June 1, 2025 • 43 mins
Would you leave a job you love, move countries while pregnant, and bet on someone else’s career dream... with the hope it could all pay off big? This week’s Money Diary is a bold one. Our diarist packed up her life in Australia to move to San Francisco for her husband’s startup job, trading career security for the chance at something bigger. Now, she’s navigating life without an income, American healthcare, wild rent, and double tax returns... all while preparing to become a mum. It’s a powerful reminder that sometimes the biggest money moves aren’t about what’s in your account. They're about what could be, if the risk pays off.
Ready to binge more relatable, inspiring, and downright juicy money stories? Check out our ultimate Money Diaries playlist. Listen now
Join our Facebook Group AKA the ultimate support network for money advice and inspiration. Ask questions, share tips, and celebrate your wins with a like-minded crew of 300,000+.
And follow us on Instagram for Q&As, bite-sized tips, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.
Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name's Sanatasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor the
Order Kerni Whaltbury and a waddery woman. And before we
get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
(00:23):
as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
and lasting impactful tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money the podcast
let's you be pervy about other people's money habits for
educational purposes of course. Welcome back to another one of
our money daries where I get the absolute privilege of
sitting down and talking to one of our incredible She's
on the Money community members all about their journey. I
got an email this week and it sounded exactly like this, Hi,
(01:18):
She's on the Money. At thirty six, things were pretty settled,
married toddler at home, another baby on the way and
a mortgage in Melbourne. But in January we made a
huge call. We packed up our life and moved to
the US for my husband's job at a startup. I
left behind my career and income to become a full
time mum and we now get the fun part of
(01:39):
paying tax in two countries. It's a big gamble. If
the startup takes off, we could be looking at paying
off our house and setting ourselves up for life right now,
though we're in that messy middle part, hoping that the
risk really does pay off. Money Doris, this is so
exciting to talk to you. I have so many questions.
Welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you, and thanks
(02:00):
for doing this across the world. I mean it is
what it's one pm for me and I think eight pm.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
For you, eight pm last night, eightpm.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Like she's living in the past. She's living in the past.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah, we are a little bit in the past here.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I love that. All right, let's get into it. As always,
I ask every single money diarist the same question to
start the show, Money Dorist. If I asked you to
give your money habits a grade from A three to F,
what grade would you give them?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Probably a B or B minus. Okay, we went too
bad and then yeah, we've made this big gamble, which
I don't know could be a good money habit could not.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
That doesn't mean that you're bad at money. That doesn't
mean that at all. But I need to know more.
Can you tell me a little bit more about your
money story.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, So my husband and I have very different money stories,
which has been interesting at times. So I grew up
in what I consider like quite a well off family.
We didn't really want for anything. When I was kind
of in grade five, though, we made this big call
and the whole family moved to ironically enough, America for
three years while my dad did his masters. Yeah, it's
(03:04):
a little bit of history repeating itself. And so we
went from being in a very good position to having
really no money. He didn't earn anything, my mom didn't
earn anything, and that was a really big shock for
all of us, but I think a really good lesson.
And then when we came back, things are a little
bit tough at the start, and my parents were very
good at age appropriate information about you know, we can't
(03:28):
just go and get this because we're a little tight
at the moment, because we've had to put some money here,
but he's that paid off for them as well. And
then things got much better again and we went back
to that kind of more well off lifestyle, which has
been good that we got that little bit in the
middle where I was like, oh, money doesn't just come
really easily. It can be there and then it can go,
(03:48):
and sometimes you've got to make a sacrifice to get
a head in life.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It's actually such a good lesson, especially at that age.
Like it might not have felt super comfortable, but like
in retrospect, I'm assuming you're like, hold on, that was
actually a really valuable lesson.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, no, it was not comfortable at all, but no,
it was a really good lesson because I think otherwise
I could have definitely gone down a path of like privileged,
where I didn't really realize how hard do you have
to work with things. Whereas my husband's from the exact
other side, where he grew up with not quite as
well off a family and he's had to work very
hard for what he's got. So I think we kind
of mesh quite well because I've had that experience, So.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Tell me a bit more, like I'm just so pervy,
and thankfully this is anonymous, So I get to be's start, right,
So your husband not growing up in such a well
off family. It does, I won't say surprise me, but
it just doesn't seem as on brand to then be
making really big, risky decisions like moving to the US,
because usually if you've had a little bit of, like,
(04:45):
you know, a financially tumultuous upbringing, you're usually a bit
more about the stability. Do you think his money story
has changed? Are you like kind of pushing him to
get out of his comfort zone? Like how does someone
who grew up in that situation then be comfortable to
go Let's go to another country, babe?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Absolutely, I think. I mean I don't want to.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Take full credit, but you're the ringleader.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah. When he was like, oh, I've been asked to
move to the States, I was like, let's do it.
I mean, there's lots of considerations, but my immediate thought
was like, we have to do this, Like it's something
he's always wanted to do. We have to do it.
He's also very close with my parents, and so he
knows that story about us also packing up and going
away for a few years and coming back in the
payoff that that had so even though it didn't come
(05:26):
from his family, he has seen that in family. That
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, that's very cool. Tell me a little bit more
about this move, Like that happened at the start of
the year for you guys, how quick was the turnaround?
Because you said in January we made the call. But
it's now like midyear and you already live there, You're
set up, you have kids overseas. Like that just feels
like a massive change. Talk me through how you moved
to a different country on I would say relatively short notice.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, so actually we made the call in so he's
worked for his company for a few years and he
came back from a work trip in August and was like,
I've been to move. We took about a month to
really well convince him that it was going to happen
and work through all of the financials and his salary
and all of that, because it was all going to
change moving here. And then by the time we could
(06:15):
have moved within a month of us making the decision,
but then it got close to Christmas, so we thought,
let's let's do Christmas at home. Yeah, let's do Christmas
at home. And also just found out I was pregnant
because moving overseas was not enough craziness and I didn't
really want to move first trimester anyway. And so yeah,
we made the call to wait until late January so
(06:36):
we could have that time with family, get over the
first trimester, and then yeah, start the year fresh.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So does that mean you're about to have another baby?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah in July. So I'm one of my thirty three weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Oh. I was like trying to do the maths in
my head, and I was like first trimesteric. No one
wants to do anything in their first trimester like that
is that's a ride off.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So we moved out of our house six weeks before
we left and moved in with my parents. The same
week we moved, I was seven weeks pregnant and got gastro.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
No, no, that should be illegal.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It was just the worst. Like we've moved a few times,
and that was the worst experience of my life. It
was horrendous.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No thank you, no thing I'd like I remember that
for me, and I just really wish I could cut out,
you know what, not the whole thing. That's fine, but
maybe from week five to eleven, like they don't have
to exist.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That's fine, it wasn't great, and gastro on top of
it was just the icing on the cake.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's rude, because do you know if it's morning sickness
or gastro or like a mix of both, or like
how do you decipher?
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, I rang my obsttrician marks, like I think I've
got really bad morning sickness, and she's like, oh, you
didn't last time, and also going from nothing to not
being able to keep any liquid down in like two hours,
not morning sickness.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, yeah, okay, So tell me, does that mean that
you're going to have a baby in the American healthcare system?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
It does, and it also means i'll be an American citizen.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh that's kind of cool, isn't it? Dual citizenship baby.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Well, actually we have to apply for the Australian one,
which is a bit of a process as well as
I'm learning, but they'll be automatically yeah Americans.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
When we come back to visit again at Christmas, she
probably won't be Australian yet, which is really weird.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Oh my goodness, that's actually kind of Oh I find
that kind of crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
No, I find that very very strange. Yeah, navigating the
US healthcare system. That's been a steep learning curve as well.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
So can I ask you a little bit about that
because I'm so per like, it's obviously astronomically more expensive.
Did you go through the private or the public system
with your first baby?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Private?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah, so you went through private, which in Australia, you know,
not absolutely necessary. I did it as well, and I
felt like all of the reasons that most people picked
private were the reasons I picked it. But did you
go private in America? Like, how does their health insurance
work over there? Because I'm assuming when your husband moves
you got insurance as a part of his job.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, we were really lucky. His work paid for our
Australian health insurance to start with, which they thought was
a great bargain because our health insurance here now for
three of us is forty thousand US dollars. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Wild, No, that's crazy and there's like different hold on,
hold on, backtrack. I just had to swallow that information.
It's costing your husband's company forty thousand dollars a year
for three people for health insurance in America? Yes, oh yeah,
you didn't stut o, Okay, sorry.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
No, no, no, that's correct, and there's different tiers, but
we just kind of went with the best one because
we don't know anything else, which is expensive for them,
but it's actually cheaper for us to have her here
because of the level of cover that we've got. So
it's the way we're doing It is basically the same
as the private system in Australia. So I've got my
own obstetrician. We're going to what is a very bougie
(09:44):
American hospital. We walked in and I was like, oh,
this is what you see in the movies, Like, oh,
is it really a gallery or a hospital. Yeah, it's very,
very different to anywhere I've been before. But it's actually
going to be cheaper to have our baby here.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I love that for you because that could have been
a significant financial burden, which is why I was asking.
I was like, I have all of these questions, but
just the idea, which is.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Why there was a lot of stress when we moved,
and I kept asking these questions, and so my husband
told his boss very early in the piece that I
was pregnant because his boss is like, why are you
so hung up on health insurance.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Because she's pregnant, babe? Yeah, why do you know what,
Like sometimes you don't want to tell people early, but
like that would have taken a weight off everyone's shoulders
because they're probably thinking, is he just trying to come
up with every excuse under the sun to not move,
Like is this man just like clutching its straws? But
the reality was that's actually really important for us right now.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, because if you don't have good health insurance, like
it is very expensive. My husband ended up in an
emergency here. He had a skiing accident, and his part
of the bill was three hundred and fifty dollars. That's
pretty good, but the hospital charged insurance sixty thousand.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
What those numbers for me are just astronomical, Like there's
no way that that's what it costs, Like, there's just no.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Way, absolutely not. We've seen just for like little visits,
like a physio I think charged insurance fifteen hundred dollars
to insurance. We pay ten percent of that, So that's.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay, yeah, but that's also crazy. It's crazy. So you've
already made money on the health insurance side of things.
I love that for you. Guys talk to me about
the cost of moving though, so often when we hear
that people are moving overseas for roles, especially to the US,
they'll often like pay for your flights and accommodation. They'll
like pay for your removal US cost. Like what was
covered for you guys.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, so a lot of that was covered. So our
lawyer vis a lawyer was covered for all three of us.
Our flights were covered. We didn't ship that much stuff,
but shipping was covered. A hotel for I think we're
in a hotel for a week that was covered, and
a little bit of furniture came out of that allowance
as well as well as a very expensive tax consult
(11:53):
to figure out the tax situation in both countries.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, so talk to me a little bit about that
tax situation because you mentioned that you're paying tax in
both countries, which from my perspective is a little bit
more complex and probably tells me that your husband might
be a little bit more intertwined in this startup than
just a salary and payg employee. Is that a correct assumption.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yes and no. So his package is salary plus options,
which also gets complicated because it's a startup, so he
actually can't sell the options at the moment.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
It's nice to have, but you can mainly just talk
about them.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, but it also means we don't have to pay
tax on them, so that is good. They sit there,
We ignore them except for when we get home sick
and we fantasize about what happens when they best.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, yeah, perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Don't want to get two technical, but there's a treaty
between Australia and America, and basically, you.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Pay the top tax rate in either country and you're
not going to get double taxed.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
You're not going to get double tax. But the tax
rate in America is lower. So we'll pay tax here
and then we'll submit our Australian tax return and then
we do the top up tax because we're still considered
Australian tax residents because we own a house in Australia
and our visa shows an intent to return to Australia.
He also pays for private health insurance in Australia that
(13:08):
he obviously can't use because we live in a different country.
But because of the Medicare levy.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Searcharge I was about to say, the Medicare levy did
not leave you out, No.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It did not. So he pays for the cheapest health
insurance that he could find one.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Hundred percent, because otherwise it doesn't financially make sense.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
No, for me it was less important, but on his
salary it was.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Oh no, it just does not make sense. Because for
those of you following along at home, if you earn
more than ninety thousand dollars Australian and you don't have
private health insurance after the age of thirty, you have
to pay the Medicare levy searcharge. And for some people
they just go, well, it doesn't matter either way because
I'm just like, bang on ninety thousand dollars. But once
you start earning more than that, the surcharge is more
(13:49):
than private health insurance costs, at which point you'd prefer
to just pay private health insurance and essentially save some money,
which makes sense as to why he's paying it. But
that must just be like a little bit annoying.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
A little bit yeah, annoying.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean, when you do finally come back home to Australia,
it means that there won't be any loading for having
not had private health insurance for that period of time,
So like, not the end of the world. I'm trying
to reframe it so it looks really nice for you,
because I'd be annoyed.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
No, it's just one of those, like so many annoying, frustrating,
little extra expenses that popped up that we didn't realize,
even like, you know, coming here, you know we've got
a bit of a furniture allowance, but we had to
buy more stuff, which we totally expected. But even the
first month we were here, there was it takes a
while to get an American bank account, so he didn't
(14:35):
actually get paid for the first month. So we were
paying everything for this first month in Aussie dollars, which
is not a good exchange rate. At the moment it
was nearly double.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah, and that would have got you. Is it hard
the exchange rate? Are you finding that, yes, the exchange
rate is challenging, or are you finding it relatively easy?
Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Not so much anymore, because we are in USD now
and we're paying for everything in USD like we just
work in US dollars, but we do still have an
austream mortgage. Sometimes we have to send money back there.
So when it was really low a few weeks ago,
we transferred a little bit extra, yes, we did, and
made a little bit of that we never picked things right,
but we managed to get it right at the bottom
(15:15):
of the exchange rate, so that was really really good
for us. But yeah, that's been a bit of a
learning curve, not as bad now that. Yeah, we work
mostly in US dollars.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah. I was in the US now a couple of
years ago and I just I found myself even though
I had transferred money over to my wives card soil
was operating you in USD and I was paying things
in USD, I was still doing the mental like loopy
loop of mats to work out how much my Starbucks
coffee was costing. And I was like, oh, this is
making me sick. Do you still go this is astronomical?
(15:47):
Because I do feel like when you look at the
cost of living in America, it is much higher than
in Australia. Are you seeing that or feeling that or
what does that look like on a day to day basis?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It is, so I don't do that as much as
my husband does. I kind of I don't know. A
dollar is a dollar for me in my head, which
is probably a terrible way to go into it. But
there's definitely been things in a more expensive like I
mean groceries on a whole are probably more expensive. If
something costs five dollars in Australia, it costs five usd here,
so that would be more expensive. I'm in California. Electricity
is outrageously expensive here, so that was a shock.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
We moved in winter. Our apartment hadn't been lived in
for a bit. It was cold. We pumped the heaters
up and two weeks of electricity costs US six hundred
US dollars.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
No, it didn't, Yes it did. Oh I would have cried.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I was like, we're going to have to go home.
We can't afford this.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
We can't live this.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
This is We have now rained that into about two
hundred and eighty dollars a month, which is huge.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
That's a pretty good difference.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, we've been working hard on it. It's also getting
into summer here, so that helps.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Oh my goodness. I'm obsessed. I love like knowing the
ins and outs of travel and moving and just the
idea that you were like, oh at thirty six, I
did that because I don't know. I feel like I'm
thirty nearly thirty four, and I look at it and
I go, oh, like I've had a kid. I want
to have another kid. Like my husband and I have
careers here. I can never imagine moving. And then you're like, oh, no,
we did that at thirty six. I'm like, oh, so
(17:12):
there's still like opportunity to like do these big moves.
Let's talk about the money side of it though. You
said that you went from having a job in a
career here and you left that behind and now your
full time mum. Can I know what were you earning?
What if you like kind of hung up so that
you can make this big career move for your husband.
And then we're going to ask about his income.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, so I was earning one hundred and twenty five
thousand Australion dollars.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Oh my god, pro routed to four days a week yep.
And what kind of career did you have?
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So? I worked in fundraising and philanthropy.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh, very cool. That's a very nice place to be
and how lovely.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
It was fantastic. I really liked it.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh well, I'm sure you'll get back into that because like,
people who do that are few and far between, Like
I feel like there's not that many people who are
good at that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
No, but in America is a good country for that,
But there is so many things to weigh up with
me going back after this baby, including I don't want
to work full time, and America does not have a
good part time work culture, or really any part time
work culture, and childcare here is outrageously expensive.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And I've heard it's not how do I say this nicely,
not to the quality that you would expect either, So
like then finding a good place might be challenging.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It depends. Yeah, so some places are not so great,
some places are really good. And where I am, a
lot of people just have nanny's.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Oh okay, that would be expensive.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, so a nanny costs. A nanny for a single
child costs sixty thousand US dollars a year. And if
you do a nanny share so they look after two children,
I think it's about thirty five forty per person, which
I mean, it's insane, but it's also like it's their income,
like you were paying someone's whole rage but yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
One hundred percent. But like there's no government subsidies there.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
No, So we've but a financially probably irresponsible decision. Our
daughter goes to daycare one day a week, even though
I'm a stay at home, mum, and it's one hundred
and seventy five US dollars a.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Day, Oh my goodness, And like, well, we could compare
it to Australia too. And I'm about to ask about
your husband's income because obviously I'm expecting it to be
good enough that you left the country, right, But the daycare,
if your husband earned that in Australia, I'm assuming you
wouldn't have got subsidies anyway. And like at the moment,
I think my daycare is now two hundred and fourteen
Australian a day, and like I'm not complaining about that
(19:31):
because you know, there's a lot that goes into that,
and I mean, you know, lots of people will be like, oh,
that's ridiculous, I pay like one hundred and ten or whatever.
But like, my day care fees are very reflective of
the area that we live in. Again privileged to live there.
But then it also includes things like all of his meals,
all of his nappies, all of his like formula, which
lots of places don't include and you have to. So
(19:52):
there's like good and bad. But like once you reach
a certain income level, even in Australia, you get no subsidies,
but I believe there's nothing at a bear minimum in
America at all?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Is there?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So? I mean I sharing where I am. I'm in
San Francisco, so it's a very kind of liberal city,
and if you are a very low income earner, then
there are some subsidies from the city, which is I
bely rare and not that common in other places in
the States. But we absolutely do not qualify for that.
I did try the little calculator just in case, Like
(20:22):
it cost me nothing to open a website.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
No, I can have a little look.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
You were looking at the answer I expected.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It's called wishful think you exactly talk to me. Now,
what does your husband earn and what does he do
for work?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And we're in San Francisco. He works in tech. He's
head of AI for his company.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Oh my god, that sounds spoogey.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah, it's very cool and a little creepy. And he
earns two hundred and fifty five USD which I believe
is I checked earlier on the conversion it was about
three hundred and ninety six thousand Australian dollars, which is
not what he was earning in Australia. But you got
to pay rise to move here. His boss saw our
budget spreadsheet.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I love that and was like, you're going to need
a little bit more money.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah. Well my husband was like, we're going to need
a little bit more money. Here's why.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And also like, I mean you've stepped back from earning
one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars so that he
can take this step up. You mentioned before that his
job is like salary plus options. What does options mean?
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, so he has a share component to his compensation.
He was a very very early employee with this company,
so he's got a very good option package. But it's
a startup so at the moment, we can't actually access
those options or sell them.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Of course not, but it's nice to know that's why
it's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
That's what we're working towards. That we're working towards some
kind of event where we will then be able to.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Cash that in. Yeah, absolutely, one hundred percent. Like we're
thinking early Apple employee, Like I'm manifesting the same journey
for you guys.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah. I think he was employee number like nine or ten.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh that's cool.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, So all the early kind of no one who
joins the company gets quie as good package anymore, because
that was kind of the extra compensation for he joined
it before they were even earning any money, so you know,
you could lose your job tomorrow. He's some like added
bonus if we actually do well.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's crazy And can I be real pervy? What did
your husband do in Australia Because to go from you know,
working in Australia to working for a US startup as
the head of AI, like, I feel like that's just
not that much of a traditional pathway. Like what did
he study to get this opportunity?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So way back when it is bachelor, he did finance.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Very sexy, nice guy.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Yeah, he's very sexy, and then worked for government and
then decided that he didn't love that and he went
and did a master's in business analytics. It's not an MBA,
but like an MBUSA, and then he got some jobs
working in Australian startups and kind of data science, and
(22:53):
then literally came on a trip to the States and
he was like San Francisco's where it's at. I need
to work for a US company And he found this
job and he worked remote, started in data and then
it's kind of worked his way as the company has
grown into AI and as AI has grown.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That is very cool. I'm so like, I've just got
Maybe it's because my husband has a very similar role
in Australia, Like he's head of in a particular company
like data and analytics, and his background is econometrics, so
like he's also super nerdy.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
They would get on very well.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yes they would. And I'm vibing that you and I
would get on very well. And I'm like, well, we
probably have very similar tasting men. I'm like, oh, so
maybe we could move to San France, Steven.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
It's so funny. So I found a mum's group here
and everyone not that many people who live in San
Francisco are from San Francisco. Everyone's moved here, and it
was like one of our first meetings. We all kind
of went around and said, like who we are and
what we do, and like why we moved here, And
if they weren't in tech, their partner was in tech,
except for one couple who were both lawyers, but one
works for Google. Talk to me about.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Big money goals. You've obviously made some pretty big I
guess money moves and literal moves. What is your big
financial plan. What are we currently working towards?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Paying off for Australian mortgage would be amazing. So we
own a house in Australia. We currently rent that out.
The rent doesn't cover the mortgage, but it wasn't like
we really liked the house and it financially didn't make
sense to sell it. So paying that off and we
would love for an exit event so that we can
sell our options. That would be amazing. And I say
(24:25):
our options because in the States, your partner has to
sign the Contracts and Options Form two.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
So ha ha, my name's on it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I moved to the other side of the world. They
also my options.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'm sorry, I feel like your name deserves to be
on it. At this point. You gave up one hundred
and twenty five thousand dollars a year to move for
somebody else's career. And while we would do it for
our partner right now, you never know what the future holds.
I'm sorry. We need to also secure our own back.
Like sorry, that's the rules. Like we are in this together.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We are very much in this together.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So we want an exit event. We want to pay
off our mortgage. What else do we want to do.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
I mean really, we want to get to the point
where he can then start up his own thing, which
is what he really wants to do. So we're all
working towards him being able to. You know, he's hooked
on the startup thing now, he's a typical startup San
Francisco junkie. I mean, he'd love to do it in Melbourne,
back with family and friends. Our goal is to get
back there.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
It just doesn't have the legs. It just doesn't have
the same ability to scale or scope.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
He would because like now he's here making the connections
that he needs to make, it will be easier back there.
I won't need the funds.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
To do it ote hundred percent, like and that stuff
is expensive.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
It is. It is even just enough for him to
like pay even if I, like we move back and
I get a job that pays the same that again
doesn't cover our mortgage, so enough for him to have
there that we can just pay off our mortgage and
living expenses while he can do his own thing. That's
kind of what we're working towards.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, fingers crossed, let's go to a really quick break
because on the flip side, I've got a lot more
questions like, I just have more perviey questions, So guys
stick around, all right, money dice, So we are back.
You mentioned that you've got options, which are essentially shares
in the organization or the business that your husband works for,
which is very cool. Are you investing in any other way?
(26:13):
Like what does that look like?
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yes? Not as much as we were. So we've got
a Nabtude account with I think it's about nine thousand
dollars in it, and that's on a dividend reinvestment plan,
so that just keeps ticking over every quarter, and that
is specifically set aside for our kids so when they
the youngest one turns eighteen, they can split it and
they can whatever is in there is their's to help them.
(26:37):
And I've got I think it's four thousand dollars in
a superhero account that we used to put about two
hundred dollars a month in, but we're not at the moment. Oh,
and I've got some Telstra shares I've had since I
was like ten.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Oh, how do you end up with Telstra shares at ten?
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I think it was ten maybe whenever they first came out.
My parents got me some. Oh that's cool, and I've
just again, I set them up as like a given
any reinvestment thing a few years ago, and they just
sit there ticking away. I could not tell you what
they're worth, but yeah, I've had them for a long
long time.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Literally since you were ten. That's actually very cool. I
mean that means that you beat Warren Buffett in terms
of early investing. He started at eleven and you started
at ten, so he can really just sit down and retire.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah, he's probably doing a bit better at it than
I am.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
But yes, yeah, I mean true, but he's ninety four.
You've got heaps of time, baby, you got heaps of
time exactly.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah. And I was probably not as smart at him
as the start. Like I think it was like a
seventy dollars diven and I got every so often. I
just you know, thirteen year old me thought that was
so cool and I was so rich.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
In hindsight, I'm like, I wish i'd invested all of.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
That back, But you know what hindsight is twenty twenty,
talk to me about what you're doing about your superannuations.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Well, you're away nothing.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Why because we can't afford to.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, that's so fair. I mean, you've got a baby
on the way, and while you do have a high income,
it sounds like you have a high living cost at
the moment as well, and a mortgage and all of
that other stuff. Have you at least set it to
the right profile and like checked in with them to
make sure that it's ticking along the way that it
needs to.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yes, yeah, we still check it quite regularly. Mine is
I think I'm at like ninety thousand dollars, which is
pretty good, and my husband's at oh, I think two.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Hundred, very cool.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, so we can afford to sit back for a
few years with.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
That, which is yeah easy. But you did think about
it like we might not be contributing, But we just
dotted all our eyes and crossed all our teas before
that happened.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, no, no, that was one of the many things
that we had to cross off our list before we left.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
One hundred percent. Now, talk to me about debt. You
mentioned that you have a mortgage here in Australia. When
did you purchase your first home?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
So it's actually our second, So we purchased our first.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Oh okay, big dog.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah, little humble brag there.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
No.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
We purchased our first in March twenty twenty in Sydney.
It was an apartment. Our mortgage closed the day I
lost my job from COVID and my husband lost all
week later.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I would have just cried the whole week.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, I still drank the sham.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I would have too, Honestly, you've got to take whatever
win you can.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I was like, we just got to drown this. Yes,
so that was not ideal, but that was our first home.
And then that whole building sold to a developer for
quite a good profit, which helped us get into the
home we're in now. I will be completely transparent that
my parents paid the twenty percent deposit for that as
well and then helped us out very much great as well.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
So talk to me like that's brilliant, But I actually
care more about the developer story. How does that happen?
So you closed on your first home, that's really exciting.
You bought an apartment and then what a developer knocks
on the door and says, we want to buy this
whole building and we're going to give you over market
for your apartment or like, how does that work?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
That's exactly what happened. They said, we want to buy
this building, we want to develop it. It goes through strata.
I think they needed a seventy five percent approval like
resident approval to do it. It was something like ninety percent.
I think two apartments said they didn't want to do it,
but they got forced too. Oh yeah, and then they
paid us above market rate for it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I mean, that's a good money win.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It was an amazing, amazing money when that was unexpected.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And then you're coming to purchase your second property and
I'm assuming some of the profits from that, and then
obviously your parents helped out, which is really cool. But
was that a family home? Was that another apartment?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Like?
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Well, what did we buy a second time around?
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Now? So that was a family home? So it's a
three bedroom townhouse in like inner Melbourne.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Oh, very cool? And what did you purchase that four ish?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That was in twenty twenty two and that was for
one point three two five million?
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Very cool? And what do you reckon that's worth now?
Because I feel like the Melbourne market has slightly increased,
So one point three are we looking at like one
point six?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Maybe it's probably about the same to be honest, you reckon,
I reckon. It's probably about that because it dropped a bit,
and then it's now the interest rates are going down,
it might go up. I feel like it's yeah, I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Well, I've got my fingers crossed for you.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, I mean, maur is always better.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Oh, I feel like the things. And this is coming
from a relatively educated perspective for those of you playing
along at home who might not know. I own a
mortgage broken company, so I talk about mortgages literally every
single day. I feel like a three bedroom townhouse in
Melbourne has been quite popular. Like the three bedrooms not two,
it's three would push you up a little bit more.
And as you probably know, when you purchased that for
(31:20):
what one point three to two, you were probably paying
more than you wanted to. But it was because it
had three bedrooms.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Right, yes, but also less because we were living in
Sydney at the time and property in Melbourne was way
cheaper than property in Sydney.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Oh yeah, so you've like reframed it to be very sexy.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
We thought we're getting a great bargain. Meanwhile, all my
friends in Melbourne are like, you did what?
Speaker 1 (31:44):
They what?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's a good deal.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I like it, but compared to Sydney way cheaper.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I love that for you. She's positive. So what's the
long term plan? Like we obviously you said before, I'd
love to pay off, you know, our entire Melbourne mortgage.
We want to have an exit. We'd love to essentially
get rich. But is the plan like the dream plan
to come home your husband gets to start off his
own startup in Melbourne, Like what does life hopefully look
(32:09):
like in the future.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
That is a dream plan. Currently it's just survive because, yeah,
his income sounds high. But we also haven't touched on
the rent that we pay in San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Oh could you tell us more about that please.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
The third most expensive city in the world to live in. Gross, Yeah,
it is. Our rent is about four eight hundred USD
a month, which is about seven and a half thousand
Australian dollars for a two bedroom apartment.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I was about to say what does that get you?
And you said a two bedroom apartment. I was like,
wish I didn't ask yep, so is that normal? Have
you got like a really boogie apartment? Like, have you
got like a butler?
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Like?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
What's going on? With like that amount of money that is.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Normal, that is actually probably on the lower end. Right,
it's a nice apartment. It's not a super boogie apartment,
but it is also not a really crappy apartment.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, so talk to me about general living costs because
I think I'm a little bit shook about four and
a half thousand USDA for rent per month. Like, what's
groceries costing? What's like your average bills? Like, what does
all of that look like?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
Groceries are about two hundred dollars a week. We eat
out Friday nights and maybe a couple of lunches on
the weekend, but that's probably another one hundred and fifty
dollars a week. Yeah. I mentioned electricity that's gotten cheaper.
We don't own a car here, so that is helpful.
Public transport here is also cheaper, which is really nice
(33:31):
and free for under nineteen.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Oh that's kind of cool. Yeah, yeah, very cool. Daycare
was one hundred and seventy five dollars a day.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Don't think of other expenses. I told it does a
couple of classes as well, so they're I think twenty
something dollars a class. But the city also does lots
of free kids activities here, which is fantastic. So we've
got some kind of regular freebies that we do as well.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, that is very cool. I feel like it all
adds up. Talk to me about when eating out, what's
tipping culture like, because I feel like that just gives
me anxiety.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Oh I hate tipping culture. I am the worst. I
am giving all the Australians a bad reputation. I am
so sorry. But no, I don't tip my hairdresser, even
though you apparently tip your hair dresser here. Tipping culture
is huge and I am terrible at it.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
See, I just I get it for restaurants and stuff
like that because we know that they get really bad
minimum wages or whatever. But then it's like a hairdresser,
what do you mean, like are you on a bad
I just don't comprehend it.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I'm still paying you three hundred dollars to do my hair, like.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And that's three hundred USD like that's yes, yes, it
is five hundred and fifty Australian.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Oh let's add that expensive. Yeah there's the hair every
like eight weeks that I pay And no, so I
think some of the chipping I get, like the uberik drivers. Absolutely,
that is mostly how they earn their money tip them.
But I feel like it's gotten even since, like I
lived here when I was younger, it's gotten way more
excit and higher amounts. Now you buy a coffee and
(35:03):
it's like, would you like to tip twenty five percent
of your seven dollar coffee? Well? No, not really?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Actually yeah, I feel like I don't know. I just
I would say that I'm good at money, and that
just still makes me uncomfortable. I feel like, if anything,
when I was in the US a while ago, I
was over tipping because I didn't know exactly what to do,
and I just I'm such a people pleaser. I didn't
want to offend anybody. And then I'm like, oh what
(35:30):
am I doing? But if I lived there, that's not sustainable.
You can't do that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
No, I undertip because otherwise everything is like twenty five
percent more expensive and it's already more expensive.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Wild Oh my goodness, I have loved this. Talk to me,
what do you think your best money habit is?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
We work quite good at saving, and I know if
we're so good at saving at the moment.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I feel like it's a bit challenging at the moment
it's a little.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Bit challenging at the moment, but we are very good,
I would say, at kind of choosing where we want
to buy things that are a bit more expensive and
where we find ways to save money or buy things
that are maybe on the cheaper end.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah, smart, smart, What do you think your worst money
habit is? And I'm super interested in this because at
the start you said, oh, I think I'm a B
or a B minus and that's gone down. Like, I
just feel like you've got a reason for thinking your
money grade has gone down, and I need to know.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Oh Amazon, it's so easy here. You just like think
of something and then like suddenly it appears in your Amazon.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Order because it's like same day, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah, I'm like, oh, that pair of shoes is cute.
Oh it's arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon. And
I'm getting better at it. My husband is terrible, Like
we go over our budget every month and and he
gets to it and he's like, oh, we spent how
much on Amazon? And I'm like, yeah, because you were like, oh,
just do it, just at it. He's even got the
Amazon like credit card. He's like, oh, we got five
percent back on everything and points.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And oh my goodness, he's got got by the Amazon bug.
I order stuff on Amazon in Australia and I think
that's bad, but like in the UAY, i'd be unstoppable.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
We did an Australia too, and it is just the
whole like next level here. Also, there's not a lot
of like shops. All of the shops are closing. In
San Francisco itself is doing a big push to like
bring retail back to the city because we got decimated
in COVID. But all across in America, like you know,
I'm pregnant, I'm having another baby. There are no baby stores.
(37:21):
You can't go look at baby things. There's a couple
of like small, super bougie ones and they're really expensive
areas where I was like, I just need to look
at cots. We're going to go, But.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Then you're like, I wish we never came.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, there's nothing. You know, my daughter grew out of
her pants all of a sudden, almost like overnight, and
there's a H and M in the city I could
get to, but that's the only place to really buy
kids clothes really, other than like online or if you
track like way out to the suburbs, which we have
a car. Are we not going to go an hour
on a bus to get to Walmart?
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Crazy?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I miss clothes shopping in person?
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, I feel like I would miss that as well.
So you reckon, that's your worst one habit and that's
why your money score has gone down. I feel like
you guys are killing it though, Like do you have
picked up your entire life at like thirty six and
been like, Nah, we're going to give it a crack.
We're going to go international, especially with kids, Like, girl,
you're giving me anxiety, Like I don't even want to
leave the house with my toddler sometimes, Like that's not me.
(38:18):
It sounds very attractive.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
The flight was the easy part, I think because I'd
done it before. Like we were older, Like I was
ten when I moved. My youngest sibling was six, So
we were older when we moved. But like we've done it,
we've seen that it was it was feasible. Yeah, yeah,
it was feasible. And like she's young, she misses like
my parents terribly, but she sees every day on FaceTime
and she's living her best little life.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
I love that for her. She's just a little San
Francisco baby, and she's going to have a San Francisco
sibling soon, an American sibling at that she will.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
We took her on a cable car for the first
time on the weekend because she loves like trains and trams.
I think it was the best day of her entire life.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I love that for her.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
Like she's a tray kid. She was waving at everyone
passing by like she was just the queen. She was
the queen she was, and every time it stopped, she'd
like clap like yay. It was just the best.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I love kids so much, it's ridiculous. I'm so excited
for you. Has she started to adopt an American accent yet?
Speaker 3 (39:16):
No, not yet. She still has a very Australian accent.
Especially there's this thing over here about the way we
say the word no, no, yeah exactly, that's exactly how
she says it. So no, she hasn't yet, but we
play a lot of wiggles to keep that accent going.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yeah good, I like that.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Yeah, I'm sure she'll get one.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Oh no, and little America that's coming soon. I definitely
think like they're just going to copy the American accent.
To begin with, she.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Will, Yeah, she'll just come out with it straight away.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Oh my goodness. So now that we've had a chat,
I feel like you said to your BEE or a
B minus. I don't know. I feel like you're doing
really well, especially for like the risk that you're taking
in the hope that it will pay off. And I
have no doubt that even if it's like not the
options that you thought it would be, like, it's a
I guess life changing experience that is arguably going to
pay off for the rest of your careers. Do you
(40:05):
really think like you're a B or a B minus
or like what would it take to get you guys
to an A? At this point.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
I think it's just because it's so I feel like
we're in such a precarious position with like we are
kind of just covering expenses. You know, we have a
huge mortgage, we have a huge rent. There is a
tax bill coming at some point. I feel like, yeah,
if we knew that was all going to be fully okay,
then yeah, probably like an A. But it's just that
unknown is really.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Yeah, the unknown is very challenging.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Yeah, it just eats away at you a little bit
and you're like, oh, have we made the right choice.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
I feel like even if financially you haven't made the
right choice, Like, what an experience for you guys, what
an experience for your kids? Like this is so cool,
but also like dual citizenship.
Speaker 3 (40:48):
This is how I sold my husband. My biggest thing
was because he's like, oh, this could be a really
bad financial decision, and I was like, yeah, but I
don't want you to look back when you're sixty and
retiring and being like, oh, I wish i'd done that,
like I always I think you'd always.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Regret not having made the move. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm
excited for you guys. I hope you stay in touch
because I think that's really fun. And then when you're
in Melbourne, we can get our husbands together and they
can talk about data and analytics, and I think that
that would be very wholesome for them.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Oh he needs someone because he tries to talk to
me about like all the new models that are coming out,
and I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
It's so nice that you wrote algorithms all day. I
don't know what that means.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Thank you, exactly. I'm so glad you're so passionate about this,
but this is not my passion.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I love that money direst it. It has been a pleasure
getting to know you. Thank you for staying up late
and doing a money diary with me. I know the
community is going to love hearing this as much as
I loved interviewing you. It has been a pleasure.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Did buy shared or? Sheese on the Money is general
in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
(42:46):
your needs. Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are
authorized representatives of Money. Sheper Pty Ltd a BN three
two one six four nine two seven seven zero eight
AFSL four five one two eight nine
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name's Sanatasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor the
Order Kerni Whaltbury and a waddery woman. And before we
get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
(00:23):
as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
and lasting impactful tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money the podcast
let's you be pervy about other people's money habits for
educational purposes of course. Welcome back to another one of
our money daries where I get the absolute privilege of
sitting down and talking to one of our incredible She's
on the Money community members all about their journey. I
got an email this week and it sounded exactly like this, Hi,
(01:18):
She's on the Money. At thirty six, things were pretty settled,
married toddler at home, another baby on the way and
a mortgage in Melbourne. But in January we made a
huge call. We packed up our life and moved to
the US for my husband's job at a startup. I
left behind my career and income to become a full
time mum and we now get the fun part of
(01:39):
paying tax in two countries. It's a big gamble. If
the startup takes off, we could be looking at paying
off our house and setting ourselves up for life right now,
though we're in that messy middle part, hoping that the
risk really does pay off. Money Doris, this is so
exciting to talk to you. I have so many questions.
Welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you, and thanks
(02:00):
for doing this across the world. I mean it is
what it's one pm for me and I think eight pm.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
For you, eight pm last night, eightpm.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Like she's living in the past. She's living in the past.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah, we are a little bit in the past here.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I love that. All right, let's get into it. As always,
I ask every single money diarist the same question to
start the show, Money Dorist. If I asked you to
give your money habits a grade from A three to F,
what grade would you give them?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Probably a B or B minus. Okay, we went too
bad and then yeah, we've made this big gamble, which
I don't know could be a good money habit could not.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
That doesn't mean that you're bad at money. That doesn't
mean that at all. But I need to know more.
Can you tell me a little bit more about your
money story.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, So my husband and I have very different money stories,
which has been interesting at times. So I grew up
in what I consider like quite a well off family.
We didn't really want for anything. When I was kind
of in grade five, though, we made this big call
and the whole family moved to ironically enough, America for
three years while my dad did his masters. Yeah, it's
(03:04):
a little bit of history repeating itself. And so we
went from being in a very good position to having
really no money. He didn't earn anything, my mom didn't
earn anything, and that was a really big shock for
all of us, but I think a really good lesson.
And then when we came back, things are a little
bit tough at the start, and my parents were very
good at age appropriate information about you know, we can't
(03:28):
just go and get this because we're a little tight
at the moment, because we've had to put some money here,
but he's that paid off for them as well. And
then things got much better again and we went back
to that kind of more well off lifestyle, which has
been good that we got that little bit in the
middle where I was like, oh, money doesn't just come
really easily. It can be there and then it can go,
(03:48):
and sometimes you've got to make a sacrifice to get
a head in life.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It's actually such a good lesson, especially at that age.
Like it might not have felt super comfortable, but like
in retrospect, I'm assuming you're like, hold on, that was
actually a really valuable lesson.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, no, it was not comfortable at all, but no,
it was a really good lesson because I think otherwise
I could have definitely gone down a path of like privileged,
where I didn't really realize how hard do you have
to work with things. Whereas my husband's from the exact
other side, where he grew up with not quite as
well off a family and he's had to work very
hard for what he's got. So I think we kind
of mesh quite well because I've had that experience, So.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Tell me a bit more, like I'm just so pervy,
and thankfully this is anonymous, So I get to be's start, right,
So your husband not growing up in such a well
off family. It does, I won't say surprise me, but
it just doesn't seem as on brand to then be
making really big, risky decisions like moving to the US,
because usually if you've had a little bit of, like,
(04:45):
you know, a financially tumultuous upbringing, you're usually a bit
more about the stability. Do you think his money story
has changed? Are you like kind of pushing him to
get out of his comfort zone? Like how does someone
who grew up in that situation then be comfortable to
go Let's go to another country, babe?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Absolutely, I think. I mean I don't want to.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Take full credit, but you're the ringleader.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah. When he was like, oh, I've been asked to
move to the States, I was like, let's do it.
I mean, there's lots of considerations, but my immediate thought
was like, we have to do this, Like it's something
he's always wanted to do. We have to do it.
He's also very close with my parents, and so he
knows that story about us also packing up and going
away for a few years and coming back in the
payoff that that had so even though it didn't come
(05:26):
from his family, he has seen that in family. That
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, that's very cool. Tell me a little bit more
about this move, Like that happened at the start of
the year for you guys, how quick was the turnaround?
Because you said in January we made the call. But
it's now like midyear and you already live there, You're
set up, you have kids overseas. Like that just feels
like a massive change. Talk me through how you moved
to a different country on I would say relatively short notice.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, so actually we made the call in so he's
worked for his company for a few years and he
came back from a work trip in August and was like,
I've been to move. We took about a month to
really well convince him that it was going to happen
and work through all of the financials and his salary
and all of that, because it was all going to
change moving here. And then by the time we could
(06:15):
have moved within a month of us making the decision,
but then it got close to Christmas, so we thought,
let's let's do Christmas at home. Yeah, let's do Christmas
at home. And also just found out I was pregnant
because moving overseas was not enough craziness and I didn't
really want to move first trimester anyway. And so yeah,
we made the call to wait until late January so
(06:36):
we could have that time with family, get over the
first trimester, and then yeah, start the year fresh.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So does that mean you're about to have another baby?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah in July. So I'm one of my thirty three weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Oh. I was like trying to do the maths in
my head, and I was like first trimesteric. No one
wants to do anything in their first trimester like that
is that's a ride off.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So we moved out of our house six weeks before
we left and moved in with my parents. The same
week we moved, I was seven weeks pregnant and got gastro.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
No, no, that should be illegal.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It was just the worst. Like we've moved a few times,
and that was the worst experience of my life. It
was horrendous.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No thank you, no thing I'd like I remember that
for me, and I just really wish I could cut out,
you know what, not the whole thing. That's fine, but
maybe from week five to eleven, like they don't have
to exist.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That's fine, it wasn't great, and gastro on top of
it was just the icing on the cake.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's rude, because do you know if it's morning sickness
or gastro or like a mix of both, or like
how do you decipher?
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, I rang my obsttrician marks, like I think I've
got really bad morning sickness, and she's like, oh, you
didn't last time, and also going from nothing to not
being able to keep any liquid down in like two hours,
not morning sickness.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, yeah, okay, So tell me, does that mean that
you're going to have a baby in the American healthcare system?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
It does, and it also means i'll be an American citizen.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh that's kind of cool, isn't it? Dual citizenship baby.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Well, actually we have to apply for the Australian one,
which is a bit of a process as well as
I'm learning, but they'll be automatically yeah Americans.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
When we come back to visit again at Christmas, she
probably won't be Australian yet, which is really weird.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Oh my goodness, that's actually kind of Oh I find
that kind of crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
No, I find that very very strange. Yeah, navigating the
US healthcare system. That's been a steep learning curve as well.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
So can I ask you a little bit about that
because I'm so per like, it's obviously astronomically more expensive.
Did you go through the private or the public system
with your first baby?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Private?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah, so you went through private, which in Australia, you know,
not absolutely necessary. I did it as well, and I
felt like all of the reasons that most people picked
private were the reasons I picked it. But did you
go private in America? Like, how does their health insurance
work over there? Because I'm assuming when your husband moves
you got insurance as a part of his job.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, we were really lucky. His work paid for our
Australian health insurance to start with, which they thought was
a great bargain because our health insurance here now for
three of us is forty thousand US dollars. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Wild, No, that's crazy and there's like different hold on,
hold on, backtrack. I just had to swallow that information.
It's costing your husband's company forty thousand dollars a year
for three people for health insurance in America? Yes, oh yeah,
you didn't stut o, Okay, sorry.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
No, no, no, that's correct, and there's different tiers, but
we just kind of went with the best one because
we don't know anything else, which is expensive for them,
but it's actually cheaper for us to have her here
because of the level of cover that we've got. So
it's the way we're doing It is basically the same
as the private system in Australia. So I've got my
own obstetrician. We're going to what is a very bougie
(09:44):
American hospital. We walked in and I was like, oh,
this is what you see in the movies, Like, oh,
is it really a gallery or a hospital. Yeah, it's very,
very different to anywhere I've been before. But it's actually
going to be cheaper to have our baby here.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I love that for you because that could have been
a significant financial burden, which is why I was asking.
I was like, I have all of these questions, but
just the idea, which is.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Why there was a lot of stress when we moved,
and I kept asking these questions, and so my husband
told his boss very early in the piece that I
was pregnant because his boss is like, why are you
so hung up on health insurance.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Because she's pregnant, babe? Yeah, why do you know what,
Like sometimes you don't want to tell people early, but
like that would have taken a weight off everyone's shoulders
because they're probably thinking, is he just trying to come
up with every excuse under the sun to not move,
Like is this man just like clutching its straws? But
the reality was that's actually really important for us right now.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, because if you don't have good health insurance, like
it is very expensive. My husband ended up in an
emergency here. He had a skiing accident, and his part
of the bill was three hundred and fifty dollars. That's
pretty good, but the hospital charged insurance sixty thousand.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
What those numbers for me are just astronomical, Like there's
no way that that's what it costs, Like, there's just no.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Way, absolutely not. We've seen just for like little visits,
like a physio I think charged insurance fifteen hundred dollars
to insurance. We pay ten percent of that, So that's.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay, yeah, but that's also crazy. It's crazy. So you've
already made money on the health insurance side of things.
I love that for you. Guys talk to me about
the cost of moving though, so often when we hear
that people are moving overseas for roles, especially to the US,
they'll often like pay for your flights and accommodation. They'll
like pay for your removal US cost. Like what was
covered for you guys.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, so a lot of that was covered. So our
lawyer vis a lawyer was covered for all three of us.
Our flights were covered. We didn't ship that much stuff,
but shipping was covered. A hotel for I think we're
in a hotel for a week that was covered, and
a little bit of furniture came out of that allowance
as well as well as a very expensive tax consult
(11:53):
to figure out the tax situation in both countries.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, so talk to me a little bit about that
tax situation because you mentioned that you're paying tax in
both countries, which from my perspective is a little bit
more complex and probably tells me that your husband might
be a little bit more intertwined in this startup than
just a salary and payg employee. Is that a correct assumption.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yes and no. So his package is salary plus options,
which also gets complicated because it's a startup, so he
actually can't sell the options at the moment.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
It's nice to have, but you can mainly just talk
about them.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, but it also means we don't have to pay
tax on them, so that is good. They sit there,
We ignore them except for when we get home sick
and we fantasize about what happens when they best.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, yeah, perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Don't want to get two technical, but there's a treaty
between Australia and America, and basically, you.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Pay the top tax rate in either country and you're
not going to get double taxed.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
You're not going to get double tax. But the tax
rate in America is lower. So we'll pay tax here
and then we'll submit our Australian tax return and then
we do the top up tax because we're still considered
Australian tax residents because we own a house in Australia
and our visa shows an intent to return to Australia.
He also pays for private health insurance in Australia that
(13:08):
he obviously can't use because we live in a different country.
But because of the Medicare levy.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Searcharge I was about to say, the Medicare levy did
not leave you out, No.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
It did not. So he pays for the cheapest health
insurance that he could find one.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Hundred percent, because otherwise it doesn't financially make sense.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
No, for me it was less important, but on his
salary it was.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Oh no, it just does not make sense. Because for
those of you following along at home, if you earn
more than ninety thousand dollars Australian and you don't have
private health insurance after the age of thirty, you have
to pay the Medicare levy searcharge. And for some people
they just go, well, it doesn't matter either way because
I'm just like, bang on ninety thousand dollars. But once
you start earning more than that, the surcharge is more
(13:49):
than private health insurance costs, at which point you'd prefer
to just pay private health insurance and essentially save some money,
which makes sense as to why he's paying it. But
that must just be like a little bit annoying.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
A little bit yeah, annoying.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean, when you do finally come back home to Australia,
it means that there won't be any loading for having
not had private health insurance for that period of time,
So like, not the end of the world. I'm trying
to reframe it so it looks really nice for you,
because I'd be annoyed.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
No, it's just one of those, like so many annoying, frustrating,
little extra expenses that popped up that we didn't realize,
even like, you know, coming here, you know we've got
a bit of a furniture allowance, but we had to
buy more stuff, which we totally expected. But even the
first month we were here, there was it takes a
while to get an American bank account, so he didn't
(14:35):
actually get paid for the first month. So we were
paying everything for this first month in Aussie dollars, which
is not a good exchange rate. At the moment it
was nearly double.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah, and that would have got you. Is it hard
the exchange rate? Are you finding that, yes, the exchange
rate is challenging, or are you finding it relatively easy?
Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Not so much anymore, because we are in USD now
and we're paying for everything in USD like we just
work in US dollars, but we do still have an
austream mortgage. Sometimes we have to send money back there.
So when it was really low a few weeks ago,
we transferred a little bit extra, yes, we did, and
made a little bit of that we never picked things right,
but we managed to get it right at the bottom
(15:15):
of the exchange rate, so that was really really good
for us. But yeah, that's been a bit of a
learning curve, not as bad now that. Yeah, we work
mostly in US dollars.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah. I was in the US now a couple of
years ago and I just I found myself even though
I had transferred money over to my wives card soil
was operating you in USD and I was paying things
in USD, I was still doing the mental like loopy
loop of mats to work out how much my Starbucks
coffee was costing. And I was like, oh, this is
making me sick. Do you still go this is astronomical?
(15:47):
Because I do feel like when you look at the
cost of living in America, it is much higher than
in Australia. Are you seeing that or feeling that or
what does that look like on a day to day basis?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It is, so I don't do that as much as
my husband does. I kind of I don't know. A
dollar is a dollar for me in my head, which
is probably a terrible way to go into it. But
there's definitely been things in a more expensive like I
mean groceries on a whole are probably more expensive. If
something costs five dollars in Australia, it costs five usd here,
so that would be more expensive. I'm in California. Electricity
is outrageously expensive here, so that was a shock.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
We moved in winter. Our apartment hadn't been lived in
for a bit. It was cold. We pumped the heaters
up and two weeks of electricity costs US six hundred
US dollars.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
No, it didn't, Yes it did. Oh I would have cried.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I was like, we're going to have to go home.
We can't afford this.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
We can't live this.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
This is We have now rained that into about two
hundred and eighty dollars a month, which is huge.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
That's a pretty good difference.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, we've been working hard on it. It's also getting
into summer here, so that helps.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Oh my goodness. I'm obsessed. I love like knowing the
ins and outs of travel and moving and just the
idea that you were like, oh at thirty six, I
did that because I don't know. I feel like I'm
thirty nearly thirty four, and I look at it and
I go, oh, like I've had a kid. I want
to have another kid. Like my husband and I have
careers here. I can never imagine moving. And then you're like, oh, no,
we did that at thirty six. I'm like, oh, so
(17:12):
there's still like opportunity to like do these big moves.
Let's talk about the money side of it though. You
said that you went from having a job in a
career here and you left that behind and now your
full time mum. Can I know what were you earning?
What if you like kind of hung up so that
you can make this big career move for your husband.
And then we're going to ask about his income.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, so I was earning one hundred and twenty five
thousand Australion dollars.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Oh my god, pro routed to four days a week yep.
And what kind of career did you have?
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So? I worked in fundraising and philanthropy.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh, very cool. That's a very nice place to be
and how lovely.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
It was fantastic. I really liked it.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh well, I'm sure you'll get back into that because like,
people who do that are few and far between, Like
I feel like there's not that many people who are
good at that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
No, but in America is a good country for that,
But there is so many things to weigh up with
me going back after this baby, including I don't want
to work full time, and America does not have a
good part time work culture, or really any part time
work culture, and childcare here is outrageously expensive.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And I've heard it's not how do I say this nicely,
not to the quality that you would expect either, So
like then finding a good place might be challenging.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It depends. Yeah, so some places are not so great,
some places are really good. And where I am, a
lot of people just have nanny's.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Oh okay, that would be expensive.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, so a nanny costs. A nanny for a single
child costs sixty thousand US dollars a year. And if
you do a nanny share so they look after two children,
I think it's about thirty five forty per person, which
I mean, it's insane, but it's also like it's their income,
like you were paying someone's whole rage but yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
One hundred percent. But like there's no government subsidies there.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
No, So we've but a financially probably irresponsible decision. Our
daughter goes to daycare one day a week, even though
I'm a stay at home, mum, and it's one hundred
and seventy five US dollars a.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Day, Oh my goodness, And like, well, we could compare
it to Australia too. And I'm about to ask about
your husband's income because obviously I'm expecting it to be
good enough that you left the country, right, But the daycare,
if your husband earned that in Australia, I'm assuming you
wouldn't have got subsidies anyway. And like at the moment,
I think my daycare is now two hundred and fourteen
Australian a day, and like I'm not complaining about that
(19:31):
because you know, there's a lot that goes into that,
and I mean, you know, lots of people will be like, oh,
that's ridiculous, I pay like one hundred and ten or whatever.
But like, my day care fees are very reflective of
the area that we live in. Again privileged to live there.
But then it also includes things like all of his meals,
all of his nappies, all of his like formula, which
lots of places don't include and you have to. So
(19:52):
there's like good and bad. But like once you reach
a certain income level, even in Australia, you get no subsidies,
but I believe there's nothing at a bear minimum in
America at all?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Is there?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So? I mean I sharing where I am. I'm in
San Francisco, so it's a very kind of liberal city,
and if you are a very low income earner, then
there are some subsidies from the city, which is I
bely rare and not that common in other places in
the States. But we absolutely do not qualify for that.
I did try the little calculator just in case, Like
(20:22):
it cost me nothing to open a website.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
No, I can have a little look.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
You were looking at the answer I expected.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It's called wishful think you exactly talk to me. Now,
what does your husband earn and what does he do
for work?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And we're in San Francisco. He works in tech. He's
head of AI for his company.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Oh my god, that sounds spoogey.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah, it's very cool and a little creepy. And he
earns two hundred and fifty five USD which I believe
is I checked earlier on the conversion it was about
three hundred and ninety six thousand Australian dollars, which is
not what he was earning in Australia. But you got
to pay rise to move here. His boss saw our
budget spreadsheet.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I love that and was like, you're going to need
a little bit more money.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah. Well my husband was like, we're going to need
a little bit more money. Here's why.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And also like, I mean you've stepped back from earning
one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars so that he
can take this step up. You mentioned before that his
job is like salary plus options. What does options mean?
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, so he has a share component to his compensation.
He was a very very early employee with this company,
so he's got a very good option package. But it's
a startup so at the moment, we can't actually access
those options or sell them.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Of course not, but it's nice to know that's why
it's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
That's what we're working towards. That we're working towards some
kind of event where we will then be able to.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Cash that in. Yeah, absolutely, one hundred percent. Like we're
thinking early Apple employee, Like I'm manifesting the same journey
for you guys.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah. I think he was employee number like nine or ten.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh that's cool.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, So all the early kind of no one who
joins the company gets quie as good package anymore, because
that was kind of the extra compensation for he joined
it before they were even earning any money, so you know,
you could lose your job tomorrow. He's some like added
bonus if we actually do well.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's crazy And can I be real pervy? What did
your husband do in Australia Because to go from you know,
working in Australia to working for a US startup as
the head of AI, like, I feel like that's just
not that much of a traditional pathway. Like what did
he study to get this opportunity?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So way back when it is bachelor, he did finance.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Very sexy, nice guy.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Yeah, he's very sexy, and then worked for government and
then decided that he didn't love that and he went
and did a master's in business analytics. It's not an MBA,
but like an MBUSA, and then he got some jobs
working in Australian startups and kind of data science, and
(22:53):
then literally came on a trip to the States and
he was like San Francisco's where it's at. I need
to work for a US company And he found this
job and he worked remote, started in data and then
it's kind of worked his way as the company has
grown into AI and as AI has grown.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That is very cool. I'm so like, I've just got
Maybe it's because my husband has a very similar role
in Australia, Like he's head of in a particular company
like data and analytics, and his background is econometrics, so
like he's also super nerdy.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
They would get on very well.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yes they would. And I'm vibing that you and I
would get on very well. And I'm like, well, we
probably have very similar tasting men. I'm like, oh, so
maybe we could move to San France, Steven.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
It's so funny. So I found a mum's group here
and everyone not that many people who live in San
Francisco are from San Francisco. Everyone's moved here, and it
was like one of our first meetings. We all kind
of went around and said, like who we are and
what we do, and like why we moved here, And
if they weren't in tech, their partner was in tech,
except for one couple who were both lawyers, but one
works for Google. Talk to me about.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Big money goals. You've obviously made some pretty big I
guess money moves and literal moves. What is your big
financial plan. What are we currently working towards?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Paying off for Australian mortgage would be amazing. So we
own a house in Australia. We currently rent that out.
The rent doesn't cover the mortgage, but it wasn't like
we really liked the house and it financially didn't make
sense to sell it. So paying that off and we
would love for an exit event so that we can
sell our options. That would be amazing. And I say
(24:25):
our options because in the States, your partner has to
sign the Contracts and Options Form two.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
So ha ha, my name's on it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I moved to the other side of the world. They
also my options.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'm sorry, I feel like your name deserves to be
on it. At this point. You gave up one hundred
and twenty five thousand dollars a year to move for
somebody else's career. And while we would do it for
our partner right now, you never know what the future holds.
I'm sorry. We need to also secure our own back.
Like sorry, that's the rules. Like we are in this together.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We are very much in this together.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So we want an exit event. We want to pay
off our mortgage. What else do we want to do.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
I mean really, we want to get to the point
where he can then start up his own thing, which
is what he really wants to do. So we're all
working towards him being able to. You know, he's hooked
on the startup thing now, he's a typical startup San
Francisco junkie. I mean, he'd love to do it in Melbourne,
back with family and friends. Our goal is to get
back there.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
It just doesn't have the legs. It just doesn't have
the same ability to scale or scope.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
He would because like now he's here making the connections
that he needs to make, it will be easier back there.
I won't need the funds.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
To do it ote hundred percent, like and that stuff
is expensive.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
It is. It is even just enough for him to
like pay even if I, like we move back and
I get a job that pays the same that again
doesn't cover our mortgage, so enough for him to have
there that we can just pay off our mortgage and
living expenses while he can do his own thing. That's
kind of what we're working towards.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, fingers crossed, let's go to a really quick break
because on the flip side, I've got a lot more
questions like, I just have more perviey questions, So guys
stick around, all right, money dice, So we are back.
You mentioned that you've got options, which are essentially shares
in the organization or the business that your husband works for,
which is very cool. Are you investing in any other way?
(26:13):
Like what does that look like?
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yes? Not as much as we were. So we've got
a Nabtude account with I think it's about nine thousand
dollars in it, and that's on a dividend reinvestment plan,
so that just keeps ticking over every quarter, and that
is specifically set aside for our kids so when they
the youngest one turns eighteen, they can split it and
they can whatever is in there is their's to help them.
(26:37):
And I've got I think it's four thousand dollars in
a superhero account that we used to put about two
hundred dollars a month in, but we're not at the moment. Oh,
and I've got some Telstra shares I've had since I
was like ten.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Oh, how do you end up with Telstra shares at ten?
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I think it was ten maybe whenever they first came out.
My parents got me some. Oh that's cool, and I've
just again, I set them up as like a given
any reinvestment thing a few years ago, and they just
sit there ticking away. I could not tell you what
they're worth, but yeah, I've had them for a long
long time.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Literally since you were ten. That's actually very cool. I
mean that means that you beat Warren Buffett in terms
of early investing. He started at eleven and you started
at ten, so he can really just sit down and retire.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah, he's probably doing a bit better at it than
I am.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
But yes, yeah, I mean true, but he's ninety four.
You've got heaps of time, baby, you got heaps of
time exactly.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah. And I was probably not as smart at him
as the start. Like I think it was like a
seventy dollars diven and I got every so often. I
just you know, thirteen year old me thought that was
so cool and I was so rich.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
In hindsight, I'm like, I wish i'd invested all of.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
That back, But you know what hindsight is twenty twenty,
talk to me about what you're doing about your superannuations.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Well, you're away nothing.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Why because we can't afford to.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, that's so fair. I mean, you've got a baby
on the way, and while you do have a high income,
it sounds like you have a high living cost at
the moment as well, and a mortgage and all of
that other stuff. Have you at least set it to
the right profile and like checked in with them to
make sure that it's ticking along the way that it
needs to.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yes, yeah, we still check it quite regularly. Mine is
I think I'm at like ninety thousand dollars, which is
pretty good, and my husband's at oh, I think two.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Hundred, very cool.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, so we can afford to sit back for a
few years with.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
That, which is yeah easy. But you did think about
it like we might not be contributing, But we just
dotted all our eyes and crossed all our teas before
that happened.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, no, no, that was one of the many things
that we had to cross off our list before we left.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
One hundred percent. Now, talk to me about debt. You
mentioned that you have a mortgage here in Australia. When
did you purchase your first home?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
So it's actually our second, So we purchased our first.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Oh okay, big dog.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah, little humble brag there.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
No.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
We purchased our first in March twenty twenty in Sydney.
It was an apartment. Our mortgage closed the day I
lost my job from COVID and my husband lost all
week later.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I would have just cried the whole week.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, I still drank the sham.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I would have too, Honestly, you've got to take whatever
win you can.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I was like, we just got to drown this. Yes,
so that was not ideal, but that was our first home.
And then that whole building sold to a developer for
quite a good profit, which helped us get into the
home we're in now. I will be completely transparent that
my parents paid the twenty percent deposit for that as
well and then helped us out very much great as well.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
So talk to me like that's brilliant, But I actually
care more about the developer story. How does that happen?
So you closed on your first home, that's really exciting.
You bought an apartment and then what a developer knocks
on the door and says, we want to buy this
whole building and we're going to give you over market
for your apartment or like, how does that work?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
That's exactly what happened. They said, we want to buy
this building, we want to develop it. It goes through strata.
I think they needed a seventy five percent approval like
resident approval to do it. It was something like ninety percent.
I think two apartments said they didn't want to do it,
but they got forced too. Oh yeah, and then they
paid us above market rate for it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I mean, that's a good money win.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It was an amazing, amazing money when that was unexpected.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And then you're coming to purchase your second property and
I'm assuming some of the profits from that, and then
obviously your parents helped out, which is really cool. But
was that a family home? Was that another apartment?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Like?
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Well, what did we buy a second time around?
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Now? So that was a family home? So it's a
three bedroom townhouse in like inner Melbourne.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Oh, very cool? And what did you purchase that four ish?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That was in twenty twenty two and that was for
one point three two five million?
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Very cool? And what do you reckon that's worth now?
Because I feel like the Melbourne market has slightly increased,
So one point three are we looking at like one
point six?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Maybe it's probably about the same to be honest, you reckon,
I reckon. It's probably about that because it dropped a bit,
and then it's now the interest rates are going down,
it might go up. I feel like it's yeah, I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Well, I've got my fingers crossed for you.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, I mean, maur is always better.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Oh, I feel like the things. And this is coming
from a relatively educated perspective for those of you playing
along at home who might not know. I own a
mortgage broken company, so I talk about mortgages literally every
single day. I feel like a three bedroom townhouse in
Melbourne has been quite popular. Like the three bedrooms not two,
it's three would push you up a little bit more.
And as you probably know, when you purchased that for
(31:20):
what one point three to two, you were probably paying
more than you wanted to. But it was because it
had three bedrooms.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Right, yes, but also less because we were living in
Sydney at the time and property in Melbourne was way
cheaper than property in Sydney.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Oh yeah, so you've like reframed it to be very sexy.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
We thought we're getting a great bargain. Meanwhile, all my
friends in Melbourne are like, you did what?
Speaker 1 (31:44):
They what?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's a good deal.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I like it, but compared to Sydney way cheaper.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I love that for you. She's positive. So what's the
long term plan? Like we obviously you said before, I'd
love to pay off, you know, our entire Melbourne mortgage.
We want to have an exit. We'd love to essentially
get rich. But is the plan like the dream plan
to come home your husband gets to start off his
own startup in Melbourne, Like what does life hopefully look
(32:09):
like in the future.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
That is a dream plan. Currently it's just survive because, yeah,
his income sounds high. But we also haven't touched on
the rent that we pay in San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Oh could you tell us more about that please.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
The third most expensive city in the world to live in. Gross, Yeah,
it is. Our rent is about four eight hundred USD
a month, which is about seven and a half thousand
Australian dollars for a two bedroom apartment.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I was about to say what does that get you?
And you said a two bedroom apartment. I was like,
wish I didn't ask yep, so is that normal? Have
you got like a really boogie apartment? Like, have you
got like a butler?
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Like?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
What's going on? With like that amount of money that is.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Normal, that is actually probably on the lower end. Right,
it's a nice apartment. It's not a super boogie apartment,
but it is also not a really crappy apartment.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, so talk to me about general living costs because
I think I'm a little bit shook about four and
a half thousand USDA for rent per month. Like, what's
groceries costing? What's like your average bills? Like, what does
all of that look like?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
Groceries are about two hundred dollars a week. We eat
out Friday nights and maybe a couple of lunches on
the weekend, but that's probably another one hundred and fifty
dollars a week. Yeah. I mentioned electricity that's gotten cheaper.
We don't own a car here, so that is helpful.
Public transport here is also cheaper, which is really nice
(33:31):
and free for under nineteen.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Oh that's kind of cool. Yeah, yeah, very cool. Daycare
was one hundred and seventy five dollars a day.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Don't think of other expenses. I told it does a
couple of classes as well, so they're I think twenty
something dollars a class. But the city also does lots
of free kids activities here, which is fantastic. So we've
got some kind of regular freebies that we do as well.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, that is very cool. I feel like it all
adds up. Talk to me about when eating out, what's
tipping culture like, because I feel like that just gives
me anxiety.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Oh I hate tipping culture. I am the worst. I
am giving all the Australians a bad reputation. I am
so sorry. But no, I don't tip my hairdresser, even
though you apparently tip your hair dresser here. Tipping culture
is huge and I am terrible at it.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
See, I just I get it for restaurants and stuff
like that because we know that they get really bad
minimum wages or whatever. But then it's like a hairdresser,
what do you mean, like are you on a bad
I just don't comprehend it.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I'm still paying you three hundred dollars to do my hair, like.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
And that's three hundred USD like that's yes, yes, it
is five hundred and fifty Australian.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Oh let's add that expensive. Yeah there's the hair every
like eight weeks that I pay And no, so I
think some of the chipping I get, like the uberik drivers. Absolutely,
that is mostly how they earn their money tip them.
But I feel like it's gotten even since, like I
lived here when I was younger, it's gotten way more
excit and higher amounts. Now you buy a coffee and
(35:03):
it's like, would you like to tip twenty five percent
of your seven dollar coffee? Well? No, not really?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Actually yeah, I feel like I don't know. I just
I would say that I'm good at money, and that
just still makes me uncomfortable. I feel like, if anything,
when I was in the US a while ago, I
was over tipping because I didn't know exactly what to do,
and I just I'm such a people pleaser. I didn't
want to offend anybody. And then I'm like, oh what
(35:30):
am I doing? But if I lived there, that's not sustainable.
You can't do that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
No, I undertip because otherwise everything is like twenty five
percent more expensive and it's already more expensive.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Wild Oh my goodness, I have loved this. Talk to me,
what do you think your best money habit is?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
We work quite good at saving, and I know if
we're so good at saving at the moment.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I feel like it's a bit challenging at the moment
it's a little.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Bit challenging at the moment, but we are very good,
I would say, at kind of choosing where we want
to buy things that are a bit more expensive and
where we find ways to save money or buy things
that are maybe on the cheaper end.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah, smart, smart, What do you think your worst money
habit is? And I'm super interested in this because at
the start you said, oh, I think I'm a B
or a B minus and that's gone down. Like, I
just feel like you've got a reason for thinking your
money grade has gone down, and I need to know.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Oh Amazon, it's so easy here. You just like think
of something and then like suddenly it appears in your Amazon.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Order because it's like same day, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah, I'm like, oh, that pair of shoes is cute.
Oh it's arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon. And
I'm getting better at it. My husband is terrible, Like
we go over our budget every month and and he
gets to it and he's like, oh, we spent how
much on Amazon? And I'm like, yeah, because you were like, oh,
just do it, just at it. He's even got the
Amazon like credit card. He's like, oh, we got five
percent back on everything and points.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And oh my goodness, he's got got by the Amazon bug.
I order stuff on Amazon in Australia and I think
that's bad, but like in the UAY, i'd be unstoppable.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
We did an Australia too, and it is just the
whole like next level here. Also, there's not a lot
of like shops. All of the shops are closing. In
San Francisco itself is doing a big push to like
bring retail back to the city because we got decimated
in COVID. But all across in America, like you know,
I'm pregnant, I'm having another baby. There are no baby stores.
(37:21):
You can't go look at baby things. There's a couple
of like small, super bougie ones and they're really expensive
areas where I was like, I just need to look
at cots. We're going to go, But.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Then you're like, I wish we never came.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, there's nothing. You know, my daughter grew out of
her pants all of a sudden, almost like overnight, and
there's a H and M in the city I could
get to, but that's the only place to really buy
kids clothes really, other than like online or if you
track like way out to the suburbs, which we have
a car. Are we not going to go an hour
on a bus to get to Walmart?
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Crazy?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I miss clothes shopping in person?
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, I feel like I would miss that as well.
So you reckon, that's your worst one habit and that's
why your money score has gone down. I feel like
you guys are killing it though, Like do you have
picked up your entire life at like thirty six and
been like, Nah, we're going to give it a crack.
We're going to go international, especially with kids, Like, girl,
you're giving me anxiety, Like I don't even want to
leave the house with my toddler sometimes, Like that's not me.
(38:18):
It sounds very attractive.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
The flight was the easy part, I think because I'd
done it before. Like we were older, Like I was
ten when I moved. My youngest sibling was six, So
we were older when we moved. But like we've done it,
we've seen that it was it was feasible. Yeah, yeah,
it was feasible. And like she's young, she misses like
my parents terribly, but she sees every day on FaceTime
and she's living her best little life.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
I love that for her. She's just a little San
Francisco baby, and she's going to have a San Francisco
sibling soon, an American sibling at that she will.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
We took her on a cable car for the first
time on the weekend because she loves like trains and trams.
I think it was the best day of her entire life.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I love that for her.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
Like she's a tray kid. She was waving at everyone
passing by like she was just the queen. She was
the queen she was, and every time it stopped, she'd
like clap like yay. It was just the best.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I love kids so much, it's ridiculous. I'm so excited
for you. Has she started to adopt an American accent yet?
Speaker 3 (39:16):
No, not yet. She still has a very Australian accent.
Especially there's this thing over here about the way we
say the word no, no, yeah exactly, that's exactly how
she says it. So no, she hasn't yet, but we
play a lot of wiggles to keep that accent going.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yeah good, I like that.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Yeah, I'm sure she'll get one.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Oh no, and little America that's coming soon. I definitely
think like they're just going to copy the American accent.
To begin with, she.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Will, Yeah, she'll just come out with it straight away.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Oh my goodness. So now that we've had a chat,
I feel like you said to your BEE or a
B minus. I don't know. I feel like you're doing
really well, especially for like the risk that you're taking
in the hope that it will pay off. And I
have no doubt that even if it's like not the
options that you thought it would be, like, it's a
I guess life changing experience that is arguably going to
pay off for the rest of your careers. Do you
(40:05):
really think like you're a B or a B minus
or like what would it take to get you guys
to an A? At this point.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
I think it's just because it's so I feel like
we're in such a precarious position with like we are
kind of just covering expenses. You know, we have a
huge mortgage, we have a huge rent. There is a
tax bill coming at some point. I feel like, yeah,
if we knew that was all going to be fully okay,
then yeah, probably like an A. But it's just that
unknown is really.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Yeah, the unknown is very challenging.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Yeah, it just eats away at you a little bit
and you're like, oh, have we made the right choice.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
I feel like even if financially you haven't made the
right choice, Like, what an experience for you guys, what
an experience for your kids? Like this is so cool,
but also like dual citizenship.
Speaker 3 (40:48):
This is how I sold my husband. My biggest thing
was because he's like, oh, this could be a really
bad financial decision, and I was like, yeah, but I
don't want you to look back when you're sixty and
retiring and being like, oh, I wish i'd done that,
like I always I think you'd always.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Regret not having made the move. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm
excited for you guys. I hope you stay in touch
because I think that's really fun. And then when you're
in Melbourne, we can get our husbands together and they
can talk about data and analytics, and I think that
that would be very wholesome for them.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Oh he needs someone because he tries to talk to
me about like all the new models that are coming out,
and I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
It's so nice that you wrote algorithms all day. I
don't know what that means.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Thank you, exactly. I'm so glad you're so passionate about this,
but this is not my passion.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I love that money direst it. It has been a pleasure
getting to know you. Thank you for staying up late
and doing a money diary with me. I know the
community is going to love hearing this as much as
I loved interviewing you. It has been a pleasure.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Did buy shared or? Sheese on the Money is general
in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
(42:46):
your needs. Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are
authorized representatives of Money. Sheper Pty Ltd a BN three
two one six four nine two seven seven zero eight
AFSL four five one two eight nine
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.