934b mms: from Zimbabwe to Canberra, Melissa has built serious wealth at 36!

**Glen James** (0:06)
Today in the show, we are rebooting, we're relaunching our favourite series that we like to call My Money Stories or MMS. And what this is, is we have listeners at the show, they jump on, have a bit of a chat with me and tell their money story. This is kind of cool because a lot of you out there are a bit pervy and wanna know about other people's money and their story and all that stuff. And I will scratch surfaces, I'll keep dust around, I'll try and find some goodness in there. We'll just have a bit of a chat. It's me hanging out with the listener of the show, bringing you along.
Sometimes, and I actually haven't, I'll ask the question out when we get going. Sometimes I need to be very careful not to get into what would Glen do mode and just listen and not try and fix everyone's problems. But anyone who comes on the show for a My Money Story episode, they're welcome to ask me a question if we get into a hole and they want to know what I would do. That's fine. But primarily these are the My Money Story episodes. This episode is brought to you by Sphere Home Loans. We are so pro mortgage broker on this show and we want to have a professional in our corner when we're doing big financial decisions. It could be a new home, it could be a new investment property, it could be an upsize, downsize, a sidesize, anything like that. A good quality mortgage broker like Sphere Home Loans will understand your situation, they will look at all the available lenders and options available to you, present them to you, and you can make an informed choice and they will do the heavy lifting for you. There is no cost to use a mortgage broker, they are enumerated by the banks and you're not going to get a higher interest rate by going to a mortgage broker. It's basically the same, if not better. So reach out to Sphere Home Loans today, wherever you get your Googling, but until then, let's get into my money story and we're going to do it right now.
Before we get into it, this show is general advice only. I've got a license to provide that advice. Full details can be found in the show description. My name is Glen James, former financial advisor. I host this show and a show called Retire Right. I've got some books, the award-winning Quick-Start Guide to Investing and the Quick-Start Guide to Your First Property available where good books are sold or in the description. If you're new here, welcome. If you're in old hand, welcome to M3. Let's get into it right now.
Okay, today I'm joined by a listener of the show, Melissa. Welcome to What Would... I don't know, What Would...
All right, we'll do that again. Stuff it, Melissa. Welcome to My Money Story.

**Melissa** (2:52)
Hi, Glen.

**Glen James** (2:54)
So, how long just set the scene? How long have you listened to the Money Podcast? Have you heard it before? Are you an old hand? All that stuff.

**Melissa** (3:04)
I think I started listening to it around 2022 I think that's when I became a bit more interested in trying to invest more.
And yeah, I've been listening to quite a few episodes. I haven't listened to each and every episode, but I've listened to quite a few since then.

**Glen James** (3:23)
Yeah, neither have I. Only while doing it.

**Melissa** (3:28)
Yeah, yeah.

**Glen James** (3:29)
But look, thanks for coming on. I think we're in for a good chat. Let's dive into some juicy stuff.
If we rewind, how old are you now?

**Melissa** (3:39)
I'm 36 I just turned 36

**Glen James** (3:41)
Oh, happy birthday, Phu. Just turning 36 If we rewind 30 years ago and Melissa's six years old, what was money like for you in your household growing up?

**Melissa** (3:55)
I pretty much grew up in a single income household. My dad retired quite earlier on in life, and my mom was the main breadwinner. So she had to send like four kids to school and all of that. So I actually grew up thinking that we were poor. We weren't, but in my head, I was like, oh, because I can't get the things that I want. And, you know, at Christmas, I want this, and I couldn't get that. I was just like, oh my God, we're struggling. It's only later on in life that I realized that my mom was sacrificing quite a few things so that, you know, she could set up for her future later on.