Having a baby is one of the most financially significant things you'll ever do. It doesn't have to derail everything you've been building. Stevie's been through it — and this episode is the practical playbook she wishes she'd had.

In this episode:

• What parental leave in NZ actually pays — and why you need two separate budgets for the first and second six months
• How to find your baseline: the non-negotiable expenses that define your financial floor
• How to calculate your gap — and the tools Stevie used to fund hers without sacrificing everything
• The one thing Stevie didn't cut during parental leave (her investment property) — and the thing she started the week her baby was born

• Can you buy an investment property while on parental leave? Nefe's client had $80k saved — here's what the bank said

The goal isn't to eliminate life during parental leave. The goal is to know the number and have a plan for it.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us.

Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

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Every week Nefe and Stevie sit across from people who want to invest in property — and talk themselves out of it.

This episode is for them. Five fears, five reframes, and the data that changes the conversation.In this episode:

• Fear #1: House values will go down
• Fear #2: Market uncertainty
• Fear #3: Dodgy tenants
• Fear #4: Government regulation and tax changes
• Fear #5: Interest rate rises — the practical tool Nefe used on her own property to plan for every scenario

• This week's challenge: run the numbers on a real property using the free Opes Plus cashflow calculator at opespartners.co.nz

The risk of doing nothing is just as real as the risk of doing something. Here's how to work through it.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us. Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

The headlines say Christchurch is drowning in townhouses. Investors are spooked. But Stevie and Nefe have brought in developer George Clifford from Four Aves — and the story behind the data is not what you think.

In this episode:

• What's actually driving the spike in Christchurch listings — and why it has nothing to do with demand collapsing
• Developer contributions explained: the policy change that sent developers racing to get stock to market all at once
• George shares what's really happening on the ground — and what the next five years looks like if developers keep pulling back
• Why a short-term oversupply and a long-term supply squeeze can exist in the same market at the same time

The headline is the start of the research. Not the end of it.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us.

Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

Everyone's heard of financial advisers. Far fewer people actually have one.

This week Nefe and Stevie answer the question they get asked all the time — is it actually worth it? The answer might surprise you.

In this episode:

• What a financial adviser actually does — and why they're not just for people with serious money
• The Canadian study that found families with financial advisers built three times the wealth after 7–14 years — and four times after 15 years
• Why the magic isn't genius-level advice — it's having someone keep you from making emotional decisions with your money
• The five types of financial advisers in NZ, what each one does, and which one you actually need
• What financial advice costs — and why a lot of it is free
• The worst financial advice Nefe and Stevie have ever heard — and whether there's anything they've said that they wouldn't say today
• The developer handing out "instant equity" spreadsheets — and why that's not financial advice, it's a sales pitch
• The client who only wanted to invest in Parnell and Remuera — and the maths that changed their mind

Financial advice isn't a luxury. For most New Zealanders, it's the difference between building wealth and wondering where it all went.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us. Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

This one is personal. Stevie is a new mum who's thought deeply about this. Nefe grew up in a home where money was never spoken about. Between them, they've got every angle covered — and this episode is for anyone who wants to break the cycle.

In this episode:

• Why simply talking about money at home is the single most powerful thing you can do — and what silence costs your kids instead
• The research on when money habits actually form (earlier than you think)
• How to explain interest and delayed gratification to a child using nothing but their piggy bank
• Stevie's niece and her Disney shares — how to make investing real for a kid by connecting it to something they already love
• Why handing your child cash at the farmers market teaches them something a thousand money talks can't

The best financial education doesn't happen in a classroom. It happens at the kitchen table. Start small. Start now.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us.

Instagram ⁠⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

The headlines are scary.

"120,000 Kiwis leaving NZ."

"Brain drain."

"Population collapse."

But are they telling the full story? This week Nefe and Stevie dig into the net migration data — and what it actually means for property investors.

In this episode:

• What net migration is, why it matters for property, and why the headlines aren't giving you the full picture
• The real numbers: yes, a record number of Kiwis are leaving — but here's what that looks like when you zoom out
• Why this is a cycle, not a collapse — and what history tells us about what comes next
• Money Mirror: what smart investors are actually doing in a flat market — and how to benefit from the fact that everyone else is scared
• Spill the Tea: the client with a $4 million wealth gap who decided not to invest because of the risks — and why nobody talks about the risk of doing nothing
• The clients who wait until the mortgage is paid off to start investing — and why that decision costs them more than they realise

The media is designed to get clicks. The data tells a different story. Here's what it actually says.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us.

Instagram ⁠@SheOwnsThispodcast

Every time the news gets bad, the same question comes up: "Should I wait until things settle down?" The short answer is no. The longer answer is this episode.In this episode:

• Every major crisis of the last 30 years that made people say "now is not the time" — and what happened to the investors who waited
• Why the right time to invest has nothing to do with what's happening overseas — and everything to do with what's happening in your life
• What you can control (your goals, your plan, your habits) and what you can't (everything else)
• The long-game investor: what 20+ years of staying the course actually looks like
• Spill the Tea: the client who watched Air NZ nearly collapse — and bought in anyway. And where they are today
• The client who had a new reason to wait every single year for three years — and what the numbers said when they finally sat down and did the maths
• And this week's challenge...

The market will never be perfectly calm. The news will never be perfectly good. Something is always coming. The investors who build real wealth aren't the ones who time it perfectly — they're the ones who stay in it.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us.

Instagram @SheOwnsThispodcast

Most people are investing the amateur way without even knowing it.

This week Nefe breaks down exactly what separates the pros from the rest — in shares and in property. The pattern is the same in both, and once you see it, you can't unsee it.

In this episode:

• Why buying shares in companies you "believe in" is usually the wrong move — and what to do instead
• How index funds work and why consistent, automated investing beats stock-picking every time
• The property version of the same mistake: chasing areas that have already boomed
• Why Auckland might be the smartest property move right now — even though it doesn't feel like it
• Stevie's money story: buying property, having a kid, and keeping it all going at the same time
• Spill the Tea: the client who spent zero hours learning about money — despite it affecting 90% of their life
• And the client who was convinced Christchurch was still the play

Amateurs buy what they know. Professionals follow a system. Here's the difference.

Women should own half the world. Come own it with us. Instagram @SheOwnsThispodcast