The importance of investing for financial stability: Shani’s story

In this article, we talk to Shani Jayamanne, Senior Investment Specialist at Morningstar Australia, about her investing journey and why she believes investing is such an important tool for financial stability.

Shani has spent her career working in financial services, with a focus on understanding financial products and explaining complex financial concepts to individuals, advisers and institutions. Equity investing is an important part of that, but it wasn’t always something that Shani was exposed to.

“I moved to Australia when I was three years old from Sri Lanka, and that was during the Sri Lankan civil war,” says Shani.

“Economic sustainability and stability has always been very important to my family. They mainly did that through savings accounts and property, but they really had no exposure to equity markets so I really had no exposure to that kind of wealth creation.”

As a migrant, Shani’s background shaped the way she thought about investing and wealth creation.

“I always thought it was for the wealthy,” she says.

“It wasn’t until I began working in the world of finance and investing that I saw it was possible to invest with amounts that were accessible to me — $100-$200 a week. I learnt you don’t need a large salary to build a good life through investing, you need knowledge and time on your side. And unfortunately women don’t always start early.”

According to Shani, her parents’ lives would be a lot more comfortable if they had known this earlier.

“Empowered with this new understanding, I wanted to help democratise investing and make it more accessible to minorities and people with backgrounds like me, who don’t necessarily have access to this information.”

Some of the ways Shani does this is through her work on Morningstar’s Investing Compass podcast, as well as the articles she writes for morningstar.com.au, which are free to read.

For those who have already started investing, Shani also finds Sharesight a helpful tool for keeping track of financial goals.

“I have multiple financial goals … that I’m able to track on a holistic basis with Sharesight,” says Shani.

“I’ve got multiple portfolios and it just gives me peace of mind that I’m able to go in every day and make sure I have this overview that’s accurate. For a lot of women, [it] is very important … to have this financial preparedness. And for me that is the definition of financial independence.”

Learn more about Shani’s investing journey here:

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a specific product recommendation, or taxation or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. While we use reasonable endeavours to keep the information up-to-date, we make no representation that any information is accurate or up-to-date. If you choose to make use of the content in this article, you do so at your own risk. To the extent permitted by law, we do not assume any responsibility or liability arising from or connected with your use or reliance on the content on our site. Please check with your adviser or accountant to obtain the correct advice for your situation

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