Jellyman Investing - Personal Finance for Australians

Welcome to Brah….Finance (Joke will be explained in due course). We designed this podcast for Australians looking to get control of their finances because WE are also Australians! Maybe you were like us at one point; credit card debt keeping you up at night, buying your first house feels impossible, don’t know how to save, the stock market is a mystery or maybe you have extra money and simply don’t know what to do with it. We’ve been there. In fact, all three of us, Jed (Me), Kirk and CJ have had experience in every one of these areas. At different points in our lives, it all felt hopeless. But through hard work, study and research we learned how to better manage our finances. In just several short years, we went from being out of control with our finances to being in complete control. We each own houses, one of us has two houses! We all invest in the stock market. We all have healthy savings. These things are accidents. They’re skills that you can learn and in this podcast, we’ll share the things we did and hopefully it can inspire you to get control of your finances. 

Your mind is an extremely powerful tool. It can help you achieve great things but it can also create massive problems. Harnessing your mind is key to getting control of your finances. How is that possible you say? Well, think about this. Each person has a certain story they’ve told themselves such as I’m not good with money, my parents didn’t teach me, I’m not good with numbers, I have no discipline, etc. It is these stories that we tell ourselves and in particular yourself that has lead you right here. It is the mindset you currently have that has resulted in your current life. To think that your life will change without changing your mindset first, makes no sense. We must start from the ground up. This podcast is not just about teaching financial techniques. It’s also about teaching how your thinking impacts your financial situation. Someone who thinks they’re not good with numbers simply won’t try to be good with numbers. It’s time to put these stories to rest and look forward. The mistakes you’ve made in the past should be considered “lessons”. That credit card debt looming over you isn’t burden, it’s a challenge to be conquered and we’ll help you get there. 

2 of my best friends and I have been on our financial journey for years. We get asked questions all the time from all sorts of places for finance advice ranging from how to buy a home, how to invest in the stock market, how to manage finances and so on. One day I was driving in the car with the missus and she came up with the idea of starting a podcast. We were already talking about finance all the time, enough to annoy our spouses! So instead, we’ve decided to annoy you 😊Introducing Kirk and CJ. I’ve known these guys for many years. About 5-8 years we were all terrible with finances. We didn’t invest, we spent all our money, we had debt and no assets. 5 years later we each have houses, invest in the stock market and have complete control of our finances. Wouldn’t you like to do the same? 

If it’s two things we all share, it’s money and health. Debt in particular is something I think almost everyone experiences in their life and there’s a reason for it. It has never been easier to get a credit card. It has never been easier to use one as it’s connected to Amazon, or eBay or Shopify. One-click and whatever you desire will be delivered to your door. However, with this ease of purchase comes a price. Most people who get credit cards, or let me rephrase that, most of those provided a credit card by a banking institution are not trained to use one. It’s the equivalent of putting your 5-year old behind the steering wheel. I’m not saying your stupid. What I’m saying is that the system is designed in such a way that debt and in particular fees occur. That is how banks stay in business. The time for blaming yourself is over. Debt is not something you did. You were preyed on by banks. You were prayed on by the internet and all those flashing lights. The temptation, so great that it takes over your emotions and makes you buy things you probably don’t need. For the price of buying a few things here and there, the fees starting adding up. The phone calls from banks start happening. You’re now getting letters. The stress is building and it feels like there’s no way out.It is this stress, this burden that creates so many problems in our lives. It’s time to defeat it! 

In this episode the boys and I discuss how we personally dealt with debt in the past in particular credit card debt. You’ll see that even though we had learned skills to get jobs, we didn’t have the skills to manage and make our money work for us. As they say, making money and keeping money are two different sets of skills. 

We get this remark all the time “Which companies should I invest in on the stock market?” Woooahhh……hold your horses!! That’s the equivalent of saving which fighter jet should I fly before even joining the army and done basic firearms training. Investing in the stock market is no simple thing if you’re trying to accumulate long term wealth. It’s a winnable game but you need a long term, robust strategy. Sound boring!? It’s supposed to be. This is the reason most people do it poorly. Instead of putting the effort in and mastering this craft, its much easier to listen to a friend of yours with stock tip based on nothing but speculation and put money on it straight away. When the stocks goes down, most will panic and sell. Not exactly a long term strategy. Our goal is to understand WHY it goes down or why it goes UP for that matter. It’s not magic. There are mechanics involved that cause the market to behave the way it does. By understanding these mechanics we can plan our strategy. This doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, once you start winning this game, it’s hella exciting!!!

Compound interest is extremely fascinating to us. It can either work for you or against you. Let’s do an example. Did you know that your credit card has compound interest? Assume you have a credit card and you spend $1,000. Then the bank charges you interest of 5%. Which means now you owe $1,050. Then next month you still don’t pay it off and they charge you another 5%. Does that bring it to $1,100? Answer is no. Because it’s 5% plus the debt they added the previous month. Which brings the total to $1,102.5. So a little bit got added. Over months and years this can grow out of control. The mistake most people make is that they pay the interest component but not the underlying loan. Which means, by design, they never pay off their debt. The banks do this on purpose to keep you “on their payroll” forever!! Understanding this explains why most people end up in serious credit card debt. Conversely, it also explains why people smart with their money are able to grow large fortunes with considerably low paying jobs. It works the same way. A little bit invested now growing at 5% over many years will grow to a large fortune given enough time. 

Having a buffer is probably one of the most important things to have. The reason is because life is unpredictable. We’re also not good at judging, calculating or preparing for the unforeseen. Think back in your life how many bad and stressful situations you were in where if you had 2-3 months worth of income just sitting there, would have made the world of difference? Having 6-12 months of income protects you from a sudden loss of job, a medical incident, family emergency, housing problem, changes to the economy, increase in home interest rates, moving house, relationship breakdowns, unexpected child, expected child moving house, your company going out of business, and so on, and so on. The list is endless. The other reason its important is because of economic downturns. This is usually when big fortunes are made. The average person lives paycheck to paycheck, lives in financial fear and is ultra-conservative. They have no financial plan or strategy and don’t know enough about money to make a killing when the right opportunity arises. The smart investor learns to fight another day and when the market recovers, makes a fortune. Here’s how it happens. In the 2008 financial crisis. Many were unprepared. The stock market and housing markets collapsed. Those with years worth of saved income survived the onslaught and when the markets began recovering, had capital to invest and ride the growth. COVID in Australia was no different!