Meet Tricia: Building a diversified portfolio without losing sleep

Tricia has the enviable aura of someone who lives fully in the present and is acutely aware of how precious and mysterious life and time are. In her words, she is “a human doing, rather than a human being”.

Everything she does complements her goal of living life to the fullest. In her work as a swim instructor, she finds grounding in nature while teaching a skill that can quite literally save lives. There is also a deep respect for the act of passing knowledge on. A teacher for her entire career, Tricia values learning as much as teaching - absorbing lessons, reflecting on mistakes, and committing to doing things better next time.

Her earliest memories of investing came from her father, a mathematician and musician, who spoke constantly about the power of compounding. Those twin influences of structure and creativity still shape her approach today. Tricia is both disciplined and sanguine: a planner who lets process do the heavy lifting, precisely so she doesn’t lose sleep over outcomes. We start with nothing and end with nothing, as she told me, and it’s this acceptance, and the freedom that comes with it, that allows her to sit with uncertainty and stay true to her convictions.

Please enjoy this instalment of Meet the Investor.

Profile

• Name: Tricia
  
• Job: Swim and Water Safety Teacher with state schools
  
• Age: 69
  
• Years spent investing: 52
  
• Biggest investment: Looking back, the biggest investment was in myself as a teenager, thanks to Mum and Dad. I know this was very hard for them, financially, and I truly appreciate what it has given my family. I was an elite swimmer, training 11 sessions a week (in those days). I sat high-level piano AMEB exams too for the HSC. I still swim and play the piano at least 4 times a week. Their investment set me up with the discipline to give investing and my ongoing good health a red-hot go, and to keep going.
• Secret (or not so secret) talent: I am on the Premises Committee of my surf club, and I know zero about building, but everyone else enjoys having me as a committee member. I ask girly questions and the lads think from a different slant. 😀 My patrol team, who were awarded best patrol in 2025, say that anyone (me) who can bake cakes and pour beers should always be the patroller of the year. Over my career, I have also run bars and been a poker machine mechanic. Don’t get me started on poker machines!
• Guilty reading or viewing pleasure: I always enjoy reading about investing, whether it's property, shares, managed funds, ETFs, or super. Any book by Noel Whittaker, Roger Montgomery or Margaret Lomas. My first book about investing was The Richest Man In Babylon by G.S. Glasson (read many times over), and Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill). The Millionaire Next Door reminds me of me. We live in a very ordinary home, possibly the worst house in the best street. Never judge a book by its cover! Keeping up with the Joneses has never been on my ‘to-do’ list.

I love Livewire and read or watch videos on a daily basis while having a quiet breakfast. Adam Dawes put me onto Livewire. And any autobiography or biography about how wonderful people have made a change for the better in this world.

I also love watching my daughter and husband's YouTube channel and their vanlife lap of Australia. I love aviation and flying. My son is about to become a Captain with a Hong Kong airline. We are immensely proud of both children. They have worked as hard as us and are now reaping the benefits.

Can you share how you got started in investing and what your first investment was?

I guess it was the "hard work" ethic set by my parents and aunt. My parents were not wealthy but worked very hard to bring up 5 children, taught us about investment and encouraged us in our endeavours. In fact, my mum and aunt, as children, never had a bedroom that they could call their own. They slept in any available room. When I was 14, I began working part-time in a grocery shop and at 16, I was helping my dad do our milk run because he was struggling to walk. Pay was $2 (this was all before going to school). At 18, I worked as a swim teacher and coach, 40 hours a week, along with full-time university study. I was a frenetic saver. I knew my income needed to be boosted throughout my life as a teaching wage was not that large (still isn’t). I chatted with Dad about ways and means to achieve a good income later in life. He spoke of super, property and shares.

I bought my first property, aged 21, walking distance to the beach. How frustrating it was in the 70s trying to obtain a loan when every bank manager was male and virtually expected me to be 'barefoot and pregnant'! "Where is your husband?" was the first question ever asked. 

My first shares were St George Bank when they were listed on the ASX. If you had money in the bank, shares were allocated on a pro rata. As more shares were offered at a discount price, I ensured that I had enough to purchase the total allotment. 

How would you describe your strategy and your investment goals?

My children call me a collector, not a hoarder. My friends call me a zagger. When everybody zigs, I zag. I take my time to find an investment. I leave the shares to my fabulous broker, Adam Dawes, to research. I don’t have the time or resources that he does to study stocks. People who know more than me, my solicitor, accountant, mentors, stocks and mortgage broker play a huge part in my investment circle.

I have always been a frenetic saver. Originally, I bought items on sale and would place the savings into an investment account, along with any other money that happened to come my way without physically working for it, e.g., tax return credit. This became a habit. I work very hard, and I have always paid myself first from every dollar I have ever earned, at least 30% now. I am the most important person, so I look after No 1 first, then I can look after others. 

I know and understand my personal risk, and I calculate the risk by asking: how can I afford it? What if the market changes, can I still service my plan (e.g. interest rates go up) - then jump hard and deep. This is not the same as jumping in blindly. I always do the maths, look at my budget, and see what money is coming in and going out. Then invest.

I know the value of my super and have salary sacrificed as much as I can afford. I increase the amount each year and with every pay rise. This has proved such a powerful tool thanks to my chat with Dad.  He projected forwards over a lifetime of work, and advised me to put money into super at every moment I could. He even predicted that if I worked to 60 instead of 55, the difference in my super would be $450,000. He was so right. I take great interest in my super. It’s like a huge bank account and I love watching it grow without much personal exertion. I work a little bit, but it works 10-fold harder for me. I moved the portfolio from the default investment to high-growth and international shares many years ago, which has been amazing.

I love diversification, as it makes me feel safe. My investment portfolios beat to a steady drum and pay me every week, month, quarter, half year, or annually. I have always recycled dividend payments into more stocks or added to any that I own. This is not the same as a DRP, which is a personal and accounting nightmare.

I research property myself and buy around Australia. This is another arm of diversification.

I don’t own any credit cards, only a debit card. Nor do I like to pay the surcharge on the privilege of using plastic to pay for items, so I use cash as much as I can. 

'Tapping' is too easy. Surcharge to me would be great if I owned any of the big 4 banks, but I don’t.

Can you share your top 5 holdings in % terms and why you hold these positions? 

My portfolio is a reasonable size, with 27 stocks built over 12 sectors. My portfolio is very diversified, mostly with Australian stocks, because over the bear market periods, they have held up or recovered very well.

Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) - 8.33%
Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) - 7.28%
CSL (ASX: CSL) - 6.68%
Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) - 5.6%
Global X Physical Gold (ASX: GOLD) - 5.8%

I love materials, which constitutes 35% of my portfolio. These stocks above are my anchor stocks. They are solid businesses that are getting stronger, are diversified, and pay a good, consistent dividend (except for GOLD, of course).

What investment is on your watchlist?

4DX Medical, Life360, URNM and CSL -  I am waiting for prices to drop and looking for better value. And emerging markets or small-cap ETFs, which are likely to do well this year, so I’m looking at that area too.

What was your worst investment and what has been your best?

NUIX has been woeful. I have just sold it to counteract profit-taking in SFR, URNM and Life360, which have been amazing.

Can you share a personal passion or ambition you have for the future?

If I had the choice as a teacher, financial literacy would be the number one curriculum subject through K-12, and music. All other subjects would slip into place. 

Too many Australians learn from the examples set by their parents, which may not be particularly helpful in learning how to earn passive income. Both of my children asked me after they left school, "How do I complete a tax return?" They’re in their late 30s now. The question is, how can I make an income while sleeping? Easy peasy!

I am a volunteer at a surf club. My passion is to assist members in improving their swimming skills and endurance, so that the swimming arm of the club becomes stronger. Every Thursday, a 25m pool is hired along with 2 paid coaches and me (volunteer). Any financial club member who can swim is welcome to attend, free of charge, and we swim for 1 hour. Usually, 20-30 people attend each week, which is sensational. My nipper group are beginning to podium. The boys and girls are absolute legends and very happy with their progress. I was awarded the Most Outstanding Club Member and nominated for a branch award for innovation. I love helping people improve. I am tinkering with developing, building and taking a mobile swimming pool to the dry areas of NSW to teach children in the outback to swim.

If you are interested in sharing your investing journey, please send me a confidential enquiry via email to [email protected].

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