Financial Autonomy

You don't want to get swept up in the AI hype. But you don't want to look back in ten years and realise you dismissed something enormous, either.   So when you hear predictions about robot workers, driverless cities and data centres in space, should you be excited, sceptical or a little of both?   After hearing from Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, Nick and Paul unpack the bold predictions in A...

You've worked out how much passive income you need to stop working. Now you just need to build a portfolio big enough to deliver it. And honestly? That could take years. But what if you're setting the bar higher than it needs to be? The idea of living off your investments without ever touching the capital feels reassuring. You want freedom, but you also want to know your money will last. Could tha...

UPDATED: This episode was originally published with the wrong episode audio; it has been republished with the correct audio. Thanks for your patience! You've spent decades working hard, saving and investing to build your wealth. But have you given as much thought to what you actually want to do with it?   For many Australians approaching retirement, the focus is on having enough money to live comf...

You've worked hard, built up your savings and investments, and spent years making sensible financial decisions. But when was the last time you gave yourself permission to actually enjoy the money you've earned? It's easy to tell yourself you'll take that big holiday, make that purchase or finally start doing the things you've dreamed about once you retire. But what if waiting comes at a cost you h...

You're earning good money, paying down your mortgage and doing all the right things. But are you missing an opportunity to build wealth along the way?   And what if you didn't have to choose between paying off your home loan and growing your investments?   In this episode, Nick Donato is joined by mortgage broker Aiden Goolman to explore debt recycling, a strategy that could help you make better u...

You've spent decades building your super and retirement is finally within reach. But what if the sharemarket crashes just as you're preparing to stop work? Could you still retire as planned? Would you need to scale back your lifestyle? And could a few bad years in the market affect how long your money lasts? In this episode, Paul Benson explores a retirement risk many people overlook. He reveals w...

You want to retire while you're young enough to enjoy it, with enough money to say yes to the trips, the experiences and more time with the people you love. But how do you feel confident spending your savings when you don't know how long they need to last?   As retirement gets closer, it's easy to focus on a date and a target super balance. Whether those savings will support the life you want deca...

You'd love to work less. The house needs renovating. You want to help the kids, take that family holiday and still have enough to retire comfortably. Every goal has a good argument behind it. But when they're all competing for the same money, how do you choose without feeling you're giving up something important? In this episode, Paul shares a practical exercise he uses with clients to help them w...

Active fund managers have teams of analysts researching companies, watching markets and deciding exactly what their funds should buy and sell.   If anyone should be able to beat the market, surely it is them.   Yet over 15 years, 89% of active Australian share funds failed to do it.   It is a result that challenges one of the most tempting ideas in investing: that more research, more activity and...

Would you recognise the better investment if it were right in front of you? Imagine you have $100,000 to invest for ten years. You're offered two hypothetical outcomes: a 50% return upfront, with no growth after that, or 8% a year for the full ten years. Which would you choose? And how much money could your choice leave on the table? You want your investments to give you more freedom and security....

If you have been waiting for mortgage rates to fall, wondering whether property prices can keep climbing or questioning whether shares still offer enough reward for the risk, there is one market worth watching.   And it is probably not the one you think.   While most investors are focused on the sharemarket , sharp moves in the bond market are changing the price of money around the world. What hap...

You have worked hard to build financial security, and now you are watching your adult children struggle with house prices, mortgages and the cost of raising a family. You could help them. The harder question is whether you should. Giving your children money now could help them buy a home years sooner, relieve some of the pressure they are under and allow you to see them enjoy their inheritance whi...

A well-structured mortgage can help you pay less interest, keep more  flexibility  and put you in a stronger position for whatever you want to do next.   That could mean upgrading your home, buying an investment property, freeing up more money to  invest  or putting your emergency fund to work. But with offset accounts, redraw facilities, fixed rates, variable  rates  and split loans all on the ta...

You can earn good money, pay the bills comfortably and still wonder whether you're making the most of it. When work and family take up most of your time, it's easy for financial decisions to happen in the background. Extra money sits in the offset, super ticks along and investing stays on the list of things you'll get to eventually. Meanwhile, some of your best earning years are passing by. In thi...

If you own an investment property, shares, a  business  or other assets with a decent capital gain sitting in them, the changes coming to Capital Gains Tax from 1 July 2027 are worth paying attention to.   Because once people hear the words tax change and deadline, the instinct is often to think they need to act before it is too late. Do you need to sell now? Bring your plan forward? Or is there s...

Could you afford to take six months off work? You might love the idea of stepping away from work for a while. Maybe you want to travel, study, Spend more time with family, or simply getting off the treadmill long enough to work out what you actually want next. Then the financial anxiety kicks in. What happens to the mortgage? How much cash would you need? Would you have to sell investments? What i...

Private equity used to sound like something reserved for investment bankers and the ultra-wealthy, but chances are, you may already be invested in it without even knowing.   So  what  actually is  private equity, why are large investors willing to lock money away in private businesses for years, and what are they hoping to get in return?   In this episode, Nick is joined by former investment banke...

  Do you keep smashing the mortgage, invest more, or start putting more into super?   Even if something was right for you 10 years ago, it might not be right today. When it comes to building wealth, your priorities need to change as your life does. What makes perfect sense in your 30s can start holding you back in your 40s. And by your 50s, the bigger question may no longer be how much you can acc...

What if an investment structure that has been easy to overlook for years is suddenly about to become much more attractive?   The  upcoming  changes to the way investments are taxed could shift the maths for anyone building wealth outside super.  So, c ould investment bonds now help you keep more of your returns compounding, reduce tax along the  way  and offer benefits that personal investing or a...

Paying off debt as fast as possible sounds like an obvious financial win. It can mean less interest, fewer repayments, and more money left for you.   But when you have a mortgage, investment debt, personal loans or money sitting in an offset, the smartest move is not always as simple as throwing every spare dollar at the balance.   Which debt should you tackle first? Is refinancing actually saving...

What if one of the biggest changes to how Australians invest is about to happen, and hardly anyone here is talking about it?   US  sharemarkets  are moving towards near-24-hour trading, which could make it much easier for Australians to invest directly in the world's biggest companies during our own business hours. For anyone who has built their portfolio through the ASX, that raises some uncomfor...

  Want to retire earlier, cut back your hours or reach the point where work becomes optional?   A lot of people in their 40s and 50s assume financial independence is still years away because they do not have millions sitting in an investment portfolio.   But that may be the wrong number to focus on.   If your super is on track to support you from 60, the real challenge may be much smaller: how do...

Australian investors have spent decades being told there are good reasons to keep  a big chunk  of their money at home.   We've  got franking credits, familiar companies, and the big banks and miners.   But what if that old investing playbook is starting to work against you?   Over the past decade, the gap between Australian and US  sharemarket  returns has been enormous. At the same time, some of...

Most investors worry about taking too much risk. But what if the bigger problem is that you are not taking enough? Choosing how much risk to take with your money can have a huge impact on what your investments are able to do for you. Get it wrong and you could either expose yourself to losses you are not prepared for, or spend years investing only to find you have made it much harder to reach the...

Buying property with family can seem like a smart way to help your kids, pool your  money  or make a deal possible that none of you could manage alone.   Until someone wants out.   But what happens if someone wants out, a relationship breaks down, or the family disagrees about who owns what?   In this episode, Nick and Paul unpack five real family property deals that ended in court. Each case reve...