Investing for financial freedom: Hannah's story

In this article, we talk to Hannah Chim, who is a mum, volunteer and self-taught investor. We discuss how she got into investing and why it's such an important tool for anyone seeking financial freedom.

For Hannah, the idea to start investing came about when she and her husband were nearing their late 20s and beginning to think about having a family.

“I started thinking more about my financial future, our family’s financial future and how it would be impacted by parenthood,” says Hannah.

“It would likely mean a long period out of the workforce for me. My husband was comfortable with providing for our family during that time, but I really wanted to be able to contribute in a way that worked while I was out of the workforce.”

With a lack of spare cash and a goal to start investing by the age of 30, Hannah looked to mortgage debt recycling to fund investment portfolios for herself and her husband.

“Finances can be an awkward thing to talk about, [but] despite that, I think these are discussions that we need to have,” she says.

“I see people all the time being trapped in particular situations because they don’t have the financial means to choose whether to work part-time, or whether to change to a job that’s more rewarding. It’s especially important for women because they’re more likely to spend time out of the workforce, they’re more likely to earn less during their lifetimes, and they’re likely to live longer [with] a longer retirement period to fund.”

According to Hannah, one of the key benefits of starting an investment portfolio is that it opens up different options for your future.

“Putting an investment plan into practice when I was younger and achieving financial freedom has made it possible for me to give back to my community in areas I’m passionate about, like volunteering with young people.

“Empowering our youth with skills like resilience and critical and creative thinking has a positive social impact both now and in the future when they become contributing members of society. That’s been my most rewarding investment by far.”

In terms of actually monitoring her financial investments, Hannah finds Sharesight a useful tool to see how her portfolio is performing at a glance at any time.

“Sharesight has really helped with my long-term buy-and-hold strategy, and I love that it lets me set and forget," she says.

"It makes it easy to review my portfolio’s performance over time and keeps all my records neat and accessible for when I need it.”

Learn more about Hannah’s investing journey here:

Track your investment performance with Sharesight

If you’re not already using Sharesight, what are you waiting for? Join hundreds of thousands of investors using Sharesight to meet their financial goals by tracking the performance of all their investments. With Sharesight you can:

• Track all your investments in one place, including stocks in over 60 major global markets, mutual/managed funds, property, and even cryptocurrency
• Automatically track your dividend and distribution income from stocks, ETFs and mutual/managed funds
• Run powerful reports built for investors, including performance, portfolio diversity, contribution analysis, multi-period, multi-currency valuation, exposure and future income (upcoming dividends)
• Easily share access to your portfolio with family members, your accountant or other financial professionals so they can see the same picture of your investments as you do

Sign up for a FREE Sharesight account and get started tracking your investment performance (and tax) today.

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

FURTHER READING

• The importance of investing for financial stability: Shani’s story
• How Mathilde takes control of her investments using Sharesight
• How Nikky uses Sharesight to understand her true performance