Empowering the Next Generation: How Mandy Money’s ‘Real Life’ Program is Building Financial Confidence.

When Barbara van der Merwe founded Mandy Money, she did so with a simple but powerful realisation: financial wellbeing was still a distant goal for too many young Australians.

Understanding money — how to earn it, manage it, and grow it — often felt out of reach, buried under complicated jargon and inaccessible advice.

Thanks to a 2024 Future2 Foundation grant — proudly nominated by Rob Pizzichetta of Mont Wealth and supported by Tangelo Advice Consulting — that vision is now a reality through Real Life, an innovative new education program designed for 15–25-year-olds.

Real Life delivers practical, just-in-time financial education through bite-sized, engaging digital modules that help young people navigate major milestones, from buying their first car and moving out of home to filing a tax return.

More than a program, Real Life is closing the gap between financial confusion and financial confidence, one real-world decision at a time. It meets young people where they are and shows them the path to security.