New York Times bestselling author Maria Konnikova, in her book The Biggest Bluff, tells of her amazing 12-month transformation from psychologist to professional poker player. Something she wrote really resonated with me: ‘Show people the data or risk charts all you want but it won't change their behaviour, decisions or perception of risk. What will, is going through an event themselves or knowing someone who has.'
I realised early on that if you want to avoid the perils of anxiety associated with money, you need to explore the habits of those who have their finances under control.
For more than a decade I've had the great fortune of being mentored by my uncle, John L. Fitzgerald. As mentors go, I'm incredibly fortunate. Significantly, John attributes a large part of his success to the exceptional mentors who guided him through his career and life journey. He talks about these mentors in his book, 7 Steps to Wealth, now in its eighth reprint and considered Australia's number one book on real estate investment.
What you learn from successful people is the importance of mindset and habits and how to apply this framework to your own circumstances. I say, with humility, that I haven't worried about money for more than 10 years. I don't expect to have to worry about it for the rest of my life because my property portfolio will earn me $125 000 to $250 000 per year over time. No doubt there will be challenges, but money won't be among them.
By reading this book and heeding the advice in it, you're putting yourself in a position to follow suit. You don't need to be driven by wealth; everybody has their own priorities. What I'm endorsing very strongly is the mental freedom that comes with being financially secure.
Regardless of your motivation, what you'll achieve is control. However, that's only half the story. The real foundation of success comes from keeping control. Stories abound of people who receive a mindboggling lotto windfall or a multimillion-dollar inheritance, only to squander it in a matter of years. To grow and retain wealth you need the knowledge, skills and habits I'm about to share with you.
Maintaining mental health and emotional wellbeing is fast becoming one of the new millennium's most urgent challenges. It was already a pressing issue before COVID-19 but the global pandemic has intensified the malaise, rattling the emotional, mental and financial wellbeing of people from all walks of life.
Money and personal finances should not be among the reasons someone might experience anxiety. As reluctant as many may be to admit it, money is 100 per cent within our control. With the right tools and knowledge, I believe gaining and keeping financial control is something anyone can achieve.
As we enter this new and challenging post-COVID-19 phase, my ‘why’ — that is, my purpose and mission — has become crystal clear. I want to use what I know to help remove personal finances from the growing list of worries that keep Australians awake at night and anxious.
Not everyone is so fortunate as to have an Uncle John. Which is why I'm motivated to share what I've learned.
Importantly, although my financial freedom has come in the form of property investments, the information in this book can be applied to any asset class. My aim is to provide a solution for investing in general, not just investing in property.
I've divided the book into two parts. Part I focuses on my life up to now and in particular my financial journey. Through my story, you'll get a taste of the mental freedom that comes with feeling financially secure. I'll tell you how I dealt with pain points such as spending more than you earn, as well as how I found a mentor and identified my purpose.
Part II is where I delve into the ‘how-to’ of controlling your financial destiny. I'll teach you about the nuts and bolts of investing your money and maximising your potential: the best tools to use, how to manage risk, and how to learn the habits of thinking and discipline that only the top 1 per cent of successful people know.
Sprinkled throughout the book you'll find:
bulletproof tips. These are takeaways and action items that I deem to be essential.
case studies. These are experiences of real-life people I've met over the years — people I've helped and in the process learned from and been inspired by.
I hope I can help you, too, to be inspired to begin your journey towards bulletproof financial freedom and control by reading this book.
PART I GROWING PAINS
Part I of this book is about gaining control of your personal finances, and the consequences of failing to do so. I share my own experience as well as other experiences that are personal and important to me.
At the end of this part, you will have heard the cautionary tales and warning sounds I set out to share. You'll also be armed with a method and mindset that will allow you to take (or take back) control of your personal finances.
CHAPTER 1 Losing my best mate
I lost my dad, my best mate, in March 2019. He was just 59 years old. He died tragically and unexpectedly when he was hit by a train in suburban Melbourne. The impact killed him instantly. Dad's death is by far and away the hardest and most traumatic experience I have ever had to deal with.
My father was an ebullient character who lived life to the full. He was optimistic, generous and energetic — the life of every party. But not even those closest to him — my mum, his partner (Mum and Dad had separated at this point), his brothers and sisters, his own children — knew of his personal challenges until the end.
Despite having solid, well-paying jobs for most of his career, Dad never quite reached the point of being in control of his money. Financial independence continually eluded him and, such was his anxiety around money that, for 30 years straight, he took tablets nightly just to get to sleep.
Dad and Mum lived a rollercoaster lifestyle, often devoid of financial stability. There were gambling debts, two failed businesses, a Part 10 insolvency and two bankruptcies interspersed with periods of financial success and solidarity. They owned their home on four separate occasions but, eventually, the ongoing absence of certainty and order took its toll.
Dad moved out of our family home when my parents separated at the end of 2006, just as I was entering my final year of high school. I lived with Mum and my two sisters until I graduated, but there was never any doubt that I would find my way back to Dad, at least part time. The following year, I started spending a few nights a week at his house and before long, I had moved in permanently.
They were the best few years of my life, the two of us bunking down together in a unit in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. We would cook each other meals during the week and spend big chunks of the weekend together, often watching the St Kilda AFL game or sharing a beer after I had played a game of footy. Then we would go our separate ways — I to nightclubs with my mates and he to a bar with a few friends — but there was a very special bond between us.
In 2011, I moved to Brisbane, while Dad went south to explore business opportunities in Melbourne. As much as we were a long way apart geographically, rarely did a day go by that I didn't speak with him on the phone for half an hour or more. He was my best mate, confidant, chief motivational officer and number one fan. I was the same for him.
Then, early in the morning on Sunday, 31 March 2019, my life was turned upside down. I had been staying in Dad's two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Melbourne with my then partner, now wife, Hannah. We had enjoyed a fantastic day on the Friday at the wedding of good friends before bouncing back at the ‘recovery’ in a pub in Richmond the following day.
I had to get back to Queensland on the Sunday, but Hannah was planning to stay at Dad's place again that night and work in Melbourne on Monday. Dad must have told me three times that weekend