Making Dollars And Sense With Jessica Sier

Early in her career at The Australian Financial Review, Jessica Sier discovered breaking down financial jargon was a public good. And ever since then, she has been doing exactly that. Making finance make sense.

So last week, Future Women’s resident finance writer spoke to a packed room at our Sydney Social Club about women’s relationship with money. And her advice was simple.

“Money is only ever a tool to enable you to do cool stuff. It’s a resource,” she said. “Control it in the same way you control a car. Learn how it works, pick up some good habits and let it help you get where you want to go.”

Whether you’re setting up your finances or finessing your investing plan, Sier recommends always studying your values first. Beyond that, it’s about having a backup plan (or F*** Off Fund) to empower your current lifestyle.

“Money can give you options to bail out. Whether it be a rubbish job, rubbish relationship or whatever. Have a stash that allows you room to move around and make your own calls.”

Whether you’re a sophisticated investor, or searching for a simple way to get your money in order, below are Sier’s book and podcast recommendations, plus a reading list of her own finance articles on Future Women.

Book recommendations (with side notes):

• The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape: “Cliche, but it’s wonderful and simple.”
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C Bogle: “The guy who founded Vanguard.”
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: “Psychology of investing.”
• The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham: “Wisdom of how to approach markets.”
• Dummies Guide to Getting Started in Shares by James Dunn: “Really helped me!”
• All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi: “One for the women.”

Podcast recommendations (with side notes):

• The Pineapple Project by the ABC: “Lovely, helpful and funny.” (Beginner)
• Aussie Firebug. “Ordinary people explaining their journey to financial independence.” (Beginner)
• Death, Sex & Money by WNYC. (Beginner)
• The Money Cafe by Alan Kohler and James Kirby. (Sophisticated)
• Your Wealth by Gemma Dale from NAB. “Good discussion about investing strategies.” (Sophisticated)
• Money talks by Economist Radio (Sophisticated)
• Any podcast from Bloomberg