Belief. Preparation. Playing to your strengths.
As you listen to Daisy Pearce talk, you’d be forgiven for thinking she was still talking about football. She had, after all, just finished a season worthy of anyone’s highlights reel: Grand Final. All Australian honours. Best and Fairest winner at her AFLW club, the Melbourne Demons.
But no, this conversation was all about finances, and her recent life changing realisation that she, and partner Ben, finally needed to see a financial adviser, and “get organised, not just for ourselves, but for our twins Sylvie and Roy, and for everyone else”.
Growing up in a small town in country Victoria, Daisy’s financial goals were always pretty simple: get a job, don’t spend too much, and hopefully pay off a mortgage. Fast forward a decade or so and Daisy, recognised as one of the pioneers of the AFLW, is performing a juggle that is anything but simple - athlete (she has decided to pull the boots on for at least one more season), media commentator, mother to twins, and partner to Ben.
By her own admission, she and Ben aren’t especially financially savvy. And whilst Daisy recognised, even before their beautiful children were born, that they really needed to get their finances organised, she always felt held back, by the fear of being asked questions (by a financial adviser) that she didn’t know the answer to.
It was only when she took the leap and met with an insurance adviser [Melbourne adviser Miguel Frances] that she realised how much the stress - of not having a clear picture of her financial affairs - was playing on her mind. And how ‘cleansing’ the process of working with her adviser has been.
“I was always saying to myself, I think we’re ok with the mortgage, I think we’re ok. But not having that clarity and certainty eats away at you on a very small level, creating a constant drip of stress. It’s only when you build yourself up for a conversation about these things that you realise how much it has been playing on your mind”, she said.
“Even just starting the process with our adviser recently made us feel positive. It felt good to start the journey of mapping out a plan”.
As foundational captain of the Demons AFLW team, Daisy learned early on that you can’t do everything, everyone in the team has to play their role. And even though she knew she was no financial expert, she didn’t know what she didn’t know, and the time she has spent with her adviser to date has really made her appreciate the value in engaging an expert.
Daisy can’t speak highly enough of the advice process, and how having clarity and a sense of direction and purpose has lifted a weight off her and Ben’s shoulders.
“When you go through the step of having it all mapped out in front of you, and you build a plan together, you feel so much more in control, and it’s amazing just how much better that makes you feel, across all aspects of your life”.
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Disclaimer: This document has been prepared by Zurich Australia Limited ABN 92 000 010 195, AFSL 232510. Daisy Pearce is an ambassador for Zurich and receives remuneration in relation to that role however the views expressed in this article are her own.