Financial Autonomy

Most of us recognise that interest rates were unusually low for a time, to counter the economic effect of the COVID pandemic. We recognised that at some point they would return to normal. But what is normal, why are they going up now, and why has this got share and property markets so rattled? One word - inflation. Inflation is all over the news at the moment. In financial markets, inflation has b...

This week I chat with Matt from the Aussie Firebug blog and podcast. We talk about financial independence, travel, lifestyle planning, and retirement. Check out Matt's blog here:  Aussie Firebug | Financial Independence Retire Early   [Disclaimer]

Should I be putting my savings in an offset account, or paying it straight off the loan and accessing via a redraw if I need it? This is a question I get asked pretty regularly, so perhaps it's on your mind too.   [Disclaimer]

Today I chat with Sydney based mortgage broker and former financial planner Chris Bates about all things property and how we can maximise our wealth through investing in property. [Disclaimer] Wealthful

This week's episode arises from a question I received from Daniel around uneven super balances between him and his spouse. Now I don't know Daniel's full situation and a podcast isn't the place to provide detailed strategy recommendations, however, his question is an issue that many people face where one member of a couple has significantly more super than the other, so this week I thought we'd ex...

This week I chat with Money Coach Hannah Richards about what Money Coaches do and how they help people in achieving their money goals.   Hannah Rose Richards Money Coaching   [Disclaimer]

More Australians than ever have become investors as the combination of anemic interest rates on bank savings, and reduced spending during COVID-induced lockdowns have presented an unprecedented opportunity. But as we've seen in the past couple of months, investment markets don't always go up, prompting some new investors to question their approach.   [Disclaimer]

How do we juggle the desire to save for the future, with the need to live life to the fullest today? Is 6 months of backpacking around Europe in your 20's more valuable than being able to buy a beach house in your 50s? Is pushing hard on the mortgage today the wisest course, or would you be better off easing up a bit and spending a little more on the family holidays? This is the question we'll be...

This podcast is about gaining choice. Our guest today is a podcasting friend of mine who has gained choice through changing her career trajectory to get into an area of personal interest. Normally it's Nic doing the interviewing, so today we'll see how she goes in the role of podcast guest.   [Disclaimer]

There is always a degree of volatility on investment markets. But there are times when world events raise the level of worry and uncertainty, causing markets to seesaw, sometimes violently, from one day to the next. As investors, this sort of activity doesn't put us in our happy place. A slow and steady upward climb is what we'd all like to see. This week let's take a look at some investing fundam...

Nearly every client I work with who has children give some thought to how they might help them out in adulthood. For those with young or teenage children, the thoughts are often around assisting them into the property market via a lump sum gift to bolster their potential deposit. For clients whose children are beyond this milestone, considerations around early inheritances commonly crop up. Where...

In this week's episode, I break down how some of our clients have used the incredibly generous capital gains tax exemption for primary residences.   [Disclaimer]

One of the most common reasons clients engage us through the Financial Autonomy programme is a realisation that all their hard work is not translating into financial wealth and security. It generally seems to be that people in this predicament have put all their energy and focus into developing their careers and therefore just haven't had the headspace to focus on their personal finances. I guess...

This week I chat with Kerry Ware. Kerry and her husband Scott decided to separate when their boys were teenagers. They worked through an amicable separation of the family business and co-operated to ensure the boys lives suffered minimal disruption. Then tragically, Scott was killed in an accident. In this interview Kerry shares some of the challenges faced by women who find themselves single in m...

In this episode, I discuss how the investment world has become safer in our modern era.   [Disclaimer]

You're busy with your career and personal life. You don't need your wealth creation plan to suck up hours of each week. So how can you best put your earnings capacity to work to secure choices for you down the road, without the plan adding to your already full schedule? This week I'm sharing 7 ideas to help you build wealth efficiently.   [Disclaimer]

The entire Financial Autonomy framework was built by reverse engineering how my most successful clients achieved their success. In that vein, today I wanted to share with you two ways in which I've seen moderately wealthy people really take a step forward, with approaches that perhaps go against the conventional wisdom. Maybe you can't use them yourself right now, but an awareness of their applica...

This week I chat with Chris Panteli on his transition from fish and chip shop owner to blogger. Chris shares a tonne here on what he's learned, mistakes he's made, and blogging can make you money. Check out Chris's blog at  www.lifeupswing.com [Disclaimer]

The financial world is full of acronyms. In today's episode we're going to decipher as many of these as we can find. What's TLA you ask? It stands from Three Letter Acronym and came out of an inside joke in my CBA days (Commonwealth Bank of Australia) pointing t the fact that every major initiative had to be quickly abbreviated to a TLA, causing internal communications to resemble some weird coded...

This week I speak with Scott O'Neill, director from Rethink Investing, buyers agent for commercial property.   [Disclaimer]

When it comes to stock market investment, buying is easy, selling is hard. It's interesting how there's always so much talk about exciting new opportunities and yet rarely is the exit plan discussed. Well, let's address this common investment strategy oversight and help you decide when it's time to sell your shares.   [Disclaimer]

If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, and certainly if you've read my book, you'll be aware that we adhere to a framework in helping people gain choice. A core element of that framework is the three pathways. The entire Financial Autonomy framework, and in particular these three pathways, are the product of my 20 odd years as a practising financial planner. I've observed how hundre...

In this week's episode, Paul goes through the different asset classes and how they can be used to create an investment portfolio that is right for you.   [Disclaimer]

This week I chat with Deferit Co-founder Mat Blas. We discuss the start-up scene in Australia, and Mat's first-hand experience in getting a disruptive new business off the ground. www.deferit.com   [Disclaimer]

Receiving an inheritance can often come with plenty of baggage attached. The most obvious is that someone has had to die, usually someone very close to you, for you to be the beneficiary of this financial gift. But the challenges don't end there. Many of the clients I work with engage us following the receipt of an inheritance. We often have discussions around an awareness that a close relative wo...