Captain FI

On board today is Sherry, better known as the SaverSpender from her instagram channel, and her blog savespendsplurge.com

Sherry lives in Canada - the northern hemisphere's much colder version of Australia.

Today we are talking aboot the reflections from Sherry's journey to financial Independence, and the powerful lessons she can pass on for us still working towards FI

Sherry started her financial journey much like anyone else - graduating in 2006 at age 23 with enourmous amounts of student debt and into a less than satisfying working role.

Working in Science Technology Engineering and Maths, Sherry realised if she quit her job and freelanced that she could make more money and pay her student loans off faster.

in 2008 she did just that - pulling the pin on her traditional career, and trading off the stability for flexibility and higher pay.

in doing so, she was able to quadrupel her income to $260,000 and become debt free by the end of the year

in 2010 she hit the awesome milestone of a $100,000 net worth, and was hooked. She started side incomes and watched her Net Worth rapidly climb.

eight years later in 2018, she became work optional and then in 2019, became a millionaire at the age of 36.

All in all Sherry worked 13 years to become a millionaire, and now commands an impressive freelance income when she chooses to work.

Sherry is an accomplished author and blogger, having published several books on finance, investing, web design and social media management, as well as running her successful website

and instagram channels.

Sherry lives in Montreal with her partner where they are raising their child together, and enjoying the benefits of an early 'work optional' or 'semi-retirement' lifestyle.

This is your Captain speaking is a monthly update and a Question and Answer segment where I unpack some of the most popular questions from the Financial Independence community. If you have a question for the Captain, the best place to ask is the CaptainFI Facebook group or by leaving a comment on blog posts. If you would like to stay anonymous you can get in touch via the email from the CaptainFI blog contact form. I am also active on other social platforms and forums (but its easy for questions to get lost).

Part 2 of Superannuation with Life Sherpa. Important that you listen to Part 1 first.

On board today is Vince Scully, better known as the Life Sherpa and Author of the popular book the Latte Fallacy which aims to dispel many common personal finance myths (like that ordering a latte or smashed avocado will stop you owning a home). Vince is a licenced financial advisor, and with over 40 years experience in the industry he has only just recently reached preservation age and is set to retire. Vince and I chew the fat on wealth, Financial Independence, Retirement, and how superannuation fits into the picture. Superannuation is a pretty massive topic, so Vince and I tackle it from a few different angles - including;

•Discussions on the evolution of Super

•When and where it may or may not be appropriate

•The different types and structures of super available (industry funds, Wrap accounts and SMSF),

•The effect of fee's on your super performance

•Insurance within your super, and

•sensible asset allocation for your super.

We look at the four important focus areas and decisions you have to make when selecting your super, and explore the trade-off of the tax benefits of super versus the flexibility of other investment structures. We also cover some interesting and important wealth topics such as home ownership, car loans and the concept of Human Capital and why early retirement might not be such a good thing.

Because it is such a big topic and I had such an awesome time chatting to Vince, I have broken it down into two parts. I didn't want to cut too much away on the editing room floor, because there are so many gems in here and actually to produce this took over four hours of interviews.

On board today is Vince Skully, better known as the Life Sherpa and Author of the popular book the Latte Fallacy which aims to dispel many common personal finance myths (like that ordering a latte or smashed avocado will stop you owning a home). Vince is a licenced financial advisor, and with over 40 years experience in the industry he has only just recently reached preservation age and is set to retire. Vince and I chew the fat on wealth, Financial Independence, Retirement, and how superannuation fits into the picture. Superannuation is a pretty massive topic, so Vince and I tackle it from a few different angles - including;

•Discussions on the evolution of Super

•When and where it may or may not be appropriate

•The different types and structures of super available (industry funds, Wrap accounts and SMSF),

•The effect of fee's on your super performance

•Insurance within your super, and

•sensible asset allocation for your super.

We look at the four important focus areas and decisions you have to make when selecting your super, and explore the trade-off of the tax benefits of super versus the flexibility of other investment structures. We also cover some interesting and important wealth topics such as home ownership, car loans and the concept of Human Capital and why early retirement might not be such a good thing.

Because it is such a big topic and I had such an awesome time chatting to Vince, I have broken it down into two parts. I didn't want to cut too much away on the editing room floor, because there are so many gems in here and actually to produce this took over four hours of interviews.

An important lesson us Pilots all learn in ground school is the value of having an experienced flying instructor. They guide, shape and mentor us as we learn to fly and eventually gain our wings.

Well similarly, A financial advisor or financial planner is a professional who can help you learn to manage your finances like a pro. They can also help with estate planning and your overall financial strategy. They should work with you to comprehensively determine your personal financial situation, needs, challenges, behaviors and your future goals, as well as regularly check back in with you to make sure you are on track.

Financial Advisors actually have to deal with some pretty impressive (and increasing) levels of regulation, and are bound in Australia by a legal obligation to act in your best interests. Having said that - they are not all the same. There are still some massive sharks in this industry, as well terrible financial products that you need to be aware of and that you probably want to avoid.

So, do I have a Financial Advisor, do you need one to reach Financial Independence, and what are some of the common pitfalls when it comes to financial Advisors?

I managed to track down an experienced, Not-for-profit financial advisor for a bit of a Q and A and got to ask pointed questions on the topic.

Dee is a not-for-profit financial advisor with over a decade of industry experience. She has over 7 years of study behind her, having earned a degree in finance and multiple financial advisor qualifications including a Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Certification in Financial Planning - among many other industry specific, technical and regulatory qualifications.

Dee deliberately made a pivot away from a higher workload and higher stress job, shifting into the not-for-profit sector to help design a more sustainable lifestyle.

She mainly works with women and families to help get them on track to reach their financial goals - whether that is paying off debt, buying a family home, building wealth or literally just keeping their heads above water. Dee's partner also works in the not-for-profit field, and together they are raising a family and investing their way towards FIRE.

Dee is no stranger to hard work. She initially earning $3 per hour in the families fish shop, and went on to be the first in her family to graduate university - even doing so debt free! She now balances the life changing work she does with ongoing professional development and being a Mum to two young children.

So without further adue lets get into it and unpack everything you need to know about Financial Advisors...

This is your Captain speaking is a monthly Question and Answer segment where I unpack some of the most popular questions from the Financial Independence community. If you have a question for the Captain, the best place to ask is the CaptainFI Facebook group or by leaving a comment on blog posts. If you would like to stay anonymous you can get in touch via the email from the CaptainFI blog contact form. I am also active on other social platforms and forums (but its easy for questions to get lost).

World renowned Crypto expert Stephan Livera and I hang out in Sydney to discuss Crypto, Bitcoin, FI/RE and what the hell an NFT is! Stephan co-founded the ministry of nodes which is focused on educational content about the economics and technology of Bitcoin, and he also hosts one of the worlds leading bitcoin podcasts (regularly ranked in the top 10). Stephan has interviewed many high profile Bitcoin, Libertarian, Austrian economics and Macro guests, and has over 261 episodes released with over 2 Million downloads as of March 2021. Stephan is also ranked by Hive.one as one of the top trusted names in bitcoin, and he loves nothing more than calling out the 'shitcoin shills' as he puts it and other predatory behaviour in the industry. Listen in if you wanna learn how to 'Stack Satoshi's'!

We stop into Perth again, where Dan Jovevski (CEO WeMoney) joins us on the podcast to discuss all things expense tracking and financial well being. Just as well this flight is going to Perth, because this is a long one!

WeMoney is probably the best expense tracking application I have found - I recently did a review on their software and my experience using it over the past 6 months or so, where I spoke to Dan over the phone countless times.

I was pretty suspicious of it at the start, but after getting to know Dan, I knew he was legit and was someone I wanted in my corner on my 'Financial Independence Dream Team'. Plus, his software fitted in really well with my 'Steps to Financial Independence' with its awesome expense tracking and budgeting features.

WeMoney is not just about budgeting and tracking expenses though, Dan and I unpack some of the additional features and resources, as well as some of the exciting updates and new additions coming to WeMoney in 2021.

Of course, it wouldn't be the CaptainFI Financial Independence Podcast if we didn't go off on random tangents - but thankfully we have mostly kept to the script and left this to the end of the episode. We chat all about Dan's Financial Independence Journey, and his top tips for educating yourself and reaching FI

To reach Financial Independence, we all know we need to be investing. There are a wide range of financial products, investing tools and share trading platforms available today, making it difficult to know which is the right one for you. To make matters worse, many of these have outrageously high brokerage, or even hidden fee structures which can seriously erode your returns. To help de-mystify the investing landscape, Today I talk with Kurt Walkom - one of the Cofounders of Pearler, The Aussie brokerage platform dedicated to the Financial Independence community of long term investors.

Pearler is a share trading platform based in Sydney. The company has a strong focus on Financial Independence, and has built tools for you to use that help you invest to reach Financial Independence - such as their Auto Invest feature.

Pearler are so keen on Financial Independence, they even commissioned the Aussie Fire eBook to be written - which I had a lot of fun writing a chapter for back in 2020. If you want to have a read you can get a free copy when you sign up to the CaptainFI subscriber email list.

I signed up to Pearler shortly after helping write the book last year, and have been using it to invest in ETFs - right through their Beta-testing phase. I found a platform that was intuitive and easy to use, that had great technical support, and that seamlessly linked to my existing sharesight portfolio tracking account.

So, listen to find out what I think of the platform, and how can you use Pearler to reach Financial Independence. Kurt also Grills me on my portfolio and targets, providing a great constructive critique. Have a listen to find out more!

Have you ever heard of matched betting? It keeps coming up in the FIRE community, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Matched betting is basically a technique that allows you to profit from online gambling, by taking advantage of Bookmakers loss-leading promotions. It exists because bookmakers give away free bets in order to encourage punters to bet with them.

Matched bettors collect these free bets, and then go to a betting exchange where they can sell them for 70-80% of their face value. It is a bit more complex than that and there is a few more steps, but that is the general vibe.

It is not a get rich quick scheme, it is certainly not passive income. Most people can realistically expect to make around $10 to $50 per hour once they get good at it (but you might even lose money over the first few weeks as you learn the ropes). Experienced matched betters using advanced techniques such as horse racing promotions may be able to get past the magical $100 per hour.

However, there are a few catches that you need to be aware of. I go more into all of these in the show notes.

So is it worth your time? In order to make a bit more sense of all this, Nico has jumped onboard to share his experiences with matched Betting