“I Had To Go Cap In Hand To My Family For Help”
Annabelle Daniel is CEO of Women’s Community Shelters, a charity that works to establish crisis accommodation for women who are homeless. She is also Chair of Domestic Violence NSW, the peak body for specialist domestic and family violence services in the state. Here, she recalls how spiralling credit card debt taught her a lesson in humility and money management, and looks forward to a time when women’s unpaid labour is valued and recognised.
What did you learn about money from your family?
I grew up in a separated family so money, and the exchange of it between separated parents, was always a background issue. My mum and my brother and I had support from our grandparents. My grandfather was an incredibly hard worker and I think the lesson I learnt from him was that money may not buy happiness but it can certainly make your misery more comfortable. In times of distress and discomfort, not having to also worry about where the next meal is coming from, or how secure the roof over your head is, is incredibly important.
How do you think about money now?
It’s a tool, it’s something to do something with. It is by no means my overarching obsession but I am fortunate enough not to have to watch every penny. The fact that I have worked with women who have experienced financial abuse and poverty, and that I have seen a range of absolutely extraordinary money managers in that group, has made me reflect, consistently, on my own privilege in that respect.
What’s a bad money habit you’ve beaten, or a good money habit you’ve learnt?
Like many young women, I got in trouble with credit cards in my 20s even though I had a fulltime job. In those days banks made aggressive offers to extend credit limits when you were at the top of your limit, so it was very easy to keep extending credit card limits beyond your capacity. I was really juggling, [trying to] manage three credit cards at a time. How to manage it became a preoccupation, it took up a lot of space in my mind. So beating that, and being super careful with credit cards in the future, is what I've learnt out of that.
What’s the one personal purchase you’d make if you had the money?
There is nothing I particularly want at the moment and that probably feeds into a few things. When I was very kindly left some money by my grandmother, I bought a small investment unit in a place where I could take a holiday, because she always used to say to me, “Annabelle when are you going to take a holiday?” She’d say that because [my organisation has] gone from being a start-up to quite a large charity that runs a number of women’s shelters across NSW. As many people would know, starting up a business, particularly in the first couple of years, is a heck of a lot of work. It’s intense, it's around the clock, if you want to get it off the ground. During the early years of this role I didn’t really take a holiday. I had young kids at school, I was a separated parent myself and it just wasn't a priority. So when I was in the position to make that purchase, I did and I haven't regretted it for a second. But presently, there’s no big purchase I want to make ... I’m at the age where I am prioritising saving for retirement.
Describe a difficult financial moment and how you managed that.
That leads back to my credit card thing. I had to go cap in hand to my family for help – it was absolutely humiliating and I would never ever want to do it again. I went to my dad and he said, “No”; then my grandfather agreed to help me but I know he was really disappointed. I never wanted to feel like that again. I didn't like asking my family for help when they had already been so supportive when I was growing up.
If you ran the country, what would be your budget priorities?
We need to overlay a gender lens on our spending. Services that particularly affect women tend to be underfunded, care sectors tend to be underfunded. It really is the unpaid and voluntary work of women which keeps the rest of the economy afloat, and we need to value and recognise that labour in contributing to the economy. I would reframe the way the national budget looks at those things. In raw spending terms, we need to apply a lens to programs that create equity among men and women, LGBTQI people and First Nations people. Let’s leverage that spend to create a more equitable society.
What worries you most about your financial future?
I have teenage daughters and one of my key priorities is seeing them through their education so that, to the best of my ability, they are not saddled with a large debt as they begin their careers. They may or may not take a university path, but degrees are getting incredibly expensive. I would like to support them in the choices they want to make rather than them feeling they are forced down a pathway they have to take. If I can use money as a tool to assist with that I would do it. And retirement – I don’t want to live a life of frugality in retirement. I adore the work I do and I have several decades more enthusiastic commitment yet, but when I decide to scale back my paid employment, I want to be able to live a life I enjoy.
What’s one thing you spent a lot of money on that you don’t regret?
My investment unit. It’s just brought me a lot of joy. My children look forward to going there and I look forward to going there. I step inside and I am immediately away … you know, that psychological shift. It requires a bit of balancing to make the financial side of it work but the joy I get out of it, you couldn’t put a price on.
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Interview_Patricia Sheahan