Meet Francesca

What was your relationship with money like growing up?

I grew up in a small country town in Queensland with very frugal parents. We shopped at Aldi, rarely ate out, drove second-hand cars, and kept things for years rather than upgrading. At the same time, travel was always prioritised. My dad is English, so we regularly travelled to Europe to visit family. Growing up that way taught me early to value experiences over material things, and it has shaped my relationship with money massively.

And what is your relationship with money like now?

My relationship with money is disciplined and very purpose-driven. I see money as a tool to create the life I want, not something to give me instant satisfaction or temporary pleasure.

I have clear financial goals and a long-term plan, and that shapes the way I spend. I am constantly thinking about trade-offs like a bigger house, a newer car, eating out, Ubers and 99% of the time I choose the cheaper option.

To me, money represents freedom, choice, and time. It gives me options and the ability to design a life and see the world on my terms. That is why my relationship with money is built on discipline and delayed gratification, I am willing to sacrifice small comforts today for freedom tomorrow.

What was your first job? (And how much did you get paid?)

My first job was teaching piano and doing maths tutoring in my local town, where I made around $10 for a 20-minute lesson. Around the same time, I also worked in a local café. I dug up an old payslip to check and was earning $12.70 an hour.

How did you first come across investing?

After reading The Barefoot Investor at around 17, I became obsessed with personal finance and building wealth. Investing kept coming up as one of the best and most accessible wealth-building strategies, so I knew I wanted to learn and start as early as possible.

Was there a memorable early investment?

My first investment was at around 18, when I gave myself $1,000 to start investing after spending months reading books and researching the market. I thought to myself, I just need to start! I split that money across a handful of individual stocks like Flight Centre, Uber, Tesla and Core Lithium (which has not performed but I am yet to sell!). Looking back, I should have started with ETFs, but that experience taught me that investing is something you really learn by doing.

How are you currently investing and can you provide a breakdown of your portfolio?

I currently invest in four ETFs, with roughly 70% of my portfolio focused on growth and 30% on dividends.

As I am 24, I lean more heavily towards growth because I have a long investment horizon. I also like dividend-paying ETFs because they generate cash flow that I can reinvest to further compound my wealth.

Here’s my current breakdown:

Where do you see investing taking you?

For me, investing is about buying future freedom. It is helping me build assets that will, hopefully, give me more time and more choices in life.

Long term, I want investing to help me create a life with flexibility and financial independence. My goal is to build my portfolio to a point where it generates over $50,000 a year in passive income, allowing me to travel more, work less, or even retire early.

What is one super extravagant and outlandish purchase that you hope investing will be able to buy you in the future?

When I think of a super extravagant purchase, I do not think of anything material, I think of travel and experiences. An Antarctica cruise, a snow season in Niseko, buying a van and driving around Canada in the summer, or backpacking South America for six months.

I know my portfolio will one day help fund one of these trips, or at least have the dividends covering my daily expenses along the way.

If you only had 25 words to convince someone to invest, what would you say?

You don't need to be rich to start investing, you invest to give yourself the chance to become wealthy.

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We want to hear your ‘How I Got Started’ stories. Respond to this email if you would like to be featured and we’ll get in touch!

Tomorrow on Get Started Investing

Francesca joins Jess tomorrow in the latest How I Got Started episode.

At just 18 years old, she set herself a four-year plan: graduate with two degrees, save $150,000, buy an investment property, secure a remote job and build a share portfolio!

At 24 now, she’s achieved every one of those goals and more! Make sure to find out how she did tomorrow morning via the following links: (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Why your savings rate is the most powerful factor in building wealth

Francesca grew up shopping at Aldi, rarely eating out, and driving second-hand cars. Today she meal preps, lives in share houses and avoids lifestyle creep. Her savings habits have helped her build wealth and will continue to do so as long as she stays consistent. A lot of people assume the best way to build wealth is to earn more or find better investments better. On a recent Get Started Investing episode we argue it is much simpler than that, and more within your control. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Ren: The biggest determinant of your future wealth is your savings rate. It is the most powerful, but also the most controllable thing you have.

To put numbers to it, $20 a week invested for 35 years at 13% a year (the long-term average of the Australian share market with dividends reinvested) gives you $570,000. Increase that to $50 a week and the same time horizon produces $1.4 million.

And now consider trying to get there by investing better instead. That would require returns of 17% a year for 35 years. That is getting close to Warren Buffett territory.

So how do you actually improve your savings rate? There are a few practical starting points.

Know where your money is going. If you have never sat down and gone through three months of transaction data line by line, do it once. You will find things that surprise you.

Separate your accounts. Get recurring expenses out of your spending account so you can clearly see what you are spending on wants versus needs.

Understand your weaknesses when it comes to spending. Being aware of where you are likely to overspend is the first step to building discipline around it.

And finally, pay yourself first. Set up automatic transfers so that money goes where it should the moment your pay hits like investing, savings and bills before you have a chance to spend it.

It's not saving for saving's sake. It's saving to invest. Your future self will thank you.