Between 1870 and 1970 our lifesplans more than doubled globally. For the thousands of years of human history prior to this massive leap forward in longevity, most humans did well to make it into their 40's. We lived long enough to reproduce, protect our children until they could fend for themselves, and then we were gone.

Yet today in Australia we have a life expectancy of 82.5 years. In wealthy countries like Australia life is lengthening by more than five hours a day, every day.

In this week's episode we're going to look at how the traditional picture of what retirement looks like could evolve to better suit the realities of modern day life in Australia.

For all things Financial Independence and gaining choice in life, be sure to visit www.financialautonomy.com.au . There's our library of past posts, and over 40 free downloads to help you succeed.

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Early retirement via property investment is a key theme of this week's episode.

Brad Dantonio, host of the Man Overseas podcast and I, met in Washington earlier in the year and sat down to record this collaboration episode.

Brad shares how he's been able to use property investment to retire early. He now lives in a different city around the world every 30 days. We also discuss shares, happiness, NFL, and plenty more.

I hope you enjoy it!

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I'm hugely excited to share with you my interview with Nick Loper from the Side Hustle Show podcast. In our chat Nick shares:

• How a house painting gig over the summer holidays helped set him on a path to entrepreneurship.
• His first side hustle.
• How he transitioned from full-time employee to full-time self-employment and some the challenges he faced along the way, not least of which was a huge Google roadblock on day 1 of self-employment that took 3 months to solve.
• Common ingredients for a successful side hustle.
• Nick also shares with us some of the highlights from the hundreds of side hustlers and entrepreneurs that he's interviewed over the years.

Check out Nick and The Side Hustle show here: https://www.sidehustlenation.com/side-hustle-show/

And be sure to sign-up for our regular Gaining Choice email to set you on the path to Financial Independence.

February 12, 1999.

That was the date something never before seen, happened. The Central Bank of Japan, battling persistent recession, cut official interest rates to zero.

At the time other central bankers around the world criticised the move. Savers must be rewarded for savings. Borrowers must have to pay something to borrow. Without these basic financial assumptions, does the money world still make sense?

Many predicted inflation would result. You will recall back in episode 111 I explored the enormous damage out of control inflation can cause.

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You've probably stumbled across the FIRE acronym before – it stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. It came out of the US and has spawned countless books, podcasts, conferences, and even a movie. Reddit has huge discussion threads devoted to the idea, with the primary thrust seeming to be how young you can achieve early retirement.

Now I'm well on board with the first part of FIRE – Financial Independence. But it's the second part – Retire Early, that I have a problem with (as indeed do many in the FIRE community themselves). Financial Independence grants you choice. Choice in how you spend your time, how much of your time you devote to income generating activities, and what sort of income generating activities you do. Having gained that choice, why on earth would you want to retire?

In this episode, I explain some alternatives that I've seen bring people happiness.

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What are the secrets to a fun and interesting working life?

Nepal, teaching, and pursuing your passion. That's what we discuss this week with Jim Smith who shares how he's been able to achieve this much-desired outcome.

These days Jim's focus is on building a tourism business that helps Australian's and especially students, experience life in Nepal, whilst also helping the local Nepalese people through paying fair wages for work done - such as guiding, and supporting several orphanages.

"And at that point in time, it was more a question about what you like doing and what you want to do with your life more than what's going to pay you the most money" – Jim Smith

Jim's website is www.Focustours.net

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How many thousands of dollars do you have parked on the street or in the garage losing money every day?

It's a question I've been focused on for our household recently. My wife and I each have a car, plus there is a 12 seater minibus for my wife's tourism business that we could use for a personal trip in a pinch.

I reckon we've got about $70,000 of vehicles sitting on the street, slowly degrading, and all the while costing us money in servicing, petrol, tyres, insurance, and registration.

Surely there's a financially smarter way of getting around!

I want to share the research I've done on a few alternatives to owning a vehicle and a little about my journey with car ownership.

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We speak Vanessa Wiltshire, a Gen-X/Y 'tree changer', living in Heathcote, Victoria.

Three years ago, she and her husband made the leap from suburban Melbourne to Heathcote in rural Victoria. In our chat Vanessa explains:

- How to know if a "tree change" is right for you. - Escaping a career that makes you unhappy and into something that makes you smile (and pays the bills) - The top things to look out for (that most tree changers won't tell you) - Knowing where the GOOD jobs are and how to find them (tapping hidden job market).

Check out Vanessa's website: www.sparkrural.com.au

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Welcome back to another episode in our financial history series. We started with Tulip Mania and the madness of crowds. Then we reviewed the Great Depression and how the lessons learnt continue to have impacts today. One thread of the Great Depression story was the Gold Standard, which we explored in episode 109. An understanding of the Gold Standard is vital to anyone attempting to think through the potential global impacts of Crypto currencies.

This week we look at another moment in financial history – the hyperinflation experienced in Germany during, and especially after, the First World War. It was this experience that made countries so reticent to drop the Gold Standard during the Great Depression. We're also going to explore why nations today could be planting the seeds for a repeat of this financial disaster.

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Peter Stanhope, co-founder of Gig Super shares some of the challenges faced by self-employed people in our financial system. If you are self-employed, or planning on making a move to self-employment – this one's for you.