Kathleen: Hello, my name is Kathy. I'm the editor and chief of the Canadian Young Investor Society. Today we're here with Spicy Sunday Finance. Would you mind introducing yourself as well?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, hi. I go by Spicy Sunday Finance on my social media platforms. I create finance content on TikTok and Instagram for the Gen Z population. And yeah, I'm excited to be here. I've never heard of the society before, so I'm excited to learn more about it. And thank you for having me.
Kathleen: Awesome. Sounds great. So let's move on to the first question, which is what made you interested in a career in finance?
Spicy Sunday Finance: So I think I was always kind of interested in the topic of finance, but it wasn't until I started working at the bank. I applied. I was just applying for jobs, and I always wanted to work at a bank. So I applied, and then I think in my second year, I was able to get a job at just like a major bank. And I was there for like three years. And that's when I really kind of started to know, like, oh, I actually kind of like talking about finance. I pick up on the concepts really quickly. And I liked giving advice at the time as well. Um, so yeah, I think that's kind of where it kickstarted. And then what made me feel like I needed to create more content or start creating content was that there wasn't any information about finance for people, at least, you know, in their early 20s. So that also kind of got me into the idea, or maybe not a career, but just kind of creating content in finance.
Kathleen: Awesome. Sounds great. So moving on to the next question, if you go back to your high school or university years, what's one financial mistake you'd absolutely avoid?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, that one's hard. In high school, it's a little bit hard because, I mean, yeah, I had like a part-time job as any high school student would, and you just kind of spend it on food or, like, clothes or some of the things that you want to buy. But in university, I think that's where it kind of makes you realize you need to start thinking about money seriously. Like you start getting student loans, you still have a job. The amount of money that you have to organize is a little more complicated because you could easily fall into buying things that you want because you have like, a really grand number of student loans. So yeah, I think it would be maybe in my first year of getting my student loans to manage that properly. You know, back then, high-interest savings accounts weren't a very common concept. Organizing your money so that you can set it aside if you have extra money from your student loans after you pay off your tuition, your books, and maybe your dorm, like residence, stuff like that, like what you should do with it. So yeah, in my first year, I don't think I was as responsible I should have been with that portion of what was left after I used up my student loans for school.
responsible as
Kathleen: Awesome. Sounds great. Yeah. So, like, as of now, for me personally, it's like the same kind of situation where I have a job, but I don't really know how to manage my finances well enough. so hopefully you don't have to learn for that in, like, the first year so, um, that'd be great Yeah, are you? yeah I'm in high school right now Oh, you're in high school? Oh, okay, yeah so I still have a lot to learn in university Yeah, but moving on to the third question: What is your education background, and would you recommend that people follow a similar education path to you?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, so this one's a little bit off because I don't have an educational background in finance at all. So that could be a unique factor of mine, but also some people, I think when I was young, in my early 20s, everyone who worked at the bank always thought you had to have a finance background, but that's actually not necessarily the case. You could have any background, any major, and you could still apply to the bank. And honestly, I think working at the bank was what made me realize you don't need to come from any educational background that was related to finance. So as much as I wanted to be after I worked at the bank, my background is in science, and I studied medical lab science. That's my degree. And then I also did a certificate program so I can work in the hospital. So I actually work as the lab tech at the hospital. But yeah, my educational background in finance is literally just from working at the bank for that number of years. And to say I want to recommend a path, like, honestly, if you really like finance and you like the idea of personal finance… You don't need a finance background to do that. Personal finance is personal. So if you are interested in it, you could just take that upon yourself and learn as much as you can. Now there are so many resources, but you can be in any educational background and just pick up on whatever you'd like about personal finance and then go from there.
Kathleen: Awesome. Just out of curiosity, did you work as a teller in the bank, or what was your specific job at the bank?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, I was a teller.
Kathleen: Oh, that's great.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, I did that for three years. Therefore, the reason I was unable to advance when I could have was due to the difficulty of doing so while a student. And that's, I kind of think, where it lies between, you know, the background that you're in. Science, like majoring in a science background, is so, so busy when you're in university. So it's so hard to kind of move up in the banking hierarchical system because once you go out from a teller, because a teller is a very casual position, like, you just go in, and then when you're done your shift, like, that's that, but when you're an advisor, like, you kind of have to think about it sometimes after you come back from home, or you have to dedicate a little bit of hours to it, and as a student, that's really challenging. I know some people who have done it and they actually have to take time off school to pursue that time being an advisor I was unable to do so because my science degree was a binary option: either you do it or you don't. So if I had held back my schooling, I don't think I would have been able to have a job now and be where I am right now. It would have delayed my time in school. But it is possible. You just have to balance between, I guess, taking fewer courses and actually maybe taking a gap year. If you're really interested in becoming an advisor at times, I think, oh, maybe I should have done that. But at the same time, I go, No, I don't think I've been wanting to do more schooling or be longer, have more time in school. So, yeah, I did. I worked as a teller, and you can still learn a lot from being a teller.
Kathleen: Yeah, it's really interesting because as of now, for me personally, I want to go into finance, but I also want to work as a teller during my years of university as well because my mom worked as a teller. She actually did go up the hierarchy. She went from a teller, and she worked for 17 years at CIBC. and she was like, go up the hierarchy into, like, a bank manager, so yeah, um, that's really because, like, she also didn't come up from a finance background; she actually had no college degree; she didn't graduate college Yeah, exactly; she was able to like, work up the ranks, so it's really valuable what you say because, um, i think what you say is like really valuable and it's really true as well, um, yeah, but yeah
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, not coming from a finance background and going to the bank. I mean, now I think it depends on each branch because they still need to have, like, a high school degree or maybe even just be enrolled in university or college. But honestly, that's the thing about banking: you can go in, you work as a teller for maybe six months. If you're really, really good at it, then you can get promoted to being an advisor. And then that system of going up is, like, so easy in a way; like, if you're really good at the job, it's very easy to get promoted and go up the bank, and i think that's kind of where, like, i've seen a lot of my peers, like, who were in banking, go out of school and then go into banking and then, you know, they become really successful advisors and stuff like that. Yeah, honestly, if you're wanting to have an interest in going into banking, like in university, I think that is like the best job you can have as a university student. You learn much, first of all. And it's a very valuable, like an educational job. Like you're giving advice to people. And while you're giving advice, you're also learning that every day for yourself. So it forces you to apply what you're telling people to do, if that makes sense.
Kathleen: Mm-hmm. Just, like, out of my curiosity, how did you get the job as a teller, like, in university?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Like, online. I think, like, what is it? You just type, like, I just went on Google, and I was like, okay, like, job, banking, job applications. And Google, like, it just gives you a bunch of, like, oh, yeah, this branch is… And then this bank, so I literally applied to CIBC, RBC, and TD. My dream was always, always, always to work at RBC because, you know, it's the biggest bank in Canada.
Kathleen: Yeah, same.
Spicy Sunday Finance: But I think at the time when I was applying, they didn't like taking students right now, but they only really like taking finance students. And they only like taking students who wanted, like, an internship. So, yeah, that's so I actually got to work at TD. I'm really happy I work at TD.
Kathleen: Yeah.
Spicy Sunday Finance: But CIBC was also a place that I applied to. The only two banks I didn't apply to were BMO and Scotiabank, and that's because I don't bank with them. But... I didn't bank with TD as well. It's just, I guess to me, like TD is like another big bank. So I wanted to apply there. And I also had a friend who worked at TD, and she really liked working there. So I was like, okay, maybe I'll just apply to not the location she works at but different locations. And then, yeah, so it was literally just Google. Okay, it sounds good because my mom worked as a manager, and she was telling me about how they usually hire university students now for telejobs. It's a lot harder to get the job in them.
Kathleen: Oh, okay.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, it's very rare. to, yeah, go out from high school. My manager, actually, she got hired after she graduated high school, but I think that's because she knew the manager. So in banking and finance in general, networking is a huge thing. And I'm sure that's really big in just commerce itself. Like, you're going to realize that it's university and enter maybe business. Like, networking is key. And… So if you have connections, like you'll get places, obviously. This is very different. And it's not a concept I'm still very, like, able to grasp because coming from a science background, you don't really need that much networking to go places. Like if you're, if you have the grades, if you have, like, good research skills, then you'll get places. But yeah, business, you need networking skills. That's kind of where you can go places even if you don't have a high school degree, like if you have connections. So yeah, that kind of goes to show maybe with your mom being in the banking industry, she might know people at a different bank, and then she spreads the word and, you know, stuff like that.
Kathleen: So awesome. Sounds great. I learned a lot of insight just from this one question. But moving on to the next question is, how do you keep finance fun for young people and feel overwhelmed by money talk?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, I think talking about money still is a very difficult topic to discuss. Um, so what I like to do is just kind of go back to when I used to work at the bank. and remember what that feeling was when I walked into the bank as a student back then as a university student and what I would tell the students when I worked at the bank. And the feeling that they had, like, it's a very nervous feeling. You're just walking into the bank most of the time because you want to withdraw money or deposit money, usually for students. And then you're hit with the question like, Oh, you have a credit card. And so I like to revisit that sensation and simply say, "Okay, don't appear to be trying to sell something." So that's the first thing that I try to always remind myself. And the second thing is just being able to educate as much as possible. Students, I think, are the hardest demographic to grasp attention because a lot of students just don't really care. And the students who care, they want to get advice, but they don't know where to go. So I think for that small portion of students who are interested, I think just trying to give as much information as possible so that they can pick up on what they are interested in and then they can formulate questions on what they want to ask and then providing what kind of resources are out there is the best way, in my opinion, because when I was a student trying to learn about finance, you know, there wasn't anything on social media. YouTube, very seldom, you wouldn't find much finance content, let alone Canadian finance content. So what I did was just talk to the advisors at the bank, just call them up and be like, Hey, I have a few questions. And I would also learn from them as well how they answer my questions as me being a student. So I take that experience and also apply it to the content I make. And I think it's just a matter of being short, creating short content, because attention spans in our day are really short. And then just providing as much information as I can in that short amount of time. and then targeting it with, like, Oh, student-friendly or This is for students.
Kathleen: Awesome. Sounds great. Moving on to the next question. For an investing portfolio, what are some key essentials young adults should have?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Hmm. This is always a really hard question because when being a finance content creator, you're on that very slim edge of giving financial advice but not trying to give financial advice. So I guess how I would say this is what I would do if I was starting out my investing portfolio: look into how the stock market works, first of all, and then what index funds are and what the indices are in the stock market. Why and then understand why index funds are now popular. It's because it tracks certain indices and then understands how those indices work, how they became that index, what's inside that index, how it has been performing in the last five or three years, and so that's kind of where I would start: having x funds and understanding the different ETFs that are available out there. And then you don't need a lot of ETFs; like, I would probably say five is like already a lot. for a new young investor, so looking into how you can diversify your portfolio by having less than five ETFs but still having exposure to all the markets so that you have that diversification, but understanding what's inside of them and still having a portfolio that can grow accordingly to ETFs and the stock market is growing. And then on top of that, at a very low fee.
Kathleen: Okay, awesome. Sounds great. The next question is, if a student has $100 today, where should they put it for the biggest return over time? It's kind of related to the last question, but do you have any other recommendations for like $100?
Spicy Sunday Finance: Well, I don't know about the biggest return because that's really hard to predict. I guess if you asked anyone like… They might say something like the Magnificent Seven and then just hold that for forever. So that could be one possibility for students. I just like to say, think of the brands you own, you know, like really big brands that you always use and always buy. So it can be retail, it could be tech, things like that. You know, if you have an iPhone that holds value, maybe an Apple stock. And $100, you know, it's a lot for a student. But when you're, you know, in your mid-20s or later on, like $100 is a very small amount. And I think when I look back to $100 of when I started investing as a student, I would have just put it into things that I kind of like. So, yeah, I think that's how I started just to the companies that I know. But if you don't want to go that route, then I would probably just throw it into an S&P 500 ETF. And I honestly think if you just left that there and let it grow, that could be a way to get your return. It wouldn't be the biggest return, but the S&P 500 does generate pretty steady and pretty solid growth over time. So it would be better than just to put it into an individual stock itself too.
Kathleen: Okay, awesome. Thank you for that advice. The next question is, what financial tool or apps do you use that could help students stay up in their way?
Spicy Sunday Finance: I still think tools themselves, so like apps, are very hard to find. Yeah, I still don't really use that many apps myself. For budgeting, for example, I still like making my own spreadsheet. When I was a student, I used to live by the app Mint, and it's really important that I don't have that anymore. There are a lot of free apps now coming out, and I've seen a lot of other apps, like Canadian apps, that are trying to replicate what Mint used to be, but… it doesn't have the same feel for some reason. And that could just be because I'm so used to that Mint platform, and adapting to change and new apps is just foreign to me. So I'm sure it's really great. But yeah, I think I still need to do a little more research on it. But there's still not a lot. So that part I think is very unfortunate. So to swear by… I really think if you bank with TD, the TD MySpend app is a very good app. There's also one for RBC. I think it was called Novi. Yeah, I think it was called Novi. And that one also kind of tracks what your spending is like. So anything that tracks your transactions is a really good way to start. Um… Yeah, otherwise, tools. Yeah, I don't know. I think apps are a very grey area for me. But resource-wise, like for students, probably, you know, start off with YouTube videos more than TikTok videos. And I know TikTok videos are a lot, you know, easier approach because they're shorter. And it's just like, like, a very short amount, or like, what am I supposed to say? Yeah, TikTok's just easier to approach because there's, like, it's not an overload of information. But however, if you're really interested in trying to grasp that personal finance information, YouTube is where it's at. And I think just getting a really great YouTube videos are probably going to get you farther than watching like 10 TikTok videos, undoubtedly, in my opinion. So that's kind of where I would start.
Kathleen: Yeah. Awesome. Sounds great. This is the last question for today. Thank you so much for joining our interview. I learned a lot from, I'd say, like your answers, like definitely a lot from your experience as a university student and in banking. So thank you so much for your answers. But yeah, thank you so much for your answers.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, tell me more about this society. Where is it based out of, and how did you guys form it, and what do you guys do in it?
Kathleen: Yeah, so it's based in Canada. We have a lot of chapters throughout Canada. And so I actually joined this summer, in July, and I joined as the editor-in-chief. I'm very fortunate to get the role. I'm really lucky. And it's one of the organizations that I love working for because we hold a lot of competition. We have a college; what are they called? Uh, like places where students can talk to college admissions officers and, um, like a lot of different activities just to help, like, students in Canada learn more about investing in finance, and we also have a, um, substack where I post, like, articles and interviews with, like, professionals and, like, influencers and, um, people that, like, participated in, like, Dragon’s Den, and it's just, like, a really interesting organization.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Okay, and it's, it's, um, in high school and in universities, I guess?
Kathleen: So most of our, like, associates are university students. And we do have a lot of high school students as well in our team.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Ah, okay. And then I guess if somebody comes in and teaches you guys, like, a topic about investing, like, a day or…
Kathleen: It's more of, like, we kind of work together to hold, like, events. Like, we do our own research. We outreach, like, on our own. And that's, like, a team effort.
Spicy Sunday Finance: I see. Okay.
Kathleen: Sounds good.
Spicy Sunday Finance: That's very cool. I don't think I understand. Is it like a new society? I don't think I've ever seen it when I was in university.
Kathleen: So it was made in 2022 by a student that, like, was kind of near me, and she actually founded it, and it became really successful. A lot of hours and dedication were put into it by them. Sit, yeah, it's really interesting.
Spicy Sunday Finance: Yeah, that is cool. Okay.
Kathleen: Sounds good. Awesome. Thank you so much.
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