Old Mutual On The Money
Old Mutual On The Money
Stephanie & Hungani Ndlovu share their tips on handling finances before and after marriage
As the personification of #couplegoals, Stephanie and Hungani Ndlovu understand how important finances are as part of married life. From aligning on spending habits and debt, to marriage contracts, money personalities, and more – their tips will help you and your partner approach that vital “money conversation” before you commit for life.
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Old Mutual 0:00
Welcome to the On The Money Podcast with John Manyike.
John Manyike 0:04
Today we are joined by the Hungani’s. You see, black and white, but let's leave it there. Mr Ndlovu.
Hungani Ndlovu 0:13
Yes, sir.
John Manyike 0:13
How are you doing?
Hungani Ndlovu 0:13
I'm good. How are you doing?
John Manyike 0:15
Yeah. Is she used to being called Mrs. Ndlovu now?
Hungani Ndlovu 0:18
She's used to Mrs. Ndlovu. She's not used to the Hungani’s.
Stephanie Ndlovu 00:23
Yeah, that one was a new one. That one caught me off guard. I'm used to the Ndlovu's, not the Hungani’s.
John Manyike 0:28
So, you guys are both actors? Maybe before we get there, let's talk about where you grew up.
Hungani Ndlovu 0:34
So, I grew up in Polokwane, but I was born in Nelspruit. And I'm from a Christian family, family of four. Myself and my sister are the only kids, two loving parents. And my parents are still together happily married. Yeah, that's pretty much, yeah.
John Manyike 0:51
So, no wonder why you're still married.
Hungani Ndlovu 0:54
I've got so many years to go, yoh.
John Manyike 0:57
Compared to them.
Hungani Ndlovu 0:58
Compared to them, yeah.
Stephanie Ndlovu 1:00
Yeah. So, I'm from Eldorado park, which is south of Johannesburg. It's not far from here. I'm a Joburg city girl. Also, two amazing parents, still married. Got two siblings, a younger sister and an older brother. There's differences, but there's also a lot of similarities in the way, I think in the way we were raised yeah.
John Manyike 1:20
Okay. You know, there's one thing, though, that I wonder about actors. Because, you know, your partner is an actor. I mean, you can pull any stunt any time. I mean, when you're dealing with serious issues, do you not sometimes say "you, you are acting".
Stephanie Ndlovu 1:35
If that's the case, everyone's an actor.
Hungani Ndlovu 1:39
And that's the truth of it.
Stephanie Ndlovu 1:40
Everyone's an actor.
Hungani Ndlovu 1:40
I mean, we all, If you think about it, when you go to the shops, you put on a certain you then you that's at home, you know, when you go to church or an event or you put on a certain and that on its own. It's acting.
Stephanie Ndlovu 1:52
It's acting, you know.
Hungani Ndlovu 1:53
Like, right now, what's happening.
John Manyike 1:55
You make it sound dangerous.
Stephanie Ndlovu 1:57
It's very dangerous. Even if you're having a disagreement with your wife or your husband or your partner, you know, there's a level of acting only reserved for actors.
John Manyike 2:06
You know, my worry is when somebody has to apologize. Do you mean it, or are you pulling you know...
Stephanie Ndlovu 2:09
Yeah.
Hungani Ndlovu 2:15
I know so many people who are not actors, but they can cry on the spot.
John Manyike 2:18
That's true. There's something I want to ask you about your wedding. So, I heard, I don't know, how true it is that you decided to celebrate privately. In a world where everybody wants to Insta, they want to put everything on there, out there. So, what inspired that?
Stephanie Ndlovu 2:35
We've always been pretty private people. We still are quite private, believe it or not. Yes, we are on social media. We're in the public eye, but we always say there's a very big part of our lives that we try to keep as private as possible. So, when it came to, you know, our wedding day that was, you know, a non-negotiable. We're like, that day, we're going to keep as private as possible and at the right time, when we feel that, okay, we're ready to kind of, you know, put a little bit about, like, of it on social media, then we'll go about it. So, I think we're just both, we are actually pretty private people, despite our social media presence. So, it was just a conversation we agreed on ahead of time.
Hungani Ndlovu 3:16
Yeah. We like to curate when people should know.
John Manyike 3:20
Ah, that's a key word, that's a key word. Hey, there are people who don't filter. Everything, even when they're having a meal, even having a glass, everything must be captured. And I think that's the danger with it, that when you, like, just put everything there. You know, there's no, I always say, I mean, you know, marriages are marriages. I mean, for one to paint a picture that everything is perfect. You know, there's imperfectness in that so called perfection, you know, so sometimes they will tell you, ah, now you are telling us that you are separating, or divorced. We've invested our data following you. Now, you're telling us that we must stay out of your business.
Hungani Ndlovu 3:56
With a press release.
John Manyike 3:57
Yeah, with a press release.
Hungani Ndlovu 3:59
But, you know, like, I think it can be challenging for people because of how others expect certain things from them. We just don't fall under the bracket of feeling the pressure of expectation. So, as much as, for example, we have a daughter, there's so many people are like, we want to see your daughter. We want to see your daughter. You'll see our daughter, but you'll just see the back of our daughter for now, you know, so it's just for us, it's. It's one of those things that we consciously think of, and it's not something that we're not aware of.
John Manyike 4:31
Yeah. I like how you guys got into the creative arts. I mean, acting, you know, for example, in your case, doing work behind the scenes and subtitles and eventually getting there. And I think it was quite strategic. Do you want to talk to us about that?
Stephanie Ndlovu 4:47
It's so crazy because acting was really not part of my plan. When I started behind the scenes, I was studying sociolinguistics, neuro-linguistics. I definitely was going to go into neuro-linguistics.
Hungani Ndlovu 4:56
She's clever, don’t be fooled.
John Manyike 4:58
Neuro-linguistics.
Stephanie Ndlovu 4:58
Yeah, I was going to go into a very academic sort of the academic route, and me starting behind the scenes was just actually a side hustle. It was not I'm intentionally starting here so that I could act. That wasn't. But I think being behind the scenes and then becoming a casting director and then, you know, having to audition people and then sort of starting and seeing that, “Oh, I actually, you know, enjoy this. And I actually, the creativity behind actors, I really started to admire.” And that's when I actually developed that acting bug. You know, I was like, okay, let me try this. And at first when I tried it, I failed dismally. I was very bad, you know, and I sort of think, I've grown as an actor where I think some people, they know they want to act right at the beginning. They study acting. They do after school, like Hungani, go straight into acting. They amazing from the jump, they know. I think my path was very different in that it was, like, a developing thing that started behind the scenes and then developed into a love.
John Manyike 6:02
And yours, how did it come up?
Hungani Ndlovu 6:03
I went straight in. I left high school and went and studied acting in varsity and then graduated, and I became an extra. After, like, ten months, I was like, yeah, this is not the one. I need to be, like, the real guy. So I came back home because I was studying in the US, and I was an extra in the US. I came back home, and then she was a casting director, walked into her office for an audition, and then she was like, “Oh, this guy's got something.”
John Manyike 6:33
But then yet she was doing other auditions?
Stephanie Ndlovu 6:35
I was not.
Hungani Ndlovu 6:36
She clearly was.
Stephanie Ndlovu 6:37
I was really not, oh no actually, I was doing other auditions, but not for myself. Not for myself, though.
John Manyike 6:44
Did you see that?
Stephanie Ndlovu 6:44
Not for myself no.
Hungani Ndlovu 6:47
So, I auditioned and then got a call back. And this is, like, after five years of being in the industry. And then, yeah, eventually I got my TV break, but I never started behind the scenes. I got behind the scenes, I think, from maybe about 2017.
John Manyike 7:01
Yeah. So, how did the dating start then you know?
Stephanie Ndlovu 7:04
Exactly as you said. No, as he said.
Hungani Ndlovu 7:07
Yeah. So, she saw me in the audition, and then she was actually trying to hook me up with, or rather, she was trying to hook up her cousin with me.
Stephanie Ndlovu 7:17
Because they were the same age. I wasn't trying to date younger.
Hungani Ndlovu 7:21
And then after she, like, spent a little bit of time with me, grilling me with questions and, like, very forward questions and then jiki jiki, you were asking me hectic questions, love. Then jiki jiki, now she was starting to kind of like me. You know, I only found out about the cousin after we were dating.
Stephanie Ndlovu 7:42
But tell the truth, you also liked me.
Hungani Ndlovu 7:43
Yeah. No, obviously.
Stephanie Ndlovu 7:44
Making it sound like I was the only one liking, doing the liking.
Hungani Ndlovu 7:49
Who wouldn’t like you?
Stephanie Ndlovu 7:49
Oh my God.
Hungani Ndlovu 7:50
Who wouldn’t like you? Even if you look at the camera, who wouldn’t like you?
John Manyike 7:52
There it is. So, during the dating phase, I mean, did you find talking about money awkward maybe? How did you deal with that?
Stephanie Ndlovu 8:00
No. You know, we really didn't. And I think a lot of the so-called, like, awkward conversations and finances being one of them. It was such an easy conversation to have. And I think that's how, at least for me, I was like, okay, this is one of the reasons why I can see myself building a future with this person, because certain conversations that a lot of, you know, people who are dating stay away from because they don't know what their partner might think or this and that. We didn't have that. We were very open right from the beginning. And even having the conversation about finances was very important because now we're both freelancers. So, the financial situation, it's not as if one person, you know, is like a contract worker or someone who works in corporate and the other one is more creative. We're both in the creative space. We're both freelancers. We both plan to stay in the creative space. So, if we're going to build a future, we have to have the conversation about how are we going to make it work. And so, right from the beginning, we were like, let's have the conversation about our finances. And we were very transparent about that.
Hungani Ndlovu 9:06
I think also what made it easy was we both understood that we were dating for purpose, in the sense that there is milestones that we're trying to achieve. So, if marriage is one of them, we definitely need to be talking about money so that we understand who's going to be handling what. How is what going to be handled, so that when, by the time we are in one household, we're able to manage that. Otherwise, then it's like expectations are built where expectations were not even clarified.
John Manyike 9:36
Yeah. I think you mentioned something important there about expectations, because sometimes there are unmet expectations or undeclared expectations.
Hungani Ndlovu 9:46
A lot.
John Manyike 9:46
How important do you think money conversations are to couples that are planning to get married?
Hungani Ndlovu 9:52
Very.
Stephanie Ndlovu 9:53
Extremely important. If someone says, what are the top three topics you should have before you get married, money is one of them, you know.
John Manyike 10:00
But then what do you say?
Stephanie Ndlovu 10:01
No, let's have open cards. Number one, what is your current financial situation? You know, one very important conversation you need to have is, are either of you in, like, debt? You know, and what type of marriage contract are we gonna have? Am I gonna inherit your debt? What type of, you know, legal ways are around that? Then also your spending habits. We need to have a clear conversation about if you a big spender and if you like spending money that you don't even have because that will obviously affect our future, right. We also need to have a conversation about just financial habits that you have, your view of money. Because the thing with finances and money, a lot of people don't understand that. It's very much shaped by, like, your circumstances, your environment, how you were raised, what your upbringing was. There's a lot of things. So what is your concept when it comes to money, right? So that we can see, are we aligned? And if we're not aligned, can we find and have that alignment? And if we can't have that alignment, I think you'll run into a lot of problems down the line, you know.
Hungani Ndlovu 11:07
Also, what are your plans for future money? Because you have this money now. But let's just say, hypothetically, you did some job or some miracle happened and you got 2 million Rand. Let's just discuss, hypothetically, what would you do with that? I mean, we've had so many hypotheticals just to understand that, are you going to get too excited? And now let's do this. Let's do that. You also still have some kind of level head to say no, yes, I still want to splurge a little bit, but out of the 2 million splash, I will splash with 200. And then that 1.8, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, and I'm going to do that so that at least when you do get a lump sum of some sort, you're able to hold each other accountable and say, no, but love, last time when we had a hypothetical, I know it's not exactly the same amount, but you said you're going to do one, two, three.
John Manyike 11:57
And then she says, a wise woman changes their mind.
Stephanie Ndlovu 12:01
There's no such.
John Manyike 12:06
Okay. So, that was pre-marriage, right. So, we're now in the phase you are both married now. How does the money thing work in the family now?
Hungani Ndlovu 12:13
Oh, man. I mean, I think it's still the same right now.
John Manyike 12:19
Because it's no longer hypothetical. It's happening live.
Hungani Ndlovu 12:20
Yeah, now, I think, but I think the principle still remains you know. Now, what makes it a little more challenging, if I can say, is the fact that we have our own company together, that we're running, and finding ways to navigate that on a financial scale, dealing with SARS, you know, and also just trying to navigate, like, the business side of things as a couple within that on making a profit and all of those type of things. So, I think also just building a team, building the business. So now, I think, more than anything, our finance talks are more around how we build the business, but also how we manage to secure certain things, like our home, you know, paying off the house and the bond and all of those types of things. But in essence, the principles that we had prior to marriage are still the same.
Stephanie Ndlovu 13:11
I mean, the foundational principles are the same. But don't get it twisted. We do have a little bit of different habits, certain habits when it comes to money. And what's important is we have to have regular conversations. So, what we do is we try and have regular conversations about, okay, where are we financially right now? What are the things that still need, you know, paying, what are the monthly this. Where can we cut money here? Hold each other accountable and be like, you’re overspending, you know, in as much as your financial situation changes, because everyone's financial situation changes over time, you're right. We hope for the best, but sometimes it's not for the best. And so money conversation also needs to be a consistent thing and a continual thing within marriage now. You can't just say, Ah we spoke about that before marriage, or we spoke about that at the beginning of our marriage, you have to maintain having those conversations. So, whether you decide to have a monthly thing where you guys go out for dinner or you sit at home and you get the books out and you're like, okay, let's reevaluate what's happening in your account. My account, in our account. And the last point, I would stress is there must be transparency. Guys, don't be hiding things. Just be transparent.
John Manyike 14:21
So, between the two of you, who is the strongest when it comes to handling finance? The strongest. You might both be strong, or one might be stronger than the other one.
Hungani Ndlovu 14:30
I don't think there's the strongest one. We have strengths in different areas.
John Manyike 14:36
Let’s talk about those areas.
Hungani Ndlovu 14:38
So, I'm not quick to spend. I'm not quick to share.
John Manyike 14:42
Don't worry. I'm also listening to what you are not saying.
Hungani Ndlovu 14:46
I'm not quick to spend. I'm not quick to share. But when it comes to business things, I'm very quick to spend.
Stephanie Ndlovu 14:54
Too quick.
Hungani Ndlovu 14:55
So, those are, like, one of the areas, versus...
Stephanie Ndlovu 14:58
So, I'm a giver. I'm a sharer. My hands stay like this. Like, I'm like, I'm Oprah.
John Manyike 15:05
He's the one that says, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hungani Ndlovu 15:08
So, the hand used to be like this. At least now it's like this.
Stephanie Ndlovu 15:10
So, now I'm like, not like this. Because he holds me accountable to be like, okay, I know you want to, you know, give people and share, and I'm always wanting to kind of help out. And I always believe in the guiding principle. Like, I'm blessed to be a blessing, so I'm always. But sometimes it does. Sometimes it's a bit too much. And I don't think about, okay, you know, have I thought this through? Have I even planned how I'm going to share this money? Man, I don't plan how to share the money. I just say, you need, you need, you need, everybody needs, let's go. So, he definitely reels it in a bit and is like, okay, just tone it down. But there is strength in being able to give. And so I think I come in where I'm like, you don't have to be so stingy. Like, release your hand just a little bit. So, now he's more of like, okay, we can start sowing into people's lives.
John Manyike 15:59
It sounds like a very good balance, yeah.
Hungani Ndlovu 16:01
Yeah. And she's very good. Sorry to cut you off. And she's very good at, like, making sure we know to the 10th cent of how much we've spent at any given point in time.
Stephanie Ndlovu 16:14
Yes. Because this guy will have, you know, those random debit orders we don't consider. Like, maybe there's a subscription for R50 or something. And he doesn't even, and I say to him…
Hungani Ndlovu 16:24
I'm sure it's the news or something.
Stephanie Ndlovu 16:25
And then I'll be like, where is this R50 every month or R100 going to? He's like, hey, I need to check my account. And I'm like, “No, put down exactly where every, you know, Rand is going.”
John Manyike 16:37
So, do you guys give each other at least a discretionary budget, you know, to say, from whatever household income, does each one of you have a discretionary budget?
Stephanie Ndlovu 16:48
Yes. Yeah.
Hungani Ndlovu 16:49
By discretionary, what do you mean?
Stephanie Ndlovu 16:51
Like, you can do as you please.
Hungani Ndlovu 16:52
You can do it as you please.
Stephanie Ndlovu 16:55
Yeah. So, discretion not in the sense of secretive. Unless it's like a surprise gift or something. That's different. But we have a joint account and we also have our own personal account. And once all the things are paid, like the house and, you know, savings, debit orders, car, like, once everything is done, and it's like, okay, now you've got ‘X’ amount in your personal account. You've got ‘X’ amount in your personal account. You do with it-
Hungani Ndlovu 17:20
-as you please.
Stephanie Ndlovu 17:21
As you see fit.
Hungani Ndlovu 17:22
Don’t jiki-jiki on the 19th, please give me money.
Stephanie Ndlovu 17:27
Even though he does give me money sometimes, because sometimes you get, like, sporadic, just like something that we're doing. And then we'll get money that we didn't plan to have and he'll share with me or I'll share with him. But I think it's never like a secret.
John Manyike 17:40
I know some couples fight over the two cars. The one car always doesn't have fuel, and the other one wakes up and takes the other one that always has.
Hungani Ndlovu 17:50
No, both cars have fuel, both cars are running, both cars are...
Stephanie Ndlovu 17:55
But I am the one that might sometimes let the car run to the end...
Hungani Ndlovu 17:59
She knows, you see, when it says it's reserve, reserve, she'll tell you, I know my car.
Stephanie Ndlovu 18:05
I know my car. I know how far it's going to take me. And he doesn't like that.
John Manyike 18:09
So, what tops your list of non-essential items in your discretionary budget?
Hungani Ndlovu 18:13
See, me, I don't spend in this area too much. So, I don't know.
Stephanie Ndlovu 18:18
What do you mean you don't know?
Hungani Ndlovu 18:19
Like the non-discretionary budget. I don't spend much in that area. Like, if I have extra money, I'm probably gonna buy a piece of equipment. And then she'll find out, like three months later that, “Oh, he bought a new lens.” Where did this camera lens come from?
Stephanie Ndlovu 18:34
You see, essential is also relative because in my humble opinion, I'll be like, that piece of equipment was not an essential right now, in his opinion, he'll be like, it was essential.
Hungani Ndlovu 18:45
It’s very. It’s huge. I mean look at our content.
John Manyike 18:48
This is not essential.
Hungani Ndlovu 19:05
Look at these lights essential. Look at how we're glowing.
Stephanie Ndlovu 18:57
Probably, I think in mine would be like beauty stuff, like getting my hair done or my nails or, you know…
Hungani Ndlovu 19:05
But that's also essential.
Stephanie Ndlovu 19:07
But they're not essential. But they are important to me. Essential is like, we can't, like, it's an essential and essential like groceries.
Hungani Ndlovu 19:14
No, I get that aspect. But there's also, like, the work that you do requires you to be in front of screen. Like, it's essential for you to look representable.
Stephanie Ndlovu 19:24
That's true. But within limitations, you can argue that, okay, go for your facial and take care of yourself is an essential thing. But I know that sometimes when I do a Dischem run, I'm like, I have enough makeup, but I'm going to get more hair products and I'm going to get more makeup. And they're not essentials because I know I have and I know that I don't need to get more, but also I like them. And now there's a special run in here. So like that kind of ways. Like, yeah, do your nails and do those kinds of things. But, you know, you don't have to have coffin nails. You can just put gel because the other ones-
John Manyike 19:56
He doesn’t have the details, so he wouldn't know which one is expensive.
Hungani Ndlovu 20:01
I know them. But she doesn't like those things anyway. Yeah, she doesn't like them.
John Manyike 20:05
Okay. How do you go about setting boundaries, you know, when it comes to finances, these are the ground rules.
Hungani Ndlovu 20:11
I think what we've managed to do is make sure that the things that need to be taken care of are taken care of first. And once that's done, regardless of how we navigate it. So, for example, if I'm the one gigging nd she's not really gigging that much, then it's like, “Cool, we'll subsidize income so that whoever's not gigging the most is not paying what they used to be paying, so that they still have enough at the end of dealing with all of the necessary stuff.” But then when the roles reverse, then it changes again. So, I think for us, it's like, what's our main priority? Hence the joint account. So because we have the joint account, we're able to then say, cool, this month you'll do 35. Because I only got paid 10, I can't be doing my 35. You know, so things like that. So, for us, that's pretty much, I think, how we set our boundaries in the sense that the boundary is, let everything that needs to be taken care of, be taken care of, then we'll see to finish.
Stephanie Ndlovu 21:09
And also, fairness. Being, both of us being, you know, freelancers, both of us having a fluctuating income, like he's saying, you gotta be fair. You can't say, okay, we've decided, in this household, R25,000 comes from you. R25,000 comes from me. If I don't make R25,000 that month, how are you holding me to R25,000 ? If you've made more that month, then your responsibilities so much, like, somewhat increased that month, you know, that's the fair thing to do. When I fell pregnant and I took some time off work altogether, I can't be held. Now, where I'm not, like, where am I getting that money from? So, yeah, I think just be fair in your understanding of how your finances are working.
John Manyike 21:51
You know, one of the challenges that a lot of couples grapple with when it comes to family members, particularly the financial requests from family members, how do you handle those boundaries between yourselves as a couple?
Hungani Ndlovu 22:07
It's better now.
John Manyike 22:09
It's better now.
Hungani Ndlovu 22:09
It's better now. Like we mentioned earlier on, she had a very open hand, you know, but, like, they ask R150, R100, you know, very, very seasonal. You know, after some time, it accumulates, you know, it's no longer R150. Now it's like 2.5. Because you've been giving so many times. For me personally, I say no, because money has this thing it can tear relationships apart. So I've tried the whole lending, borrowing thing. Even if it's a small amount or you even try to say, no, I'll give it to you, you know, no, it's just 150. You don't have to pay it back. But the person insists that they're going to pay you back, and then now they're not paying you back. Now, there's a problem because they insisted. So, for me, I've completely written off helping unless it's really someone that I trust and someone that I know will definitely bring it back. But as for…
Stephanie Ndlovu 23:02
But also remember we were saying earlier, you have your independent accounts as well. So when it comes to, like, family and stuff like that, sometimes there's a genuine need, and we will have a discussion about it and we will help out a family member. So then we'll have, you know, a talk about that. But then also there's family members whereby, yeah, they do ask, like, and it will come from my personal account, maybe like R100, R150. I don't go to Hungani with every single one of those conversations, and he doesn't come to me with every one of those conversations you know, he'll use his discretion and take from his own independent account if he wants to, you know, give someone R200, and I do the same thing, and that's perfectly fine. It's not as though we are policing every single R1, because you have to have independence within your marriage, otherwise you'll struggle. If you have to account for every single R1 that you spend, it will become so tedious and you will not have any freedom within your marriage. So, like Hungani is saying, take care of the big stuff, have your independent accounts, and then, you know, do so if you feel like you want to give R500 from your independent account, it's your business. You do that.
John Manyike 24:08
Do you ever talk about your retirement goals?
Hungani Ndlovu 24:12
That's definitely a big conversation for us because the goal is not to die on stage. We both have retirement annuities. We have policies in place for such a time, even disability policies. So we've definitely taken care of those aspects and they can always improve. I mean you reevaluate after some time and see where you can make adjustments and so forth. But, yeah, we plan to not do this forever. Even hence having a company that we have the Ndlovu’s Uncut productions to be able to then afford other people the opportunity to be in front of the camera, where else we're just for example executive producers of a film, a TV show or whatever it might be. So for us, the longevity of us being in the industry is not for us to be constantly working every single time. Because, yes, no work, no pay, but there's other ways to make ends meet or to even get an income without having to be the one constantly, every single time. I mean, I get so sad when I go to auditions and I see old mothers and it's like, man, like, at your ripe age of 60, whatever, you still need to come and sit in a line to audition for a role that's maybe going to give you R3.5K a day. And that for me, is like, it's not the best of ways, as much as, yes, we have the privilege of being able to act until, until. Because there's roles for everyone in terms of age groups, but there's also, like, you're tired.
Stephanie Ndlovu 25:43
But it should be something that's more of I want to do it, not I have to do it for survival.
John Manyike 25:49
What roles are non-negotiable?
Stephanie Ndlovu 25:52
Non-negotiable?
John Manyike 25:53
Yes. You know, I can do any other role in acting except this one now, what roles are non-negotiable for you guys? But at the same time, that you wouldn't do.
Hungani Ndlovu 26:04
Hey, man, I like to have my clothes on.
Stephanie Ndlovu 26:06
The thing with the creative space is like, there's ways to shoot around this, you know, and you can have cheats and you can have side angles and you maybe can show, like, you know, a bit of leg and you can show certain things and leave the rest of the imagination. But I'm not stripping down head to toe. That's just not gonna, that's not happening. So, yeah, basically, probably the same thing. We have this. That's the same kind of thing.
Hungani Ndlovu 26:28
18NS (Nudity & Sexuality), we don't do that.
Stephanie Ndlovu 26:31
No, no, that one's not doing.
John Manyike 26:32
I mean, principles are important and values. I mean, because you are a brand, so you can choose to take your brand in a particular direction. But coming back to the financial side of things, I mean, have you established a relationship with the finance professionals around estate planning for example. I mean, is it something you've thought about having a will? And what happens if anything happens? You know, life happens sometimes.
Stephanie Ndlovu 26:58
Then when you have a kid, you know, a lot of things change and you want to make sure that should anything happen to the both of us that in the least she's taken care of and that requires you to have the uncomfortable conversations, you know, about your estate planning and your will and all that kind of stuff. So, for both of us, we've definitely taken time out to educate ourselves and not rely and say, oh, we didn't know, you know, that thing of having that ignorance. There's so much information and accessible information for everybody you know. There's many misconceptions. Like, people think I don't make enough money, so therefore I can't have certain policies or I can't, you know, because I don't earn this, I can't have a will and all that kind of stuff. But there's many things that you can look into, and I think there's many platforms where you can get information about future financial planning and so forth. And so I think I'm grateful that we took time out to have those conversations, especially because we have a daughter. And that, for me, is extremely important when kids come in, it's like I would never want her to sort of suffer because we didn't do our bit to plan what her future might look like with or without us around.
John Manyike 28:08
I'm inspired by you guys. I mean, young as you are, I mean, how you've been able to incorporate the financial planning, you know, and planning for the future. I mean, when you mentioned disability, I mean, these are some of the things people underestimate because you think because you can act. What if you're involved in an accident for? Yeah, or maybe you have something happens that you are not able to apply your trade, you know, so that's where the disability comes in. And then what about a life cover? I mean, how do you approach that?
Hungani Ndlovu 28:36
I mean, I think it's in the same aspect, but also then looking at the broader picture of what life looks like, you know, what things still need to be paid off. So should one go, how would you want those things to be handled so that it doesn't then become a burden on the people who are left behind? Looking at all of the different aspects of life cover, disability funds, retirement annuity and dreaded disease. Like, there's so many different things that we've looked into. And that was purely because of what if you know. And I think sometimes people don't go into these, these roots because of not wanting to make the sacrifice. Because it's like, oh, on a monthly now I'm letting go of ‘X’ amount. But actually, you're investing into a future that you have no control over, you know. So thinking of the disability one, for me, it wasn't even from an acting perspective. I'm a dancer. And I've had serious injuries before on my knees that affected and my waist was still intact, right.
John Manyike 29:35
You know, I'm sure she had no complaints, you know.
Hungani Ndlovu 29:38
But should anything happen, then at least, you know, cool, I'm covered, you know. So I think, yeah, for us, it was looking at things holistically, but also we had the blessing of having family members who are within the world of finance and wealth management, who were able to give us even more information than what we were able to find ourselves.
Stephanie Ndlovu 29:56
And in acting, there's no company benefits, there's no UIF, there's no IA, there's no medical aid contribution, there's none of that. You have to do that all by yourself, you know? And so sometimes when you're an actor and you know you're earning a certain amount or you're getting lump sums, like, you have to have foresight and you have to be like, okay, what is my salary? And if I'm being paid more than my monthly salary, then how am I able to put some money away, you know, for a rainy day or for when I'm not working, and then make sure that my policies are being paid.
John Manyike 30:28
Okay. Let me test your knowledge. What is your understanding about the difference between a life cover and a funeral cover?
Hungani Ndlovu 30:37
The funeral covers for the funeral proceedings. The life cover is for…
Stephanie Ndlovu 30:42
It's for after, for whoever you're leaving behind, you know, and also for, like, with your life cover, you want to make sure, like he was saying earlier, whatever debt, you don't want anyone to inherit your debt, especially your children. And, for example, when you're looking at even your will, you know, you want to make provision for the execution of that will because it costs money to get a lawyer to put these things through and stuff like that. So you want to make sure that that's also seen to.
Hungani Ndlovu 31:11
So, wait, so are we right?
John Manyike 31:12
You know, it's spot on, 10/10.
Hungani Ndlovu 31:14
You must give us an award.
John Manyike 31:17
So far. What is the worst financial decision you've ever made?
Stephanie Ndlovu 31:21
That car.
Hungani Ndlovu 31:21
Which car? The Mini? Oh, actually, that was. I got a Mini Cooper. I just got in my first TV break. You know, now I'm going to interviews, I'm going to events. You know, I'm the new kid on the block. And I was driving a smallish nyana car. And then I want a Mini Cooper, a black one, black rims. I didn't even know really, like, about interest and balloon payments and all of these things. I just went in, I said, if I can just pay R5.5K a month. So, obviously they're gonna cook the things to make sure, to make sure that I pay that amount. So, I think that was my worst financial decision because it came to bite me later on when I wanted to get rid of the car. It wasn't something that needed to have happened. The car that I had before was also a new car. It was just a small nyana car. So, it was just out of excitement, you know, new money tendencies, that's what it was.
John Manyike 32:25
And Steph?
Stephanie Ndlovu 32:26
For me, I think it was moving out of home for the first time. It wasn't about the moving out of home. It's where I decided to move to, considering my salary. Me, I decided I won't name the area, but I decided to move to-
John Manyike 32:42
No, you can name it. You're not there anymore.
Hungani Ndlovu 32:43
She moved to Dainfern.
Stephanie Ndlovu 32:44
I moved to Dainfern. Guys, I didn't have Dainfern money. I’ll be very honest, I did not have Dainfern money. Moreover, it was a bad financial decision because I had saved quite a bit of money. So, I had then decided that I'm paying my rent six months in advance. You know, I had this beautiful new development apartment, and it was so far from work, so it didn't make sense travel wise, because now my petrol costs increased.
John Manyike 33:15
Were you renting it?
Stephanie Ndlovu 33:15
I was renting it. So, my travel costs increased. My petrol increased. I'm also staying in Dainfern, which traffic is just terrible. The wise thing would have been to at least move closer to work so that you can save on your petrol costs and also move into a place that's not necessarily a place that fits your budget. Why I decided to move to Dainfern is beyond me. But it was the worst decision. It lasted six months.
John Manyike 33:40
You know what I love about you is honesty. Trust me, you are helping a lot of people out there. Because people think we live perfect lives, we are not prone to make mistakes, and that we don't learn from these mistakes. I mean, moving into an era that you just love the place, but you can afford the place. Buying a car when it's not the time to be buying a new car could have these consequences later on. Okay. Let's look at the best decision you've ever made, financial decision you've ever made.
Hungani Ndlovu 34:06
I think the best one would be one that we've spoken about before, which is having a small, intimate wedding. That really set us up for greater things.
John Manyike 34:19
So, how many guests you had in your wedding?
Hungani Ndlovu 34:20
Take a guess.
Stephanie Ndlovu 34:23
So, the first one was…
Hungani Ndlovu 34:23
350.
Stephanie Ndlovu 34:25
That was the guest list. That was the first one when we were going to spend lots of money.
Hungani Ndlovu 34:25
So from that, how many do you think we ended up with?
John Manyike 34:32
20.
Stephanie Ndlovu 34:33
No, 60.
Hungani Ndlovu 34:34
59, including us.
John Manyike 34:37
Okay.
Hungani Ndlovu 34:37
Including the videographers, including the DJ, everyone, including the MC
Stephanie Ndlovu 34:40
59, all of them.
Hungani Ndlovu 34:40
Yeah, 59. So that, for us, really saved us a lot of money. We were able to have a really nice honeymoon. We're able to come back and purchase a home. Like, it really, really set us up. And even just purchasing the home that we managed to purchase, that wasn't something we had foresight towards. So. had that opportunity still shown itself to us after having had a 350 plus wedding, we wouldn't have even had the money to be able to purchase that home, which was literally, like, the most ideal thing that could have happened.
John Manyike 35:15
I once heard of true story, a couple that spent 1.2 million on their wedding, six months down the line, they divorced.
Stephanie Ndlovu 35:24
The thing with the wedding and a lot of those things is nobody's saying, look, if you want to go grand and spend 1.5 or 2 million on any celebration, and it's not going to impact your life after the celebration financially, by all means, go for it. If that is, like, small change to you, if that's a drop in the ocean, I'm not. I understand people out there are wealthy. Like, people are wealthy guys you. Our people are wealthy. And I see it when we travel people have money. And so if you have money to spend, but you still have the financial literacy to know where the boundaries are. What I'm not in agreement with is stretching yourself and spending money that you could be utilizing differently. Because what is the point of having a wedding for R200, R300, or R350,000. But when you come back, there's not even food in the fridge. There's not even.
Hungani Ndlovu 36:13
And now you have a loan that you must pay.
Stephanie Ndlovu 36:14
And now you have a loan you must pay off. You're already married. The wedding day is done. You're still paying the loan off. And most of the time, that is done because of pressure from family, because of, like, you know, all cultural this and this. There's different ways that you can still honor your culture. And what we're not about is putting ourselves in a situation so that people can say this, that and that, because people are always gonna have anything negative to say regardless of what you do. So now why are you going to change? Why are you gonna, you know, put yourself in a position?
Hungani Ndlovu 36:44
You have the cheap chandelier. They say look at how cheap it is. Then you have the expensive chandelier, they are wasting money on this.
Stephanie Ndlovu 36:51
So, they're always going to say something. So, you might as well just do what's best for your family.
John Manyike 36:55
You never satisfy everyone. I mean, imagine after having such a big, expensive wedding, but toothpaste is finished.
Stephanie Ndlovu 37:03
You're always squeezing. You're living. No, that doesn't make any sense. And I would say on that, on the wedding one, which is a big thing together, I'd say one of my best decisions was probably then purchasing an apartment as opposed to renting. Now has been rented out and serves as another form of income in our budget right now.
John Manyike 37:24
Last question. If you were to give advise or tips to young couple planning to get married. What would you say they should consider before they say, I do.
Stephanie Ndlovu 37:39
Three things to consider or have a conversation at least about faith, finances and family.
John Manyike 37:46
Say that again.
Stephanie Ndlovu 37:48
Those three. Faith, what do we believe in here? And like, are we aligned? And if we're not aligned, can we respect each other? So, just have the faith conversation. What's our belief system? Finances, everything we've spoken about here. What are your spending habits? How do you spend money? How do you view money? What is your future plans for money? What kind of life do you want to live? What kind of life? Finances, debt. Do you have debt? Family, what is the family dynamic? Black tax, financial responsibilities, financial expectations. How many kids do you want? What kind of schooling do you want the kids to have? What kind of life do you want the kids to have? You know? And then also family involvement in your marriage. Do you know what I mean? Like, are we just giving to your family every single month out of our budget, even if it affects us? Like, everything fits into those three categories, faith, finances, and family.
John Manyike 38:40
I love it. I love it. Like, faith, finance, and family. I love it.
Hungani Ndlovu 38:43
They encompass every single thing. And once you start going into them, you find more things come out if you're willing to be open, honest, and transparent.
John Manyike 38:53
I think you guys can write a book on this thing.
Hungani Ndlovu 38:57
Give us ten years.
Stephanie Ndlovu 38:59
Yes.
John Manyike 39:00
Anyway, thank you so much. Thank you to the Ndlovu family. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. I'm sure a lot of us have learned from what you shared with us today. Thank you very much.
Hungani Ndlovu 39:12
Thank you.
Stephanie Ndlovu 39:13
Thank you.
Hungani Ndlovu 39:14
This is the Hungani’s signing out.
John Manyike 39:18
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Old Mutual 39:23
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