# The Super Trap That Catches Australians | Woody & Natalie | CHANGING LIVES S04 EP65

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 16 Aug 2026, 54 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/01KZZD5N7ZTWWQ4YBCEKWF012Y.mp3

Woody and Natalie were in their 50s with an $800,000 mortgage, and the plan was to use super to clear it. Good jobs, no debt except the home loan, and no real plan beyond the status quo. The retirement plan was to use super to pay off the mortgage and downsize, and it never sat right with Woody. There had to be a better way. They talk about the light bulb moment that interest is calculated daily, the savings account they were holding while owing $800,000, and the slush fund Woody quietly ran for years. Less than two years later the loan sits at about $630,000, and Woody rang the bank because he could not believe it was real. Want to improve your own financial future? Our free webinar is where to start: 👉 https://bit.ly/43V2jKN #ChangingLivesPodcast #MortgageFreeAustralia #FinancialFreedom

## Transcript

[0:00] We still had a $800,000 mortgage.
[0:02] I knew we could pay it off with my super.
[0:04] That was the retirement plan.
[0:06] Use super, pay off the home loan and downsize.
[0:08] That didn't sit right, wouldn't it?
[0:09] There's got to be a better way.
[0:11] The house that we had in super was going down.
[0:13] We weren't making money on it.
[0:14] My industry's tall shift work.
[0:17] It's quite a dangerous industry as well, so we were desperate.
[0:20] We committed to watching the free webinar and the two day masterclass.
[0:24] I was on the edge of the seat the whole time.
[0:26] Tell me about your biggest light bulb moments during that weekend.
[0:31] I'm just thinking, how?
[0:32] But then you do the two-day masterclass and everything's revealed.
[0:35] The home loan, where did we start and where are we now?
[0:37] We were $800,000 before we found Infinity.
[0:40] Now we're sitting at the 6.30 mark.
[0:43] 160 something thousand in less than two years.
[0:46] We look at it sometimes and we go, how did that even happen?
[0:49] I rang up the bank to ask if it was right.
[0:52] Our investment journey so far has been absolutely epic.
[0:55] Got rid of the crappy one.
[0:57] We've got three in equity and two in our self-managed central fund.
[1:00] In two years.
[1:02] That's why we think, why weren't we here earlier?
[1:05] And now you're like, super, what?
[1:07] Yeah, that's right.
[1:12] Welcome back to the Money Mentor Podcast, where we have our latest episode of changing lives financially.
[1:17] Today, we have the lovely couple, Woody and Natalie.
[1:21] How are we guys?
[1:22] Good, thank you.
[1:22] How are we feeling?
[1:23] Really good.
[1:24] Yeah.
[1:25] Not nervous, which I like.
[1:26] You ready to just share your story?
[1:27] Yeah.
[1:28] Awesome.
[1:28] Well, that's what we're going to start with.
[1:30] Start with your story.
[1:31] I want to know a bit about you guys, your family.
[1:34] What do you do for work?
[1:35] Give it to me.
[1:36] Okay.
[1:37] Okay.
[1:38] So I work in education.
[1:40] We've got two beautiful kiddies, 25 and 28, still living at home.
[1:45] Still cannot believe you haven't knew that.
[1:46] Spunking at home.
[1:48] Still at home.
[1:49] And I've got my great niece who also lives with us, who's 14 turning 15 soon.
[1:54] So busy household.
[1:55] Yeah.
[1:55] Very busy.
[1:56] I've got two puppies, two fur babies, two cavudels, Lexi and Louie.
[2:00] Very much part of the family.
[2:01] They're like your kids too.
[2:02] Absolutely.
[2:03] I'm Woody.
[2:03] I'm...
[2:05] work in transport and logistics and yeah, we're just living the dream, I guess.
[2:12] Trying to do our best.
[2:13] Yeah.
[2:13] Yeah.
[2:14] And tell me about what life looked like before you met Infinity.
[2:18] What did, you know, investing look like?
[2:21] What did the money look like?
[2:23] Finances, jobs, all of that.
[2:25] So money, we both have really good jobs.
[2:28] So we've both earned really good money.
[2:30] I think for a long time we work really hard in everything that we do.
[2:34] Um, money wise, we just spent as we earned.
[2:37] I think it was just a matter of money comes in and what do we need and what don't we need, but we want, and then we just go in and get it.
[2:44] So there wasn't really any plan we had.
[2:47] We never had a budget.
[2:48] We didn't know how to spend money.
[2:50] We're pretty bad with our money.
[2:52] Not on bad things, but just, you know, we need something new here or something there.
[2:56] I love like looking after the house.
[2:58] So every season you need something different.
[3:00] So you'd go and, you know, buy different things.
[3:01] Yeah.
[3:01] Yeah.
[3:02] You know, still got the kids at home, the dogs, like anything we needed.
[3:06] Yeah.
[3:06] We would just go and get.
[3:07] So you felt comfortable.
[3:09] Yeah, very comfortable.
[3:09] But there was no plan.
[3:11] No plan.
[3:12] If we needed to do holidays, we'd sort of put that away and sort of start saving for holidays.
[3:15] So we...
[3:16] We've done, you know, we've had many beautiful holidays.
[3:19] So, yeah, there was no plan.
[3:21] We just thought, oh, well, the house is there.
[3:22] We're paying that off as the bank tells you to pay it off.
[3:25] The status quo.
[3:26] That's it.
[3:26] We'll get there one day.
[3:27] We actually thought we were doing pretty good compared to most, which we were.
[3:30] Yeah.
[3:31] Because, you know, we used to talk about, you know, money problems or issues with mortgages and then we'd sort of look at each other and go,
[3:39] So it was a conversation in the household.
[3:41] Yeah, but we'd just be thinking, yeah, but people would probably kill to be in our position having conversations about mortgages, you know what I mean?
[3:47] So on the other side of it, we're thinking, no, we're doing all right.
[3:50] We've got a mortgage, which is better than most, but we were pretty bad with our money.
[3:54] Yeah.
[3:55] Bottom line is.
[3:56] The one thing we were proud of though is we never had credit cards.
[3:58] So we thought we must be doing really well because we've never had credit cards.
[4:01] But that is the benchmark that was in it.
[4:02] A lot of people are like, we don't have debt except the mortgage.
[4:05] So we're doing well.
[4:06] Bills are paid.
[4:07] Yeah.
[4:07] But there was nothing really from there.
[4:09] Yeah.
[4:10] Just spending within my means, we just used to think, you know, we're in this and we can spend it.
[4:14] Yeah.
[4:15] Yeah.
[4:15] You can, you can do that for so long and then you just start thinking like, cause we're, we're in our mid fifties now.
[4:21] Um, and we just, I was more thinking along this, the retirement sort of, you know, sort of time and, and, and how are we going to get there and what that looked like.
[4:30] And, you know, we still had a $800,000 mortgage.
[4:34] So.
[4:35] What does that feel like having such a big mortgage in your early fifties?
[4:39] Uh, look, I knew we could pay it off with my super.
[4:44] So that was your plan.
[4:45] It was super.
[4:46] That was our, yeah, basically we didn't have a plan outside of that.
[4:49] Yeah.
[4:50] But that didn't sit right with me either.
[4:52] You know what I mean?
[4:53] I was just thinking, no, there's got to be a better way.
[4:56] Um, so for a while I was thinking, how the hell are we going to do this?
[5:00] Um, you know, is it good of a life that we do have and that we've lived in, you know, we've done more travel than most have done in two lifetimes.
[5:08] Yeah.
[5:09] Um, and we don't do anything half-hearted to, you know what I mean?
[5:12] Like if we go somewhere, we do everything.
[5:15] Yeah.
[5:16] No matter what the cost.
[5:17] You know what I mean?
[5:17] Like, you know, let's go stay here.
[5:20] Oh, no, no, stay there because it's near the beach and pay the extra.
[5:23] I don't care.
[5:24] Or just do a bit of overtime or whatever.
[5:26] So we have had a good go, as they say.
[5:29] But then, yeah, the rubber started hitting the road when we started thinking about retirement and what that looked like.
[5:35] And, yeah, to be honest, I had no idea how that was going to happen.
[5:40] Yeah.
[5:40] Unless my super sort of covered most of that.
[5:42] And then what do you live on?
[5:43] Yeah.
[5:44] Like, do we downsize?
[5:45] Cause what did that feel like, you know, going into that thought process where you're like, okay, well, at least we know super is going to cover it, but then what do you do from there?
[5:53] Like, what did that feel like?
[5:55] Yeah.
[5:56] Well, it, it felt like you had no control.
[6:00] Yeah.
[6:00] You know what I mean?
[6:01] Like you, we had no idea how it was going to happen.
[6:05] Um, you know, we, we obviously you think, oh, you know, you're going to get an inheritance or some people get inheritance, but you know, and sort of thing.
[6:13] And that'll, that was sort of like a bit of a backup plan, but again, that didn't sit right with me either.
[6:17] Yeah.
[6:18] You know what I mean?
[6:18] Like we should be paving our way in life and setting ourselves up and if stuff like that eventually happens, that's a bonus, but I didn't want to rely on that sort of thing.
[6:28] Yeah.
[6:28] So I just wanted to, um, pay, you know, just sort of make our own way.
[6:32] So.
[6:33] It felt very uncomfortable.
[6:34] It weighed on my mind too, you know what I mean, for quite a while.
[6:40] Hence how we found you guys.
[6:41] Yeah, how did you find us?
[6:43] Well, funny story that.
[6:45] Because I wasn't really searching for anything on Facebook at the time because that's how we found you, through Facebook.
[6:51] So I don't know whether they...
[6:54] got a program where it reads into your mind.
[6:57] They start thinking of something and it's there.
[6:58] Yeah, you start thinking and then they just sort of, because I actually didn't search for anything on Facebook at all, but what I did notice is one of the guys from work liked one of your posts and I thought, oh, I know him.
[7:12] If he thinks it's okay to have a look at it, I might click on it too.
[7:14] So I sort of clicked on it, had a look and obviously G popped up and his amazing personality and...
[7:24] Definitely resonated with me.
[7:25] It's just sort of black and white.
[7:28] This is how it is.
[7:29] Yeah.
[7:30] Definitely doesn't beat around the bush.
[7:31] No.
[7:32] You know, people need a slap in the face.
[7:33] He'll give it to you, basically.
[7:34] Yeah.
[7:36] And, yeah, I sort of watched a few of his podcasts.
[7:41] So similar to like what you guys are doing now, people sharing their stories.
[7:44] Yep.
[7:45] And then I mentioned it to Nat and I said, oh, you've got to have a look at this, Blake.
[7:49] I reckon he's on to something here.
[7:51] And then we obviously committed to watching the webinar, the free webinar.
[7:57] And we committed to the two-day masterclass.
[8:00] But the funny thing was when I saw my friend that initially liked the post at work, because by this time I'm amped.
[8:08] I'm thinking, this is our golden ticket.
[8:10] This is it.
[8:10] We found the answer.
[8:11] You know what I mean?
[8:16] Yeah, our dreams, even though we didn't really have any dreams back then because we didn't.
[8:19] Because you felt like you were achieving it also too with your travel.
[8:21] Yeah, well, we didn't think we could dream beyond what we had.
[8:24] Yeah.
[8:24] You know what I mean?
[8:25] Oh, that's interesting.
[8:26] So you felt like you couldn't dream beyond what you had.
[8:30] No, no.
[8:30] So your expectations are only a certain.
[8:32] Yeah.
[8:33] You know, because you can only expect what you can only expect.
[8:37] That's quite an honest observation though, isn't it?
[8:39] Like that you set yourself that limit because you're like, it's not possible.
[8:43] Yeah.
[8:44] We never thought beyond, you know, sort of thing.
[8:46] So, um, and then anyway, I was speaking to my friend at work and I said, how good is infinity?
[8:50] And he goes, what are you talking about?
[8:51] I said, you like one of their posts?
[8:53] Like I'm telling him they're the best thing since life spreading.
[8:55] He goes, mate, I have no idea what you're talking about.
[8:58] um, blah, blah, blah.
[8:59] And I think he'd liked the post a couple of years ago or whatever it was, but it just kept coming up.
[9:04] So he actually never really looked into it.
[9:07] So I started sharing with him, brother, you've got to get on this.
[9:10] It's the best thing since sliced bread.
[9:12] Um, you know, explained it, the little knowledge I knew about it.
[9:15] I explained to him, but I was that enthusiastic that he actually started looking at it too.
[9:20] He goes, I think I need something like that.
[9:21] I said,
[9:23] get onto it.
[9:23] So, um, it was a bit of a funny side story there.
[9:26] So eventually we jumped on the, uh, two day masterclass and yeah, that just sealed the deal for us.
[9:33] Yeah.
[9:33] Tell me about your biggest light bulb moments during that weekend.
[9:37] I think for me, just interest is calculated daily.
[9:41] That was the biggest thing for me.
[9:43] And I, yeah, because I just never realized that.
[9:46] And I had friends that had paid homes off and whatnot, but they'd never, ever told me that or never told me really how they did it.
[9:53] And so when I- Do you think they even knew?
[9:54] Yeah.
[9:55] I don't know.
[9:56] I don't know.
[9:57] But I have, yeah, I just thought, oh, this is, what are we doing?
[10:01] So for me, like we had any money that we had left over or whatnot would go into a different account for savings.
[10:06] And so even with G talking about, well, you shouldn't have savings if you haven't paid to.
[10:10] If you've got a mortgage.
[10:11] If you've got a mortgage.
[10:12] So we're like, oh, gee, we're doing this all wrong.
[10:14] So I think for me, I was like, oh my gosh, what are we doing?
[10:16] We need to get all of our money against our home loan so we can start to pay this off.
[10:20] So that was probably my biggest, I'm a simple one, but just something that I took away.
[10:25] No, but it's so powerful, right?
[10:26] I was just like, oh my gosh, what are we doing?
[10:28] Yeah.
[10:28] So that was a big one for me.
[10:30] And for me, just paying the mortgage off in under 10 years.
[10:35] Yeah.
[10:36] I'm just thinking, how?
[10:37] You know what I mean?
[10:37] How does this happen?
[10:38] But then you do the two-day webinar and masterclass, sorry, and, you know, everything's revealed there too, you know, and Nat was actually saying, she's going, you know, you've got to sit here.
[10:48] For the full two days.
[10:49] For the full two days.
[10:50] And she, I was there from beginning right up to the end, like 11 at night, you know what I mean?
[10:54] Like I was on the edge of the seat the whole time.
[10:56] And a lot of this stuff was all new to me, but I was trying to absorb as much as I could because I just, it was just like a light and withoutness for us.
[11:07] If this story has inspired you to take control of your financial future, your journey starts with our free educational webinar.
[11:14] Click the link below this video to get started today.
[11:17] And did you like that you got to crunch your own numbers during that weekend?
[11:20] Yeah, 100%.
[11:21] Yeah.
[11:21] Because we did that too, you know, talking about light bulb moments.
[11:26] We calculated our interest daily.
[11:29] Did you remember yours?
[11:30] Yeah, well, it worked out to be about 170 something a day before we opened our eyes.
[11:35] That hurts.
[11:36] Yeah, yeah.
[11:37] Which worked out to be about $48,000 a year in interest.
[11:40] Isn't that crazy?
[11:41] And when you look at it like that, you're like, holy shit, you know, what's going on here?
[11:46] Do you think $170 a day in just interest before you've even thought about paying any principal?
[11:51] That's right.
[11:52] Some people don't make that an hour.
[11:53] A lot of people don't make that an hour.
[11:55] So you start to think, how many hours am I working to pay the bank?
[11:59] And then how many hours am I also working to pay the taxman?
[12:03] Yeah, the government.
[12:04] Before you even see anything.
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:06] It's crazy.
[12:07] Yeah.
[12:07] So that was definitely a light bulb moment for us too, you know, like 48 grand, we could do a mad holiday with that.
[12:14] Um, but yeah, it's, it's been, yeah, quite a journey since.
[12:18] Yeah.
[12:19] And what's it been about 16 months?
[12:22] Yeah.
[12:22] Yeah.
[12:22] It's been less than two years for you guys.
[12:24] We've had an incredible time.
[12:26] So talk to me about from there, what, what you decided to do.
[12:28] You've obviously decided to sign up and work with us.
[12:31] What did that journey look like initially for you?
[12:35] Oh, we weren't hesitant at all.
[12:37] We were ready to rock and roll.
[12:40] And I think we, if I remember correctly, we did the master class at the end of November.
[12:47] Yep.
[12:47] 2024.
[12:48] 2024, yep.
[12:48] Yeah, something like that.
[12:50] Um, so things didn't really get moving probably until about March because it's Christmas holidays.
[12:55] Christmas and all that.
[12:56] Yeah.
[12:56] You know, um, and then setting up the accounts, um, refinancing.
[12:59] We also don't like to rush anything either.
[13:00] Yeah, yeah, exactly.
[13:01] Yeah.
[13:01] And for, even from our end, just getting all the right details to you guys and stuff them.
[13:06] Um, and actually before we even committed to...
[13:11] fully jumping in that night I spoke to her and she's got a pretty uh heavy job in in terms of um just time and and and sort of stuff like that so she she said I'm gonna leave a lot of this to you and I don't even know how to open a computer but I was ready to go for it you know I was I was I was like yep no I'll do it like I was just you know whatever it takes
[13:36] Did it feel overwhelming for you?
[13:37] Is that why you wanted to hand it to him?
[13:40] Yeah.
[13:40] Probably over 10 years ago, we got a self-managed super fund.
[13:43] Yep.
[13:44] And we bought a house in Perth.
[13:46] Yep.
[13:47] And I was looking after all the paperwork, all the emails, all the tax, all of that.
[13:51] We had an accountant and everyone that was doing what they needed to do.
[13:54] But just all the emails and then when things would go wrong with the house and all the rest of it, I was always looking after it.
[13:59] So because I'm on the computer all day for work.
[14:02] Yeah.
[14:02] And in Zooms and whatnot, I'm just like.
[14:04] You're like a dog when she's squirking at home.
[14:05] You're having multiple things.
[14:06] I'm like, can you help me out?
[14:08] Because it's just going to be a lot.
[14:10] Yeah.
[14:11] So I had to put my big boy pants on and give it a go.
[14:13] Take the reins.
[14:14] Yeah.
[14:14] But like I said.
[14:15] And he's done amazing.
[14:16] Amazing with that.
[14:17] To begin with, I had no idea how to really do emails and stuff like that.
[14:21] So it was a learning curve for me too.
[14:23] But I knew if we got our head around this, you know, it'd work.
[14:28] Yeah.
[14:29] Yeah.
[14:30] So I'm still learning, don't get me wrong.
[14:33] And I apologise in advance to those who are still waiting on things, but I am doing my best.
[14:38] Mayak and Nina and the rest of the team that's been looking after us, they've been very supportive and quite gracious too.
[14:48] But, yeah, so we –
[14:50] I think that's been a key as well.
[14:52] Like just the staff at Infinity, like our relationship managers and just the people looking after us have been incredible.
[14:59] Yeah.
[14:59] We can't fault them.
[15:00] Like they've been there every step of the way.
[15:01] And when we've needed questions, I've had questions, Woody would just jump on the phone and they'd get straight back to us.
[15:05] So that's been really helpful too.
[15:08] So you're not sort of sitting, waiting or worrying about things.
[15:10] Yeah.
[15:11] So you've liked that part of the process because like you said, you handled the SMSF way back when.
[15:16] You had your team then, but it's very different when you come to infinity.
[15:19] You've got quite a large team with relationship manager, wealth strategist, finance strategist, financial planner, accountant.
[15:26] Yeah.
[15:26] Absolutely.
[15:26] And that's been really, really helpful.
[15:28] Yeah.
[15:28] So that we haven't been stressed or worried about the process.
[15:31] And I think our biggest thing we often say to each other, we just trust the process and it's working for us.
[15:36] So yeah, that's been the exciting part.
[15:39] Yeah.
[15:40] But yeah, the house that we had in Super was kind of going down.
[15:43] We weren't making money on it.
[15:44] Yeah, I thought it was interesting what you said, that you'd had paid it off, but it was still running at a loss.
[15:49] Yeah, yeah.
[15:49] So it really wasn't doing well for you.
[15:51] It changed a lot.
[15:52] And it was actually once we did join Infinity, we had Lou as our wealth strategist.
[15:58] Yeah, we did.
[15:59] And he just said, yeah, no, that's no good, mate.
[16:02] You should sell that.
[16:03] So we sold it within a week.
[16:04] Within a week.
[16:05] Within a week.
[16:05] And I rang Lou the next week and I said, mate, we sold it.
[16:08] He really didn't muck her out.
[16:09] Can we buy something now?
[16:10] And he goes, what are you doing about it?
[16:11] I was like, we sold the property.
[16:12] You told us to sell it, we sold it.
[16:13] Yeah.
[16:14] You know what I mean?
[16:14] So he's going, oh, okay.
[16:15] So I better start looking for you then.
[16:17] So, yeah, we were, we were sort of, and we still are, don't you know, even after 14 months, we're still at that point where whatever you want us to do, just tell us.
[16:27] Yeah.
[16:28] You know what I mean?
[16:29] And, you know, like Nat said, we're just trusting the process and, you know, trust people who
[16:38] Don't give trust over easily.
[16:40] Too easily, yeah.
[16:40] You know what I mean?
[16:41] It's more of a time process.
[16:43] But for us, we were in a, well, we were desperate.
[16:49] And we didn't have time to build that relationship.
[16:52] We just thought to ourselves, we'll give it a go for 12 months.
[16:55] Just punch it as hard as we can.
[16:57] And then we can evaluate at the end.
[16:59] And if it's not working.
[17:00] Yeah.
[17:01] I think what you said there was very powerful that a lot of people don't give trust easily, but it was something you actually did give to infinity pretty quickly.
[17:08] Cause I know you said you didn't really look at other companies to compare us to anyone.
[17:12] What was it about infinity that made you feel so comfortable to give us that trust?
[17:17] Well, to be honest, I did look at another company afterwards.
[17:20] Oh, afterwards you did?
[17:21] Yeah, yeah, because I just wanted to see if we were on the right line, you know, that sort of thing.
[17:25] So I did, I actually rang and I signed up to another company, no intention of joining.
[17:31] Yeah.
[17:32] I just wanted to know if we were aligned, that's all.
[17:34] So I sort of signed up to another company.
[17:37] They gave me a call and they pretty much explained everything that we were sort of on track to do at Infinity.
[17:44] And then I actually told them, listen, I've been looking at a few companies, Infinity being one of them.
[17:49] Yeah.
[17:50] And they said, oh, yeah, no, they're all pretty good companies actually.
[17:53] He said, he goes, but whatever you do, don't do nothing.
[17:57] Whatever you decide to do, just do something.
[17:58] That's good advice.
[17:59] Yeah, yeah.
[17:59] And he said, if you need us.
[18:01] We're here.
[18:01] Yeah.
[18:02] So I actually thought, oh, that's pretty good from another company.
[18:05] Yeah.
[18:05] I was waiting for you to say that they said something a bit.
[18:06] No, they didn't.
[18:07] So I was quite impressed with that.
[18:08] So, um, but yeah, so we, I, I did have a look at that, uh, another company, but I forgot your question after that.
[18:15] I was just, why did you ultimately feel you could trust Infinity?
[18:18] Well, and again, the podcast as well.
[18:20] Yeah.
[18:21] And just getting informed, um, community as well.
[18:24] Oh, okay.
[18:25] You like the key to it.
[18:26] Testimonials too, just hearing other people's stories, knowing how real it was for everybody else as well and coming from different walks of life.
[18:33] So I think that was a big key, just knowing that other people have done it and paid their mortgage off in a short amount of time.
[18:40] Like that is for us like.
[18:42] Because I think like we're in our early 50s, 52, 53.
[18:45] We're like, I want to work forever.
[18:47] So how do I get, how do we get there?
[18:49] So I think for us, it was like, yeah, let's just jump on in.
[18:53] And we're good at like building relationships with others.
[18:55] That's sort of key of what we do, you know, every day as well.
[18:58] So that was easy to be able to do that.
[19:00] Yeah.
[19:00] With the staff in Infinity and yeah.
[19:03] Coming to different like community events and, you know, coming to REM and things like that has been great.
[19:07] Like with yourself, that meeting other people and hearing.
[19:09] Just give you connection and relationship.
[19:12] It makes it real.
[19:13] It does.
[19:13] It makes it real.
[19:14] And now that you're on a podcast, you know that it is real because you're telling your story.
[19:19] When we got asked to do it, I was like, yeah, let's just share our story because I don't – I feel like I've got a responsibility to share this.
[19:27] You know what I mean?
[19:28] Like it's – and at work people see me as the infinity guy because I'm constantly sharing the love of – and I work with different people during work and so I'm constantly sharing with other people at work of –
[19:42] or what we're doing financially, and it's just changed our lives.
[19:45] How do they respond to it?
[19:46] Oh, we've got two on board already.
[19:47] Really?
[19:48] Okay.
[19:48] So quite positively.
[19:49] We had another guy who was nearly getting over the line.
[19:52] You actually spoke to them via text message and stuff, because she wasn't fully on board, and you said, listen, go down to Wollongong, see the office people down there, and talk to them.
[20:02] Yeah.
[20:03] all the rest of it.
[20:03] They actually jumped on board with another company, but they didn't like the way they did sneaky stuff.
[20:08] And I just said, listen, you know, so they've come back to you guys and sort of told them the situation and you pretty much said, get this ABC in order and then come back and see us and we'll go for that.
[20:19] Oh, so we actually couldn't work with them at the time.
[20:22] Well, I think you can still.
[20:24] Um, but I think they just needed to organize cause they, uh, had a few places and super and the rest of it that they had to organize before they could sort of jump straight over sort of thing.
[20:34] So yeah, but it is, yeah, he, he was so amped that he, yeah, they're keen to come.
[20:39] And then another guy actually joined, um, Infinity once I shared the, uh, the information about.
[20:45] you know, our life changing experiences.
[20:48] But I'm constantly talking at work about people.
[20:50] And it's quite interesting now because people at work actually, when, when we talk about, Oh, we're going to go out here and do this or, you know, get on the drink or whatever we do.
[21:02] But they actually, now they say, Oh, listen, listen,
[21:04] We're planning on going to do this if your budget allows, because they know Adelman.
[21:09] Oh, that's actually sweet that they changed that language for you.
[21:11] Well, they know I don't, I don't much around anymore.
[21:13] You know what I mean?
[21:13] That's just, I literally tell them this is all I've got.
[21:16] Yeah.
[21:17] And if I don't have anything at the end, I'm not doing it.
[21:19] Yeah.
[21:19] Um, so they, you know, they literally say, oh, we're going to be doing this at the end of, uh, next week.
[21:24] So if your budget allows it, come, you know what I mean?
[21:27] I said, yeah, I'll look into it.
[21:28] I've got no intention to come in.
[21:30] My vision is beyond that.
[21:32] Yeah.
[21:32] You know where you're headed.
[21:33] You know, sort of thing.
[21:35] Yeah.
[21:36] But, yeah.
[21:36] That's quite a positive response.
[21:38] You know, not everybody has such a positive response when you talk about this kind of thing.
[21:42] People think budgeting is such a swear word.
[21:44] It's such a bad word.
[21:47] But what has that been like for you, actually implementing a budget, going from, you know, we buy what we want, bills are paid, we're comfortable, to now there's actually a plan.
[21:54] Mm-hmm.
[21:54] You have a goal now to stick towards and you have a budget.
[21:56] What's it like now budgeting?
[21:58] Yeah, really good.
[21:59] I think we've, I don't think we've skipped a beat with the budget.
[22:02] I think we both, when we joined, we went, okay, this is what we have to do.
[22:06] And I think Ellie's like, this is, you know, we set, we set the amount and we've actually stuck to it the whole time.
[22:11] We haven't actually had to borrow over or do other things.
[22:14] What's your FFF a week?
[22:14] So 600.
[22:15] Okay.
[22:15] Yeah.
[22:15] It's good.
[22:17] Um, and we've managed to stay within it.
[22:19] So we love it because we are then seeing money, you know, on our salary and bills.
[22:23] We're sweeping money at the end of the month.
[22:25] We're actually seeing a mortgage go down.
[22:27] Yeah.
[22:27] Which we never have.
[22:28] One of them people that look, I look at the account every day and go, look at that.
[22:31] Yeah.
[22:32] Like it's moving, you know, like Steve and Siong and all those sort of things.
[22:35] So we get excited.
[22:36] No, it's just exciting.
[22:37] It hasn't been hard.
[22:38] I mean, sometimes you sort of sit at home and you're like, no, we don't have money.
[22:41] We can't go.
[22:42] What are we going to do?
[22:42] Like as far as going out or things like that.
[22:45] So you have to sort of change your, shift your mindset around, well, what are we going to do today?
[22:49] Or the different things that you would normally go out and do because you would have money to do that.
[22:55] So we kind of just pull back on a few things, but it's fine.
[22:58] Like we're, we know what are.
[22:59] I think it's made our life a lot more calmer too, you know what I mean?
[23:02] Yeah.
[23:03] Well, I like that one.
[23:04] Yeah.
[23:04] Yeah.
[23:05] Because when, yeah, we're not running around doing this and doing that and going out with these people.
[23:10] Like we sort of, even though it's structured, it's, it's a controlled structure and it's actually really, people see it as restricting, but I see it as freedom.
[23:19] You know what I mean?
[23:20] Like.
[23:20] I love that.
[23:21] Yeah.
[23:21] It's, it's, we're, we're quite comfortable in what we're in and what we have, um, knowing that we could do whatever.
[23:30] Yeah.
[23:31] But also knowing this is the decision we've made.
[23:34] Um, and we, we're choosing to do this, you know, for the, for the bigger purpose.
[23:38] Yeah.
[23:38] It's a conscious decision.
[23:39] Yeah.
[23:39] Yeah.
[23:39] Cause you also used to always pick up the tab as well.
[23:42] I was, I was terrible.
[23:43] Yeah.
[23:43] I was terrible.
[23:44] You know what I mean?
[23:44] Like, and even when we weren't making good money, I was still like that because it's kind of my love language.
[23:49] You know what I mean?
[23:50] And, you know, um, very similar to a lot of people when you don't have, when you've had nothing growing up, you just want to make sure nobody feels like that and that they've ever been in your position.
[24:03] You know what I mean?
[24:03] So always the first one to pay for the drinks or dinner or whatever, um, stuff like that.
[24:09] You know what I mean?
[24:09] And I, I never thought second about it until we joined Infinity and I was like,
[24:13] gee, how's this going to work?
[24:14] You know what I mean?
[24:15] Because people know me as that person.
[24:17] Yeah.
[24:17] That guy.
[24:18] Just, you know, and it was interesting.
[24:21] We had a bit of a union march and they normally go for a bit of a drinkies afterwards, as you do.
[24:28] And the whole, even the day before, I was thinking, how am I going to do this?
[24:33] You know what I mean?
[24:34] Because we're on a budget now and I don't have the budget to even do one shout.
[24:38] all the rest of it.
[24:39] And then, uh, anyway, I thought I'm going to have to face my fears eventually.
[24:43] Um, and so, yeah, we, we sort of, we got to the pub and I sort of hung at the back and people were just looking around.
[24:51] We're all looking at each other and I'm thinking, it's not happening.
[24:54] Don't do it.
[24:54] Don't do it.
[24:55] And then, yeah, I, I managed to get past it.
[24:58] You know what I mean?
[24:59] But then it just became easier over time.
[25:01] And then people started noticing and they weren't looking at me.
[25:04] you know, um, get up there and, and buy it and drink or whatever, whatever.
[25:08] Yeah.
[25:09] They were quite respectful.
[25:10] Yeah.
[25:10] Yeah.
[25:10] And even family now and there, they know we don't pay for dinner for everyone anymore.
[25:15] You know what I mean?
[25:15] So, um, so that was kind of a bit of a, a, a change or like, it was a bit of a big change to be honest for us.
[25:23] But once we got over the first hurdle, it's, it's, it's quite easy now.
[25:28] Yeah.
[25:28] You know what I mean?
[25:29] And now you've got a structured plan.
[25:31] Yeah.
[25:31] Yeah.
[25:32] And talk to me about the home loan.
[25:33] Where did we start and where are we now?
[25:36] So where did we start?
[25:38] We were 800,000.
[25:39] Yeah.
[25:40] Yeah.
[25:41] We were 800,000 before we found Infinity.
[25:45] And within the first, I don't know, maybe, well, now we're sitting at about the 630 mark, 633 mark.
[25:54] 160-something thousand in less than two years.
[25:57] About 100.
[25:57] That's crazy.
[25:58] Yeah.
[25:59] Yeah.
[25:59] Just over 100.
[26:00] We look at it sometimes and we go, how did that even happen?
[26:03] Is that right?
[26:04] I'd ring up the bank to ask if it was right.
[26:07] Like, have you accidentally put money in my account that I can't spend?
[26:09] Is someone paying a mortgage?
[26:11] Well, that's what I actually thought.
[26:12] I said, how did that work?
[26:13] That can't be right.
[26:14] And I actually think maybe G paid for some of the mortgage.
[26:18] Maybe he's blessing us and looking after us because we're doing the right thing.
[26:21] You know what I mean?
[26:22] Because I just couldn't get my head around it.
[26:25] And I even rang the bank too to make sure that the figures were right.
[26:28] You actually rang the bank to make sure?
[26:30] Yeah.
[26:31] What did the bank say to you?
[26:32] She goes, no, no, that's right.
[26:34] No, no, that's all good.
[26:36] I just wanted to double check because it just didn't make sense to me.
[26:40] You know what I mean?
[26:41] So I was like, no, we're good.
[26:43] It is what it is.
[26:44] I was like, wow.
[26:47] you know, people talk about the wizard came through.
[26:49] And I just don't know how it happened.
[26:50] I still don't know how it happened.
[26:52] It was all you guys.
[26:53] Well, that's what they say, but I don't know how, you know what I mean?
[26:55] Like, it's just, yeah.
[26:57] Anyway, we knew we were in the right place.
[27:00] We were just thinking.
[27:01] Because I suppose it's hard to comprehend that you're like, we could have been doing this before.
[27:04] I know, I know.
[27:05] I can't say that.
[27:06] I know, I know.
[27:07] But the reality is it's like you could have been, but you weren't.
[27:10] And then you've got a structured plan now and it's happening.
[27:13] It's actually working.
[27:14] Yeah.
[27:15] Absolutely.
[27:15] Yeah.
[27:16] Yeah, so we smashed that down, yeah, within 12 to 14 months and we just thought, imagine what we can do in these five years, you know what I mean?
[27:23] So it's exciting.
[27:25] Like even though we've done what we've done now, we're excited for the future too.
[27:29] Yeah.
[27:30] You know what I mean?
[27:31] Do you feel like you've been going without?
[27:33] No.
[27:34] Not at all?
[27:34] Not really.
[27:35] If anything, we've, because of the structure with our finances and stuff, I think we're doing great.
[27:44] really well and we stuff that we thought we we needed um you know like furniture or like i used to buy a lot of shit for my cars and all the rest of it and like i just don't care about that anymore you know like you you because you you have a bit of a mindset change um obviously once you jump in with infinity all that stuff that i used to do
[28:11] doesn't matter anymore.
[28:12] Like, you know, I used to have a Sports Tab account and all the rest of it.
[28:15] I don't care about that shit anymore.
[28:16] You know what I mean?
[28:17] Like I actually got rid of it.
[28:18] Have you seen the latest reel that we posted with – oh, you've got to look at it because you'd relate to that.
[28:23] You'd see where it's like an RM's looking over your statement for a win and it's like sports bed.
[28:29] I cracked up laughing when I saw that.
[28:30] Yeah, it was great.
[28:32] We see everything.
[28:34] You know what I mean?
[28:35] So we –
[28:36] Yeah, just the whole mindset change and what you kind of think 10 years ago, what you thought was right, and then 10 years later, like your opinion changes about things because you learn, you mature.
[28:52] And, yeah, we were just so, not in regret, but we were just thinking, imagine if we had found this mob.
[28:57] Yeah.
[28:58] Oh, yeah.
[28:58] Ten years ago.
[28:59] And it was interesting because I was talking to Jeremy as well.
[29:03] He used to work in the milk factory, him and.
[29:05] Yeah.
[29:06] Yeah.
[29:06] And I used to work there, believe it or not.
[29:08] Really?
[29:09] Yeah, not at the same time.
[29:10] Oh, my goodness.
[29:11] But I worked there.
[29:11] Yeah, yeah, at Lickham.
[29:13] Because I spoke to him and I said, oh, did you work at Lickham?
[29:15] Oh, that's such a small word.
[29:17] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[29:17] And I was just like, oh, geez, I wish I had known you back then.
[29:21] You know what I mean?
[29:22] So, yeah.
[29:23] Yeah, but it was, you know, their story resonated with us too, you know, like just forklift background, storm impact, that sort of thing.
[29:32] Yeah.
[29:33] Yeah, I just thought, wow, look at them, they're kicking goals.
[29:36] So, you know, we were like most people thinking, oh, I wish we had found this mob earlier, but the good thing is we found you now.
[29:42] And you're doing it now.
[29:43] Yeah, that's it.
[29:44] Because do we actually believe now that we could pay the home loan off before retirement?
[29:47] A hundred percent.
[29:48] Yeah, definitely.
[29:49] Yeah, totally.
[29:51] Yeah.
[29:51] And we're starting to dream outside of what we used to dream.
[29:54] Good.
[29:54] You know what I mean?
[29:56] I don't know if I'm dreaming too much now, but.
[29:59] Never too much.
[29:59] You know what I mean?
[30:00] But have you exceeded where you thought those dreams?
[30:02] Because you said at the beginning, you're like, we only dreamed this far.
[30:05] Yeah.
[30:06] Have you gone beyond that?
[30:08] 100%.
[30:08] Yeah.
[30:09] What does that look like?
[30:09] And some.
[30:10] And some.
[30:11] Well, it looks like we've got options now, choice, you know what I mean?
[30:15] Yeah.
[30:15] Before that, we never thought outside with what we had.
[30:19] So now we're starting to think, oh, where's our forever home going to be?
[30:23] You know, like what's our retirement going to look like?
[30:26] Because you were talking about downsizing before.
[30:28] Yeah.
[30:29] Yeah.
[30:30] You know what I mean?
[30:30] Yeah.
[30:31] Like that was the retirement plan was use super, pay off the home loan and downsize.
[30:35] Yeah.
[30:35] Yeah.
[30:36] Yeah, so now we're starting to think about, you know, what our retirement looks like, travel.
[30:45] We still want to travel a lot.
[30:46] Nat and actually the daughter as well, they're mad Disney freaks.
[30:50] So they're forever going to the US.
[30:52] So we want to go to every single Disneyland, Disney World in the world.
[30:54] They're pretty close there.
[30:55] I think there's only a couple that they haven't been to.
[30:58] Um, but yeah, so, and I'll just be the luggage holder.
[31:02] Yeah.
[31:02] You know, carry the bags everywhere.
[31:04] Hold the Mickey Mouse ears.
[31:04] Yeah.
[31:05] The roadie as they call them.
[31:07] Um, but yeah, we, you know, like now we know we've got options and got choice.
[31:12] Um, and that's exciting.
[31:14] Like, you know, even, yeah, we're, we're pretty amped about the future.
[31:19] Can't wait to get there to be honest, but yeah.
[31:21] Yeah.
[31:22] Isn't that weird?
[31:22] You're like, we don't want to wish time away, but you're like, we're so excited at what it looks like.
[31:26] But you're kind of doing both simultaneously too.
[31:29] Like you're still getting to say yes to some of those things that are really important to you guys, still do a little bit of travel as well along the way.
[31:36] Well, actually last year we, because, you know, we were putting new Infinity and my whole mindset since joining Infinity is nothing's going to happen for another eight years.
[31:47] Yeah.
[31:48] And then she'd keep going, oh, we need to go on holiday.
[31:50] I go, yeah, we can do it in eight years.
[31:52] And then she'd go, oh, we need to buy this in eight years.
[31:54] You can buy it.
[31:54] You know what I mean?
[31:55] Like, that was just like, that's all we're doing.
[31:57] I was so laser focused.
[31:58] And then anyway, she goes, oh, we need to go on holidays.
[32:01] And I said, no.
[32:03] She goes, yeah, no, we need to go on holiday in eight years.
[32:05] And then she goes, no, no, we need to go on holidays.
[32:06] I said, why?
[32:07] She goes, because it's our 30-year anniversary.
[32:09] Yeah.
[32:10] I said, okay, we better do something.
[32:12] Yeah, you had to say yes to that one.
[32:14] We sort of gave Ali a call and said, listen, I'm going to take some money out.
[32:17] We're going to pay for a cruise because we love cruising as well.
[32:20] So, you know, we just took out 10 grand and enjoyed ourselves.
[32:23] Was it a Disney cruise?
[32:24] No.
[32:24] Have we done a Disney cruise?
[32:26] I have.
[32:26] You have?
[32:27] So add that to the bucket list.
[32:29] I stay home for those ones.
[32:32] Look after the dogs.
[32:33] Someone's got it.
[32:34] Yeah.
[32:35] True.
[32:36] And what have the kids been like through this journey?
[32:38] Because I know we've got the two adult kids, but we still do have a dependent at home.
[32:41] You've been gracious to take your niece in.
[32:44] What's that been like for her and the adult kids?
[32:46] Yeah, really good.
[32:47] I think my daughter, bless her, similar to me.
[32:51] So if I would be out spending money on things, she would do the same.
[32:54] Um, but I think since infinity and because we've cut back, she's cut back.
[32:58] So she now has a budget and she's very tight with money as well.
[33:01] She's following that.
[33:01] She's following.
[33:02] Um, and Kobe's been really, really great with, um, money as well.
[33:06] Like he's been like when, yeah, because he wanted to stay living at home, we sort of said, well, you need to put a certain amount of money into the bank account.
[33:12] And he's now just recently bought a block of land.
[33:15] So he's, yeah.
[33:16] Good on him.
[33:17] Yeah.
[33:17] So he's, yeah, he's doing really well.
[33:19] It's expensive.
[33:21] Oh, I know.
[33:21] He's crazy now, isn't it?
[33:23] Yeah.
[33:24] So they're both doing really well with looking after their money and what, yeah, looking at what their money goes on.
[33:28] I gave, I actually gave Kobe an ultimatum.
[33:30] I told him you need to buy your own place, join infinity or get out.
[33:35] Wow.
[33:36] Literally.
[33:37] That's pretty black and white.
[33:38] Because he's 27, you know, and 28, and he's on good money.
[33:43] Like, he works in the same industry as me.
[33:45] So you don't want to see him making probably the same mistakes.
[33:49] And I'll be egging him on and saying, mate, if you join Infinity in 10 years, you could probably wrap it up.
[33:54] Like, I'm telling you, like, but –
[33:57] You can sow the seed, you know what I mean?
[33:59] But some people, they're just not ready.
[34:01] And it's the same with the people I talk to at work.
[34:04] Some people got it, some people on the fence.
[34:08] But I've done what I can.
[34:10] Yeah.
[34:12] But I know like with Kobe, he actually, once he purchased the loan, he said, we're driving to work together yesterday.
[34:19] And he said, Dad, I'll have a look at Infinity once we buy the house and once we get a bit of equity in the property, we'll...
[34:27] I'll come and have a look at Infinity and say, mate, it'll be the best decision you'll ever make, I'm telling you now.
[34:31] I initially wanted him just to join Infinity, but he sort of wanted to.
[34:36] And sometimes you've just got to let them run their own race for a little while.
[34:39] But even if it's small steps, like I think, you know, you mentioned that they've now started a budget, your daughter's pulled back on the shopping, which I'm sure would have probably been a bit of a bonding experience for you guys at some point.
[34:49] It's seriously just about those small steps sometimes.
[34:52] Yeah.
[34:53] So they sound like they've been making them.
[34:54] Yeah.
[34:55] Do you think that is because of the influence you've had from Infinity?
[34:59] Yeah.
[34:59] Yeah.
[35:00] I've got the podcast going in the background and I'm talking to people.
[35:04] It doesn't stop.
[35:05] And because Kobe works in my industry as well, he's the infinity man's son.
[35:10] You know what I mean?
[35:11] Oh, that's awesome.
[35:13] So it's like...
[35:14] You know, everybody, yeah, everybody knows.
[35:16] And I'm not ashamed to share the love because I know how good it is.
[35:19] Like, you know what I mean?
[35:21] Like, I just think, mate, I look at all the guys in my work and I look at them and I think, you don't know how good life could be if you jumped on board with this one.
[35:28] Yeah.
[35:29] When you're on the other side, it's so hard when you see people back where you once were.
[35:33] Yeah.
[35:33] It's so hard.
[35:34] I think that's been one of the hardest things that I've had to witness.
[35:37] But there's some people you just can't get through to.
[35:40] Yeah, yeah.
[35:41] Yeah.
[35:42] Exactly.
[35:42] Yeah.
[35:43] Yeah, I'm always out there looking for opportunities.
[35:46] You know, even when I'm gymming, I wear the Infinity shirt and people sort of ask me questions.
[35:51] And I actually bumped into a guy at the gym who said, oh, I've been looking into them and blah, blah, blah.
[35:56] And then, anyway, long story short, because he was an agent, a buyer's agent,
[36:00] Oh, yep.
[36:00] Yeah.
[36:00] They said, oh, they can't accept me because of this and this and this.
[36:05] And I said, oh, I'm spewing.
[36:06] And so I was so heartbroken for him because I thought, oh, yeah, is what it is.
[36:12] We know you guys don't accept everyone.
[36:14] And even if they came with the right credentials, you still don't accept them sometimes if they're an arsehole or arsehole.
[36:21] Yeah.
[36:22] See you later.
[36:22] We want to make sure we can really do a good job for people and we want to make sure everyone's a hundred percent on board.
[36:28] And we also want to do the right thing if we just don't think we can really give you the value for money or, you know, we want to make sure that we can do that.
[36:35] If not, it's not fair to take you money.
[36:37] But we'll give you the guidance of what you can do to then come back.
[36:40] Yeah.
[36:41] And we pride ourselves on that.
[36:42] Yeah.
[36:42] No, that's, yeah.
[36:44] It's one of the many features that you guys have and it's, yeah, it's absolutely awesome.
[36:49] Yeah.
[36:50] And talk to me about your investment journey because you'd been through it once before through an SMSF where you'd bought property and it didn't do so great.
[36:56] What did it feel like when you'd signed up to pay this mortgage off, but then you'd also been taken down the journey of investing?
[37:02] What was that like?
[37:05] Yeah, well, to be honest, it was – because when you do the masterclass, you've got options, the two options.
[37:13] Yeah.
[37:14] Initially, we obviously wanted to pay the mortgage off, which was one of the options, but then there was the investing side.
[37:22] To begin with, we weren't really – well, I wasn't really interested in the investment side.
[37:26] I just wanted to smash the mortgage and go from there.
[37:29] But over the two-day masterclass,
[37:32] the way everything was explained and, you know, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but it still resonated with me, a lot of the stuff, the waterfall effect, you know, equity in your own property and just the way you stagnate everything too, you know, it sort of made sense.
[37:48] So we obviously jumped in with the full package and we did the investment side.
[37:56] So the whole investment journey has happened so fast.
[38:00] Um, you know, we, again, we, we just had to trust the process too, cause you know, we've, we met a few people, uh, at different rems that we've been to two rems, like enough to be gone to two rems.
[38:13] Um, and we, you know, we, we see people that used to be where we were, you know, scared, no idea what's going on.
[38:19] What have we just signed sort of thing.
[38:21] Um, you know, we've been there, but we literally just.
[38:27] in our own self, we just trusted the process.
[38:29] You know what I mean?
[38:29] Like, and, you know, like we just committed.
[38:32] And anyway, our investment journey so far, it's been absolutely epic.
[38:37] What have we got so far?
[38:39] Yeah.
[38:39] We've got three, yeah, three in equity and two in our self-managed central fund.
[38:44] Because we got rid of the crappy one.
[38:46] The sold one, yeah.
[38:47] Yeah, and then we replaced it with two in super.
[38:49] And then we've got three in our personal name.
[38:51] Yeah.
[38:52] Yeah.
[38:53] That's a huge achievement.
[38:54] Yeah.
[38:55] Crazy.
[38:55] It is crazy.
[38:56] In two years.
[38:58] That's why we think, why weren't we here earlier?
[39:01] And now you're like, super, what?
[39:03] We don't need that at retirement anymore.
[39:06] That's right.
[39:06] It's crazy, you know what I mean?
[39:09] So, yeah, that in itself has been so fast too.
[39:13] Like you guys don't muck around.
[39:15] We'll give you that.
[39:18] We're very structured.
[39:20] Yeah, we're running after the train while you guys have already left.
[39:24] Wait for us.
[39:25] But, yeah, it's been an amazing journey.
[39:27] And, you know, like since I've sort of taken on a lot of the paperwork sort of side of things and that too, I've been learning a lot.
[39:37] You know, as you do each transaction, you know,
[39:41] that process becomes the same for the next one.
[39:43] Yeah.
[39:44] So a lot of the stuff that we've been doing, I've started to get my head around it too.
[39:48] And I'm kind of expecting, or I'm going to have to expect this next because that's the next stage, you know?
[39:54] Yeah.
[39:54] And then we've had Jordan look after us as well and, and help with any questions we've had.
[40:00] Um, and then we've got,
[40:02] Pook looking after our financial side of things.
[40:05] We initially had Zachy, but he got promoted.
[40:07] Yes, our head of finance, our fearless leader.
[40:10] And then obviously we had Ali as our relationship manager to begin with, but she got pregnant.
[40:15] Good luck to her.
[40:16] And now we've got Nina looking after us too.
[40:19] So the team in itself has been such a...
[40:25] a great help and just makes us feel at ease too, because when we do have questions or we're a bit unsure about things, we can just reach out sort of thing.
[40:36] Have you ever had any fear come up along the way?
[40:38] Especially, you know, we've had a lot of changes with tax around property and, you know, obviously the government, conversation around the government's a hot topic at the moment.
[40:48] How has that shifted your mindset or around, you know, what the goal looks like having so many properties?
[40:53] Yeah, no, not at all.
[40:54] I think because you guys were on the ball straight away and, you know, we had the opportunity to hear from you.
[41:00] as it was emergency meetings going on straight away just Friday night straight away but it was helpful because it just relayed any sort of fears anyone would have had yeah yeah I think for us we're kind of beyond that stage too now like yeah we just we know we're in the right place so yeah you know you can hear what's going on out there but in reality you know this is and so as much as we hear the outside noise I don't really tend to listen to it we've we sort of
[41:27] No, you guys will let us know if there's something we need to do or just or sort of things like that.
[41:32] But it's been good to listen to some of those emergency meetings and, you know, just see people panicking and all the rest of it and just like sitting in my chair going, relax.
[41:42] It's all good, man.
[41:43] Watching that chat bar go.
[41:45] If you didn't sign up for Southampton Super, that's your fault.
[41:48] Yes.
[41:49] G's been telling you this since he started.
[41:51] He's been saying it for ages.
[41:52] They're coming for our super.
[41:54] And it's just, yeah, crazy that so much of what he's said over the years has come true.
[41:59] Yeah.
[41:59] And obviously we don't love that some of that stuff's come true.
[42:02] We hate to tell him that, oh, you were actually right, G. Yeah.
[42:05] But it just shows he knew what was coming.
[42:08] Yeah.
[42:08] Yeah.
[42:09] There's a guy at work.
[42:09] He rang me the day of the deadline and he's going, would he?
[42:13] Because he only just joined Infinity 2.
[42:14] So he basically missed the bus.
[42:16] Bit more of a time crunch.
[42:17] Yeah.
[42:17] Yeah.
[42:18] And he's going, I'm spilling.
[42:19] And I said, mate, it is what it is.
[42:20] Don't worry.
[42:21] Stuff will come up eventually later on down the track.
[42:24] And when it does, they'll let you know.
[42:25] Yeah.
[42:28] But yeah, actually, he was one of the guys that we got on with the recommendation.
[42:33] You guys recommend friends and stuff like that.
[42:35] Oh, yeah.
[42:35] That was actually a good sort of thing because it –
[42:39] I never shared publicly on Facebook about our journey because I don't want to be, you know, look at me, look at me and what we've done and all the rest of it.
[42:47] But again, I also thought I've got a responsibility to share our journey and if this can help people, then, you know, even if it helps one or two people, so be it sort of thing.
[42:59] So I put a post out on Facebook about...
[43:03] You know, our journey and what we'd done and our goals and all the rest of it and what we'd achieved.
[43:07] And, yeah, it just, we had such a big response about it, like with family and friends and all the rest of it.
[43:15] All good?
[43:15] Yeah, yeah, all good.
[43:16] Like people just asking questions.
[43:18] Really?
[43:18] I thought they were a scam.
[43:19] Like I've seen his face.
[43:20] Oh, why?
[43:21] Blah, blah, blah.
[43:22] But then again, they're going, I'm glad you shared this because I actually thought he was just a scam artist.
[43:28] Too good to be true.
[43:30] Yeah, we hear it all the time.
[43:31] Exactly.
[43:31] Exactly.
[43:32] Um, but also I think I had to, like I was telling that we kind of had to walk the walk before we could talk the talk.
[43:40] Yeah.
[43:40] You know what I mean?
[43:41] Oh, I believe that too.
[43:41] Yeah.
[43:42] As much as when I first started the journey I was sharing with people, I didn't have any evidence to back up.
[43:47] Yeah.
[43:47] What I was trying to share.
[43:48] Mm-hmm.
[43:49] That's what I find so crazy about what people say about us because I'm like we've got 14 years of evidence behind us that this is real, why are people still saying this?
[43:58] Yeah, that's right.
[43:59] And, you know, like so in –
[44:04] doing our journey, I was able to share our experiences.
[44:08] Um, and then a lot of people that reached out could result because they knew us before infinity anyway, you know what I mean?
[44:13] Yeah.
[44:14] Um, and then they think, Oh mate, that's awesome.
[44:16] Thank you.
[44:16] And had a lot of people at work reach out.
[44:19] And again, you can only sow the seed.
[44:21] And then the rest is up to them, you know.
[44:22] Yeah, 100%.
[44:24] But that was, yeah, it was actually a bit of an issue.
[44:28] It sort of pushed me and said, all right, time to step out and really know people.
[44:32] Yeah.
[44:32] Let people know what you're about and who you are sort of thing in terms of our journey with Infinity.
[44:38] So that was a bit of a good initiative by you guys because it forced me to step out.
[44:43] Yeah.
[44:43] Yeah.
[44:44] Yeah.
[44:45] I might have to get you on stage as a testimonial too now.
[44:48] You're very happy about going to two REMS.
[44:50] Maybe you'll go to a couple more.
[44:51] Yeah, well, we actually asked Ellie, I said, Ellie, can we go to another REM?
[44:54] Because we love them.
[44:55] Yeah.
[44:56] What do you love so much about him?
[44:58] Just connections.
[44:59] Yeah, I think connecting with others because a lot of people come and even the last one we were in in April, people get really nervous.
[45:06] They're really nervous.
[45:06] They signed up and they're like, what is this all about?
[45:09] And so they're coming to listen and learn.
[45:10] But just being able to share our journey and our story, they all just go, oh, thank you for coming and saying hello.
[45:15] Thank you for just sharing.
[45:16] So I think people just get really nervous.
[45:18] And so you just, yeah, you kind of work around the room and –
[45:22] Like I said, when we go to things like that, we don't have a leadership title, but we know we're leading.
[45:29] Yeah.
[45:30] So we just basically go, and I'm constantly looking for people to interact with, talk to.
[45:36] I'll go to a bar and get a drink, and I'll come back about a half hour, 40 minutes later, because I'm stuck having a conversation.
[45:41] You never at the party, do you?
[45:42] You know what I mean?
[45:42] Like, I'm just, I'm chinwagging with anyone and everyone.
[45:45] If somebody looks me in the eye, let's go.
[45:47] Yeah.
[45:48] You know what I mean?
[45:48] So, but I just, I love to hear people's stories, their journey, their experiences.
[45:55] And you're constantly learning too.
[45:57] Yeah.
[45:58] Even though you might be further in the journey than they are, you can still learn something.
[46:02] Yeah.
[46:02] Oh, totally.
[46:03] And, uh, you know, what you've experienced too, you can share with them and they can learn something too.
[46:07] That's what's so cool about our clients, right?
[46:09] Is every single one of you have a different journey and a different path to how you're going to get to that end goal, for example.
[46:14] But ultimately it's always about paying that home loan off.
[46:18] If that's the biggest thing that we can give to other people, I think we're winning.
[46:21] Absolutely.
[46:22] Because that is the...
[46:23] Biggest liability anyone's going to have hanging over their head.
[46:26] And nobody wants to end their life and their retirement with a mortgage still.
[46:30] Yeah.
[46:30] And to rely on super.
[46:31] Like you guys were going to, because that's not what super was for.
[46:34] Yeah.
[46:34] That's right.
[46:35] And that's what makes me so angry about so many different bankers and brokers that just think it's okay to keep refinancing someone.
[46:41] Yeah.
[46:42] And not explain to them that, guys, if you're refinancing at, say, 50, you're not going to be a good job.
[46:46] You're not going to pay, if you stick to minimum repayments, you're not paying this off till you're 80.
[46:50] When did you want to retire?
[46:51] Like they're not having these conversations.
[46:54] And it's terrifying.
[46:56] But now you guys have said that life feels quieter.
[46:59] Yeah.
[47:00] Right?
[47:00] But you're happy about that.
[47:02] Yeah.
[47:02] Well, yeah, it's not quieter as in the sense of, you know, just,
[47:05] noise wise it's just there's a peacefulness yeah within us now you know like there's a confidence there as well um yeah and it's it's there's an assurity just knowing you know that everything's okay that it's going to be okay yeah you know what I mean like rather than thinking how the hell are we going to do this and you know how are we going to pay for that and this and that even that even the buffer the way you guys set up our accounts and stuff like that like
[47:32] They're game changers, you know what I mean?
[47:33] Something so simple too.
[47:35] That's the thing.
[47:35] It is, but they're game changers in people's lives, you know what I mean?
[47:39] Because it just puts you at ease knowing that you've always got money there.
[47:45] Like, we had money, but we didn't have money like this, you know, like ever since joining Infinity.
[47:50] We've never been in the best financial position ever.
[47:53] Yeah.
[47:53] You know what I mean?
[47:54] And it's only going to get better by it.
[47:55] You know what I mean?
[47:56] The longer we stay and stick to the structure.
[47:59] So exciting times ahead for us, I say.
[48:03] I think so too.
[48:04] What does the next steps look like?
[48:08] Not too sure.
[48:08] We sort of talking to Nina and that and, yeah, we're sort of thinking we want to wrap it up at 60 if we can, which at this stage is a We actually believe it can happen.
[48:25] Yeah, yeah, 100%.
[48:26] Oh, I love that.
[48:28] Look, I'm a believer but I'm not a believer if you know what I mean.
[48:31] Like you guys say but I'm still not.
[48:34] Yeah, you're calling the bank to just make sure that your redraw is real.
[48:38] But even just thinking about it back in the day, I never thought about it.
[48:42] You know what I mean?
[48:43] Yeah.
[48:43] But now I'm starting to think about it and, you know, that sort of looks like maybe hopefully wrapping it up at 60, 70.
[48:51] Well, we're still able to.
[48:52] And my industry, there's a lot of – well, it's all shift work.
[48:57] Um, and there's, it's quite a dangerous industry as well.
[49:01] So, um, it's, it's almost a race against time for me.
[49:06] Um, not only time, but also trying to stay injury free.
[49:11] Yeah.
[49:11] Um, cause things can just turn like that in my joint.
[49:14] Yeah.
[49:14] Um, and again, like most companies too, you're just a number.
[49:18] So, you know, they can get rid of you whenever they feel like it.
[49:21] Yeah.
[49:21] Move on to the next.
[49:22] Yeah, so I'm trying to pump it as much as I can.
[49:26] Before Infinity, I never used to do much overtime as such, only if we had a holiday.
[49:30] But now I'll put in, since we joined, every opportunity I get for overtime...
[49:36] But you're doing it with a goal in mind.
[49:38] That's right.
[49:38] You know what I mean?
[49:39] You're doing it happily with a bit.
[49:40] I don't see the money because people, and even the guys at work, are you paying the mortgage off?
[49:44] You're doing an overtime?
[49:44] Yeah.
[49:45] You know what I mean?
[49:47] But before, you know, when I used to do overtime, I used to sit here at Count Crow and go, oh, look, we've got this much money now.
[49:53] Now that has no...
[49:55] Yeah.
[49:55] You know, it's not even a thing in my mind because we get to stick to our budget.
[49:59] Yeah.
[49:59] Every week I've got 600, whether I do, you know, make 10 grand or whatever.
[50:03] Yeah.
[50:04] It's just, that's what I get.
[50:05] But it's that short-term, I don't like the word sacrifice.
[50:07] I hate using that word.
[50:09] But it's just that short-term discipline you put in to have this longer-term goal of paying off the home loan.
[50:15] And then you can retire well before a lot of people have the choice to.
[50:18] Yeah.
[50:19] It's 60.
[50:19] A lot of people are forced to go even more beyond 67.
[50:22] It's crazy.
[50:22] You know?
[50:23] Yeah.
[50:23] And now you guys have the reality that this is going to happen at 60.
[50:28] Yeah, yeah.
[50:29] That's so exciting.
[50:30] So, yeah, that's pretty epic for us.
[50:33] And then, obviously, we're sort of looking at how that looks and where our forever home is going to be.
[50:39] Because we don't – Where do we want that?
[50:40] We're not fans of Sydney.
[50:41] We don't know.
[50:42] We want out.
[50:43] Yeah.
[50:43] Yeah.
[50:44] Unless our kids have grandkids and that, we might hang around.
[50:46] And you want to stick around, yeah.
[50:47] But otherwise, we're –
[50:48] I'll tell them to move with you and make sure they don't get partners there.
[50:51] Yeah.
[50:53] So, yeah, we're kind of trying to figure out where our fair over home is going to be.
[50:56] But, again, because of infinity, we have choice now.
[50:58] Yeah.
[50:59] So now we've been looking down, you know, down the coast, up the coast, Newcastle sort of thing.
[51:04] Oh, that's awesome.
[51:05] Port Macquarie, maybe even a beer sort of thing.
[51:08] But, again, we never had those options before.
[51:11] Now we have.
[51:12] So we're like…
[51:13] Okay.
[51:13] Which is very exciting.
[51:14] You know what I mean?
[51:15] Yeah, which is.
[51:16] And then a big one is travel too.
[51:19] We still want to do some traveling and stuff like that.
[51:21] We've got to get it at every Disneyland.
[51:22] So.
[51:23] Yeah.
[51:23] Absolutely.
[51:24] Yeah.
[51:25] Yeah.
[51:26] Awesome.
[51:26] Well, before we wrap up, guys, is there anything else you wanted to add?
[51:31] Um, no, I've got one thing I'll quickly add is I think about 12 months into our journey, we, we, we used to have a slush fund account.
[51:42] Right.
[51:42] So I just want to be honest here because there are these people out there that I probably still run it with this.
[51:46] Yeah.
[51:47] Yeah.
[51:47] Yeah.
[51:47] So we, while we were on our cruise, we, we sort of, we're looking at it and we're talking about it and we're thinking.
[51:54] So I used to put $100 in my account a week as a sort of bit of a slush fund and sort of hidden and all the rest of it.
[52:02] You guys probably saw it anyway but didn't say anything.
[52:06] But, yeah, anyway, it just got to the point where I thought, listen, if we're going to.
[52:11] do this right.
[52:11] We need to do it right.
[52:13] And then obviously we were thinking about, you know, uh, the future and, and when we talk to people, um, at, you know, social events and we just want to be transparent too.
[52:25] So we decided let's just get rid of it.
[52:27] You know what I mean?
[52:28] Um, and we haven't missed it, but you know what I mean?
[52:31] That's the thing.
[52:32] It's like, it's, it's kind of, it was there, but it was like a security thing, but we didn't really need it.
[52:37] Yeah.
[52:38] You know, like, so, yeah.
[52:39] We've built a huge buffer.
[52:41] You still have a food feel fun.
[52:43] It's still fun built into your weekly budget.
[52:45] People lose that.
[52:46] They think, oh, we're going to have to eat two-minute noodles and have no fun and never go out.
[52:50] And it's like, no, we build into it because you have to enjoy life along the way.
[52:54] Yeah.
[52:55] Yeah.
[52:56] But yeah, so we sort of got rid of that and, you know, that, again, interest is calculated daily.
[53:02] So rather than $100.
[53:03] The amount's $100 away.
[53:04] Yeah.
[53:05] Then we added it all up and we thought, that's a lot of money.
[53:07] You know, that could save us interest and then do this.
[53:09] So we decided.
[53:11] Let's get it out of there.
[53:11] Let's just get rid of it and just run the gauntlet, you know, if we're going to be.
[53:16] Because actually let's put that mathematically into perspective.
[53:18] So a hundred dollars a week times 52 weeks of the year, 5,200.
[53:24] Some people, so when we break the numbers down in the masterclass, when you take out your principal repayment, the interest, and then what you're actually paying off the home loan, some people are only doing 5,200 a year off the home loan or 8,000, you know, that's a scary thought when that was your slush word.
[53:41] Yeah.
[53:42] And before the status quo was only $5,000 to $8,000 off the home loan each year.
[53:46] Yeah.
[53:46] Isn't that crazy?
[53:47] It's crazy, yeah.
[53:48] A hundred percent.
[53:49] And now you've done like what, $80,000 in your first year and another $80,000 the next year?
[53:53] Yeah.
[53:53] I know.
[53:55] So the only way is up really for us where...
[53:58] Yeah.
[53:58] We're super excited and excited for the kids as well because they've learned so much and changed our ways.
[54:03] We know that they're going to follow.
[54:05] Yeah.
[54:05] And I think that that's exciting because they're in their 20s, whereas we're in our 50s.
[54:09] Yeah.
[54:09] Yeah.
[54:10] They get a head start.
[54:11] They've got a head start.
[54:12] Yeah.
[54:12] Which, yeah.
[54:14] Incredible.
[54:14] Thank you so much for coming on to share your story.
[54:16] It's going to help a lot of people.
[54:18] No problem.
[54:18] Thank you for having us.
[54:19] Of course.

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