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, there are few greater enablers than a Side Hustle. So in today’s post, we’re going to explore the rea...
May 23, 2018•11 min•Ep. 46
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 before you take the big step. If making big changes in your life were easy, you’d have already done ...
May 16, 2018•10 min•Ep. 45
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 War 2. So we’re in an incredibly privileged time, where a return flight to one of our Asian neighbou...
May 09, 2018•9 min•Ep. 44
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 a bit of a nerdy self-indulgence, but I hope you’ll enjoy it. For those fellow Settlers of Catan lo...
May 02, 2018•10 min•Ep. 43
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. So given these options are popping up like mushrooms in a wet cow paddock, what do they mean, what’...
Apr 25, 2018•11 min•Ep. 42
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 this interview we cover: Her blogging journey from a hobby to a full time blogging business How she w...
Apr 18, 2018•28 min•Ep. 41
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 the subject of restructures and redundancies. They are pyramids, with fewer and fewer roles the closer...
Apr 11, 2018•12 min•Ep. 40
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 your Financial Autonomy goals is, what are the common strategy options that you could use to make progr...
Apr 04, 2018•13 min•Ep. 39
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 rule of thumb guide here is 4%, and that’s certainly a useful starting point. The answer for you tho...
Mar 28, 2018•9 min•Ep. 38
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 interview we cover: Why they started The Whole Circle podcast and how they now repurpose the content into th...
Mar 21, 2018•48 min•Ep. 37
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 post is for you. I haven’t gone into a tonne of detail on any of these 6 ideas, because to my mind,...
Mar 14, 2018•11 min•Ep. 36
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 adult Australian population holds no investments outside of their superannuation. Click here to downlo...
Mar 07, 2018•16 min•Ep. 35
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 your money if you don't have an estate plan Why you need consider having a Power of Attorney no matter...
Feb 28, 2018•32 min•Ep. 34
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 million dollars, saving a deposit of that size can be really challenging, especially if you have rent to pa...
Feb 21, 2018•15 min•Ep. 33
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 media has evolved the industry The skills and attributes to be a successful network marketer The ease...
Feb 14, 2018•27 min•Ep. 32
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 are several foundational elements that you need to decide upon. Perhaps the most fundamental of these...
Feb 07, 2018•12 min•Ep. 31
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 40s, 50s & 60s . In this episode we cover: Why Joanna has had a such a varied career How her love o...
Jan 31, 2018•33 min•Ep. 30
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, diversification pays. Download the cheat sheet here In past Financial Autonomy episodes we’ve looked at investin...
Jan 23, 2018•13 min•Ep. 29
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 able to quit his job to travel the world and network with other successful Amazon sellers from arou...
Jan 16, 2018•34 min•Ep. 28
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. Perhaps you already have this, but if not, you want to build this up. Everyone’s needs are differen...
Jan 09, 2018•17 min•Ep. 27
Following on from Episode 23 on Multi-Phase solutions for Retirement we are joined today by Shaun Farrugia from Optimised Accounting & Finance to talk all things Trusts. Check out our free download Multi-Phase solution for Early Retirement In this episode we cover: The dummies guide to what exactly a Trust is How it can work as a funnel and the tax flexibility that it allows The two types of people that generally use Trust structures What are franking credits Three case studies of how Shaun ...
Jan 02, 2018•28 min•Ep. 26
Way back in 1996 I bought my first home. It was a two bedroom flat in a very ugly brown brick building, probably built in the 70’s with nothing done since. It wasn’t flash but it was within my budget and in a good location close to town – Kew for the Melbournites. I paid $107,000. Now I know that for those looking to buy their first home, $107,000 is probably pretty sickening right now, but 20 odd years ago that was the going rate. 4 years later and I’d meet my now wife, and it was time to move ...
Dec 26, 2017•13 min•Ep. 25
In this episode we are joined by ICT professional and cryptocurrency expert Ivan Jasenovic, who describes himself as having his head in the cloud, his soul on the Blockchain, and his heart in decentralized Healthcare. In this interview we cover: The benefits of Blockchain technology and whether you truly need to understand how Blockchains The different types of cryptocurrency and examples of when you would look to use each one How bitcoin works and has the same value per unit no matter where you...
Dec 19, 2017•48 min•Ep. 24
The goal of early retirement is one many Australians aspire too. And certainly, when thinking about achieving Financial Autonomy, retiring early is very often baked into those goals. But what is the best way to bring that goal to reality, given the uniqueness of our system – superannuation, franking credits, negative gearing, and means tested Aged Pensions, just to get you started. The approach I’m going to take you through today is a multi-phase approach that I’ve built specifically for the Aus...
Dec 12, 2017•16 min•Ep. 23
In this next interview episode on the Financial Autonomy Podcast we chat to Ruby Lee the founder of The Careers Emporium and head of HR at Cogent. In this interview we cover: The benefits of a side hustle in achieving your financial goals The 18 month journey Ruby when through when changing careers Identifying your strengths and knowing when the time is right for a career change How daily journaling helped Ruby gain clarity when dealing with financial and career issues How she turned a new blog ...
Dec 05, 2017•50 min•Ep. 22
What do Apple, Nike, Under Armour, Instagram, and Groupon all have in common? It’s not just that they’re hugely successful, multibillion dollar companies. They also share a common birth – they all started life as side projects of their founders. I’ve been reading Nike founder Phil Knight’s autobiography Shoe Dog recently, and I highly recommend it – very readable and interesting. He was working as an accountant at Price Waterhouse whilst establishing what we now know as Nike, and when he needed ...
Nov 28, 2017•15 min•Ep. 21
In my next interview episode on the Financial Autonomy Podcast we chat to Adam Murray from the Subtle Disruptors Podcast. In this interview we cover: How a difficult personal time highlighted the need for Adam to take some leave from his career and reevaluate his life How the Good Life Project gave him a framework to take a gap year How identifying four key priorities during that gap year has now impacted his life The power of being present in the moment The focus on his health and how it impact...
Nov 21, 2017•38 min•Ep. 20
There’s a template that all Australian’s are meant to follow. Study, enter the workforce, buy a house, raise kids, pay off a mortgage, retire. It’s served us pretty well for the past 100 years or so, so you know the saying about if it ain’t broke… But for an increasing number of Australian’s this model is broken. The original spark that started me on this Financial Autonomy journey was the realisation that the path from studying until around your early 20’s, then working in paid employment for t...
Nov 14, 2017•17 min•Ep. 19
In our first interview episode on the Financial Autonomy Podcast with talk with Felicity Loughrey. She shares her career transition journey from journalism to advertising that spanned across two continents. In this interview we cover: How this Australian freelance journalist ended up working in New York Why she finds Americans are good to work with How she handled the transition away from the dying industry of journalism into writing advertising copy The interesting journey of getting better at ...
Nov 07, 2017•34 min•Ep. 18
How hard is it to get started? I’m sure we’ve all had things that either need to be done, or that we’d like to do, but we put them off – shift them to the bottom of the pile or check out our Facebook feed instead. Procrastination is evil, and it afflicts us all at some point or another. When it comes to Financial Autonomy dreams, I think procrastination is quite possibly the number 1 impediment to you moving forward. So with this in mind, I’ve done some research on strategies to overcome procras...
Oct 31, 2017•20 min•Ep. 17
