Knowing ‘What’s Worth Building’

Community members and clients of Hennessy Real Estate were at The Civic last week for a ‘What’s Worth Building’ conversation with financial educator Vanessa Stoykov.

The real estate’s owner Ben Hennessy said the event was a long time in the making and aimed to bring the community together.

“Sometimes we take financial education a little bit for granted,” Mr Hennessy said.

The night provided an opportunity to learn from other’s experiences and have an open conversation about finances.

“It’s a misquote when people say that ‘money is the root of all evil’, it’s certainly not,” Mr Hennessy said.

“The love and worship of money may be the root of all evil, but money is a tool that just makes the world go around.”

Real estate tends to goes hand in hand with finances.

Mr Hennessy said often people sell their home because of the 3 ‘d’s in real estate. Death, divorce and ‘da bank’ (debt).

He gave an overview of the market in the past year to the audience and what to expect in the future before handing over to Ms Stoykov.

Money educator, author, and founder of Evolution Media Group. Ms Stoykov is many things, including a former Gunnedah girl.

She was previously a guest speaker at the Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce Gala Business Awards in 2023.

Vanessa talked about the bigger trends as a nation and how that may affect finances.

One of those things was intergenerational wealth transfer. She said baby boomers are the richest generation in the history.

“They’re going to hand over just in Australia $3.5 trillion in the next 15 years,” she said.

She said it can be difficult for those inheriting money to know what to do with it next.

“You either squander it or you invest it and you build a legacy for your family,” she said. “But a lot of people don’t know how to build a legacy.”

She discussed how the world has changed and how that affects the current climate.

“It’s a scary time to live in the world now. It’s not what it was when we were young,” she said.

She is not a financial advisor but a journalist that has a network of financial advisors.

“I really believe in the power of financial advice, but also understanding when you would go to an advisor, what you might pay them, all those sorts of things. How do you know you can trust one?”

She sees her role to create a spark and get people thinking for themselves.

“Don’t feel embarrassed if you feel like your financial situation is not where you think it should be.

“God knows, we’ve all got financial regrets,” she said.

She said it does not have to define a person and everyone can improve their situation at any age.

“It’s not a race,” she said.

Ticket sales

Ticket sales for the conversation went toward local housing. Ben Hennessy agreed that real estate agents see first hand housing financial stress.

“We’re deeply connected to our town and community and the struggles that people have with housing,” he said.

He said organisations such as Gunnedah Family Support are often the “unsung heroes” of helping people.

“If we can raise a few dollars to help them, that might provide some crisis housing for those in need,” he said.

“They do a lot of work in the domestic violence space as well.”

Mr Hennessy said finding a good tenant for landlords doesn’t necessarily mean making the most amount of money. It’s about having the best tenants in the home.

“There may be some that are just unable to afford the home that they actually need,” he said.

“That’s how we work with [support organisations]. Just help facilitate getting good people into appropriate homes.”