Investor Journeys—KailaInvestor Journeys—Kaila

Tell us about yourself

I’m 25 and live in Adelaide with my partner and our dog. I’m currently a teacher, but I’m about to switch jobs and become a gymnastics education coordinator. I play lots of sports; rugby, basketball, and cheerleading. 

What’s your money story?

I’ve always been a terrible saver. I used to work multiple jobs, pay for the things I needed to, and spend the rest immediately. I didn’t have any financial goals, and I wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture. The turning point for me was deciding to buy a house with my partner.

I realised that I needed to crack down and figure out how to put money aside for a house deposit. I’d only ever saved enough for a new laptop or concert ticket, so saving for a house was a big undertaking. We bought our house a year ago now, and we’re getting used to paying a mortgage, council rates, and all the other bills that sneak up on you as a homeowner.

How did you start investing?

I started investing at the same time as saving for a house. I was listening to the She’s on the Money podcast and realised that saving alone wasn’t going to cut it—I needed something more substantial for the future. I signed up to Sharesies using a promo code, and used the $10 bonus to figure out how it all worked. Once I felt more confident, I set up a weekly automatic payment.

Before that, I’d only heard about investing when my parents talked about their employee shares from working at an ASX-listed company. I truly believed investing was only for finance bros, or for rich old men with yachts! I started to think, why should I leave all the investing fun to them?

How would you describe your investing approach?

At first, I thought investing was like gambling, so I felt nervous about choosing the wrong investment. You often hear about ‘analysis paralysis’. I didn’t want that to stop me from starting.

My first investment was a lower-risk Australian exchange-traded fund (ETF). Since then, my risk appetite has increased, so I’ve diversified my portfolio with higher-risk, global investments. I’m investing for the long haul, so when I see my portfolio value drop, I don’t stress out about it. I know it’ll ebb and flow over time.

I have a weekly automatic payment into Sharesies, and then I manually choose what to invest in. I like having the flexibility to change my approach depending on what’s happening in the world. I also auto-invest my dividends, so any money I receive goes straight back in.

What goals are you investing towards?

I broke my leg earlier this year playing rugby, so I didn’t have any income and had to pause my investments for a few months. I’m hoping to start investing consistently again.

Long term, I’m investing for retirement. I don’t want to rely on super to retire. Thinking about retirement as a 25 year old feels a bit ridiculous, but my view is that if I can invest as much as I can while I earn as much as I can, I’ll have more opportunities to benefit from compound returns.

I still have 30 years left on my mortgage, so it’s a similar timeframe to my investments—but I can probably get out of my investments a lot easier than I can get out of a mortgage. With investing, you might not have a physical object at the end of it, but I like that you’re still investing in real businesses and have control over where your money goes.

What do you like about being an investor?

As someone who couldn’t save to save their life, I like that my money’s less accessible than having it in a savings account I can dip into. It’s like I’m forcing myself to put money aside for the future!

I also like the control I get with Sharesies. I like choosing investments that align with my goals and values, and being able to see exactly where my money’s going. My partner and I often compare our portfolios because we’ve invested in completely different things. We talk about how our investments are performing, and why we picked what we picked.

What are the biggest lessons you’ve learnt as an investor so far?

Slow progress is better than no progress

In the year and a half I’ve been investing, my money has continued to work hard in the background for me—even when I had major surgeries and was stuck on the couch! I like knowing that I’m building a safety net for the future. It means that if anything were to occur later down the track—for example, if I was forced to retire early—I’d still have my investments. I’d still have options.

Learn as you go

You don’t need to know everything before you start. Education doesn’t stop once you make your first investment either. I’ve continued to learn about investing through podcasts, books, and the monthly wrap-ups and Learn articles from Sharesies. 

Investing has also prompted me to learn about other aspects of money, like understanding how super works. It makes me feel more in control knowing that I’m setting up good habits now to achieve financial freedom in the future.