Onboard today is Chris Brycki, the CEO and founder of Stockspot, a Sydney-based online investment company. Chris is an experienced fund manager, holding a Bachelor of commerce and some impressive credentials - Chris was the national winner of the ASX share trading game three years in a row, and went on to work successfully as a portfolio manager at UBS investments.

After years working as a fund manager and openly discussing finance with his close friends and family, Chris saw the need for an investment tool that was fairly priced and focused on the client, and not just on extracting the most fees out of investors! He also decided he wanted out of the corporate rat race, and somehow managed to convince his partner to sell their property to found the dream of their very own investment company. Fast forward 8 years, Chris has been an absolute success story building one of the most popular automatic investment tools in Australia and is now managing over $450 Million of client funds completely hands-free for them.

I actually really like the passive approach Stockspot use and after meeting Chris and the team I decided to voted with my dollars, and now have tens of thousands invested with them.

Today Chris and I are going to unpack this bit more and talk about what Stockspot is, how it works, the role asset allocation plays and the impact of CHESS sponsorship on the structure of your investments. I'll also try to get as much valuable information out of Chris as I can about his journey to Financial Independence and his experience working as a fund manager.

On board today is Pat Garrett, co founder and CEO of Six Park online asset management. Pat is a financial advisor and member of the FPA, as well as

graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has worked as a Board member, CEO, CFO, senior level corporate advisor and a private equity investor. Pat has over 30 years experience in the financial industry - having worked for JP morgan in New York and San Fransisco before moving to Melbourne where he worked as managing director for private investment firm Georgica Associates. In 2014 he co founded Six Park with Brian Watson (AO) who himself also worked at JP Morgan (as the Chairman of JP Morgan Australia).

Pat is a serious investor, but outside of finance he loves Surfing, Barbecuing and spending time at home with the family and his dog Charlie. I've been in touch with Pat for some time now, and he has always had time to chat with me and answer any questions or concerns I have had - not just about my Six Park investment balance and whether I am in the right fund, but also about investing, mindset and life in general. He's even taught me a few new recipes he learned in lockdown!

Onboard today is Jade Johnson, a student who is on track to graduate University debt free. Jade shares her money journey and experience investing as a student, and just how she is graduating debt free through a combination of part time work, scholarships, side hustles and her money coaching business. Jade Johnson started her blog Finance for FIRE early 2020 to document her own financial journey. After paying off over $17,000 of personal debt and subsequently growing her net worth to $50k by the incredibly young age of 22, she realized that she had strategies that could help everyone achieve financial freedom. Jades business finance for fire focuses on teaching budgeting, paying off debt, raising credit, and investing so others can create generational wealth.

Josh is a young father on the path to Financial Independence who works in the engineering construction industry. Recently, he sold all of his crypto investments and used the money to start his own small business called 'You Knead Sourdough', which provides customers with complete sourdough kits to enable them to make awesome home made sourdough for a fraction of the price that it costs in store. He has seen amazing success so far with high demand for his kits, and is almost at the point where he is able to leave his full time construction job as the business income nearly covers his families cost of living.

On board the podcast today is Scott Rieckens, Author of Playing with FIRE and the director of the Playing with FIRE documentary. Happily married in California with a young daughter, Rieckens had his dream life: A luxury car, yacht club membership and a big house. Underneath this façade, he was struggling with depression, overworked and overwhelmed, with no exit strategy. After discovering the financial Independence Retire Early movement, Scott began learning as much as he could, finally explaining to his family it was time to change. After a lot of research, talking and hesitation, they finally agreed. He finally quit his job, the family hit the road to move interstate, worked remotely over a year, and finally settled in a lower cost of living area, downsized their home and cut their expenses by 50%. Playing with Fire is Rieckens' story as told from their 'works in progress' perspective on their journey to financial independence through deliberate minimalism, reduced spending and maximised investing. A man after my own heart (and hairline!), Scott has championed Financial Independence, and his documentaries, short films, interviews and published works have provided information and inspiration to millions globally. I am absolutely stoked to have been able to chat with him and pick his brain for us all to benefit.

Liz Raad is a successful online entrepreneur and educator who's expertise is buying and selling websites and teaching women how to do the same. She is also the co-founder of theeBusiness Institute a private training organisation that provides digital marketing courses designed specifically for those who want to re-train for the digital future or earn income independently. Liz and I chat about her experience with Entrepreneurship, and how her and her Partner Matt transitioned from being professional zoologists on a PAY-G wage, into digital business owners producing a seven figure income.

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.