5 Must-Read Finance Books In 2025 Recommended by a Financial Advisor for Australian Women to Build Wealth and Confidence

Want to get better with money but not sure where to start? With so many finance books out there, picking the right one can be overwhelming. That’s why Molly Benjamin (Ladies Finance Club) sat down with Dawn Thomas who's done the hard work for you! 

In this must-listen episode, they break down the best finance books for Australians in 2025 - covering everything from budgeting and investing to superannuation and financial freedom. Whether you’re just starting your money journey or looking to level up, this episode is packed with actionable insights, no BS advice, and relatable recommendations to help you take control of your financial future.

🔹 What you'll learn:
✔️ What makes a great finance book (no jargon, no shame—just practical advice!)
✔️ The top 5 money books to read in 2025—and why they’re game-changers
✔️ Superannuation 101—why sticking with your default fund could be costing you $$$
✔️ How to decode investment jargon and make informed financial decisions
✔️ Why most people ignore their superannuation (and how to fix that)
✔️ How to raise financially smart kids—the book every parent should read
✔️ Real budgeting strategies—how Dawn keeps her finances on track

Grab a copy of Molly's book Girl Just Wanna Have Funds here. 

This episode is brought to you by InvestorKit, Australia’s #1 Buyers Agency for 2023 and 2024. They specialise in helping investors find high-growth properties utilising industry leading AI and data driven research process across Australia. 70%+ of the properties they purchase are off-market and they have consistently outperformed national average capital growth rates by over 49%. Whether you’re looking to build your property portfolio or secure your first investment. Check them out here.

CHAPTERS

01:00 – Welcome to Get Rich – Five Must-Read Finance Books for 2025
02:00 – Meet Dawn Thomas – Financial Advisor, Podcast Host & Money Book Expert
04:00 – What Makes a Great Finance Book? – No Jargon, No Shame, Just Actionable Advice
05:30 – Book #5: Girls Just Wanna Have Funds by Molly Benjamin – Finance Made Fun
08:00 – Book #4: Money School by Lacey Filipich – The Power of Financial Independence
11:00 – Book #3: Sort Your Money Out by Glen James – Humour & Practical Money Hacks
13:00 – Book #2: The Money Sandwich by Marc Bineham – Financial Freedom for All Ages
16:00 – Superannuation 101 – Why You Shouldn’t Stick with the Default Fund
18:00 – Breaking Down Investment Jargon – Why ‘Aggressive’ Doesn’t Mean Dangerous
21:00 – Why Most People Ignore Their Super (And How to Fix That)
24:00 – Book #1: Buying Happiness by Kate Campbell – Aligning Money with Joy
26:30 – Bonus Book: Kids Ain’t Cheap by Anna Cristina – Raising Financially Smart Kids
28:00 – How Dawn Budgets – Reviewing, Adjusting & Staying Flexible
29:30 – Final Money Advice – It’s Never Too Late to Get Your Finances on Track

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

 Girls Just Wanna Have Funds by Molly Benjamin https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/book
Money School by Lacey Filipich https://www.moneyschool.org.au/book
Sort Your Money Out by Glen James https://www.sortyourmoneyout.com
The Money Sandwich  by Marc Bineham https://www.themoneysandwich.com.au
Buying Happiness  by Kate Campbell https://www.rask.com.au/buying-happiness
Kids Ain’t Cheap by Anna Cristina https://www.annacristina.com.au
MoneySmart Super Calculator (ASIC) https://moneysmart.gov.au/how-super-works/superannuation-calculator
APRA MySuper Performance Test Results https://www.apra.gov.au/mysuper-product-heatmap
Energy Rebates & Grants: https://www.energy.gov.au/rebates
Lost Super & Unclaimed Money: https://moneysmart.gov.au/find-unclaimed-money

CONNECT WITH DAWN THOMAS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advice.with.heart/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@advicewithheart7115 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-d-thomas/
Podcast: https://twd.com.au/startwellpodcast/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIme_zgp2uiwMVn6RmAh3b6zlqEAAYASAAEgJAvPD_BwE

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/
Newsletter: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/newsletter23

TAKEAWAYS

• Not every resource suits everyone; it depends on your background.
• A good financial book should invite readers into the conversation.
• Visuals in financial books can enhance the learning experience.
• Financial independence is about having control over your time.
• Books should not make readers feel ashamed or excluded.
• Humor and warmth in financial literature can make it more engaging.
• Understanding money should be a journey, not a destination.
• The FIRE movement focuses on financial independence and quality of life.
• It's important to make informed choices about investments.
• Financial advice is often nuanced and requires understanding individual circumstances. Don't panic when markets go down; they always recover.
• Understanding investment choices is crucial for financial health.
• Empowering youth about superannuation can lead to better financial futures.
• Awareness of superannuation performance is essential for long-term planning.
• Inaction in financial decisions can lead to significant costs over time.
• Early decisions in superannuation can greatly impact retirement savings.
• Books on financial literacy can provide foundational knowledge and mindset shifts.
• Budgeting should be personalized and adaptable to individual needs.
• Acknowledging progress in financial management is important for motivation.
• Engaging with financial education resources is a great starting point.

SOUND BITES

"Your book is so inviting and surprising."
"Financial planning is boring?"
"Money needs to mean something."
"Sort your money out, Molly!"
"Just don't panic when markets go down."
"I feel like it needs a little makeover."

TRANSCRIPT

Molly: [00:00:00] Hey, it's Molly here. Now, before we dive in, I want to give a shout out to our awesome sponsor Investor Kit. At Ladies Finance Club, we are all about helping women crush financial independence and property investing is a really smart way to do this. But let's be real, figuring out the right location, avoiding costly mistakes.

And dealing with agents, it's a lot. That's where Investor Kit comes in. They've been named Australia's Buyer Agency of the Year in 2023 and 2024. And they're here to look after you, the property investor. They know the markets inside out, back every move with solid data and take care of the tricky stuff like research, negotiation and even connecting you with top property managers.

Whether it's your first investment property or you're building your portfolio, Investor Kit makes it simple and stress free. Big thanks to them for supporting this podcast. Visit investorkit. com. au to learn more. Hi, hi, hi, lovely. Welcome back to Get Rich, the podcast helping you do just [00:01:00] that, get rich and stay rich.

Now, if you're looking to level up your finances this year, you are in luck. Cause we are talking about the five must read finance books in 2025 recommended by a financial advisor. And I've invited Dawn Thomas along who is a financial advisor by day, a very busy mom of two Gen Zeds and Gen Alpha by night.

Uh, also a complete self confessed super nerd. She's doing her PhD and she's also, uh, did this awesome TEDx talk as well, but she hosts her own podcast called start well, where she reviews and breaks down financial books. So I felt like who better to guide us through the must read books of 2025 then Dawn.

But before we dive in, if you're enjoying this potty, please hit that subscribe button. So you never miss an episode and let's get into this. Dawn, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm really excited to have this conversation. Oh, thank you for having me,

Dawn: Molly. I think you've picked the right topic for [00:02:00] me, given how 2024 has unfolded.

Molly: Yes, absolutely. So today we're all, we're looking at what are the must read books for 2025. As I said, you're very well resourced for this topic because this is in fact what your podcast is about. You. Look at books and resources and you break them down. Yes,

Dawn: I spent 2024 looking at, you know, popular books, books that I think people should be reading, should be more popular.

And every time I pick up a book or a resource, I sort of have a person in mind. I think the point is that not every resource suits everyone. It really depends on your background, who you are, how you like to interact with the content. And luckily there's heaps of resources out there.

Molly: Yeah. Awesome. And for those who don't know as well, I know I mentioned in the bio, but Dawn, you're a financial advisor over in Perth.

Yes, I am. I

Dawn: am in WA on a very sunny day today, but yeah, definitely representing the West side.

Molly: I have to say as well, as far as financial advisors go, you're a [00:03:00] very cool one. You're

Dawn: cool. I'm a little bit nutty. Maybe. Um, I, and the thing is that the clients who get it, they're nutty as well. So we just live in this world of nuttiness.

Love

Molly: it. So let's go on with that. So, and, and I wanted to give a shout out as well, cause your podcast is called Start Well as well. So definitely check that one out. But for you, what makes a good financial book a must read? Look, I think

Dawn: for financial books, I would separate them from that foundation book.

And these five books that I'll talk about today are all foundation books. I think they should be able to give you a sense of how to start and then how to continue. But the most important thing is that they don't make you feel like. You don't get it or you don't belong in the conversation. I'm very big on collaboration and very big on, you know, meeting where someone is at, you know, so there shouldn't be any shaming or you should know this or [00:04:00] putting in things to be so convoluted.

You know, that's why your book is one of my favorite books because from the get go, you're in on the journey. It's true to its title. And you're, you're having fun as you're learning. So I think a good book keeps you in and keeps you going further along in your journey.

Molly: Thank you, Dawn. And I promise I didn't pay her to say that.

No, that's lovely. And I always think like when you think of a book, it's literally someone's knowledge, all that knowledge put into like. Three, 400 pages. And like what a gift that is. And for those out there who don't like you, maybe you're not a reader, you know, a lot of, all these books come in audio version, um, and you have Spotify premium, you get free access to audio books, or there might be borrow a box or check in with your local library as well.

That's all. There's always options out there. So let's get on with it. Top five must read books for 2025. Which one do you want to kick off with? Oh, I'm going to kick off with

Dawn: [00:05:00] yours, Molly. So I think like with your book, your book is so inviting and it's so surprising. By the time I got to your book, I had read a number of finance books and I think every time I pick up one, I'll be like, what, what is it going to tell me that I haven't already read before?

You know, so I'm actually picking it up with a level of skepticism, right? Because I've, I've been through a number of books. You know, if we start off right off the back, it was the visuals. Because there are people who are visual learners or visual readers, and they need to have that as an inviting way to start their reading journey.

Or you said as well, there's the option of audiobooks with these books as well. So I say picking up the book. It already feels different and I told you that there's an energy that comes off that book where you feel like okay I think I'm I'm gonna have a good time doing this. So how the visuals are I think I told you this in the podcast as well.

I feel like your brain you're very much the brain of your reader You know who your reader is and you Uh, very deliberate with how you're talking to the reader. So I felt [00:06:00] the language that was used, the examples, the imagery as well, that risk profiling one, I keep on telling you, it's just brilliant. Where if you shoes is just helping someone understand a concept by it being explained in a different way, you know, using analogies, using diagrams.

So I feel that. Your book, you know, it's called Girls Just Wanna, Wanna Have Funs. You're actually gonna have fun doing it. And the response I get sometimes from some clients, we see couples, right? And sometimes it's one of them that goes, Don't know offense, but financial planning is boring. I try not to make it boring, but they've been so used to maybe being in a conversation with a partner who is very much into spreadsheets, graphs, and they communicate at home that way.

So they feel that. Money conversations have to be this way. If you're not getting it in a spreadsheet, you're not understanding the jargon. That means you're not smart with money and you don't belong in a [00:07:00] conversation. I think your book dispels that, that myth. It's talking about a different way of learning about money.

And that's why I've actually recommended your book quite often to,

Molly: you

Dawn: know, clients that want to be able to learn about money that way, but have felt really apprehensive. About doing that because they already believe in themselves that they don't belong in the money conversation, or they're not good with money.

Molly: Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Cause that was really what I wanted to get across with the book as well. I wanted it to be like more of a fun resource. And also I wanted people who would never pick up a finance book to pick up that book off. Well, thank you. I'm very humbled. What about book number

Dawn: four? Okay.

So book number four, it's money school by Lacey Filipich, you know? So yeah. So I think about. All of these foundation books I'm talking about will help you get ahead. And I said, the first example is particularly if you feel that you want to be welcomed in the money journey, there's your book. Now, Lacey's book doesn't have as many visuals, but she's very talking again [00:08:00] from her experience, you know, with her mom having a really good role model.

And she's very. I suppose she also looks at the concepts that are out there, like, you know, we, we know that the fire movement is a very big thing, right? Fire movement. But also she felt that she looked at the fire movement and when it didn't really talk about the quality of life, she has something that she calls fighter, which is financial independence and time rich.

You know, the focus is about building wealth and time is really the gold, right? Yeah, so it's really interesting how she goes into concepts of what should be driving you because all of this with money is that it needs to mean something, you know, you're trying to make meaning of something and that gives you the motivation to go on.

So with Lacey's book, again, like all the foundation books, it will take you through. Budgeting, you know what you can do with investments what you do with structure She does touch a little bit on money mindset, but not a lot But because she she's also talking about career progression

Molly: the

Dawn: importance of negotiating your pay

Molly: Yeah,

Dawn: you know things like that that you also found that were important in terms of [00:09:00] what you are communicating

Molly: And

Dawn: I think her book Look, I think like your book could be picked up by a lot of women.

It doesn't exclude men, but I think her book would, you know, possibly you could go either way, you know, like you, yeah, like my, yes, my daughter. Picked your book and was like very clear that that's the book she wanted, you know, and then my son, like, probably he would have picked money school because I don't know what it is, you know, maybe when something is, is too brightly colored, very pink.

So that's probably why.

Molly: Yeah, I know. It doesn't make

Dawn: sense

Molly: to me. This is not targeting

Dawn: me.

Molly: Yes.

Dawn: You're not targeting, but it doesn't mean that you can't pick it up. Um, so I just think money school, we talk about fighters. She talks about. I love that as well

Molly: about control over your time. Cause I remember, I think it was in the psychology of money.

He has this line and then he's like, you know, the thing wealthy people want is control over their time. That's what they're all striving for. It's not like the bigger car, the bigger house, it's control over your time to do what you want to do when [00:10:00] you want to do it.

Dawn: Yes. Yes. And it, she hits a nail on the head.

Um, she actually, she talks, she has a diagram in the book as well about spending less time on activities like poopy activities and more activities that are gold, you know, so, um, she uses another term in the book, but we will keep it kind of friendly for your podcast. Um, so it's, it's that shift of what do you want to do with your time, you know, with all of this.

So I think that's a comprehensive book. It's a book that you're going to read. Go back to I think at different segments of your life because I don't think you can kind of Put in place every single chapter. It's very comprehensive. Yeah. Yeah, so you read it, you know, you put it back and come back to it with Oh, yeah.

Now I'm having a new job. What did Lacey say in that chapter about the job and then we go to it? Yeah.

Molly: Okay. I love it. So we've got girls just want to have fun. We've got money school

Dawn: Yes.

Molly: Number

Dawn: three. We have Glen James sought your money out. Hmm. Okay. Yeah. Like I said, we're going through the scale. We're going from the something my daughter and young woman would [00:11:00] definitely pick up with your book.

Then we go to the more neutral side and I feel like my son would have definitely picked up sought your money out. Yeah. I think it's again, it's a book that could be read by anyone. And Glenn talks about instead of fire, he talks about loot, which is live life on your own terms. You know, so, again, interesting with with how we've, we've come to this, but he's been very upfront, again, about his journey.

'cause a lot of these good books weave in somebody's journey and Yeah. What's motivating them to write the book. Yeah, absolutely. Just like you did as well. Yeah. You've, you know that there's a gap there. So it's, it's happened with conversations with friends. Yeah. And he talks as well about, you know, things like your side hustles, you know, that kids can do, you know, I do.

Talk to kids about side hustles. Yeah. But I think it's a good foundation book to get you interested and it's really entertaining.

Molly: Um, right. Yeah. It

Dawn: got some humor in

Molly: there.

Dawn: Yeah. Like, look, I, the tone of the book, cause all these books will cover. [00:12:00] Similar areas. I think it comes down to tone, you know, like your tone is very warm, very inviting and there's fun, you know, Lacey's is her tone is, it's probably, I wouldn't say fun is the term for it, but she takes you in like it's a serious conversation, but it's still approachable.

And with, with Glenn's book, he's going on the other side of his sense of humor with how he presents. These concepts, you know, so what should you worry about when it comes to debt?

Molly: What

Dawn: shouldn't you worry about? You know, but it's none of this is done in a judgmental way. Like all three books I've mentioned so far are not going to make you feel bad about being in debt.

Molly: It's

Dawn: really just talking about what's next.

Molly: Yeah. Nice. Okay. Great. So sort your money. Yes. Sorry. Get your money sorted. Sort your money. Sort your money out. Yeah. Sort your money. It sounds like a parent talking to me. Love it. Okay. Book number two.

Dawn: Okay. Book number two is the money sandwich by Mark Bynum.

Molly: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yes.

Dawn: So again, now we're moving demographics as well. I would kind of [00:13:00] picture someone picking up Mark Bynum's books. Maybe it would be someone in their 50s or 60s. Like you're kind of giving that to your mom or your dad for their present. Christmas time could be a good present. Now, the beauty of I think Mark's book is that he's been a financial advisor.

Since the dawn of time, you know, and then now he's not giving advice anymore, but he's collected all these conversations that happen in meeting rooms, I feel, and he's talking to you, like how you would talk to someone if you were in his meeting room, because it's not black or white. I think that's the thing about financial advice is that someone's come to you.

They've come with a situation and then you're looking at, okay, how do we work with the situation to move forward?

Molly: And

Dawn: that's what he's done with the examples that he's looking at, you know, with, let's say someone considering home ownership versus renting later on in life. You know, what are the pros? What are the cons?

He talks as well about the Goldilocks. Phenomenon with [00:14:00] investing, which I've used in my presentations. I've, I've, when I'm speaking to you, like year nine to year 11 students, I talk about your risk profiling tool. I don't use your imagery, but I explain it in the way that you have,

Molly: but

Dawn: what's the Goldilocks?

The Goldilocks is, is when people leave their superannuation fund in the default option in the balance option, because they believe that it's not too hot and not too cold. Yeah. So it's like, he's breaking down, okay, why, like, why are we doing this and what's the impact of not making a choice? You know, so it's those sort of things he's understanding his reader is in the midst of having elderly parents, but also children.

Molly: Yeah.

Dawn: So how do you find the time to understand the concepts that are important for you?

Molly: Yeah. And just on that, because obviously you are a financial advisor with that whole Goldilocks. Yeah. Default fund. And if people don't know what the default fund means, that just means when you sign up for a job, you get put into a fund and generally that [00:15:00] fund is what they call the default and it's usually a balanced fund.

So yeah, considered like medium in the risk in the risk

Dawn: level. The government has to, there's a whole paper about my super and that's my space that I deal with when I, with my studies is that I'm trying to get more young people to make a choice around investment out of the default because there's a cost to them.

If they don't make a choice, right? Because most of us have, are not going to get to our superannuation anytime soon. But the government has tried to make a choice that is right for everyone, right? But it doesn't make sense that whether you're 15 or 50 year old, your default. It's going to be the same, but I think it just requires that choice and that confidence from you to do it.

The effect of compounding, you know, that ability for your investment to grow on top of each other and keep on growing on top of each other is really magnified when you give it time, when you feed it time

Molly: and you

Dawn: feed it a nice amount of growth return. So Dawn, if

Molly: someone's listening and they're like, oh crap, I'm in the default, what would you recommend they do as a [00:16:00] next step?

Dawn: Yeah. Look, it's so simple. You can just even go into your existing fund and look at an option that has more growth assets in there. And quite typically they are, they're called. Growth option or high growth. Yeah. Aggressive. What you really want to do is look at the little pie chart that comes with the option and you want to pick something that shows that it's got a high amount in growth assets.

So while this is not financial advice, you know, the theory is that if you've got a longer timeframe ahead of you, you can afford to take on more risk for a greater return. You know, so over time that evens out, just don't panic when markets go down because they always do. Just let it do its work.

Molly: And when you say like growth or aggressive, is that meaning more money and stocks like all companies equities then in like cash and bonds?

Dawn: Yes. Yes. And you see that, Molly, I like that you, you can sniff out jargon, like even inside and like, you know what, I felt like I wasn't a jargon person. And then, you know, I've been, I've been very aware of that. So I love the fact that that's why, again, you go back to your book, there's no [00:17:00] jargon, but it's that bit of, if you make a choice or if you've got kids.

Why the Goldilocks phenomenon is, is important in that book as well. So if you've got kids, that's going to apply to your kids as well. If they're over 18 and if they start working, they're going to have super contributions. If they don't make a choice with their first super fund,

Molly: that

Dawn: fund is going to follow them to the rest of their jobs, unless they make a choice,

Molly: you

Dawn: know?

So you want them looking at the fund they have and then look at how they're invested. Really simple and they'll benefit.

Molly: I think it's the first time I've thought about it, but like, When they say aggressive fund, like I must warm people up because people like, I don't want to be aggressive. Yes. That's freaky.

Like even the language sometimes I find in the finance sector. Number one, it's very masculine, like bull bear market. And then also, yeah, that's aggressive. I'm like, why so aggressive? Why don't you just, yeah, I like high risk, not, but even high risk people go, Oh, I don't want to be risky. Yeah. I feel like it needs to, it needs a little makeover, but anyway, I [00:18:00] digress.

I digress. No,

Dawn: it's, it's, we're all part of the package. I think that we'll have a movement, Molly. You've got movement where you're getting people to understand things, you know, just around their finances. You're speaking to so many people and impacting them. I'm trying to get in there for like the young ones, you know, in high school,

Molly: by

Dawn: the time they pick their first fund, I want them to be ready and just make a few good choices to help them out.

Molly: Yeah. And that's the thing. And I do speak to a lot of women about super. I wouldn't say majority, but I'd say a lot of them don't even realize they can pick a fund. They don't have to go with the default option. And there's a lot of trust as well. And I'll use this example from the UK because I was speaking to a lady and she worked.

The super pension system is slightly different, but if you put money aside for your future and it gets put into a fund, she worked for a bank and she just assumed that the fund they put her in was going to be performing well. It ended up being one of the worst performing pensions that year. And she was like, what?

But it's [00:19:00] a bank. So this is why it's also really important just to find out how is your super, um, comparing? How's it comparing? in the long term, not just like year by year, but how's it looking over a long time? And then if you need, it might be worth getting advice on that too. Yes. And look at the funny,

Dawn: you should say that because, uh, CBA group superannuation fund was on the, the, my super.

Failure list when it came out. So, you know, for, for the listeners, what the government has done a lot of work around superannuation right now, you'll find a lot of competitive super funds. So that's why sometimes when I read things in chat groups and people go, which super fund are they in? And suddenly they overcomplicate the whole thing, right?

They go down this rabbit hole and I go. You don't need, right now the government has done so much of work. They've done the my super comparisons where they're just comparing the my super option, which is balanced. And so I know like some of my ex colleagues were quite shocked. No, they had trust that if it was in an employer fund, surely the fund option would be good.

[00:20:00] But what's also shocking is that some of them receive letters. Seeing that it failed and they still left it in there ,

Molly: because I sent, and if you dunno what that means, so if a super fund didn't do well, they would have to send naughty letters to their customers. Yes and no. It's the same. Like some people would be like, oh yeah, I got that letter.

Do I, did I need to do anything? And I'm like, well, you might wanna think about . I dunno, financial advice maybe. Um, check why they perform so badly. Yes. When everything else did really well and you're paying for it. And I always use this thing, like, don't imagine if like every single month, someone knocked on your door and they're like, hi, can I please have 11, 5.

5 percent of your paycheck? Cool. See you later. We'd be like, what are you doing with it? Where is it being invested? How much are you charging me? Yet with our super, we just go, okay, bye! Whatever, stop my money. Stop people's money. Oh, is it mine? I don't even know if it's mine. Sure, bye! It's so [00:21:00] funny, like with super, we're just so unconnected with it.

We're just like, oh, that's a tomorrow problem. Yeah,

Dawn: it's a tomorrow problem. And, and I think that was where, you know, when talking to young people, it's challenging because if they're talking about really young, right, like, you know, some of your listeners might have kids in that bracket, we've got the Gen Zs and the Gen Alphas coming into play.

Right. And, and how do you get them to think about something that's so far away, but again, you want them to think about the superpower they have, which is, is really time, you know, the longer they wait to be active in this, their superpower diminishes, but if they start early, my goodness, yeah. They are going to get big wins for not much effort.

Molly: I think the challenge is trying to explain that. Because I know when I was even in my first job, I would get letters from my super fund and I would put them straight into the bin. I wouldn't even open them. I would put them straight into the bin and I'd be like, don't know what that is. And I was working for a bank and not one person at the bank explained to me what it was.

Or why I needed it and I'm like, okay, so I think there [00:22:00] is like an education part on behalf of companies that they can do to help their staff and employees as well. And that's why we run so many corporate workshops and I know you do a heap of workshops as well. Actually going in and going, Hey guys, this is really important.

This is what you need to know because we've never learned it. Yes. We never learned it.

Dawn: And you know, if there's a cost for inaction,

Molly: you know, when we cost.

Dawn: A big cost. So I did this TEDx talk for young people, right? So the audience was all 15 to 21 year old. So I had to, I had 10 minutes to present my argument as to why they should care about super.

And one of the things you could do as a listeners, go on to money smart as a calculator.

Molly: And

Dawn: that's what I discussed in that is that you could actually look at the outcome of super for someone who's, let's say 21, starting with a balance of 6, 000. With an average return of 7 percent versus someone that has an average return of 8%.

So that might be a very conservative difference between. The long term outcome of a balance fund versus a growth fund. And if we're [00:23:00] looking at the difference and we're looking at present value, because these calculators build into indexation and you know, the cost of living as it goes on, uh, it's about a hundred thousand.

So someone's starting on 60, 000 earning 65, this, that's the cost of a decision, you know? So if you're not making a decision, then you're, that's that cost. If you're lucky in decision, that's the game.

Molly: Yeah. A hundred thousand dollars. And that's a big difference at retirement. Yeah. That's a big difference at retirement.

Where can we get a copy of that TED talk? Is it online? Oh, not yet. Not yet, Molly. It's, uh, I've been told that it will be released at some point in 2025. When it's released, we'll make sure we add it to the show notes so you can go check that out as well, because I reckon that will be awesome. Oh, thank you.

I don't think even young people, I feel like old people. So all a range of people could probably do with watching that and understanding why they need to care about their super and how to like check on the, using the different calculators as well. Calculate. And also just one

Dawn: more step to just throw in there is that 10 million, my super accounts belonging to people age [00:24:00] 40 years and under, so that's a lot.

That's a lot.

Molly: Gosh. And okay. So that was money sandwich. So book number one. Yes. Look, we're not ordering this in terms of favorites. These are just books. And this isn't favorites ordered. This is just. No, it's, they're all favorites. They're all favorites. Okay. Mine's a mad. I'm sure that'd be number one.

Jokes. Jokes. Jokes. So book number one, but not in any order. Not in any order. Um,

Dawn: is Buying Happiness by Kate Campbell. Yes, and I think like her book as a foundation book, of course, again, covers things like debt, budgeting, investing, uh, growing your funds. So that is the norm with all of these books. You are going to go through all the topics, but she spends a lot of time on money mindset.

I think as the As the name suggests, it's about actually having a good relationship with money. Yeah. So she puts in a lot of activities in her book for you to kind of get a meaningful experience with money and understand what gives you joy, right? So one of the exercises I believe was [00:25:00] first note down what's important to you in life and then look at your expenditure and look at where your money is attributed to.

So it's, it's things like that, that give you the awareness and then looking at it going, or would I then shuffle any of my expenditure or would I then reprioritize what I think is important based on that?

Molly: Yeah, absolutely. Cause I'm, I remember, I don't know the exact quote and I'll probably won't say it right, but they're like.

Show me your bank statement and I'll tell you what's important to you. Yes. So true. Isn't it? Yeah. Even though we may not be aware

Dawn: of it. Like I think in that sense, like a book is like a, a truth book, you know, it's really going to help you see into your own money soul.

Molly: I

Dawn: think

Molly: that's what it is. It's probably going to make me feel quite shallow when I realize how much, you know, I spend on my hair and my nails.

And I know things like that. My God, it's expensive being a woman. Sometimes.

Dawn: Molly, that's the thing. If you find that it's important, then it is fine. You allocate it, right? I [00:26:00] have a client, so she's gorgeous. And she says that we talked about the budget and we just went, actually, I'm not, I'm not wanting. To reduce that because that makes me happy, but I'm willing to reduce the other thing I think that's the thing like money can't you can't do everything with all your choices about prioritizing it

Molly: Yeah And I always say with two people when they're budgeting or putting their spending plan together whatever they like to call it Like it's your budget like yeah You can change it like you can take from one area and put in another area No one like you're the one in charge.

You're the one in control Yes. So you don't have to fill this restriction in certain areas, you just need to make sure the numbers are working.

Dawn: Yes. So it's your money at the end of the day, so you might as well decide what kind of relationship you're going to have with it. Yeah. It's just not worth the stress from day to day.

It just needs to work the few, few steps in there in different areas. It doesn't have to be over complicated. I think that's where all of these books have in common is that they've not tried to over complicate things.

Molly: Yeah. And I think especially when we think about money and so many of us have like this view that it is so [00:27:00] complicated, but we're actually, when you break it down to what its essence is, it's quite simple.

Like when you think of a budget, it's just literally. allocating money, telling money where to go is making sure what's coming in is less than what's going out. That's very basic math, actually. Yeah. We can complicate it so much.

Dawn: Correct. The danger again with like going into like a forum and asking a question like that is that there'll be many responses from different people.

And it almost like makes you more confused. I mean, that's when I read all the different responses. I mean, as someone who may not feel confident about their own knowledge, you go, who should I actually listen to? You know, I would say if you actually go to these books and start as a foundation. Yeah. That gives you a lot more confidence to then go into the discussion and then you can build, you know, like you'd mentioned psychology of money is a good one.

I would say that's not a foundation book, but that gives you other things to think about once you've done a foundation book.

Molly: Yeah, absolutely. Wow. This has been awesome. And there's some great starting points, especially like resources. If you're listening and you're like, [00:28:00] okay, 20, 25 years a year, I'm getting my money shipped together.

There's some great books that you can start with. And I always love to know from our guests, I guess, how do you budget? What do you use to budget? Is there a certain method you use? Are you a spreadsheet person? Do you set up buckets?

Dawn: Yeah. Look, I'm not a natural spreadsheet person, but I have used a spreadsheet to first get my overall idea of where expenses are.

And then I have assigned that according to my, my banking structure. So, and sometimes you've got to go back and tweak it. You've got to go back and tweak it. This is the thing, but it's not stagnant. You know, everything is going up and everything's reviewing. So where I am right now, because I'm, I'm going to be on leave is I'm already reviewing all my insurances.

I didn't do it maybe at renewal because I feel like that didn't fit my life. I'm like, I'm going to be off for two weeks. So I've started, you know, looking at personal insurances, pet insurances, because that's one of the biggest expenditures that I have. So it's time to relook at that, reset it and [00:29:00] then run, update my spreadsheet and then adjust it.

And I feel like where. You think something hasn't has worked before, then you can actually change it. So there's some things I want to change with my bank structure as well.

Molly: Yeah. And I love that it's not a cookie cutter approach. Like it's. Constantly, you said you're constantly tweaking and I think people listening, it's about finding what works for you and then making sure that you're checking in and you're readjusting when needed.

Yes. And also, like, don't

Dawn: feel bad that you've got to do it at a particular time. You haven't done it soon enough. I think even that's what you say as well, Molly, is like the fact that you're doing it is already important that you should acknowledge that you're doing it.

Molly: Yeah. Yeah. And

Dawn: so just. Just do it like I'm doing it when it suits me because you know, you've got things happening in your life You can't just always do it at a particular time.

Yeah, and be perfect about it. You just gotta Just do it when you can do it.

Molly: And the fact that you're listening to this podcast is a great, great starting point. So snaps for you. Well done you. Yes. Well, [00:30:00] thank you Dawn so much for coming on and chatting. We're going to put links in the show notes where you can check out those books, but also once your TED talk is live, we'll be linking that as well.

Thanks so much for joining our podcast today. Thank you so much, Molly. And

Dawn: if I could just say, you gave me five, but there was a really a sixth in there as well. So I just had, I've got to give a shout out to Anna Christina for Kids Ain't Cheap because that one. A money inclusion award. She won an award.

So that's fine. Okay. We, it's fine for her to be one of the six. It's another five.

Molly: We actually have Anna on the podcast as well.

Dawn: Yes. They'll be remiss of me if I didn't mention her, but you know, that I think the, the thing is that they're fantastic Aussie authors writing amazing books. Give them a chance.

Absolutely. And we'll include Anna's book

Molly: in the notes as [00:31:00] well.

KEYWORDS

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