Financial Autonomy

Episode 51 – Can you pass the financial literacy test Want to minimise the chance of living off nothing but a meagre age pension in later life?   There's a great proverb that I heard many years ago and have never forgotten "a fool and his money are easily separated". So how do you ensure you're not the fool? The solution is to have at least a basic understanding of the financial world. We call thi...

Episode 50 – Mini Retirements, 3 day work week, self employment and more - Stuart Barry's Financial Autonomy success Today in the episode, we talk to Stuart Barry about his life story, his love for travel, his published book, his business and how he values his time. In this interview we cover: Stuart's 35-year career journey in the finance industry How he started his current career as a financial...

Episode 49 – Bike paths, Bitcoin, and Risk Budgets I go for a bike ride most Sundays. Wherever I can, I ride on a bike path. Often there is a road running parallel to the bike path. Very often, cyclists are on the road when they could just as easily be on the bike path. Now I understand why they do this. It's because you can go faster on the road than on the bike path. But the thing for me is, you...

Episode 48 – the 10 worst things you can do to prepare for retiring early So your financial autonomy goal is to retire early. For some that might mean retiring at age 35 and for others age 58. Often, especially for those looking to retire at the younger end of the spectrum, it will mean ceasing their current role, but still engaging in some income producing activities. So retiring early looks diff...

In this episode, we interview Sean Callanan, a podcasting guru, and owner of Sports Geek . After 15 years of working for IT, Sean started his company, Sports Geek, out of his passion for sports and his expertise for technology in 2009. He eventually started his own podcast in 2014 under the same brand. In this interview we cover: Background on Sports Geek and the podcast The start of Sports Geek T...

 Whether it's a stall at a local market selling hand knitted beanies for dogs, running an online store via Amazon selling rainbow coloured shoelaces, or designing the occasional band logo on 99 designs, I believe EVERYONE should have a Side Hustle. We're here after all to find ways for you to gain choice in your life – that's what Financial Autonomy is all about. And if it's choice that you want,...

Financial Autonomy is all about gaining choice, and very often, attainment of that choice goal results in a career or life change. In past posts we've explored numerous ways that you might be able to get yourself into a position to gain the choices that you deserve. In today's post I thought it might be worthwhile stepping through a brief checklist of the things you'd want to plan for immediately...

What a wonderful era that we live in where holidays and travel are a regular feature in our lives. I don't imagine that through the bulk of human history there was enough surplus of time, food, and resources to allow you to just take time off to explore the world or relax, unless you were super rich. Even as recently as my grandparent's era the only international travel done was to fight in World...

As a kid, family holidays meant board and card games. Canasta was very popular, as was Monopoly, Cluedo, Squatter, and various other games. As an adult my love of games has continued and fortunately I've been able to convince my home tribe to join me (and usually crush me). Of the various games that we play, Settlers of Catan has to be my favourite, and I know I'm not alone. So today's episode, is...

On the off-chance that you're one of the few people who read the information sent out by their superannuation fund, you might have noticed that in recent years they've added an Ethical Investment option. Now the exact labelling of that option will vary – it might be called Socially Responsible, Sustainable, or just Responsible, all of which are interchangeable terms for ethical investment options....

Today I am joined by Sharon Gourlay from Digital Nomad Wannabe about how to gain financial independence through Blogging. Sharon Gourlay is passionate about working online and helping others to follow in her footsteps. She left Australia with her young family at the end of 2014 determined to grow an online business. She succeeded and now supports her family of 5 to live their dream lifestyle. In t...

Are you tired of the insecurity that comes from constant corporate restructures and the politics of a large work place?  Way back in episode 11, I explored the Security Illusion . This looked at the idea that most of us are brainwashed into believing that financial security comes from working for a large corporate, or perhaps even a government body. In reality, these organisations are constantly t...

Regular listeners and readers know by now that Financial Autonomy is about gaining choice. Maybe that choice is retiring early (eg. the FIRE goal that's popular in the US), but it could just as easily be the choice to work in a different career, start your own business, work fewer hours or days, or the choice to take a job closer to home, even though that means taking a paying cut. So whatever you...

Whether you're planning for a traditional retirement at age 60+, or working towards an early retirement goal, thoughts of "will my money run out?" will no doubt have crossed your mind. There is a lot written about safe withdrawal rates. This refers to the rate you can afford to draw down on your savings, so that there's no risk of your savings being depleted during your life time. The most common...

Today we have two interviews for the price-of-1 with sisters Tracey and Joanne from Sistermixin .  Their online business is about educating everyone (especially their own families) on exactly what they are eating, what is in your food and some of the harmful effects this can have on your health. And they have become sought after thought-leaders in living an additive-free lifestyle.   In this inter...

The goal for many in the Financial Autonomy community is to retire early. Early retirement means different things to different people, but as I always talk about, Financial Autonomy is about gaining choice. So whether you're early retirement consists of lying on the beach in Fiji at age 40, or traveling around Australia with your caravan when you're 55 and picking up odd jobs as they crop up, this...

Research from the Australian Stock Exchange found that in 2014, 36% of adult Australians owned investments listed on the share market. Combined results from RP Data and Census data found 7.9% of the Australian population own an investment property. Now there would be some cross-over here with people holding both shares and investment property, but we can safely conclude that at least 55% of the ad...

Today we chat with Co-founder and consultant with Tara Lucke from View Legal about the importance of Estate planning. Though it is not something we like to talk about, it is so important for protecting your assets and loved ones, no matter what stage of life you are at. In this interview we cover: Making sure your hard earned money goes to the right place with a good estate plan What happens to yo...

We all know that property prices in Australia have gone stupid in recent years.  One significant consequence of that has been that first home buyers have found it increasingly difficult to enter the property market.  Banks like to see at least a 10% deposit, and in the ideal world you'd have a 20% deposit to avoid mortgage insurance costs.  But when a first home can often cost north of half a mill...

Networking marketing has changed since the days of Tupperware and Amway.  Today I am joined by Lloyd Ross who talks through how our online behaviours and advances in technology have revolutionised the world of network marketing, making it an easier side hustle than ever before.  In this episode we cover: What network marketing is and why you need to consider this as a viable side hustle How social...

The goal when working towards Financial Autonomy is to gain choice.  Choice in how you support yourself and perhaps your family financially, be that the type of work you do, the hours you spend doing that work, or whether you earn that income as an employee, or as a self-employed person. In developing an actionable plan to get you from where you are now, to your Financial Autonomy position, there...

In this episode, I talk to Joanna Maxwell all about career change.  Joanna has worked in a wide variety of jobs throughout her career and she helps a lot of other people change careers as well. She's now taken all that experience and recently gained a position with the Australian Human Rights Commission in the Age Discrimination Team. Joanna is the author of the book  Rethink Your Career in your 4...

Right now you're listening to this podcast, or reading the blog article. Why? You're curious, and have a thirst for knowledge.  You want to learn new things.  You want to improve yourself. We usually think of investment as being a financial thing.  But investing in yourself - your skills, knowledge, and health, can be just as important and impactful.  And just like a financial investment, diversif...

With Amazon now in Australia, we talk to John Candivish from FBA Frontiers on how to make a side hustle by becoming an Amazon seller. Before starting his Amazon Europe journey, John had zero experience with running an online business. After university, he joined the corporate world in London but rapidly realized that it was not for him. After launching his first Amazon brand in 2014, John was soon...

In the interview I did with Adam Murray in episode 20 , he spoke about how he reduced his expenses in a significant way when he worked through his employment transition and gap year.  And you might recall, he found living on less made him more happy, not less. Another key element in your financial independence plan is to have a financial buffer, an emergency fund, to get you through the unexpected...