# $528k Down To $20k in Three Years. | Luke & Kellie | CHANGING LIVES | Season 4 Ep62

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 26 Jul 2026, 57 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/pebdrcvwtzx292usmr581ipy.mp3

In this episode of "The Money Mentor," Rachael sits down with Luke and Kellie - and this one carries an important warning for anyone who has ever placed their trust in the wrong hands. In 2017, they did everything by the book - hired a financial planner and followed professional advice to the letter. They were advised to sell their house and ‘rentvest’. Years later, sick of renting and moving multiple times they realised they wanted stability for their children and a home of their own. They had solid careers, worked hard, but with a new home and large mortgage, they still felt they could never get ahead. When interest rates started climbing, the fear became very real, and without a budget to fall back on, the cracks began to show. Luke and Kellie had grown up in families where finances were always a struggle, and they knew they wanted to build a brighter future for their children. Then an Instagram ad changed everything. One Infinity webinar was all it took - Kellie was sold and she quickly brought Luke on board. What followed was nothing short of a transformation. A $528,000 mortgage on their home was reduced to just $20,000 in just three years. They now have four investment properties, and a portfolio worth five million dollars. But Luke and Kellie are quick to point out that the biggest shift wasn't in their bank account - it was in their mindset. For the first time, they stopped hoping their future would work out and started building it with intention. Luke and Kellie didn't need more advice. They needed the right advice - and everything changed when they found it. Ready to change your financial future? 👉 Start by watching the FREE webinar and see what's possible: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] I just think, you know, this is what I've always wanted to do.
[0:02] I've always been interested in getting into property and, you know, building wealth.
[0:06] We both, you know, had quite adverse backgrounds growing up, single parent, very similar to what G went through.
[0:13] So it was a bit tough for you guys growing up, yeah.
[0:15] It was very tough, yeah.
[0:16] Yeah.
[0:17] And that's related later on with spending, like, buying stuff yourself and just wasting money on self-go.
[0:24] Because you didn't have it when you were younger, right?
[0:26] You didn't have anything.
[0:27] Like, you know, shoes and clothes were just the worst of the worst.
[0:30] And you want to give your kids what you didn't have.
[0:32] Yeah.
[0:33] Yeah, yeah.
[0:35] Give them the life you didn't have.
[0:36] Yeah.
[0:37] Yeah.
[0:37] Yeah.
[0:39] As we know now, you can still have your cake and eat it as well.
[0:42] Exactly.
[0:43] Yeah, yeah.
[0:44] And the things we've taken away from being with Infinity have been more beneficial to teach the kids.
[0:51] Yeah.
[0:51] And they've, yeah, it'll help them when they grow up and they're not, yeah.
[0:55] Like you don't want to have, we want our kids to have everything, but, you know, everyone doesn't want them to be spoiled.
[1:00] Yeah.
[1:01] So it's helped sort of, it does help ground you quite a lot.
[1:06] Yeah.
[1:06] Yeah.
[1:06] Yeah.
[1:07] But it just shows anyone can do it.
[1:09] Money is the root of all evil.
[1:10] The fucking lack of it is.
[1:11] Not money.
[1:13] The lack of understanding money.
[1:15] When I put that into emphasis, when I realized that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I have to be in the fucking way.
[1:20] Yo!
[1:26] In 2017, Luke and Kelly hired a financial planner, did exactly what they were told, sold their home, started rent-vesting on professional advice.
[1:37] Felt like we just weren't getting anywhere.
[1:39] Years later, nothing to show for it.
[1:42] We wanted to set the boys up.
[1:43] That's what we wanted to do.
[1:45] Breaking the cycle of their upbringing.
[1:47] Solid careers, real effort, and still no progress to show for it.
[1:52] Then interest rates started climbing and the fear became real.
[1:57] There was no budget to fall back on.
[1:59] There had never really been one.
[2:01] There's no budgeting really.
[2:02] Wasting money was high.
[2:04] We deserve to go on holiday.
[2:05] We deserve to buy toys for ourselves.
[2:09] An ad on Instagram led them to the Infinity webinar.
[2:13] They didn't need convincing twice.
[2:15] By the end of it, they were already sold.
[2:17] I was like, okay, here we go.
[2:19] And then it just was full speed from there.
[2:21] A $528,000 mortgage reduced to $20,000 in three years.
[2:28] four investment properties, a $5 million property portfolio.
[2:33] This wasn't just about the numbers.
[2:35] It was about finally feeling in control of their own financial legacy and retirement.
[2:40] Luke and Kelly didn't need more advice.
[2:43] They needed the right advice.
[2:48] Welcome back to the Money Mentor Podcast, where we have our latest episode of changing lives financially.
[2:53] We have the amazing Kelly and Luke with us today.
[2:56] How are you guys?
[2:57] Good.
[2:58] How are you?
[2:58] I'm amazing.
[2:59] I'm so glad you're finally here.
[3:01] Yes.
[3:01] Had a few invitations to come.
[3:03] Couldn't line it up, but we're here today.
[3:05] Yes.
[3:05] And how are we feeling about sharing our story?
[3:08] Good, excited, a little bit nervous.
[3:10] Yeah.
[3:10] Nervous, yes.
[3:12] Nothing to be nervous about.
[3:13] You're in good hands.
[3:14] Awesome.
[3:15] So, guys, let's start off with your story.
[3:17] Before you met Infinity, where you were at, some of the things you tried to do with your financial history.
[3:22] Tell us all the ins and outs.
[3:24] You want to go first?
[3:26] Yeah.
[3:26] So, yeah.
[3:29] Obviously had one investment and our owner occupied.
[3:34] Before that, we had had a, when I met Cal many years ago, she had her own property, I had my own property, sold them, bought a house together.
[3:44] Then we had sold that property in 2017 and went with another, we won't name it.
[3:55] financial company that... Because this is a very interesting part of your journey.
[3:59] Yeah.
[3:59] Yeah, you made a big decision with them.
[4:02] Yeah.
[4:02] Yeah, big decision.
[4:03] So we went on the rent vest path.
[4:07] Yeah.
[4:08] And they put a few properties in front of us.
[4:10] One was in Melbourne, an apartment, which we were really glad we didn't go with.
[4:14] And then we purchased a property in...
[4:16] Queensland.
[4:17] Queensland.
[4:18] That was our first investment together and we were renting at the time.
[4:22] And then we built, well, we had a ready-built home built and we moved into that.
[4:28] When was that, Cal?
[4:30] 2021.
[4:30] Yeah.
[4:31] Yeah.
[4:32] So then we had the one investment and then owner-occupied and...
[4:38] So it was about three years of renting before we decided to get back into the property market.
[4:45] So, yeah, we had to move three times during the rent.
[4:48] During your rent investing journey.
[4:50] And that was, yeah, not a great experience to move that many times as well.
[4:55] And probably expensive as well.
[4:57] Yeah.
[4:57] Moving cross on team.
[4:58] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[5:01] And why did you decide to get back into the PPR, the principal place of residence?
[5:05] Because you were sold this idea of the rent vesting.
[5:07] Yeah.
[5:08] What ultimately made you go, this just doesn't work?
[5:10] We've got to get back into our home.
[5:12] They basically left us for dead.
[5:13] They got the property, got their, they were more interested about emailing for our money to pay for their services.
[5:20] Yeah.
[5:20] And then ghosted us.
[5:21] Like we got nothing after that.
[5:23] And then we got our- So you weren't getting the ongoing support?
[5:25] Nah.
[5:25] No, not at all.
[5:26] It was just it would get you in.
[5:29] Didn't really have a clear plan, a clear path.
[5:32] Didn't see any future with it.
[5:33] I was just looking at what's in front of you.
[5:35] Oh, here's your investment.
[5:36] We've done our job.
[5:37] Give us our fee.
[5:39] Yeah.
[5:39] And buy some insurance, buy some products.
[5:42] Yeah.
[5:43] Whereas, yeah, we – Transactional-based rather than a service.
[5:47] Yeah, it wasn't very personalized at all.
[5:49] Yeah.
[5:50] Yeah.
[5:51] But because we still, we were, I guess we were lucky to still have some funds left over from the property sale of our principal place.
[6:01] We just started looking around just as kind of COVID in Melbourne.
[6:06] And we thought it might be a good time to get back into the property market.
[6:09] And then I think we just considered.
[6:11] The rental movements and just the uncertainty for the boys.
[6:15] Yeah.
[6:15] Yeah, that was another one.
[6:17] I wanted to just sort of plan our feet down for them to finish high school.
[6:21] And while the younger one was starting high school.
[6:23] Do you want a security?
[6:24] Security, yeah.
[6:26] Yeah, just somewhere near the school.
[6:28] That would make it easier.
[6:29] And then, yeah, like Luke said, we just ended up just going with a ready-built property.
[6:33] Yeah.
[6:33] Just something simple, moving, ready, you know, gardens.
[6:35] Yeah, not our dream home, just a modest house that did the job.
[6:39] Yeah.
[6:39] Yeah.
[6:40] Yeah.
[6:40] That was about five years ago now.
[6:42] Yeah.
[6:43] And talk to me a bit about the family, how many kids we have, how many animals we've got.
[6:48] Tell me all the personal stuff.
[6:50] Did we budget, not budget?
[6:51] I'm going to get you, Kelly.
[6:53] Yeah, three.
[6:55] I've got three sons.
[6:56] I've got two with Kelly and one with a previous partner.
[6:59] I've got Tom, 24.
[7:00] Heath is 16 in a few weeks and Cohen's 13.
[7:04] Got...
[7:06] My daughter, which is my dog, Izzy.
[7:08] She's the – Fur baby.
[7:10] Yeah, the fur baby.
[7:11] And then, what have we got?
[7:11] Turtle, a couple of budgies.
[7:13] A couple of fish.
[7:14] Full house, yeah.
[7:15] Full house, yeah.
[7:17] They're the kids' pets, but we basically inherit them.
[7:20] It's a bit of a madhouse.
[7:21] And then the boys are soccer mad, so I coach a younger boy and they're just – it's just soccer and work, really, yeah.
[7:29] Yeah.
[7:29] I'm an electrician.
[7:31] Been doing that for over 20 years.
[7:34] Just changed jobs recently.
[7:35] I worked with a company sort of long days before that and then just started a new one just for a bit of a change and less travel and more.
[7:43] That's helped as well.
[7:45] And Cal, can you explain to your work and everything?
[7:49] Yeah, so Kelly, 46.
[7:51] Like Luke said, we've got two boys, two teenagers as well, so 16 and 13.
[7:57] I work in risk and compliance.
[8:02] Yeah, lots of animals, so dog, which like Luke said is his fur baby.
[8:09] Yeah, we work, you know, we work hard like everyone else out there.
[8:13] Luke does, you know, most weeks, six days a week.
[8:16] Yeah.
[8:17] Both work full time.
[8:19] Yeah.
[8:19] The kids have a lot going on, lots of sports activities.
[8:24] The older one plays a bit more of a professional youth soccer team.
[8:28] So he has a lot of demand on him in terms of training and lots of games throughout the years.
[8:34] Then when he's not training, he's in a gym and then he referees, he's...
[8:40] He's like a little Sherry, that kid.
[8:41] He's always wanted to work, hustle, referees, soccer.
[8:45] Starting young.
[8:45] I love it.
[8:46] Yeah, he wants to be chippy as well.
[8:47] So I'm like, oh, let's go.
[8:49] Yeah, he knows what he wants to do, which is good.
[8:51] Yeah, he's got his head screwed on, for sure.
[8:55] And what did your financial life look like when you finally, let's look at like when you finally got back into a PPOR, what was life looking like now that we had a home loan again that we needed to pay off?
[9:05] What was the budgeting looking like?
[9:08] There's no budgeting really.
[9:10] No, we had, I had a couple of accounts for food, holiday, kids, and then, you know, essentially just where our salaries came into, but that was just to paid bills and the mortgage.
[9:22] Yeah.
[9:23] So we had all the bucket budget.
[9:24] Well, we were trying the bucket budgeting.
[9:25] We were trying.
[9:26] Yeah.
[9:27] Yeah.
[9:28] The hobbies and just wasting money was high.
[9:30] Yeah.
[9:31] Yeah.
[9:32] Yeah, so like I love my instruments and things like that.
[9:35] I love shopping.
[9:37] So we're basically working along, not even thinking about the mortgage.
[9:42] It wasn't a focus.
[9:42] Yeah.
[9:43] That was just a given.
[9:44] Like you've got your mortgage, you've got your bills, you've got your food.
[9:48] We deserve to go on a holiday.
[9:49] We deserve to buy toys for ourselves.
[9:51] And, you know, we didn't have any credit cards or we had a $500 credit card, no credit cards.
[9:57] No real interest-free or anything like that.
[9:59] I think when we got the house, we had an interest-free thing, one of those things for our couch, but that was many years ago.
[10:08] But we technically still put a couch on credit, even if it was interest-free.
[10:12] Years ago, yeah, that's right.
[10:13] But, yeah, at that point it was just $500 credit card, you know, pay the credit card off every month.
[10:17] Yeah.
[10:18] Yeah, just...
[10:19] We weren't saving-wise, I don't think we were doing much at all.
[10:23] No, the kids had more money in their account than we did.
[10:26] Yeah, in our savings.
[10:27] We do the kids' savings every week and we wouldn't really put anything away.
[10:30] And their birthday and Christmas monies would just go away.
[10:32] So we also had the kids' accounts.
[10:34] Yeah.
[10:35] Yeah, kids' accounts.
[10:36] That's how we paid for infinity.
[10:38] Infinity.
[10:39] Yeah.
[10:40] Do the program.
[10:41] Just pull the money out of kids' account in the long run anyway.
[10:44] That's what I was thinking.
[10:45] I was like, they would never notice that the money's sitting there.
[10:48] Yeah.
[10:49] And then what made you want to look for somebody like Infinity?
[10:52] Talk me through how the mindset changed around that time and then what happened when you actually found Infinity?
[10:57] Yeah.
[10:58] That was hell.
[10:59] Yeah.
[10:59] I was, honestly, I was too busy just...
[11:03] Head down, bum up, working, just doing as many hours as I could because I thought that's the way to get ahead.
[11:08] But Cal drove it all and, yeah.
[11:12] Yeah.
[11:13] Put her trust into it.
[11:14] You know, we've always paid.
[11:15] Well, we always had paid extra on the mortgage and, you know, I was making sure it was fortnightly repayments, but it still felt like we just weren't getting anywhere, even paying extra this whole time.
[11:26] And like Luke said, you know, we didn't have any other debt.
[11:29] or anything like that.
[11:30] So ultimately where was our money going?
[11:32] Yeah, we thought we were going well, like no credit cards.
[11:34] And we have friends and people we know with tens of thousands of dollars, credit cards and interest-free, afterpay, whatever else there is, like you name it.
[11:45] And we thought, oh, we're in a good position because we're, well, we've.
[11:49] We weren't compared to Infinity, obviously.
[11:51] But, yeah, we thought we were in a better position because no credit card, paying our mortgage off.
[11:58] We thought we were doing everything right, but we really, the mortgage was just stagnant.
[12:04] It was not moving.
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:05] And then I think in 2023 that's when, you know, there was chatter about interest rates increasing.
[12:12] And then I don't know why.
[12:14] I guess we just kind of had a conversation with each other.
[12:17] I felt Luke was a bit frustrated, you know, how are we going to,
[12:22] deal with this, even though we obviously could.
[12:24] You know, I think we felt a bit stressed about it.
[12:26] So I explored to try and see what other refinancing options there was to get a true interest rate.
[12:33] And, you know, we went through the whole process of doing that.
[12:38] And then when we got the offer, I think it...
[12:42] I'll take a step back.
[12:43] We were still at a 27-year term as well.
[12:46] Yeah.
[12:47] So when we got the offer, it pushed us to 28-year term and about $200 extra, sorry, we would be saving about $200 on minimum repayments a month.
[12:58] And did anyone explain to you what that extra year was actually going to cost you?
[13:02] Oh, no.
[13:03] No?
[13:04] And we were none of the wiser.
[13:05] Yeah.
[13:05] The mortgage wasn't really, it wasn't a focus at all.
[13:08] Yeah.
[13:08] It was just a given.
[13:09] Yeah.
[13:10] Is you're thinking in the moment how do we save money for the now?
[13:13] Yes.
[13:14] Yeah.
[13:14] Yeah, that's right because, you know, I guess you hear all the noise out there and then you start to feel stressed about it.
[13:21] Yeah.
[13:21] You know, it could put you in a worse position.
[13:23] Yeah.
[13:24] Little did we know, of course.
[13:25] Yeah.
[13:26] Because you think about the lower principal payments but people don't think about the interest in the background.
[13:30] Interest wasn't, I don't mind, no.
[13:32] No, it was never a focus.
[13:34] Yeah.
[13:34] Yeah.
[13:35] And now I just think how could you not see that?
[13:37] Yeah.
[13:37] Yeah, it's crazy what you learn after being with Infinity.
[13:41] But I'm not on social media, but I do have Instagram.
[13:44] Yeah.
[13:45] And there would have been a post come up about Graeme, so I started to watch it.
[13:49] I think I was signed up to the free webinar pretty quick, and that's when they used to be live on the Tuesday nights.
[13:56] Yes.
[13:57] Yeah, so I listened in and then I signed up for the masterclass.
[14:03] I'm going to say that was possibly March or April of 2023.
[14:08] Listened to that and I was gobsmacked.
[14:13] I listened from 8 in the morning to nearly 11 o'clock at night.
[14:16] So you were one of the ones that stayed around until late?
[14:18] Yes.
[14:19] Luke was running around with soccer.
[14:22] I just had – I think you could just hear all the swearing.
[14:25] I had these guys swearing and I looked and I'm like, that's like Gordon Ramsay and Toadie and stuff together.
[14:29] Oh, that's a new one.
[14:31] I love that.
[14:32] Gordon Ramsay and Toadie together.
[14:34] Yeah, personality and the –
[14:35] Yeah, and I kept going on, I was on mute, but I kept saying like, oh, you've got to look at this, you've got to look at that, writing down all the info in our books.
[14:42] Yeah, and I'm just like, I've got to take the kids here, I've got to do that.
[14:45] Just, I wasn't focused at all, I was just still, yeah, just, you're sort of scrambling, like, yeah.
[14:52] Yeah, life's busy, life's busy, so it is hard, yeah, when you've got the kids here.
[14:57] Yeah.
[14:57] But, yeah, I loved all the whiteboard scenarios, so I think they were my favourite to watch, you know, how we could essentially change people's lives in front of you on a whiteboard.
[15:09] And I was secretly hoping that we'd get chosen, but we didn't, but that's all good.
[15:14] But, yeah, just phenomenal.
[15:16] And then I still ummed and art about joining, though.
[15:21] So I think it was the Sunday night.
[15:23] I think we got close to maybe 7 o'clock at night and I was, I'm in Anari, and I was like, how am I going to tell Luke that I, you know, want to pay this money?
[15:30] Yep.
[15:31] He would probably just be like, what kind of journey are you taking us on now?
[15:36] You've already taken us on a few journeys.
[15:37] I remember when he did tell me and I was like Googling Infinity, like Infinity scamming.
[15:43] Hang on, she's a risk and compliance person in your own Googling.
[15:47] Exactly right.
[15:48] And I still did my due diligence and I still was a little bit hesitant with all that I know.
[15:53] I guess it just looks a bit too good to be true.
[15:56] Yeah, ultimately.
[15:57] That's what might hold you back, I think, ultimately.
[16:00] Yeah, but...
[16:02] Yeah, sent my details off and they rang me back pretty quick and said, yep, you're accepted.
[16:06] And I was like, okay, here we go.
[16:07] And then it just was full speed from there.
[16:10] Yeah, we moved pretty quick.
[16:12] Yes.
[16:12] Draining the kids' bank account.
[16:14] Yeah, I think you were ringing us.
[16:15] Everyone was setting us up and you're like, I've got a property.
[16:18] And I'm just like, what?
[16:19] Yeah.
[16:20] It moved very quick.
[16:21] It did.
[16:21] It did move a little bit quick.
[16:22] But let's go back to Masterclass.
[16:24] Talk to me about some of the biggest lightbulb moments for you during that weekend.
[16:28] So I think just seeing what people had in their parent status.
[16:33] Yeah.
[16:34] So, you know, equity in a property or it wasn't our situation but where a lot of people had their old home.
[16:41] And then they rented it out.
[16:42] Yeah.
[16:42] You know, purchased a new home but had a mortgage for, say, $800,000, could have sold that old property.
[16:48] Yep.
[16:48] Paid out their mortgage, obviously used that equity release or tax deductible, and then, you know, used it to buy two or three properties.
[16:56] I think that's what the lightbulb moment was for me there.
[16:58] I think everything...
[17:01] Even though everyone's in different situations, you're very relatable on a lot of levels.
[17:05] It's not, you know, someone could have a million-dollar property, someone could have a $250,000 property, but you're relatable, we're doing the same thing as you or, you know, we're in the same situation.
[17:16] Yeah, and everyone's situation is different.
[17:20] You know, everyone has a different journey or a different story, but ultimately G could achieve something.
[17:26] Anything for anyone.
[17:27] Yeah.
[17:27] Potentially.
[17:28] 100%.
[17:29] Yeah.
[17:29] You know, there was a few stories during, you know, those sessions that were quite sad as well.
[17:34] Yeah.
[17:37] Yeah, it's just, you know, I have a little bit of background there, so I did understand some of the stuff he was saying.
[17:43] Yep.
[17:44] But a lot of the stuff, you know, it just never crosses your mind.
[17:48] Like you say, you're not taught it.
[17:49] Yeah.
[17:50] It's not that you're taught anything, you just learn a different way.
[17:53] Yeah, just a way of life.
[17:54] He unlearns everything you've learned and puts it in a different, you know, structure.
[17:59] And actually breaks the numbers down.
[18:00] Yes.
[18:00] And you get to run your own numbers.
[18:02] Yes.
[18:02] Which makes it real.
[18:04] And when I did that in the calculator for our property, I think our mortgage was just under $500,000 still.
[18:13] We'd only had the mortgage for two years.
[18:16] And I'm pretty confident it said based on our calculations and our current salaries, we could pay it out within seven years.
[18:23] Yes.
[18:24] And I think that's everyone's story.
[18:25] Yeah.
[18:25] It's literally that seven to ten year window.
[18:28] Yeah.
[18:29] No matter what income you're on, most people can get it paid out within that time period and sooner, as you know.
[18:35] Yeah.
[18:36] Yeah.
[18:36] Which we will definitely get to.
[18:37] But you said you were a little bit hesitant about signing up.
[18:40] We also had to get Luke across the line as well.
[18:43] What eventually got you there?
[18:46] I just took a chance, I think.
[18:49] I just think, you know, this is what I've always wanted to do.
[18:51] I've always been interested in getting into property and, you know, building wealth.
[18:56] We both, you know, had quite adverse backgrounds growing up, single parent, very similar to what G went through.
[19:03] So it was a bit tough for you guys growing up.
[19:05] It was very tough, yeah.
[19:06] Yeah.
[19:07] You know, hand-me-down clothes, clothes.
[19:11] yeah, like I said, single parent, single family income where my mum worked.
[19:13] Yeah, I lived out pretty young.
[19:14] I lived with my sister with friends and things like that, so...
[19:18] Yeah, looking after yourself really young.
[19:20] Yeah, yeah.
[19:21] Yeah.
[19:22] And that's related later on with spending, like buying stuff yourself and just wasting money on self-review.
[19:29] Because you didn't have it when you were younger, right?
[19:31] You didn't have anything like, you know, shoes and clothes were just the worst of the worst.
[19:35] And you want to give your kids what you didn't have.
[19:37] Yeah.
[19:37] Yeah, yeah.
[19:38] Holidays as well was a big thing I think for us to take our kids on.
[19:43] Give them the life you didn't have.
[19:46] Yeah.
[19:46] Yeah.
[19:46] But...
[19:47] As we know now, you can still have your cake and eat it as well.
[19:51] Exactly.
[19:52] Yeah, yeah.
[19:53] And the things we've taken away from being with Infinity have been more beneficial to teach the kids.
[19:59] Yeah.
[20:00] And they've, yeah, it'll help them when they grow up and they're not, yeah.
[20:04] Like you don't want to have, we want our kids to have everything, but, you know, everyone doesn't want them to be spoiled.
[20:09] Yeah.
[20:10] So it's helped sort of, it does help ground you quite a lot.
[20:14] Yeah.
[20:15] Yeah.
[20:15] And how'd she get you over the line?
[20:16] Yeah.
[20:17] Me, I just trust.
[20:19] Did I get you over the line?
[20:21] Yeah.
[20:21] You just said we're doing it.
[20:22] I still had my concerns, but I ultimately just put my trust in Carol because she hasn't let us in the wrong way.
[20:31] Well, with the original selling of our...
[20:35] Our old home was probably not the right decision.
[20:38] Yeah.
[20:38] And I did feel a bit guilty about that.
[20:40] Yeah.
[20:41] For a while.
[20:41] But also, we sort of, we were in a worse situation we thought with that.
[20:46] Like, we sold it because we were struggling with, like,
[20:49] thinking how are we going to keep up with the mortgage.
[20:52] We had like a tax bill and some other things behind the scenes and that was a relief to sell it and then sort of reset a bit.
[21:00] But little do we know, we got ourselves in that situation because it's not like I'm earning a million dollars now.
[21:06] It's just how we're managing the money.
[21:10] Yeah.
[21:11] But that was really the only advice you were given was let's sell up, pay everything out, and then we'll just get into rent investing.
[21:17] Yeah, that's right.
[21:18] Yeah.
[21:20] But with no long-term solution of how to secure your future.
[21:23] No.
[21:24] I think they contacted me maybe three years post that transaction and said, oh, we've run your numbers and we won't be able to do anything with you further.
[21:34] And then they all got one investment with them, paid them, how much was it?
[21:38] It was a stupid amount.
[21:39] Yeah, it was tens of thousands.
[21:41] Yeah.
[21:42] Yeah.
[21:43] And then it was one investment which we ultimately made our money back and then some from selling.
[21:49] Yeah.
[21:49] It was a good investment.
[21:50] It was a good investment.
[21:51] But there was no, there was like, see ya.
[21:54] Yeah.
[21:54] There's no ongoing support.
[21:56] Not at all.
[21:57] Yeah.
[21:57] And there's no plan.
[21:58] We just did it and then we were sort of thinking, well, what's next?
[22:00] But we don't know what's next.
[22:02] It's like we've got you in.
[22:04] pay the fee.
[22:05] We just thought one investment property.
[22:07] Yeah.
[22:07] You know, we'll just sit on that for a bit.
[22:09] Tick the box and.
[22:10] Yeah.
[22:11] Because we've ended up coming up with a plan with what to do with that property.
[22:15] Yes.
[22:15] That was what was part of your infinity strategy.
[22:17] Well, that's right.
[22:18] And then, yeah, to come back three years later as well and say, listen, we can't do anything for you.
[22:22] Not that I tried.
[22:23] Yeah.
[22:24] But, yeah, that was a bit of a.
[22:26] Yeah, a bit of an eye-opener as well.
[22:28] Yeah, it just showed that they weren't in the right reasons.
[22:30] It was definitely transactional.
[22:32] Yeah.
[22:32] Yeah, there was no relationship or support.
[22:34] Yeah.
[22:35] Around that process.
[22:36] So, yeah.
[22:37] Leading up to it, yes.
[22:39] But post it, no.
[22:40] You were just left on your own?
[22:41] Yeah.
[22:41] Got put in a too hard basket.
[22:43] Probably weren't earning enough money on their opinions and whatnot.
[22:48] Yeah.
[22:49] And then talk to me through what it was like going through the journey after signing up because you had a call from me very, very quickly.
[22:55] We were starting to get all your information, your documents.
[22:58] It's quite a bit of a whirlwind at the beginning.
[23:00] But talk me through how that all went for you guys.
[23:03] Just lots of scrambling, getting things certified and all our paperwork in order, you know, looking at our equity positions for both the properties, the old investment at that time and our principal place.
[23:20] It's a bit, yeah, it's a bit of a blur, to be honest.
[23:23] It was, yeah.
[23:24] It was three years ago now.
[23:26] Yes.
[23:27] Yeah.
[23:27] We just passed our three-year anniversary in April.
[23:30] Yeah.
[23:31] Yeah.
[23:31] Yeah, going from...
[23:33] Zero to 100 really fast.
[23:35] Really fast.
[23:37] And just seeing we've actually got potential to do this.
[23:42] I couldn't believe it when you said, oh, yeah, we're going to buy this property.
[23:46] I was just said to Luke, oh, they said we can get another investment property straight away.
[23:51] That was just, yeah, alien to us.
[23:53] And that was before we even considered what we did with the current one.
[23:56] Correct.
[23:56] Because we didn't even sell that immediately.
[23:58] Correct.
[23:59] We waited a little bit of time because we wanted to see the Queensland market continue to do its thing.
[24:03] Yeah.
[24:04] So we let it do its thing, but then we still were able to get you into something else.
[24:07] Yes.
[24:07] Yes.
[24:08] Straight away.
[24:08] Yeah.
[24:09] Yeah.
[24:09] Yeah.
[24:09] Like, yeah, really quick.
[24:11] Yeah.
[24:12] Yeah.
[24:13] And then what has happened from there for you guys?
[24:15] So you've been definitely very much onboarded.
[24:18] Three years you've been on the journey.
[24:20] Yes.
[24:21] You've got your relationship manager, your finance strategist, wealth strategist, financial planner.
[24:24] You've got a whole team.
[24:25] Yes.
[24:26] So talk me through what the last three years have felt like and been like for you guys.
[24:32] Probably the least stressful years we've had.
[24:35] Yeah, the first year was probably a little bit tough, I think, just to get used to the... To bigger jobs.
[24:40] Changing mindset.
[24:42] Yeah.
[24:42] More so with budgeting, spending, but, yeah, in hindsight, I wish it would have happened quicker, like in a mindset thing, but that's just years and years of my adult life.
[24:55] Conditioning.
[24:56] Of conditioning myself to be in a situation and have that mindset about myself, like work hard, play hard, you know.
[25:04] Yeah.
[25:04] But now we've, yeah, we still enjoy our lives.
[25:10] Like we go on holidays, we still do the same thing, so we haven't changed lifestyle too much.
[25:14] It's just, yeah, just focusing on the mortgage, which is the biggest driver, and trying to just set the boys up.
[25:24] Yeah, just, you know, I guess getting the budget in place was probably one of the first things to get used to.
[25:30] Yeah.
[25:30] Yeah.
[25:32] And then, you know, having those conversations with Luke that, you know, we do have a budget and with the kids.
[25:37] Yeah.
[25:38] That we just want to be, you know, have to be mindful.
[25:41] It isn't really massive changes either.
[25:44] No, it did take.
[25:46] It probably took a while to get used to it.
[25:49] Yeah.
[25:49] And, you know.
[25:51] I guess you have to be a bit conscious at the start about what you're spending and what you're spending on and just pulling back.
[25:57] Because we have one account now.
[25:58] We have one set of money in the account.
[26:01] Yes, yes, and that's where all the bills and... And settling with your budget and how much you should be doing.
[26:07] Every week, yeah.
[26:08] Everything like that and when things pop up.
[26:10] But once you get into that rhythm, it's quite easy.
[26:14] And then on the other side of the fence where our investments are just went...
[26:19] nuts as well.
[26:20] So we've got, you know... Because we're talking about just one before, but we've done a lot more since then.
[26:25] Yeah, yeah.
[26:26] So we've got South Vanished Soup, we've got one there in Queensland.
[26:29] We've got the Jewel Dwelling in New South Wales, and we've got one in Brisbane.
[26:36] So...
[26:38] Yeah.
[26:38] Three in our personal name now.
[26:40] And then we've just got deposit on another one as well in Queensland as well.
[26:45] So that's what, three and our... Well, four in total plus our principal place.
[26:52] Yeah.
[26:52] Yeah.
[26:52] Yeah.
[26:53] And as far as life goes, it's not like we're stressing about having to pay, you know, for all these properties.
[27:02] It's their investments and it's made life easier.
[27:05] Actually got a good tax return this year for the first time in years, usually getting nothing.
[27:10] And yeah, but got that and straight on to the mortgage.
[27:14] And the mortgage as well, we've probably got a couple of months.
[27:18] Yeah.
[27:19] Yeah, we're hoping to have well.
[27:20] Under $20,000 in a mortgage.
[27:22] Yeah.
[27:22] And that's from $480,000, $490,000, I think, when we started.
[27:26] Yeah, and just under $500,000.
[27:28] Yeah.
[27:28] When you first started.
[27:29] When we first started.
[27:30] Yeah.
[27:30] Just under $500,000.
[27:31] And as of today, we're just under $20,000.
[27:34] Yeah.
[27:36] But that amount actually also includes our capital gains tax from selling our original or our old property.
[27:44] Yeah, because we did eventually sell.
[27:45] We were looking at a seven-year out-of-debt journey without selling, just purely budgeting.
[27:50] But then we did eventually sell so we could reduce that owner-occupier home loan debt and then replace with a couple more properties.
[27:58] Yes.
[27:58] So we picked the right time to do that.
[27:59] I think so, yeah.
[28:01] I had a bit of a, I think, you know, we've been with Infini for about a year.
[28:05] And I just said to her, I think it's time we sell.
[28:07] I think we need to do this.
[28:09] It was a very old post-50s property.
[28:13] Yeah, we were the second owner of this house and the old couple who'd lived there before and just went on a journey around the country.
[28:20] Yeah, negatively geared, lots of repairs.
[28:23] Lots of things starting to pop up, yeah.
[28:24] Yeah.
[28:25] But yeah, we definitely sold at the right time.
[28:28] I think so.
[28:29] Might have been able to hold on for another six months.
[28:32] But it freed us up to be able to do more, right?
[28:34] Yes.
[28:34] That's why we didn't initially.
[28:36] So, we're like, we just want to have a look to see, get a bit more growth in that.
[28:39] Then we did sell at the right time.
[28:41] Yeah.
[28:41] So, we could go and do a couple more properties in your personal name, which...
[28:45] We are looking at just over $3.1 million in the personal name at the moment, probably even a little bit more.
[28:52] The values have gone up a little bit since you've purchased.
[28:54] And in the SMSF, we're looking at about, what, $800,000, $900,000 probably.
[28:59] Yeah.
[28:59] It's crazy.
[29:01] I saw it had quite an increase recently in the self-managed super fund.
[29:07] And we think we're ready to go again.
[29:08] Yeah.
[29:09] So we were lucky to have some of our money in.
[29:13] Left over when we combined our self-managed super fund into the fund.
[29:17] Yeah.
[29:18] Yeah.
[29:18] And then that's rolled over.
[29:20] Yeah.
[29:20] So we had that in a fund, just a high interest.
[29:23] Yeah.
[29:25] Had that going for a while.
[29:26] Got that back and still making money on our self-managed super fund property that's gone up and up and up.
[29:33] Yeah.
[29:33] That's done very, very well.
[29:35] Yeah.
[29:35] Yeah.
[29:36] And did you think any of that was possible when we first met?
[29:38] Yeah.
[29:39] Not at all.
[29:40] I mean, you were shocked.
[29:40] You were told you could do one at the time.
[29:43] Yeah.
[29:44] No.
[29:45] Just, yeah, not at all.
[29:46] No.
[29:46] No.
[29:48] I think, you know, just having the one, I just thought how could we get a second before infinity as well to make it go five.
[29:56] Yeah, we just didn't know any better coming from where we came from.
[30:00] Yeah.
[30:01] Yeah.
[30:01] Yeah.
[30:02] And it just shows anyone can do it.
[30:04] Yeah.
[30:06] Well, infinity is sort of backed us, I guess, in a way.
[30:09] Yeah.
[30:09] Yeah.
[30:10] You support us.
[30:10] Because we always review those strategies and unlike the service you had before, we're always there.
[30:15] Yeah.
[30:16] We're always talking to you, always reviewing things.
[30:18] Yeah.
[30:18] You've got...
[30:19] Your relationship manager that you talk to very, very frequently, which they manage more the budget than anything.
[30:24] But any time you have a really big change or we are looking at selling, they're going to refer you back to your finance strategist to then blow everything apart again pretty much.
[30:33] Pretty much.
[30:34] We were very shocked with our current purchase that we would be able to achieve that.
[30:38] Yeah.
[30:40] Yeah, which was a goal of mine to get to that stage in terms of purchasing something off the plan.
[30:46] Yeah.
[30:47] Yeah.
[30:48] I guess we don't really have – we didn't have any goals.
[30:52] Like we wanted to set the boys up.
[30:55] That's what we wanted to do, which I think will more than set them up now.
[31:01] But the goalposts keep moving with Infinity.
[31:05] They just keep looking at us and going, hey, you can do this, you know.
[31:08] And work-wise, lifestyle-wise, it's getting better, if anything.
[31:16] And, yeah, just the support and personalisation has been really, really good.
[31:22] Yeah.
[31:23] If you're enjoying this story and want to set yourself up for financial freedom as well, it all starts with our free 45 minute educational webinar.
[31:33] Click the link below this video to begin your journey today.
[31:35] And how do you find that service with your relationship manager, having that ongoing support, frequent communication with them?
[31:43] Yeah, good.
[31:44] Sometimes they're the bad guys.
[31:45] I was about to say, they do keep you in line and we have had a few, you know, we've gotten off track.
[31:50] Oh, we have a few moments, yeah.
[31:51] Like we want to get a bigger house.
[31:52] We're like, oh, we want to get a bigger house.
[31:54] Yeah, so I remember this conversation.
[31:56] Yeah, yeah.
[31:57] We won't go there.
[31:58] We won't go there.
[31:58] But, yeah, yeah, we have, you know, you get off track a little bit and they definitely pull us back into line.
[32:05] And then I guess we have a conversation between us.
[32:07] Yeah.
[32:08] You know, what we want to achieve, you know, would we rather achieve than us.
[32:10] Yeah, because ultimately everything's going to benefit us.
[32:12] Yeah.
[32:13] And it's to suit our lifestyle, our budget, our earning, like what we can borrow and everything like that.
[32:21] Yeah.
[32:21] Because the bigger house is not off the table.
[32:24] It's more we've got to time it at the right time.
[32:26] We've got to time it strategically.
[32:28] Yeah.
[32:28] Yeah.
[32:28] Yeah.
[32:29] That's the thing.
[32:29] Yeah.
[32:31] Just trusting that process has been great.
[32:34] Beneficial, like, yeah.
[32:35] Yeah.
[32:36] Yeah.
[32:37] A bit hard to get used to at the start.
[32:39] Yeah.
[32:39] But now anything, like, even where you get the investments, but, like, we have no idea.
[32:44] We haven't seen any of our places, you know, but we're just, like, we trust it.
[32:48] Oh, we've seen photos.
[32:49] We've seen photos.
[32:50] Well, yeah.
[32:51] Yeah, blurry real estate photos.
[32:52] No.
[32:53] That's about it, you know.
[32:53] Yeah.
[32:56] Well, you've gone from one extreme of no service all the time to now hearing from us probably more than you'd maybe even like at times.
[33:03] That's right.
[33:04] No, we love it.
[33:04] You guys, yeah, like you said, you've changed that mindset around what that means for you and how it's going to help you achieve certain things.
[33:11] You've also been able to go to a real estate mastery as well.
[33:14] And what was that like for you?
[33:15] Yeah, that was good.
[33:16] Amazing.
[33:17] So we actually didn't get the chance to go until this year.
[33:20] Yeah, it was a long while that year.
[33:23] Yeah, I think...
[33:24] I think when we joined Infinity there, there was a lot of restructure happening and we had changed relationship managers quite a few times.
[33:31] Yeah.
[33:32] And then when we got a bit more of a permanent one, we just weren't ready to purchase.
[33:36] And then we were finally ready to purchase.
[33:38] I think they did assessment towards the end of last year.
[33:41] Yeah.
[33:41] And then they were ready and they said come to a REM.
[33:43] Yeah.
[33:44] So we went to February REM, which was amazing.
[33:47] Which was a big one.
[33:48] It was a big one.
[33:49] Yeah.
[33:50] Yeah.
[33:50] I met some great people, people we sort of stay in touch with.
[33:54] You know.
[33:54] Yeah.
[33:55] You sort of get talking and we're pretty personal people, I'd say, but –
[34:02] You go there and everyone's just throwing everything out on the table, like done this, done that, and good, bad and the ugly.
[34:08] It's really very similar to people.
[34:09] I think it's just good to get into a room with everyone who's on the same page.
[34:14] Yep.
[34:14] Different levels, like different ages, different scenarios.
[34:18] We had some people who were just a new couple and then we had people with a couple of kids and
[34:23] Yeah, different walks of life.
[34:24] But just generally the whole mood and everything is amazing.
[34:29] Yeah.
[34:30] Everyone's got the same goals, same mindset, but catered differently with you guys.
[34:36] Yeah, yeah.
[34:37] Because there's a huge...
[34:38] amount of education in that weekend and that's everything we do is always about trying to educate you all the time especially when industry changes and you know the budget was just announced recently we had that a budget meeting on friday night um which g announced at the most previous room i was like thank you for giving up my friday night yeah but i was happy to do it because i love
[35:00] I love giving that value to you guys to know that you'll get it broken down and distilled in a way that's going to just make sense and you know how it then affects you.
[35:09] So how do you find that with Infinity?
[35:11] Because we do our monthly accountability meetings as well.
[35:13] There's so much that we're giving you all the time.
[35:16] How do you find that shaped your journey?
[35:18] Yeah, it's good just to, you know, keep up to date with the latest updates out in the industry and not hear what's out in the media all the time.
[35:28] You know, I love listening to yourself and Doc Wilson
[35:30] as well and getting those latest updates.
[35:33] Yeah, and just it reminds you to keep accountable as well.
[35:37] Just a refresher.
[35:38] Like even REM, because we'd obviously been with you guys for a few years before we did our REM.
[35:42] I can understand the value when you're starting going to one early.
[35:46] Yeah.
[35:46] For us, we heard and seen a lot of it before, but it was a really good reminder as well.
[35:52] And, yeah, just to know the whole everyone's on the same journey and you're just reinforcing the same.
[36:00] It's the same values, right?
[36:01] Nothing's really changing hugely over the years with you guys.
[36:03] You might make adjustments for, you know, budgets and economics and stuff like that.
[36:09] But it's ultimately, yeah, just the same goal and the same encouragement or encouragement you get from you guys to keep moving along and,
[36:22] Yeah.
[36:22] Yeah.
[36:23] Yeah, and we like to have a bit of fun too with our parties and things like that as everyone dresses up in the memes and I guess there's kind of a little different theme sometimes.
[36:33] And we won't talk about the tequila, but, yes, I didn't have mine, I must admit.
[36:39] Yes, I am saying it live in front of everyone because I don't drink.
[36:44] I can't remember if Luke took my shot or not now.
[36:47] It would have been me or Ben.
[36:48] Yeah, it was someone.
[36:49] Someone on our table.
[36:50] Yeah.
[36:50] Yeah.
[36:52] It's a bit of fun though, right?
[36:53] You've got to celebrate those wins.
[36:54] That's what it's about.
[36:55] It's just about celebrating you guys, celebrating those wins, and it's not all just about, you know, knuckling down and everything feeling a bit strained.
[37:03] But it sounds like you guys don't feel like the budget's straining.
[37:06] No, not really.
[37:07] I mean, you always have your weeks, you know, where I've had to maybe pull like an extra $20 out, you know, or I've had some small events happen and we've just, you know, used a little bit extra.
[37:18] But ultimately I think, you know, 90%, 95% of the time,
[37:23] on a week-to-week basis we stick to our budget.
[37:26] And, you know, life's so busy.
[37:28] We're not going out partying.
[37:29] We're not going on holidays every week.
[37:31] We're doing the same thing.
[37:32] Over and over again.
[37:33] Just doing life, yeah.
[37:34] Yeah.
[37:35] Yeah.
[37:35] But that's why the structure is so important, right?
[37:37] Correct.
[37:37] Because you have so much structure in your life with work and school for the kids and their activities, but then we so easily ignore the financial side of our life.
[37:45] Yes.
[37:45] And that's why structure, it sounds so simple.
[37:48] It does.
[37:48] It really does, but it really makes a huge difference for everyone.
[37:52] Yeah.
[37:52] It is structure.
[37:53] It doesn't feel like a chore though because I think if it did for me
[37:57] Like I was never good at following rules as a kid.
[38:00] I wasn't a best student, but it doesn't feel like that to me.
[38:03] Yeah.
[38:03] It really does feel like a family, like everyone's just getting around each other and just trying to get everybody in a better position.
[38:10] That's ultimately what it comes down to.
[38:12] Yeah.
[38:12] I think we needed that structure in our lives.
[38:15] I think that's what we were missing, you know, like we've said.
[38:18] We pretty much had no debt.
[38:19] Yeah.
[38:21] You know, we had that investment property.
[38:23] For us, I think it was, you know, I think for me it was more about having that budget and sticking to it, having that structure, which you guys helped get us to, and then, you know, keeping ourselves accountable and the discipline as well behind it, and that's what's worked.
[38:42] Just the guidance which lacked from the first, there was no guidance.
[38:46] Well, just in general guidance out there, you know, but everyone, there's just...
[38:51] you know, you get a bit from someone else and a bit here, but you guys have everything.
[38:56] Everything.
[38:56] Or Infinity gives you everything.
[38:58] Everything in one place.
[38:59] Yeah.
[38:59] Under the one roof.
[39:00] Yeah.
[39:01] And we've still got no plan.
[39:03] It's just we're just running with the punches.
[39:05] I've got Infinity to do this, okay.
[39:07] Yeah, yeah, that's right.
[39:08] But it's good to have people who know what they're doing.
[39:11] Yeah.
[39:12] Yeah, giving us a plan and just things we wouldn't have even thought of in our wildest dreams, I don't think.
[39:18] Yeah.
[39:19] Yeah.
[39:19] And what does it feel like now, knowing that once upon a time you took the risk to be rent investors, knowing that if you never got back into a PPOR, you'd always have that rent hanging over your head.
[39:30] That'd always be an expense and a liability.
[39:32] So now fast forward to today, almost completely bad debt-free, which means no mortgage repayment.
[39:37] Yes.
[39:38] No rent, no mortgage repayment.
[39:39] How does that feel?
[39:40] It feels great.
[39:41] Because then, like we've had recently, we had one of the tenants move out of a property and
[39:50] I just finished building the other ones in New South Wales and they're not tenanted and it hasn't been – we haven't even gave it a thought really.
[39:59] We haven't even thought, oh, shit, we're not going to be able to pay the bills, we're not going to be able to pay the mortgage.
[40:03] We've never once thought how are we going to pay the bills at all.
[40:10] Yeah, and I think with renting, you know, I think everything's just unexpected.
[40:14] Yeah.
[40:15] You know, I guess you expect that increase every year or whatever it is, whatever state you're in.
[40:23] And just, you know, not having a secure place to live.
[40:27] You know, pets can obviously be an issue some.
[40:29] With renters.
[40:30] Yeah.
[40:30] I know they've changed that a little bit now.
[40:32] That still doesn't stop people from overlooking those applications.
[40:36] Yeah.
[40:36] Yeah.
[40:37] I think if we had stayed on the same path that we were on, it would have been a lot more stressful.
[40:43] Like, say, if someone would have moved out of our rental property, we would have been like...
[40:48] what the hell are we going to do?
[40:49] We've got to get someone in, maybe drop the rent to support it so we can just get someone in and then we'd probably have to make up the rest, you know, whereas now we don't have extravagant landlord insurance or anything like that.
[41:03] It's just, yeah, good network behind us and we're in a good position obviously with our mortgage.
[41:09] And I think if we stayed renting, we'd have to be
[41:13] You know, I think the market, as you know, is tight.
[41:15] Yeah.
[41:17] So just trying to find a property, you know, that would suit us.
[41:20] Would be tough.
[41:20] Yeah.
[41:21] Low vacancy rates at the moment, which is great for investors.
[41:24] But, yeah, rent's increasing very quickly.
[41:27] Yeah.
[41:28] Yeah.
[41:28] Yeah.
[41:29] And at the time, you know, we bought, our rent was probably going to be very similar to our mortgage payment before.
[41:35] Yeah.
[41:35] Interest rates were...
[41:36] rose yeah and that helped yeah our decision at that time yeah i know it's different for people today i might not be actually with the rental market to be honest i'm not sure but yeah so that i think that helped change our mind from renting into moving into our own property
[41:55] Yeah.
[41:55] Yeah.
[41:56] And what do you think has done for the kids and their future?
[41:58] And are we involving the kids in these conversations?
[42:01] Like telling them why mum and dad budget?
[42:04] Yeah.
[42:04] Tell them everything.
[42:06] Don't even argue anymore.
[42:08] Yeah.
[42:09] Anymore.
[42:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[42:12] So we had a rough start Yeah, yeah We used to get You know, we get takeaway Every week Yeah Things like that Now we'll just make burgers We'll That's our Yeah I think we just said You know, we're just going to Knuckle down a bit Yeah See how we go This is what we're doing
[42:29] And then, you know, every time we achieve something, you know, we tell them that we've achieved.
[42:33] And I can see little smiles on their face.
[42:36] Yeah.
[42:36] I know.
[42:37] Even though they're teenagers and they're boys.
[42:39] But they're also of an age where they can understand too.
[42:41] Yes.
[42:42] So it's so important to plant those seeds with them because even if they might not like it now or they had a rough start,
[42:49] It's eventually going to click if not already.
[42:52] That's right.
[42:52] Yeah.
[42:52] I think for the older one it's clicked a bit.
[42:54] He's quite responsible and, you know, he earns a little bit of money and he's quite a good saver.
[42:59] He's actually sold some items himself to make some money.
[43:02] Oh, good for him.
[43:03] Which is good and we'll see what he does with it though.
[43:05] Yeah.
[43:06] Yeah, he wanted to get a tinny at some point.
[43:07] The younger one's a bit of a spender.
[43:09] I've got to change his mindset.
[43:11] But he's still young.
[43:12] He's only 13.
[43:13] He's not making any money.
[43:14] He's just bludgeoning off us really.
[43:16] Yeah.
[43:17] He's 13.
[43:18] Yeah.
[43:18] But, yeah, but it's just building their wealth for their future, you know.
[43:23] Their wealth, the awareness of how you can do it.
[43:27] Yeah.
[43:28] I think social media nowadays is a minefield for young kids.
[43:31] Yeah.
[43:32] And it's hard for them to discern from, like, what they should follow, what they shouldn't follow, and that's why it's so important as parents to be that guiding light.
[43:41] Yeah.
[43:41] Because there are some terrible role models out there.
[43:44] Yeah, even our oldest son, he's like a group of him and his mates, you know, already looking at the share market.
[43:50] Yeah.
[43:51] So I've had conversations with him about that.
[43:53] He's very interested in it.
[43:55] Yeah.
[43:55] And, you know, we've let him.
[43:58] dabble with the game side of it, that ASIC set up for people.
[44:04] And then, you know, he's also looked at the crypto side of it.
[44:08] All the things you don't like.
[44:10] Yeah.
[44:11] And I can't believe, you know, teenagers are already starting to look into that way to...
[44:15] maybe build wealth or try and make a quick buck.
[44:18] Yeah.
[44:18] I mean, well, that's the good side of it.
[44:20] I know we say we don't like the crypto, right, but it's more around the mindset of wanting to learn about investing is the important thing.
[44:29] Trying to get the quick buck is the bad thing.
[44:31] That's all about chasing.
[44:33] It's all about chasing.
[44:34] quick hits of endorphins just by getting money.
[44:39] Yeah.
[44:40] It's all just a quick snipper out of people's life.
[44:42] That's what they base their lives around.
[44:44] But we're trying to give them some good lessons.
[44:47] Yeah, ground them, understand it takes time to build wealth.
[44:51] Yeah.
[44:51] You know, be responsible with your money.
[44:53] Yeah.
[44:54] And you can show them your timeline as well.
[44:56] Yeah.
[44:57] Yeah.
[44:57] Which is quick.
[44:59] Really, it is quick in the grand scheme of things.
[45:01] I know it sounds like, you know, some people have taken six years and some people have taken five and, you know, some people look at it and go, oh, that's so long.
[45:08] Like some people look at their out-of-debt journey of nine years and go, but other people are at seven and other people.
[45:14] And I'm like, but that's incredible that you can do it in nine.
[45:17] Like a starting mortgage.
[45:18] Yeah.
[45:18] When you were looking at 29.
[45:20] Exactly.
[45:20] Yeah.
[45:21] And it can be brought forward, which...
[45:23] It is exactly what happened to you.
[45:24] I think it's pretty much with a lot of people's circumstances.
[45:28] The same as Casey and Lenny.
[45:29] When they first started, they were looking at 12 years.
[45:33] But then we've reshaped where they, you know, helping Lenny with his business, getting on board a really good accountant for him, registering GST, getting more clients.
[45:41] They've now been able to bring that down under 10 years.
[45:43] Yeah.
[45:44] So where you start isn't always...
[45:46] necessarily going to be where you end up finishing it could be quicker yes yeah and it definitely has been for us so that's right and you get you get out what you put in as well like yeah absolutely we've tried like try to keep our budget down and everything like that and again it's not all doom and gloom like i think a lot of people get scared by that word like yeah budget and they think budget you're in prison yeah why do people think it's such a dirty word i don't know it's it's
[46:12] It's your money.
[46:13] Yeah.
[46:14] You know, obviously you have oversight by your RM.
[46:17] They don't control your money.
[46:19] Correct.
[46:19] Yes.
[46:20] You can go out and buy your money if you want.
[46:22] Yeah.
[46:23] But if I needed to borrow an extra $20 from myself, ultimately because I needed to get something extra...
[46:29] In that week's budget, I will.
[46:30] Yeah.
[46:31] I try and put notes.
[46:32] I try and clarify why.
[46:34] And some weeks I've tried to pay back where I've borrowed a little bit.
[46:37] Yeah.
[46:38] But, you know, it keeps you accountable, but you still have control of your money.
[46:43] Yeah.
[46:43] Yeah.
[46:44] Yeah.
[46:44] We don't have control of accounts.
[46:45] We can't go in them and take the money back off you.
[46:48] No, you're not advertising the caravans and jet skis, you know.
[46:52] Yeah.
[46:52] It's a mindset shift.
[46:54] Yeah.
[46:55] Yeah.
[46:56] and which you've done, that's been a huge part of your journey, especially with, you know, both of your backgrounds as well.
[47:03] It's very easy to get stuck in that cycle of, oh, now I'm doing really, really well.
[47:07] I've got a partner.
[47:08] I'm raising kids not in a single-parent household.
[47:10] We can give them everything.
[47:12] So it is a big change to get there.
[47:14] You once said as well that, you know, when you started this journey, when you found Infinity, it was due to interest rates starting to rise, which, you know, we are in Australia.
[47:23] We have variable interest rates.
[47:25] We're quite different to a lot of the world in that way, and that's why our big four, they make up 50% of the most profitable banks in the entire world because of the way we manage our interest rates.
[47:35] Now we've started to see interest rates rise again.
[47:37] We've lost all of our interest rate reductions we had from 2025.
[47:41] What is it like for you guys now when interest rates rise?
[47:45] It doesn't concern us.
[47:46] We don't even think about it.
[47:48] I think our mortgage repayments are like a minimum is like, what, $500?
[47:52] Yeah.
[47:53] Yeah.
[47:54] Yeah, it really doesn't change.
[47:55] And we still pay extra and we, yeah, like once the mortgage is done, we're not going to go ahead and trade ourself or –
[48:03] Yeah, we won't have that worry with the interest rate.
[48:06] I think because of the structure being set up the way it is and, you know, having the buffer there, you know, we can definitely deal with having any interest rate increases that come across and, you know, any other expense or costs that might come out.
[48:24] Yeah.
[48:25] And you've also learnt interest rates don't matter with the right structure.
[48:27] They definitely don't.
[48:28] Yeah.
[48:29] Was that a big learning curve?
[48:32] Like was that quite a big thing?
[48:33] Yeah.
[48:33] Yeah.
[48:34] Yeah.
[48:35] That I still...
[48:37] Yeah, it still seems crazy today to think about it.
[48:41] Yeah.
[48:42] Yeah.
[48:42] One of the things I love in the masterclass, especially now that I'm actually running them and presenting the masterclasses, is when we get to, you know, doing some of that live coaching and we get the out-of-debt calculator up and we show people, okay, this is the interest rate you're on now.
[48:55] We're not trying to better your interest rate.
[48:57] This is how quickly you can pay the mortgage out in.
[48:59] And then I go, but let's pretend interest rates shift 1%.
[49:02] What happens?
[49:03] And it shifts their out-of-debt by a couple of months.
[49:05] Yes, exactly.
[49:06] Correct.
[49:06] And I love looking at the chat bar when that happens because people are just like, how?
[49:11] And we're like, that's mathematically correct.
[49:15] And people just are shocked that no one's ever been taught this.
[49:17] Well, that's right.
[49:18] Outside of infinity, people, I see in like our local internet and things, everyone's like, oh, interest rates are going up.
[49:24] How are you going to survive?
[49:25] And I'm like...
[49:26] You're like, we're fine.
[49:26] Has it even happened?
[49:28] We're good, yeah.
[49:29] I'm not trying to brag.
[49:30] Yeah, yeah, that's right.
[49:34] It's crazy how many people are living on sort of the edge of, right?
[49:39] Yeah.
[49:40] Even back then before infinity, I wouldn't have even dreamed of how
[49:45] we would have done things if I would have got injured at work.
[49:47] Yeah.
[49:48] Something like that.
[49:48] There was no plan B. I just had to keep rolling.
[49:52] Yeah, now I think it would be tough.
[49:56] We'd have to probably budget more.
[49:57] But if we couldn't work or anything like that happened, it would still be.
[50:01] Yeah.
[50:01] Yeah.
[50:02] I mean, you now know your biggest expense is gone.
[50:05] Yeah.
[50:05] That's right.
[50:06] Which is the biggest strain for most families.
[50:08] Yeah, but we didn't even see it as that before.
[50:10] Yeah.
[50:11] That's the crazy thing before.
[50:12] I didn't even see the mortgages out.
[50:13] It was just... You accepted the 30-year myth.
[50:16] Yeah, it's the biggest expense in your life, but you're just...
[50:20] It's just part of your life.
[50:21] You just look at it, oh, that's, I have to pay it.
[50:23] It's just madness.
[50:24] Were you conditioned to believe this is just how things are?
[50:28] 100%.
[50:28] Yeah.
[50:29] And I know you mentioned the mortgage calculator.
[50:31] Yeah.
[50:32] So when I did put it in during the masterclass, it actually said that it was going to take 32 years
[50:40] to pay off our loan and we would be in our 70s.
[50:43] So your bank potentially had not, especially with, this happens a lot with interest rates rise, they don't actually recalculate your home loan repayment properly.
[50:54] Yeah.
[50:55] But you actually have to do it.
[50:57] And then people fall in a reason.
[50:58] We saw a lot of it where people were falling in a reason, like, but we just make the minimum repayment.
[51:03] We're like, but did your bank change it after the rate rise?
[51:05] Yeah.
[51:06] Because some of the bank's systems are not set up to do it properly.
[51:09] Yeah.
[51:09] And it takes a few months to realise.
[51:11] Yeah.
[51:12] Yeah.
[51:12] I just thought, you know, how that's, you know, how can we, I just couldn't see us working into our early 70s to try to pay off a mortgage.
[51:22] Yeah.
[51:22] Yeah.
[51:23] And so how does retirement look like?
[51:25] I know it's probably still fair away for you guys, but how does it look like,
[51:30] Um, I think comfortable.
[51:32] We can retire happy.
[51:33] Yeah, we can probably retire earlier than you first thought.
[51:36] Because, yeah, I'm loving that idea because I work a physical job.
[51:41] Yeah.
[51:41] Work hard for my money.
[51:43] Haven't thought about it, but, you know, haven't really thought about it too much.
[51:46] But, yeah, like Luke said, you know, maybe a few years earlier.
[51:51] You know, still want to be out there and do stuff.
[51:54] Keep yourself active.
[51:54] Don't just completely stop.
[51:55] Yeah.
[51:56] Maybe more travelling.
[51:57] I don't feel like a stop, yeah.
[51:58] And then supporting the kids.
[51:59] Like that's ultimately what I want to do.
[52:01] That's right.
[52:01] Just help support them.
[52:02] And then, you know, if they have their own kids be there for them, you know, not having to keep working during that period and I can support them as well.
[52:10] Can you be an active grandparent?
[52:12] Yeah.
[52:12] Maybe.
[52:14] I wouldn't care being grandparent daycare for the kids.
[52:16] Yeah, maybe not since the older 16, but maybe a few years.
[52:21] Quite a few years ago.
[52:22] But I think ultimately, you know, that's the bigger picture.
[52:27] And, yeah, I don't know, you guys can take us on our journey of what that will look like.
[52:32] Yeah.
[52:32] Do you feel like it's actually something that you can look at and go, this could be our reality now?
[52:37] We've got choices.
[52:37] Do you believe it?
[52:38] Yeah.
[52:38] We've got choices.
[52:39] Yeah, we've got so many options.
[52:41] Yeah.
[52:41] Yeah.
[52:43] We had the mindset before, like you work to your, you know, close to 70.
[52:47] To retirement age.
[52:48] Live a few good years and scrimp and save on your super.
[52:52] Our super's got us.
[52:53] Yeah, your super's got us and you won't probably get a pension by the time we retire.
[52:57] The government will probably bring something else.
[52:59] They'll change something else.
[53:00] Change something, but at least we don't have to rely on anyone else.
[53:03] Or they'll probably then increase the age in which you can access it or... Yeah, life turns up longer and all this stuff.
[53:09] Yeah, you can't, unfortunately, you can't rely on the government to be there for you.
[53:13] Yeah.
[53:15] To support you, so we've... No matter how good a taxpayer you are.
[53:18] Yeah.
[53:19] Yeah.
[53:20] People I do tell, because I'm sort of pick and choose who I do tell them, they're like, oh, you must have earned a bit of money.
[53:25] And I'm like, no, I earn the same money as you.
[53:27] Yeah.
[53:28] Like we're in the same lunchroom.
[53:29] Yeah, exactly, same lunchroom.
[53:31] You could be on a higher level than me, I wouldn't know.
[53:33] And you've worked here longer than me and I'm on a fairly good wicket working.
[53:37] We're on good incomes for what we do.
[53:40] We work, you know, we both work very hard.
[53:44] for that income.
[53:45] Yeah.
[53:45] That's the thing.
[53:46] The mindset with people is you have property, you must be loaded.
[53:50] Yeah.
[53:51] You must have pumped the overtime or, you know, you must have had a good investment.
[53:54] You must have been given money and we've had none of that.
[53:57] Yeah.
[53:57] We've got that.
[53:58] No, you're working hard to make sure you service for it.
[54:00] Yeah, that's right.
[54:01] We've worked hard to service for it.
[54:02] We haven't got any handouts.
[54:03] We haven't got any money off.
[54:04] Yeah.
[54:05] Family.
[54:05] Parents or family.
[54:06] Yeah, you've got no inheritances waiting for you.
[54:08] Yeah.
[54:09] Definitely not.
[54:09] And do you still, you know, in the lunchrooms and things like that, hear people still worrying about interest rates rising and what the government's going to do?
[54:16] There's a lot of, like my, I'm an electrician, so there's a lot of,
[54:22] sort of ego in the sort of lunchroom.
[54:25] Like a lot of people are like, oh, you know, pay your mortgage every week and just bad advice.
[54:30] So I sort of sit tight and a couple of people say, no, I've done this and I'll pay my mortgage off in –
[54:36] you know, 15, 20 years and I had someone the other week say, and I said, I'm nearly done.
[54:40] And then I was in front of about five, six people and they're like, oh, you must have earned a bit of money.
[54:44] I'm like, oh, yeah.
[54:46] And then one guy came up to me after and said, how much is your mortgage if you don't mind me asking?
[54:51] And I said, I was about 500.
[54:52] And he's like, how long?
[54:53] I said, you know, a couple of years.
[54:55] And he's like, how did you do that?
[54:56] And I said, I've just, here's a webinar.
[54:58] Send them a link.
[54:59] I always send them to the podcast.
[55:01] Yeah.
[55:01] Listen to it.
[55:02] um listen to them i said listen to them if you like it and send you a link i'm not benefiting like but i'm happy if someone else is yeah gonna learn to pass it forward yeah yeah yeah because yeah it's not like we're all sitting back you know taking kickbacks and yeah there's so many people we know can change their lives yeah but still a lot of try to persuade them
[55:26] But, you know, ultimately it's their choice if they want to take the next step.
[55:31] But, you know, I can see where they would be in a couple of years.
[55:34] If they just did what you guys did.
[55:36] Yeah.
[55:37] Yeah.
[55:37] There's just so much misinformation out there.
[55:40] Yeah.
[55:40] And even for us, I happily, the people who are interested, I say, here's our financials.
[55:45] Here's what we've got.
[55:46] Yeah.
[55:46] And they still like, oh, it's a scam.
[55:49] You showed him in black and white.
[55:51] Yeah, this is my mortgage balance and here's my properties.
[55:55] This is what I've got.
[55:56] I'm an open book.
[55:57] We know it's the best scam ever then.
[55:58] Yeah.
[55:59] I merely did the fund interest that used to come in every month.
[56:03] So this is what we're earning.
[56:04] Yeah.
[56:05] Isn't that crazy?
[56:06] Yeah.
[56:07] They don't know how we could, you know, how that is real.
[56:11] Yeah.
[56:12] Yeah.
[56:12] Even when they've got two people in front of them that can tell them exactly how it works.
[56:15] And show live data as well.
[56:17] Yeah.
[56:18] Yeah.
[56:18] So unfortunately some people just that conditioning just gets in you too much and it's really hard to break but it takes somebody who's just willing to go there's something more and I just need to try and find it.
[56:30] Yeah.
[56:30] You've got to have it within yourself.
[56:32] Yeah.
[56:32] I think to make that change as well.
[56:34] Yeah.
[56:34] Exactly.
[56:35] Yeah.
[56:35] Well, thank you guys so much for coming and sharing your story.
[56:38] This is definitely going to resonate with a lot of people.
[56:40] Yeah, to everyone out there, trust the process.
[56:42] Yeah, trust the process.
[56:44] Amazing, guys.
[56:45] Thank you so much.
[56:46] Thank you.
[56:47] Thank you for your time.
[56:48] Thank you.
[56:50] You're fucking going to sue you.

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