning Money with Values
Ethical investing offers benefits including sustainable returns, potential portfolio de-risking, and alignment with your values. Unlike organic certification which has clear standards, "ethical" remains highly subjective. The investing space includes several distinct approaches: sustainable investing (balancing traditional investing with ESG insights), socially responsible investing (considering important social factors), and green/eco-investing (focusing on companies committed to natural resource conservation).
While related, ESG and ethical investing aren't identical. ESG means investing in companies driving positive change through environmental, social, and governance standards. When evaluating ESG companies, examine their environmental impact, sustainability approaches, operational ethics, and leadership foundation. B Corp certification indicates a company has met rigorous standards of transparency and accountability.
Contrary to common belief, ethical investing doesn't require sacrificing returns. Ethical investing has become big business, with $1.28 trillion in assets managed ethically in Australia by 2020, representing 40% of professionally managed money. Studies show ethical funds often outperform traditional ones-RIAA reports ethical investment funds outperformed benchmarks on one, three and five-year bases. Morgan Stanley found sustainable equity funds outperformed traditional peers by 4.3 percentage points in 2020.
To implement ethical investing, apply "screens" to potential investments after determining your values. Negative screens exclude companies that don't align with your values (like tobacco or fossil fuels), while positive screens actively seek companies making positive impacts (like education or clean water). Most ESG-managed funds and ETFs traditionally use negative screening, while positive screening focuses on businesses actively improving the world.
Sometimes practical considerations may outweigh strict ethical alignment. For instance, a client who inherited long-held BHP shares faced significant capital gains tax if sold, making it financially unwise despite ethical concerns. Instead of selling, we counterbalanced by investing the dividends into ethically aligned funds-effectively using BHP's money to support causes like saving the Great Barrier Reef. Ethical investing isn't always a binary choice, especially when dealing with inherited assets or existing investments where tax implications make immediate changes impractical.
第9章
Creating Your Personal Investment Plan
Creating a personal investment plan requires breaking down big goals into manageable daily actions. This eight-step process includes understanding your current situation, solidifying financial goals, listing pros and cons, finalizing risk tolerance, choosing what and where to invest, implementing the plan, and reviewing regularly.
Financial freedom looks different for everyone and isn't necessarily tied to income level. People earning $250,000 annually can still live paycheck to paycheck without proper money management. The foundation of financial freedom is simple: spend less than you earn and invest regularly over time.
Now that you understand your financial position, it's time to clarify your investment goals. I believe we can achieve everything-just not all at once. Start by dreaming big, then narrow down to specific investment targets. Working backwards is powerful-calculating what your portfolio could look like in 40 years based on today's starting point brings the process to life.
When making investment decisions, carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Every financial choice involves sacrifice-investing surplus income means less for savings, while seeking higher returns means accepting more risk. Consider the opportunity cost of each option to ensure you're making the best decision for your personal situation.
Before deciding where to invest, you need to understand your personal risk tolerance. Just like finding the perfect pair of jeans, your investment approach should fit your unique personality and circumstances. No two investors are identical, so determining your comfort level with risk is essential before forming any investment strategy.
When choosing investments, refer back to your risk profile and suggested asset allocation. Asset allocation means dividing your investment across different assets by percentage. A conservative investor might put half in shares and half in fixed interest. Nothing needs to be all-or-nothing; even pro-risk investors need diversification.
Diversification isn't just about managing risk-it can actually increase returns. Nobel Prize-winning economist Harry Markowitz called this "the only free lunch in finance." For example, $100 split between the S&P 500 and commodities in 1970 would have grown to $9,457 by 2013-20% more than investing solely in the S&P 500 ($7,771) and nearly double the commodities-only return ($4,829).
Investment platforms serve as places to buy, sell and hold investments, but there's no single "best" platform for everyone. When selecting a platform, consider five key factors beyond just fees: all fee structures, available investment types, guidance options, customer service quality, and platform usability.
The final step is arguably the most important: reviewing and rebalancing your investments. Life is messy, beautiful and ever-changing-and so is your investment plan. Schedule regular reviews (quarterly, biannually or annually) to check your strategy. Major life events should also trigger reviews: pay rises, new relationships, pets, and especially babies.
You can't set-and-forget with investing-commit to reassessing your situation regularly. It's one of the best things you can do for Future You.
