Dedication
In my opinion, self-belief is the most important thing next to health and happiness in life. I continually have been blessed in life by having friends and family that maintain a belief in me. In July of 2000, I was fortunate enough to have a friend of mine recommend that I join him at a two-hour seminar on real estate investing, and it was there that I met a mortgage broker by the name of Craig Saunders.
Craig was in his mid 40s and seemed really relaxed about life. He gave me two days of his time after the seminar, not knowing who I was or what I was about. He took me in his car and drove me around the suburbs viewing his thirteen investment properties that he owned. He showed me what he had done and how he had made profits. He seemed passionate about teaching me what he had achieved and how he had gone about it. Since then, I have continually attended other seminars on a variety of topics including investing and personal development. As a result of taking the information, putting it into action and getting results I can now write this book with confidence.
What Craig did for me was probably no big deal to him at the time, but it was a big deal to me. He showed me a way that I could invest using simple techniques to create wealth, generate income and head towards early retirement. Gaining wealth meant a lot to me, as I was sick and tired of pushing trolleys in a supermarket. My financial position and my life is now way beyond my wildest dreams. So I just wanted to say thank you Craig – for teaching me what you knew, believing in my ability to be able to pick up the “investment” ball (and run with it), and making me feel good about myself. Your confidence in me has allowed me to begin to learn and grow rich.
Thanks Craig.
Acknowledgements
Everyone who writes a book could probably write an entire book on the people they would like to acknowledge for contributing to their lives. At the end of the day as Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones says, “We are like the people we hang around, plus or minus 10%.”
As a result of my associations with the people listed below, I am who I am – because of their positive influences and the changes that they have assisted me to make in my life.
I was presenting at a seminar in Queensland and I was fortunate enough to meet a couple by the name of Ian and Teresa King. After spending time with them and getting to know them, they offered to assist me in my personal development and really shift my thinking. They did just that and helped me to think big, really big! They have been great mentors and guided me along, I thank them dearly and value their friendship.
My family, Mum, Dad, Andrew, Harry and Bailey. Fred Macinerney, for introducing my family and me to water ski racing in 1991. The association with Fred and the sport has brought many great friendships to both my family and me.
Dolf de Roos, Robert Kiyosaki, Gordon Green and Janny Pilarski, Richard Branson, Anthony Robbins, John Fitzgerald, Jim Rohn, John Burley, Stuart Wilde and John McGrath, Robert G. Allen, Brad Sugars and Denis Waitley. Thanks for sharing your knowledge to me via books, tapes and seminars. Everything you have taught me does work, either when investing financially or in life.
Brett Sands (World Barefoot Water-ski Champion).
The Hon. John Olsen (former Premier of SA). For all of the barefoot water-skiing we have done together. It is good to have a friendship with someone like yourself who displays such great leadership characteristics.
All the people who I have had the pleasure of barefoot water-skiing and water-skiing with over the years, including Kerry Phillips, Barton Williams, Mark and Tracy Webb, Aaron Lawson, Craig Bewley, Shannon Novaski, Mike Adi and all the Lane Racing Teams, The South Australian Barefoot Club, and my family and the thousand others who know who they are.
Thank you to Mark Edwy Smith, Phillip Chamberlin and Loren Watts, for the opportunity to be involved in their business – your book of the month and tape of the week is where this all began. To this day I still listen to your tapes of the week, there are too many lessons to list, but I owe you guys a lot of beers one day.
John Pennay (former World #1 Barefoot Water-ski Champion), Shane Rowlands, Bearsy, Darryl and Kate Foster, Webby, Jason, Carrie and Nicole, Mark Leaney, Ben and John Fitzsimmons, Peter and Debra Noble, Dad, Andrew, Shaggy and Ali, Lawson, Bewley, Micksta, Brett, Jodie and Lachlan Fort, JB, Kerry Phillips and Ian and Teresa King for being there for me, trusting me with your investment decisions and for being true friends.
Foreword
I first met Martin in a café at 10 o’clock one night. I was on my way home from work in the cold and rain and remember thinking that all I wanted to do was go to bed. At the time I was cold, confused and depressed! I was renting a nice little house, had lots of toys that I had bought with my credit cards, and a car that I owed about $10,000 more on than what it was worth!
I was on what I thought was a good income, but most of it was going to pay for my debt and the lifestyle I thought I should have. At the end of the day, I had very little money for someone in my position.
At that stage, I was employed as an investment consultant for a major bank. Imagine how I felt each day, knowing that I was financially going backward but still having to sell myself to clients as a savvy investment advisor – just so they would buy an investment that may return a measly 5%! Something needed to change and it had to begin with ‘the man in the mirror’!
Martin contacted me through a mutual friend and suggested we should have a chat. That chat would become a life-changing event. What we discussed over the next few hours was a world that I thought was not achievable by someone like myself – a world that only the lucky or the rich played in. We talked about things such as the difference between good and bad debt, positive cash flow, generating income from the market with limited risk, and most importantly, how to make a greater contribution to family and friends.
Martin showed me not only how I could rescue myself from the mound of consumer debt I had created, but also how I could build an amount of wealth that hours before I thought was inconceivable.
The best part of Martin’s plan was that most of this could happen with less exertion from myself than most people put into their jobs! The key was my commitment to myself that I needed to change before anything else would. Then the world would be mine for the taking!
In the 18-months since our meeting, and with a few simple lessons from Martin, I have compiled over $2.3 million dollars in assets which generates the passive cash flow which supports my living while also servicing the ‘good’ debt.
I no longer work for the bank! I had to quit because there were too many opportunities for making money that I was missing by being in an office Monday to Friday, 9-5! Working was costing me money! Imagine that – I could no longer afford to work!
In the time since our first chat, I have learned many more lessons, but only because Martin gave me the confidence to take on new ideas and new strategies, and taught me that it’s OK to make mistakes along the way. I have made mistakes, as you will too, but most importantly I have only made them once!
The choice of freedom is a conscious one. I can choose to sit and watch TV or I can choose to read a book on how to buy property without any money! I can choose to eat poorly or I can choose to be fit and healthy. I have chosen to be wealthy. I am in control. It’s my choice, not anyone else’s.
I thank Martin for giving me the confidence to make those choices. I thank Martin for giving me the tools to make informed choices. I am now so scared of being ‘normal’ that it won’t happen!
By letting Martin into your life you will gain control of your life too!
It’s all up to you!
Ben Fitzsimons
Adelaide, South Australia.
Note to the Reader
My reason for writing this is to share with others some of the lessons I have learned. The ultimate measure in all of my teaching is: What action