With no money or support, Natasha Janssens arrived in Australia as an 18-year old Serbian refugee.
Now, she is a financial planner, money coach and founder of Women with Cents.
Natasha started her career as an accountant. However, while she helped people with their taxes, she found a gap in the way people treated their money.
Financial independence is the state of having sufficient resources and financial stability to support one’s desired lifestyle.
In a 2022 survey conducted by Monash University, 90 percent of young people said they have experienced financial difficulty.
Research conducted last year by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission found that nine in ten young people want to be more confident in managing their finances.
Natasha started Women with Cents to encourage people to build financial independence and get less passive with their money.
Q: Why do growing money and managing finances matter to you?
I fled a war zone. I came on my own.
A: It was all very quick, I was fleeing the NATO bombing of Serbia. When I moved to Australia, I was forced to manage my money because I was the only one responsible for earning and spending it. I fell into a career in accounting because that’s where I found a job.
Accountancy work was not as rewarding for me. I was getting frustrated with how disconnected my clients were from their money. People would have investments and didn’t know how things were structured. They were at the mercy of other people to handle their money.
I would see things at the very end and I’m trying to piece together the puzzle, but people did not understand the components themselves. So, I became a qualified financial planner and mortgage broker to understand all of it.
Q: How did Women with Cents start?
A: It was built with the women in my community in mind. I was pregnant and was part of a mother’s group.
Many women in the group found financial advisors and accountants to be quite intimidating and were afraid of being judged or ridiculed. It was important to have a safe space to talk about financial literacy and independence.
Women from interstate reached out to us, asking how they could be a part of it. So, I took the whole thing and put it online.
Q: Why is financial independence important?
A: Money is tied to everything. It affects your relationships, it affects your physical and emotional state and it affects your lifestyle choices. If your health is poor, your finances will suffer. If you are financially stressed, then your health will suffer. It is important to look after it. For most of us, we don’t.
Q: How do young people become financially independent? What are your tips or tricks?
A: As humans, we are naturally impulsive. But to create wealth you have to be willing to go against the crowd. How do you make money from an investment? You buy when no one else is buying, or you sell when everyone else is buying.
Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
But we are wired to want to fit in, which is why no one is engaged with their super because they are more interested in what they want this week than in 30 years.
It’s not about the investments you pick, it’s about your behaviour and about building the confidence to run your own race.
There is a lot of judgment around money. Social media adds to that pressure to look a certain way or to be living a certain lifestyle.
So to me, it’s knowing that your worth as a person is not attached to your bank balance or the type of car you drive.
If you can sever that connection, you will start to create financial independence and your decisions will not be influenced by everyone’s opinions.
There is no ‘should’ and it’s about what you want and what you value.
It’s also important to build awareness of your emotions and look at more effective ways to manage those emotions.
For example, if you are stressed, rather than going on a shopping spree, call a friend. What you are craving is someone to hear you out and or some company. Then your needs will be met and your bank account will not be affected. So that’s where I say have a look at those behaviours.
Q: What do you think of ‘get rich quick’ schemes?
A: There are no shortcuts. Get really curious about what you are trying to achieve by getting rich. Because you can achieve a lot of those things without having that bank balance.
You will get used to that fancy car, fancy clothes or that house with a pool. But emotionally you will go back to where you were because something is missing.
Q: For some, talking about money is a taboo topic. Why is being mindful of your money habits important?
A: Money influences every aspect of your life. If you are reactive then you are not the one creating your life. It is difficult to move forward if you are just there with a sword fighting everything off. If you are mindful of how your emotions influence your financial decisions, then you become more intentional.
Q: How do we break that barrier to talk about finances?
A: Finding friends or family who share that interest with you makes it easier to talk about it. We fear judgment. But once you start to share your wins and challenges, you feel more connected because people share the same experiences.