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The Money Stories We Never Questioned

We’re opening Season 5 by naming the money conversations many of us were taught to avoid — debt, death, and taxes — and gently unpacking how those silences shaped the way we relate to money today.

In this episode, cohosts Arthi and Malika explore how our earliest experiences of money — what was said, what was modelled, and what was never spoken about — quietly become the rules we live by as adults. We talk about family “atmospheres” around money, generational ideas of respectability and safety, and why avoidance often holds more power over us than the numbers themselves.

This conversation isn’t about blame or doing money “right.” It’s about awareness, choice, and creating a calmer, more conscious financial legacy — for ourselves and for those watching us.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why we’re naming Debt, Death, and Taxes (DDT) as the theme for Season 5
• How avoidance keeps money stories powerful and unquestioned
• Childhood financial atmospheres and the silent rules we inherit
• Respectability, stability, and risk aversion across generations
• Scarcity thinking versus security-based decision-making
• The difference between strategic debt and destructive debt
• Reframing taxes as planned participation rather than punishment
• The idea of a living legacy — what we model long before we’re gone
• Adult patterns like overworking, under-earning, and financial avoidance
• The “people like us don’t…” exercise to surface inherited beliefs
• Practical ways to begin updating your money story

This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and gently question the stories you’ve been carrying — and to decide which ones still deserve a place in your life.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

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It has been a financial marathon this season, with hosts Arthi and Malika delivering a wealth mindset so that you can become your own financial superhero. What listeners may not have known, was that each epsiode this season was building up to a cape fitting ceremony. In this final episode of Season 4, Arthi and Malika unveil the Superhero Wealth Equation—Identity x Behaviour x Time x Community— a simple, multiplicative model that turns scattered advice into a focused plan you can actually stick to.

As a bonus, the hosts guide listeners through a reflective year-end Superpower Audit (click to download) to turn clarity into action. Along the way, they recap key lessons, share listener wins, and wrap with a peek at next season’s deep dive into the DDT: Debt, Death, and Taxes.

Listen in to Arthi and Malika:

• • tying ten episodes into a clear wealth formula
• • explain identity as the base for money confidence
• • unpack behaviour superpowers and why consistency matters
• • extoll about time and compounding as inevitability builders
• • emphasize community as stabiliser, accountability and legacy
• • underscore multiplicative thinking and zero-risk to the equation
• • offer a step-by-step Superpower Audit with actions

and so much more!

Go forth and multiply your wealth in 2026 the Swan Effect Superhero way!

Share 📢and write a review as Arthi and Malika continue on their mission to simplify the complexities of money management to empower you toward financial freedom, becoming your own financial superhero, and passing on your superpowers too!

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

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As we get closer to the end of 2025, Arthi and Malika offer listeners the opportunity to press pause, clear the financial fog, and build a values-led plan for the year ahead with simple tools that turn overwhelm into focused action.

This episode is jam-packed with reflective questions, simple frameworks, practical rituals, and next steps to show you how clarity grows when money decisions match what matters most.

Listen in as the co-hosts talk about:

• Why do we lose clarity through overload, opinions, and emotion
• How awareness is the first power move
• Considering budgets and doing emotional check-ins
• The 3R Review: reflect, reframe, refocus
• A five-minute clarity journal
• Purpose-based choices guided by values
• Debt versus investing through a holistic lens

And to give you practical ideas, keep on listening to the inspiring Activation Capes, the micro superpowers that can help you finish your year grounded and focused.

• Clarity Capes - to help you clear the financial fogs, like the Mirror Moment or the Values Compass
• Action Capes - simple steps to reboot your budget, or reset your plan, like the Iron Heart Build or the Okoye Discipline Drill
• Purpose Capes - ways to align your money with your mission, like the Vibranium Vision Board or the Kwezi Community Act
• Mindset Capes - small daily habits that restore calm and control, like the Wonder Pause or the America Chavez Portal

Plus so much more!

If you're looking to gather yourself and prepare for pre- and post-holidays this is the episode for you!

Share 📢and write a review as Arthi and Malika continue on their mission to simplify the complexities of money management to empower you toward financial freedom, becoming your own financial superhero, and passing on your superpowers too!

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

Send us a text

Following on the theme of Legacy from the previous episode 8 of this season, Arthi and Malika engage with the idea that legacy isn't just about the money you leave behind—it's about preparing, protecting, and empowering the next generation with thoughtful planning and clear communication. In the current episode the hosts help you armour up with essential tools like wills, estate planning, and the life file to create a meaningful legacy that outlives you.

Listen in as Malika and Arthi discuss how:
• Wills serve as your superhero shield, protecting your family from unnecessary battles and giving you control over inheritance, guardianship, and estate management,
• Without a will, the Interstate Succession Act decides who gets what, potentially causing confusion, disputes, and financial hardship for your loved ones
• Common estate planning mistakes are made, which include outdated wills, insufficient liquidity, conflicting documents, and vague wording that can trigger family disputes,
• A life file (or "pop-off file") should be created and updated, containing everything your loved ones need—will copies, ID documents, bank details, insurance policies, property deeds, passwords, and key contacts,
• Estate taxes can be the villains of legacy planning, with capital gains tax, estate duty (25% on estates over R3.5 million), and executor's fees taking chunks of your estate,
• To use strategic planning tools include properly structured trusts, adequate life cover, diverse asset allocation, and lifetime giving (taxed at 20% vs 25% estate duty),
plus so much more!

🦸 Golden Takeaway:
Legacy is the cape that outlives you — wear it proudly, and pass it on with purpose.

Share 📢and write a review as Arthi and Malika continue on their mission to simplify the complexities of money management to empower you toward financial freedom, becoming your own financial superhero, and passing on your superpowers too!

Freebie: Download our practical legacy planning checklist to get you started today!

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

Send us a text

Ever wondered why superheroes team up instead of fighting alone? There's profound wisdom in this approach – especially when it comes to building wealth. In this thought-provoking Episode 8, Arthi and Malika explore how purposeful generosity creates a lasting legacy through the uniquely South African lens of Ubuntu – the philosophy that "I am because we are."

Listen in as the co-hosts navigate the topic covering different angles of interest that include:

• Ubuntu operates like the Avengers – each person contributing their power to form a stronger collective
• Traditional stockvels (savings clubs) demonstrate financial Ubuntu in action.
• Modern stokvels have evolved from basic needs to property investment and business funding.
• Generosity without boundaries can become depleting rather than empowering.
• The "sandwich generation" supports children, parents, and extended family simultaneously.
• True generosity builds capacity and independence rather than dependency.
• Structure your giving through formal mechanisms like stockfels or family trusts.
• Make generosity educational by passing on financial knowledge alongside support.
• Ensure sustainability by protecting your own financial foundation first.
• Create a vision for what your generosity will build over the next 20 years.

Subscribe now and discover how to continue building towards becoming your own financial superhero.

Share 📢and write a review - we would love to hear your thoughts

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

Send us a text

In this special episode in Women's Month in South Africa, Arthi and Malika tackle equity head-on, joined by wonderful guest Shivani Naidoo, Head of EQT - an Old Mutual Wealth fintech.

How does equity investing create equity in the wider world, you ask?

According to Shivani, we have to take a few steps back before even asking this, and rather be curious about what would make one an investing success. It begins with purpose, not products, and understanding your financial "why" is the foundation of wealth-building that lasts. Time in the market is your greatest superpower, with the magic of compounding rewarding those who start early—even with small amounts.

Some really special nuggets of guidance in the episode include:

• Clarify your investing purpose to guide decisions and stay grounded during market volatility
• Understand the opportunity cost of delayed investing and how compounding favors early starters
• Build a balanced investment portfolio like a superhero team—each asset class plays a specific role
• Create your personal investment code (IPS) as a mission brief to stay on track during turbulence
• Know your time horizon to determine appropriate risk levels for different goals
• Practice regular rebalancing to maintain your desired asset allocation as markets move
• Recognize common investment "villains" like overconfidence bias, trend-chasing, and emotional decision-making
• Consider working with a financial advisor as an accountability partner to enhance returns

Start your investment journey now, regardless of how small your first step might be.

Remember that your future isn't a trade-off but a "trade-up"—you're investing in something greater for tomorrow.

Listen in to hear how Arthi, Malika, and Shivani unpack these and more even further to get you more confident in your investing journey towards financial freedom and wealth.

Share 📢and write a review as Arthi and Malika continue on their mission to simplify the complexities of money management and empower you toward financial freedom.

Freebie: Download your free IPS template to get you started today!

About Shivani Naidoo

Shivani Naidoo is a South African investment professional and fintech builder. With her entrepreneurial drive, she’s leading a new digital investment platform created for a generation of emerging wealth builders. With a background in portfolio management, as a CFA charterholder and now the Head of EQT — an Old Mutual Wealth powered fintech — Shivani brings both depth and clarity to the evolving space where finance and technology meet.

At the heart of her work is a commitment to building systems that are simple, scalable, and serve as a tool for empowerment. Her career has spanned traditional asset management and the rapidly evolving world of Wealth-Tech, giving her a unique perspective on how the company investment industry is changing and what that means for investors, institutions, and the future of financ

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

Send us a text

Continuing to uncover the key characteristics of a wealth mindset, hosts Arthi and Malika delve into episode 6 of this season, talking about what separates those who thrive financially from those who stay stuck. It's not luck or privilege—it's resourcefulness. Resourcefulness is a critical component of building a wealth mindset, turning survival into strategy by making the most of what you already have instead of focusing on what you lack.

Drawing inspiration from superhero stories so that you can become your own financial superhero too, Arthi and Malika explore how characters like Peter Parker (building his own suit and web shooters while working side gigs), Shuri (constantly innovating with Wakanda's resources), and Storm (leading with emotional intelligence despite hardship) demonstrate resourcefulness in action. These aren't just fictional examples—they mirror the everyday ingenuity we see in successful entrepreneurs and wealth builders.

The heart of this episode the aptly derived R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E framework—a comprehensive approach to developing this critical mindset.

• Reframing your thinking from scarcity to strategy—shifting focus to what you can do with what you have
• Exploring your existing resources through an audit of your skills, networks, and available time
• Stretching your money and resources to last longer through strategic planning and creative solutions
• Organizing your finances by setting clear goals, priorities, and consistently tracking progress
• Utilizing your community by asking for help, collaborating, and bartering with others
• Reinventing your approach through pivoting, iterating, and experimenting when needed
• Creating multiple income streams, side hustles, and financial pathways
• Executing consistently through daily actions and discipline rather than perfect conditions

Listen in to hear how Arthi and Malika unpack the what and how of this framework to get you even closer to your goals of financial freedom and wealth.

Share 📢and write a review as Arthi and Malika continue on their mission to simplify the complexities of money management and empower you toward financial freedom.

Challenge: take 1 letter in the R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E framework and get started. Tag @theswaneffectpodcast and share your journey!

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika

Send us a text

What separates financial dreamers from achievers? One word: discipline.

In this illuminating episode of the Swan Effect Podcast, Arthi and Malika explore the untold power of self-discipline in wealth creation through the lens of our favorite superheroes.

Forget what you think you know about discipline. It's not about rigid obedience or punishing routines—it's about emotional self-regulation paired with rational decision-making that keeps you focused on your financial goals. The hosts break down why this internal tug-of-war between immediate gratification and long-term goals is particularly challenging in our technology-saturated world, where distractions and temptations are just a click away.

Drawing wisdom from unexpected sources, Arthi and Malika unpack how Batman's obsessive routines, Black Widow's calculated decisions, Captain America's unwavering priorities, Spider-Man's self-awareness, and Doctor Strange's mindset transformation all offer profound lessons for your financial journey.

These superhero strategies translate directly to practical money habits—whether you're building a business, diversifying income streams, or simply trying to stay on budget.

The most powerful insight?

Self-forgiveness may be your greatest financial superpower.

As explored through Scarlet Witch's journey, holding onto financial mistakes creates a burden that prevents forward movement. Learning to forgive yourself for past money missteps frees you to make better choices today.

Ready to build your financial discipline muscle? Listen to the hosts share five actionable strategies to start right now:

🦸🏽‍♀️establishing your non-negotiable "hero habit,"

🦸🏽‍♀️building systems (not just goals),

🦸🏽‍♀️eliminating financial noise,

🦸🏽‍♀️creating visual reminders, and

🦸🏽‍♀️practicing compassion when you stumble.

Because discipline isn't about perfection—it's about consistency.

Whether you're struggling to stay on budget, looking to grow your wealth, or working toward financial independence, this episode provides the mental framework to transform your relationship with money through superhero-level discipline.

Subscribe now and discover why, as we say, "forgiveness is part of your financial toolkit.

Share 📢and write a review as we continue our mission to simplify the complexities of money management and empower you toward financial freedom. What innovative solution might be your path to wealth creation?

This #podcastepisode is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.

🎧 The Swan Effect Podcast is proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth, supporting conversations that help us build financial clarity, confidence, and long-term well-being.

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, share it with someone who might need it, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear your reflections — your messages and comments help shape the conversations we have next.

Thanks for listening!

— Arthi & Malika