# $690K Debt to $7.9M Property Portfolio | Matt & Anneke | CHANGING LIVES | Season 4 Ep 20

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 12 Apr 2026, 58 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/ja2biybt5z3v1wbpv9ia8mf8.mp3

Family with 3 kids. Business owners. Anneke discovered Graeme online, and after just one podcast and one webinar, everything shifted. With a clear strategy, structured plan, and renewed direction, she and Matt transformed their financial life. Today, they manage a multimillion dollar property portfolio and follow a weekly budget that gives them a sense of control and clarity rather than limitation. In this episode of The Money Mentor on Changing Lives Financially, Matt and Anneke join as special guests to share their journey. The conversation is relaxed and celebratory, focusing on how far they’ve come and aiming to inspire other families showing that if they could achieve thistransformation, others can too. 👉 Start by watching the FREE webinar and see what's possible: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] We're fucked.
[0:01] We were.
[0:01] Okay.
[0:02] Annika would sit there and look at the credit card bill that we paid off every month.
[0:07] Yeah.
[0:09] And she'd go, whoa, handbrake on.
[0:12] Where?
[0:13] It's coming up.
[0:13] We've got to pay it.
[0:15] I know we've only got X amount of money coming in from our next pay.
[0:18] Yeah.
[0:19] So I'd say to Matt, stop.
[0:21] Stop spending.
[0:22] We need to stop.
[0:22] So many isn't root of all evil.
[0:24] The fucking lack of it is.
[0:25] Not money.
[0:26] The lack of understanding money.
[0:28] When I put that into emphasis, when I realise that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I have to be in the fucking way.
[0:34] You are now watching the Money Man Talk podcast.
[0:37] With Graham Holm.
[0:38] Graham Holm.
[0:38] Graham Holm.
[0:39] Graham Holm.
[0:40] This is where Matt and Annika started.
[0:45] Debt on the car, no savings.
[0:47] A family business they poured everything into and no plan for what came next.
[0:55] Like so many Australians, they believe that staying on top of the credit card was enough.
[1:00] Until Annika found Graham online.
[1:03] One podcast, one webinar, and everything changed.
[1:09] They finally had a strategy, a structure, a plan.
[1:14] And today their entire financial life looks completely different.
[1:18] A multi-million dollar property portfolio, and a weekly budget that gives them control, not compromise.
[1:25] They are clear, confident and know exactly what their future looks like.
[1:35] This is the story of Matt and Annika.
[1:41] Welcome back to another episode of The Money Mentor on changing lives financially.
[1:45] And we have two special guests today, Matt and Enneka.
[1:48] How are we?
[1:49] Hey, mate.
[1:49] How are you?
[1:50] I'm pretty good.
[1:51] How are you guys?
[1:52] Yeah, good.
[1:52] Good.
[1:52] Thanks for having us.
[1:53] You look a bit...
[1:56] Thank you for having us.
[1:57] Nice.
[1:58] Pleasure.
[1:58] Pleasure.
[1:59] Pleasure.
[1:59] We'll have a bit of fun anyway.
[2:01] It's just a friendly chit-chat.
[2:03] I want to really get you guys in to celebrate your success and how well you've done.
[2:08] And hopefully there's a family out there that go...
[2:11] Oh, shit, if they can do it, we can do it too.
[2:13] For sure.
[2:14] That would be great.
[2:14] So why don't you give us a bit of background on who you are, where you're from, what was going on before Infinity?
[2:21] Well, we're Matt and Annika.
[2:23] We are from Cronulla in Sydney.
[2:27] God's country.
[2:28] Yeah.
[2:28] I used to live in the Shire.
[2:30] We've been married for 28 years this weekend.
[2:33] Yep.
[2:35] Happy anniversary.
[2:36] Thank you very much.
[2:37] And we've got three amazing kids.
[2:40] They're all grown up now, but, yeah, we're pretty proud of them.
[2:44] And we've got a dog named Doug.
[2:48] Doug the dog?
[2:48] Doug the dog.
[2:49] What sort of dog?
[2:50] Grudel.
[2:51] Grudel.
[2:52] Big or little?
[2:54] He's medium He's meant to be small but he's bigger than they said Oh okay But he's beautiful And when and how Who found infinity Why?
[3:06] How, when, what, why?
[3:08] Well, that was Annika Found Infinity.
[3:12] We got to a point in our life where it was just after COVID and our kids had grown up and we're looking at ourselves going, hey, we need to do something here.
[3:23] We were sitting there and we were living a great life.
[3:26] You know, restaurants, overseas trips, we were having a ball.
[3:29] Okay.
[3:30] And then it got to a stage COVID hit and we went, we need to do something long term.
[3:36] So we were looking.
[3:37] Okay.
[3:38] So we're looking and that's when Annika was on a walk and found the Third Wheel podcast.
[3:43] Came home and said, listen to this, and we just went, wow.
[3:46] Oh, Third Wheel podcast.
[3:47] Old podcast.
[3:48] Yep.
[3:49] Okay.
[3:49] That was the first one.
[3:50] And I think after that, because I'd listened to that, all the social media started coming into my feed.
[3:58] I'm very good at that.
[3:59] Oh, yeah.
[4:01] Our team are very good at that.
[4:03] But I have to take it to Matt really because I was always too scared to do anything.
[4:10] Matt, I would put things out to Matt, but I wanted his assurance that should we do this?
[4:17] Is it something we need?
[4:18] Okay.
[4:19] And even though I shared that with him.
[4:22] Sorry?
[4:22] What were you scared of?
[4:23] I guess we just were doing things wrong for such a long time.
[4:28] Yeah.
[4:30] And the finance side of things was always on me.
[4:35] We've got our own business as well, so I didn't want the burden to be on him.
[4:40] Okay.
[4:41] So I took a lot of the stress of the financials at home.
[4:46] Okay.
[4:46] So there's a fear of getting it wrong.
[4:48] Yes, fear of getting it wrong.
[4:50] So comfortable enough where you were but scared to be any worse than you were.
[4:56] Yes, yes.
[4:57] But not in enough pain to want to do better?
[5:00] Yes, exactly.
[5:01] Well, you were because you were on the podcast, you were listening to the podcast and...
[5:05] When you say comfortable enough where we were, the underlying story was we looked comfortable enough where we were.
[5:12] But deep down, we were spending everything.
[5:16] We were fucked.
[5:18] We were.
[5:18] Okay.
[5:19] Annika would sit there and look at the credit card bill that we paid off every month.
[5:24] Yeah.
[5:26] And she'd go, whoa, handbrake on.
[5:29] Where?
[5:30] It's coming up.
[5:30] We've got to pay it.
[5:32] I know we've only got X amount of money coming in from our next pay.
[5:35] Yeah.
[5:36] So I'd say to Matt, stop spending.
[5:39] We need to stop.
[5:40] So was there any, like, structural budget in place where it was just live on the credit card and if you had a quiet month, it was okay?
[5:47] And if you had a bad month, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop.
[5:49] Like, we're in trouble.
[5:51] Exactly that.
[5:51] Exactly right.
[5:52] Right.
[5:52] Okay.
[5:53] And then we'd pay that off.
[5:55] We'd never pay to send interest in credit card.
[5:58] Okay.
[5:59] tapped ourself on the back every month because we never ever paid interest on it.
[6:03] But there was no money left to pay any extra or invest.
[6:06] No, we'd go back out to the restaurants.
[6:08] This is the problem.
[6:08] Everyone goes, if I pay my card in full, I didn't pay any interest on my genius.
[6:13] Yep.
[6:13] But if your credit card limit's 25 grand...
[6:17] Who the fuck earns 25 grand in a month?
[6:18] Exactly.
[6:18] Like you just used all your savings.
[6:20] Exactly what we're doing.
[6:21] Right.
[6:22] Okay.
[6:22] Exactly what we're doing.
[6:24] We were going overseas on money we didn't have.
[6:27] Okay.
[6:28] And then coming back and paying it off.
[6:29] Okay.
[6:30] We were going out to restaurants.
[6:32] We were taking our kids play, had high level sport.
[6:36] So we spent four days of the week travelling overseas.
[6:40] ...an hour and a half each way to sport and crossing each other.
[6:45] And they...we just wanted them to be the best they could be.
[6:47] And then when we had a break from that... ...we'd reward them, go overseas.
[6:53] Okay.
[6:54] So watch...so listen to the Third World Money Mental podcast.
[7:00] How long until you then did the free webinar...
[7:04] We signed up to the next, the first opportunity to do the webinar after listening to that.
[7:10] So I went home and said to Matt, you need to listen to this third wheel.
[7:14] And then we both said, look, we need to do something.
[7:18] We started looking at financial advisors.
[7:22] Yeah, we're looking at the time.
[7:24] We're going, we need to do something.
[7:26] We're looking at financial advisors in Cronulla.
[7:29] Yeah.
[7:31] We had a couple of meetings.
[7:32] We had meetings with mortgage brokers who said they couldn't do anything for us.
[7:37] We're capped.
[7:37] Okay.
[7:40] And...
[7:41] Once Annika found the third wheel and we knew the logo because it was hanging out in Cronulla Street for so long.
[7:47] In the Mance Street, yeah.
[7:48] Even after we left.
[7:49] They never changed the sign.
[7:50] It only got changed last year.
[7:52] Yeah, I know.
[7:53] It was too easy to sit in and we're like, man, we left that office ages ago.
[7:57] Oh, well, yeah.
[7:58] Okay.
[7:59] But then, yeah, we did.
[8:00] We signed up to the free webinar.
[8:02] Yep.
[8:03] And that blew our minds.
[8:04] Okay.
[8:05] Did it hurt or was it good?
[8:08] It was everything.
[8:09] An ass kicking.
[8:10] It was an absolute ass kicking.
[8:12] Okay.
[8:13] The worst part was you go, I know that.
[8:16] I know that.
[8:17] And you do nothing about it.
[8:18] Yeah.
[8:19] And you go, at the end of it you sit there going, why aren't I doing anything about it?
[8:24] Yeah.
[8:24] It's actually not that complicated.
[8:27] But it's then the time and the expertise to go back and restructure all of that to how it should have been.
[8:32] Yeah.
[8:32] Instead of all the things were bolted on and clunked on over the years.
[8:37] We had no structure, no budget.
[8:40] Okay.
[8:41] So it was an eye-opener.
[8:44] When you said, have a look at your credit card statements, that was just blood.
[8:49] So you're obviously in a position, not pain, but enough to be like, we need to do something.
[8:56] You've had all the meetings, you've listened to podcasts, you've done webinars.
[8:59] So when did you do the masterclass?
[9:03] We signed up straight away after the webinar.
[9:07] Early May 24th?
[9:07] So 2024.
[9:08] Yeah.
[9:08] Yeah.
[9:11] We did the end of May.
[9:13] It was the end of May.
[9:14] We did the end of May.
[9:15] So we're nearly a year in.
[9:16] Yep.
[9:16] Okay.
[9:17] And what are we?
[9:18] March now, April, March.
[9:19] Okay.
[9:20] Ten months in.
[9:20] Okay.
[9:21] And how much was the mortgage when you started?
[9:23] $620.
[9:25] Okay.
[9:25] And how much is it today?
[9:28] Under $500.
[9:29] Pardon?
[9:30] Excuse me.
[9:31] Under 500.
[9:31] Under 500?
[9:32] Yeah, just under 500.
[9:35] And did you have any personal loans, credit cards, afterpay, any of that crap?
[9:42] We didn't have credit cards, but we did have a loan that we had to pay our company back.
[9:47] Okay.
[9:47] And we sort of split and had to pay another 70 grand on top of that.
[9:51] Wow.
[9:51] So we're going from 620 to under 500, and we started to pay back the business as well?
[9:57] Yeah.
[9:57] Yep.
[9:59] Okay.
[9:59] We're doing all right.
[10:00] We are.
[10:01] Yep.
[10:01] Did you have any investments to sell, toys to sell, motorbikes, caravans, boats?
[10:08] We came with nothing.
[10:09] Okay.
[10:09] Okay.
[10:10] We spend it on food and travel.
[10:13] I live it up.
[10:15] Very, very well spent.
[10:18] Okay, so you guys have done phenomenally well in a short amount of time where most people tuning in will be like, oh, what a load of shit.
[10:28] What do you put it down to?
[10:31] A budget.
[10:32] Definitely a budget.
[10:34] I think that is the core of it.
[10:36] If you don't have a budget, you don't know where your money's going.
[10:40] But you didn't have a budget previously?
[10:41] No.
[10:42] No.
[10:42] So was that a big shock?
[10:44] Yeah, it was.
[10:46] It was a little bit.
[10:47] And it took us a while to tweak it.
[10:48] Yeah.
[10:50] So how much did you start with?
[10:53] $750.
[10:53] $750.
[10:53] Okay, and what are you at today?
[10:55] $600.
[10:56] Okay, that's a big difference.
[10:58] Yeah.
[11:00] Out of that $600, we probably...
[11:03] I could nearly drop another 200 bucks.
[11:08] Oh, yeah.
[11:08] We could drop it a little bit further.
[11:10] We've got to live.
[11:11] Well, that's it.
[11:12] We do.
[11:13] We still live.
[11:14] We still go out to dinner.
[11:16] We still do everything we used to do, just not excessively.
[11:19] I think this is the problem with society.
[11:21] It's like you go out for dinner once a week and have a nice date night and go to the cafe for brekkie or whatever.
[11:26] Like you said, it could be 200 bucks there.
[11:29] Budget doesn't mean you do nothing.
[11:30] No.
[11:30] It just means you put some parameters, you stay in your lane.
[11:34] Yeah.
[11:34] It just makes it so easy.
[11:36] Like we went out last night, beautiful Thai place up here that we go to.
[11:40] Yeah.
[11:41] And it was cheap.
[11:43] Took a bottle of wine with us.
[11:44] Yeah.
[11:45] Had the money there to go.
[11:47] Yeah.
[11:48] It's no skin off your nose.
[11:49] It's no different whatsoever.
[11:51] I think we appreciate it more too.
[11:53] So was it hard?
[11:55] How many months did it take you to get the budget thing right?
[11:59] I think it took us a little while.
[12:01] When we first signed up, we actually had a trip booked to go to see our son who lives in America.
[12:07] Yep.
[12:08] And we probably didn't start our FFF until August and then just trying to, when Christmas, things like Christmas come up, birthdays, knowing what comes out of that and what comes out of our other accounts.
[12:22] But I think it was just having structure.
[12:28] Now we pre-plan when we know we've got a birthday coming up and we know we're going to go on a holiday.
[12:34] We plan for it a month or two before.
[12:37] Okay.
[12:38] So we've got more structure in our spending.
[12:41] We know where every dollar is going now.
[12:44] Okay.
[12:45] And so no investments, no toys, no nothing, just budget, grit, determination, smash the mortgage down.
[12:53] Exactly right.
[12:54] Okay.
[12:55] When are you going to start investing?
[12:57] We have.
[12:57] We have.
[12:58] Oh, okay.
[12:59] How many investments have you got?
[13:01] I've got three.
[13:02] Three with you guys, one in our super.
[13:06] Okay.
[13:07] And then we've got two other ones that are starting.
[13:11] One of them's starting at the moment.
[13:13] Yeah, well done.
[13:14] And then we've also got – so Annika and I have got a super fund together.
[13:18] Okay.
[13:20] That we've got an investment in that.
[13:21] Okay.
[13:22] And then I've also got a super fund with my family.
[13:25] Yep.
[13:25] That we've got our factory in that –
[13:28] Commercial factory.
[13:29] Big commercial factory.
[13:29] And that's the business trades out of there?
[13:31] Correct.
[13:31] Nice.
[13:32] Yeah, that's a common thing that a lot of people don't know that, like Brooke and Brent Emory are clients of ours.
[13:38] Yeah, I remember that one.
[13:39] They're electricians and they've got a warehouse in Burley and they're super fun.
[13:43] And with commercial, a P2LT business can actually lease a commercial, not resi, commercial property and business.
[13:51] So it's a good little retirement nest egg.
[13:52] It is.
[13:53] One day you sell the business but maybe you keep being the landlord.
[13:55] Exactly right.
[13:56] So good.
[13:57] Okay, so you've got the family super fund with the commercial property, you've got the joint super fund, and you've done property or stocks or shares or crypto, what have you done in the joint super fund?
[14:07] Property and... Property, okay, yeah.
[14:09] And then you've got personal investments now as well.
[14:11] Yeah, we've got two.
[14:13] Two, so three plus the family one.
[14:15] Correct.
[14:15] Jeez, that's a bit of a turnaround.
[14:17] Oh, yeah.
[14:18] It's mind-blowing.
[14:19] It's mind-blowing.
[14:20] Hang on.
[14:22] You said you went and seen banks and brokers and advisors and everyone said that you were tapped out.
[14:26] Yeah.
[14:27] Not a chance.
[14:28] They weren't giving us a cent more.
[14:29] Why?
[14:31] Because we couldn't afford it.
[14:33] Did they know how to use their computer?
[14:35] Yeah.
[14:35] I don't know.
[14:36] Not sure now.
[14:40] It's crazy.
[14:40] We've got to make sure they actually had a computer.
[14:42] Yeah.
[14:43] Yeah, geez, okay.
[14:45] And so we've restructured all the finances, moved everything around, the bank obviously didn't have any issues with it, all good.
[14:53] No.
[14:53] We had no trouble.
[14:54] So clearly you can borrow money, you're not tapped out.
[14:56] Clearly.
[14:58] Fuck me.
[15:01] I won't even name any of the...we're not going to name any of the people.
[15:04] I think it might have been in the Shire.
[15:09] Don't you find that...like imagine for your family if you stopped there.
[15:13] Imagine if you gave up and still owed $620,000 on the mortgage... ...and still had other loans and they said no... ...and you went, oh, well, the experts said, no, we can't fix everything.
[15:24] I think we felt like that for a long time, that this is just how it's got to be and we've just got to keep working hard and... Yeah, we weren't scared of hard work and we just put our nose down and worked hard, but it just wasn't getting us anyway.
[15:40] As you say, you don't know what you don't know.
[15:42] And one of the biggest things we've found with Infinity, the education we've got now, is amazing.
[15:47] Like Annika and I, I'd just go, Annika's got finances,
[15:53] not me.
[15:54] I'm working.
[15:55] I've got a business to run.
[15:56] Yep.
[15:57] Now we sit there and we talk about it daily.
[16:01] Like we've always been close.
[16:02] We've always had a really, you know, loving relationship.
[16:05] But money was always something that we wouldn't talk about.
[16:10] Yeah.
[16:10] So now we feel...
[16:12] But now you've merged that.
[16:13] You're sharing it.
[16:14] You're working together.
[16:15] You're rolling the boat together.
[16:17] We do the portal together.
[16:18] You sickos.
[16:19] LAUGHTER
[16:20] Sounds like you get a bit financially aroused.
[16:24] I like it.
[16:25] I like it.
[16:26] So much better.
[16:27] So that's a big shift.
[16:28] Massive shift.
[16:29] And so until last, 2024, sorry, had you, 2024, right, you guys started, sorry, so 25, 20.
[16:39] So we're about to approach two years.
[16:41] That's why the results are good.
[16:42] Sorry.
[16:43] So had you ever been involved in the finances prior to that?
[16:48] Or it was always a, you just deal with it, babe?
[16:50] You deal with it.
[16:51] Right.
[16:52] And I gave it to a spender.
[16:54] Gave the finances to a spender.
[16:55] I was a spender.
[16:56] Oh, shit.
[16:57] I was about to say, he just threw you under the bus, but you didn't get it.
[16:59] Sorry, don't have a mic.
[17:01] No, I put my hand up to that.
[17:02] Okay.
[17:03] And that's where we've spoken about it.
[17:06] I was the spender, but I was the one that was looking after the finances.
[17:10] Right.
[17:11] No, I didn't hide things from that, but I would know how much we could spend before we had to stop it.
[17:15] Until you're so part of the brakes, right?
[17:17] Yeah.
[17:17] Yeah.
[17:19] Ah, okay.
[17:19] Yep.
[17:20] So you didn't have to be accountable to anyone?
[17:22] No.
[17:23] And no.
[17:24] And that is huge now for us.
[17:27] Okay.
[17:28] What's been the hardest thing in the journey in the last two years?
[17:36] Like how hard was the budget?
[17:37] Or how hard was the paperwork?
[17:39] Or was it hard to come together and start openly talking about money at first?
[17:44] We're the sort of people that...
[17:46] when we go into something, we're all in.
[17:48] Right.
[17:50] We don't sort of dance around the edges where it's either yes or no.
[17:53] And we decided then and there...
[17:56] It was time.
[17:57] ...we're in.
[17:57] The only thing that we had was that we were going overseas.
[18:02] Brenton came to us to find out about what we wanted to do.
[18:08] Do we want to look at properties before we go overseas?
[18:11] Do we want to wait till we come back and go to a REM?
[18:14] And Willie said...
[18:15] we're all in mate, we want to go now.
[18:16] And he said, I'll come back to you in a week and I'll have some options.
[18:22] So we had another call with him in a week and he goes, okay, I've got these two properties.
[18:28] I've got one here and I've got one there.
[18:30] I said, cool.
[18:31] What one do you think?
[18:32] He goes, no, no, I've got two properties.
[18:34] We're just sitting there looking at each other going.
[18:36] Two?
[18:37] We got told we couldn't even change the loan.
[18:40] Exactly right.
[18:42] So that blew our minds.
[18:45] And then once we went overseas to see our son, yeah, it was a bit tough doing paperwork back and forth, but that's life.
[18:54] There's nothing that was hard to do it.
[18:56] But then I think, sorry to interrupt, I think our spending was something we knew we had to change that.
[19:01] Right.
[19:02] We knew that we couldn't keep.
[19:05] going out to dinner all the time, we could still do it, but we would do it in a different way.
[19:10] I knew that for me that I couldn't just spend money...
[19:15] on fashion or the kids or whatever I wanted anymore.
[19:20] I needed to really think about it.
[19:23] That was a huge shift.
[19:24] I will say in fairness to any other experts that you went and seen, your living expenses would have been fucking terrible.
[19:34] So the conversation shouldn't have been, no, we can't help you.
[19:37] It should have been...
[19:39] Hey, we can help you, but this is what we need to do for the next three to six months to get you in a position for a bank to say yes.
[19:47] We didn't know.
[19:48] And when someone, that was normal life for us.
[19:52] That's just how life was.
[19:54] We didn't know any different.
[19:56] We'd sit there and rack up the bill and then pay for it.
[19:59] Rack up the bill and pay for it.
[20:01] And no one ever said, hey, you need time to think about this until we met you guys.
[20:08] Put a structure in place and turned it on its head.
[20:13] So has it stopped, has it changed your quality of life or stopped who you can hang out with?
[20:20] Does it mean you can't have a life anymore?
[20:22] Most people think, oh, budget, not going to the club for dinner or I'm not hanging out with Frank.
[20:27] How much has it changed your quality of life?
[20:29] Look, it's probably made it... Well, it's made it better.
[20:32] Oh, okay.
[20:32] Anna and I are probably closer than we've ever been.
[20:35] We've never not been close.
[20:36] Yeah.
[20:37] But now we've just got the shackles off us of that worry.
[20:42] We still go out to dinner.
[20:43] Yeah.
[20:43] We still go out to dinner.
[20:44] We actually did a tie the other night.
[20:46] So it's not...
[20:46] It's not like you've locked yourself up at home and thrown away the cake.
[20:49] Oh, no.
[20:50] No, no.
[20:50] We're going overseas.
[20:52] It's only because 50th at the end of this month.
[20:54] And we're going overseas twice.
[20:56] We're going to New Zealand.
[20:58] And then we're going to go with the family to Vietnam.
[21:02] Oh, nice.
[21:02] Yeah.
[21:03] Enjoy.
[21:03] Yeah.
[21:04] So all it means is instead of whacking on a credit card, we're already planning for it.
[21:09] And you've got the cash there.
[21:10] Yeah.
[21:10] We've got the cash there.
[21:11] Okay.
[21:12] Well done.
[21:13] Thanks.
[21:14] So...
[21:16] Why is someone sitting at home right now, their kids growing up as well, you know, adult kids, they've done exactly what you've done.
[21:25] Why are they, like, pre-meeting us?
[21:28] What's the excuse?
[21:30] Why are they stuck in that cycle?
[21:33] No.
[21:33] Because they know we're no different.
[21:36] I think they're not educated.
[21:39] So explain to me then what was the point where you found the podcast?
[21:44] Obviously at some point you're looking for it or something's going on.
[21:47] What's that critical pain point of, shit, stop spending the credit cards max this month.
[21:53] Okay, I need help.
[21:54] What happened?
[21:55] What was the trigger?
[21:55] Because I always like to know such a big turnaround.
[21:59] At what point in your life does someone say, no more?
[22:03] It's now.
[22:04] How do I get help?
[22:04] Would it have been because the kids were at an age where they were starting to look after themselves... ...and we didn't have to financially help them.
[22:12] They all had jobs or most of them had jobs.
[22:15] So we always had the mentality of the kids... ...we want the kids to be the best they can be.
[22:22] Yep.
[22:22] And we'll do anything to help them as long as they're doing the most they can do.
[22:28] We'll help them in any way they can.
[22:30] So we were...
[22:31] You know, always had the blinkers on looking at their sport and taking them to the nationals in another state and doing this and doing that.
[22:40] And then it came to a stage where they weren't doing it anymore and they were looking after themselves.
[22:44] I think Annika and I looked at each other and went, what are we doing?
[22:48] What are we doing now?
[22:49] And I think too, like me turning 50, Matt's five years older than me.
[22:55] We knew that retirement is coming.
[22:58] It was probably the first time in our lives we actually thought about retirement.
[23:02] Right.
[23:02] So now the kids are sort of a bit more independent.
[23:04] You're like, shit, what do we do now?
[23:07] Yeah, what's next for us?
[23:08] Yeah.
[23:10] I guess it made us think, are we going to stay here forever in Cronulla?
[23:13] Yeah.
[23:14] Are we going to...
[23:16] how long before we'll finish work where we won't have an income, but all we've really got is our house.
[23:22] Yeah, okay.
[23:22] We knew we had equity in it, but we didn't know...
[23:26] Everyone told us we had equity in it.
[23:27] Yeah.
[23:28] That's all they'd tell us.
[23:29] Oh, you've got heaps of equity in the house.
[23:30] Just no serviceability.
[23:31] No.
[23:32] And that was – we were – we did everything wrong.
[23:37] Mm.
[23:37] So we'd have interest-free – I mean interest-only loans.
[23:41] Yeah.
[23:42] So we could move.
[23:44] We'd borrow money to renovate.
[23:46] Yeah.
[23:47] And a little bit more so we could go overseas.
[23:49] Okay.
[23:51] So we're always – We did it, yeah.
[23:53] We did.
[23:54] We did it the wrong way.
[23:55] Mm.
[23:56] How, I mean, the kids are obviously grown up pretty much as you started this, but how, have you taught any of this to the kids?
[24:04] Have they seen a change in you guys?
[24:07] What's the family dynamic like?
[24:09] They've seen a huge change.
[24:11] I guess we used to give them everything and now even our youngest on a Saturday because our budget comes in on the Sunday.
[24:18] Yeah.
[24:18] Yeah.
[24:19] There's nothing left in the fridge, Mum.
[24:22] We had a fridge overflowing with food.
[24:24] We would take them out to dinner.
[24:26] We'd pay for everything.
[24:28] They've seen a huge change.
[24:30] But as far as a change in us and what we've done, they are blown away.
[24:36] They're proud.
[24:37] They are...
[24:40] Yeah, they're just trying to get them on the journey is a bit different because they've just got new jobs.
[24:46] They've all got jobs and they've come from school and that.
[24:49] So they've got money and they're spending and we keep going.
[24:52] No, no.
[24:53] All in their pockets.
[24:54] Exactly.
[24:54] And they're very careful what they say now because we feel like you're judging us.
[25:00] We kind of are.
[25:01] Well, they can have a bit of fun.
[25:02] They're young, whatever.
[25:03] Exactly.
[25:04] They've got to live a bit too.
[25:05] But they understand.
[25:06] They can see the difference.
[25:08] They can see what we've achieved.
[25:12] It's there in front of them on paper.
[25:15] And they can see what we still do.
[25:17] They can see we still go out.
[25:18] So they're very aware of the process.
[25:20] They know what's going on.
[25:21] Yeah.
[25:22] And they know that they get what they get and they don't get upset.
[25:25] Yep.
[25:26] Exactly right.
[25:26] Exactly.
[25:27] They do.
[25:28] They're starting to – we can see a few lightbulb moments for them or little switches that they're starting to implement what we have been doing.
[25:38] What you've been doing.
[25:39] Okay.
[25:40] What's the big goal for you guys as a family now?
[25:45] Well, we want to stay where we are.
[25:48] We love Cronulla.
[25:49] Yep.
[25:49] But we think we want to downsize there when the kids have moved out.
[25:54] Yep.
[25:56] We'd love – we're always up on the Gold Coast and we'd love to have an apartment here.
[26:00] That's pretty similar.
[26:01] It is.
[26:02] That's very similar.
[26:03] I mean, I lived in Borronea Bay.
[26:04] Yeah, we're looking across the river at the –
[26:07] Yeah, yeah.
[26:08] It's embarrassing.
[26:09] You're across... Dead across.
[26:11] Yeah, yeah.
[26:12] We're on Woollooware Road.
[26:13] Yep.
[26:14] Yeah, okay.
[26:14] So... Because you had the beach on the fancy side.
[26:17] That's right.
[26:17] I had the deep water.
[26:19] Exactly right.
[26:20] Yeah.
[26:20] Okay.
[26:21] Yeah, so...
[26:22] So you like the Gold Coast?
[26:23] Yeah, so we wanted... We'd love...
[26:25] In a perfect world.
[26:26] Yeah.
[26:27] In when we can step away from our business a bit more.
[26:30] Yep.
[26:31] We'd love to have something along the lines of spending time in Cronulla.
[26:35] Yep.
[26:36] Spending time up here.
[26:37] Okay.
[26:37] And spending time overseas with our son or travelling.
[26:41] Okay.
[26:41] So that's our big goal is nearly, I won't say four months, four months, four months, but.
[26:46] Yep.
[26:47] Being able to have the... Have the flexibility to do that.
[26:51] Okay.
[26:51] The choice.
[26:52] Yes.
[26:52] The choice.
[26:53] Be where you want to be.
[26:54] Yep.
[26:54] Exactly right.
[26:55] Okay.
[26:56] How soon?
[26:58] We've spoken about this.
[27:03] I'd better get to work.
[27:06] I'd like to do it... ..in the next six or seven years.
[27:14] Okay.
[27:16] Okay.
[27:17] Whilst I'm still young enough to enjoy it.
[27:19] Enjoy it all.
[27:21] I'm thinking more 10.
[27:22] That's because she's younger.
[27:24] Because I'm younger.
[27:26] She can do it in 10.
[27:27] Yeah, you can stop her.
[27:28] I can do it in 6 and 7.
[27:29] Oh, yeah, keep working.
[27:30] Okay.
[27:33] Help me help some people tuning in that are like, okay, I get it.
[27:37] Like we're similar ages, family size, we're in Sydney too.
[27:41] So it's like, because people relate to different people, right?
[27:43] Yeah.
[27:43] Definitely.
[27:44] Give me some tips for people tuning in about, let's talk about all the things you did wrong.
[27:50] Let's go back.
[27:51] Yeah, sure.
[27:52] Let's go back to some trauma.
[27:53] What are four or five things you did wrong?
[27:56] Well, probably interest only on the home loan.
[27:59] Interest only?
[28:00] Okay.
[28:00] We fixed it.
[28:01] Fixed?
[28:01] Partly fixed part of our loan.
[28:03] Yeah.
[28:05] We... We'd get out...
[28:09] We'd buy products like TVs or computers.
[28:13] Afterpay or interest-free.
[28:16] Yeah, store cards.
[28:17] Latitude sort of cards.
[28:20] So buy stuff we didn't really have the cash for.
[28:22] Yeah.
[28:22] But interest-free, so it sounds good, right?
[28:24] Yeah.
[28:24] We'd refinance every few years.
[28:26] Every few, okay.
[28:27] Credit cards.
[28:28] So credit cards.
[28:28] Credit cards.
[28:29] Interest-free loans.
[28:30] Interest-only home loan.
[28:32] Yep.
[28:32] Yep.
[28:32] Fixed rates, okay.
[28:35] No budget.
[28:35] No budget.
[28:37] Okay.
[28:38] And I think a big one too is that we would spend and it didn't align with our values.
[28:44] Yeah.
[28:45] You know, it really didn't.
[28:49] Do you agree?
[28:50] Yeah.
[28:51] We'd spend stuff that we shouldn't be spending.
[28:53] Yeah.
[28:53] I don't want to get into any of that weird stuff.
[28:58] We're not talking Gucci shoes with bees, but we're talking, you know, everything.
[29:02] Just shit.
[29:03] Shit.
[29:03] Just shit.
[29:04] Clothes, shoes, whatever.
[29:06] Just shit.
[29:06] Yeah.
[29:07] And I always thought if I got it on sale, that was good.
[29:11] I was doing – I was saving money.
[29:13] Yeah.
[29:13] But then I would buy one, two, three things.
[29:16] Yeah.
[29:18] ...even though they were all on sale, I thought I was doing okay...
[29:22] Okay.
[29:23] Do you feel – what are the things that you think have been – I mean obviously budget's a big one but what's the critical – so now we're obviously not doing an interest-only loan.
[29:33] It's P&I.
[29:34] We're trying to pay it down as fast as possible.
[29:36] We're putting – you know, we've got our budget.
[29:39] Like what are some of the wins now for people they need to be doing?
[29:42] Because you've done all these things wrong.
[29:44] Yeah.
[29:44] So let's list the things we're doing right now.
[29:47] What makes sense to you now?
[29:48] Definitely budget.
[29:49] Definitely structure.
[29:50] Yeah.
[29:50] Yeah.
[29:58] the budget structure how often do you break your budget
[30:03] We don't really.
[30:04] We always keep in our budget.
[30:05] So budget and structure and actually sticking to it?
[30:07] You've got to stick to it.
[30:08] I mean, I speak to a lot of people that go, yeah, we've got a budget most of the time.
[30:15] And I'm like, okay.
[30:17] You either do or you don't.
[30:18] Yeah, you don't.
[30:19] Exactly right.
[30:19] I think that's really crucial.
[30:21] And I think that's the core of it really, to have a budget.
[30:24] Because that...
[30:25] It just helps with everything.
[30:27] And that's what's got us ahead for sure.
[30:29] Like, you know, we've just been doing the rapid repay... ...which has just been huge.
[30:36] How important is it to do it together?
[30:38] Oh, everything too.
[30:40] That's the most important part.
[30:42] You've got to be on the same page.
[30:45] Yeah, no secret accounts or anything like that.
[30:48] If it's all out there, it's all out there.
[30:49] Yeah.
[30:50] And it's so much easier to do it together.
[30:53] And that's, you know, we bounce things off each other, as Annika said, with her 50th coming up.
[30:58] And she's like, okay, we haven't spent all our FFF this week.
[31:03] Maybe we hold it back because we know we're going to a lot of restaurants or we know we're going overseas.
[31:07] We've got a few birthday celebrations.
[31:09] So we're trying to hold it back.
[31:11] And, yeah, a few weeks we might not go out to dinner, but...
[31:14] We do something else.
[31:16] We'll, you know, cook dinner at home.
[31:18] Yep.
[31:18] Lay by the pool.
[31:20] What about friends and family?
[31:22] So the kids, like, are aware of it and the youngest is like, shit, there's nothing to eat.
[31:26] I don't want to make a sandwich.
[31:28] So me growing up was like, I'm hungry.
[31:29] And Nan was like...
[31:30] Have an apple.
[31:31] I don't want an apple.
[31:32] Then you're not bloody hungry.
[31:33] Exactly.
[31:34] Have a sandwich.
[31:34] I don't want a sandwich.
[31:35] Then you're not bloody hungry.
[31:36] Well, that's what Annika says.
[31:37] She opens the fridge and goes, there's nothing in the fridge.
[31:39] Annika goes, yes, there is.
[31:41] There's this.
[31:41] There's this.
[31:42] You can make this.
[31:42] You can make that.
[31:43] Yeah.
[31:44] She's like, oh, I've got to make something.
[31:46] I just wanted to grab something.
[31:47] Grab a packet of everything.
[31:49] What about friends and family?
[31:51] Do friends and family know what you're doing now and how you're trying to achieve it?
[31:56] Has that been a topical area or not?
[32:01] It has.
[32:02] It's been fairly topical.
[32:04] Okay.
[32:06] Good way or a bad way?
[32:06] Positive, in both ways.
[32:08] Okay, good and bad.
[32:09] Like my parents have been wonderful.
[32:11] They wish they'd done what we'd done.
[32:13] Yeah, okay.
[32:13] So they've been great.
[32:14] And your parents too.
[32:15] Yeah.
[32:15] They're appreciative of what we're doing.
[32:17] Annika's sister's husband joined over in WA, which was fantastic.
[32:23] And they're flying.
[32:24] Doing really well too.
[32:25] They're absolutely flying.
[32:26] Doing well.
[32:27] Lovely to see.
[32:27] So it's been a positive influence overall.
[32:30] It has.
[32:30] We've had the sceptics.
[32:33] You know, we've had the people that have asked what snake oil are they trying to sell you or all that sort of thing.
[32:38] Or just your bank balance, your loan balance being a lot bloody lower.
[32:42] Yeah, well, that's it.
[32:42] Step one.
[32:44] Exactly right.
[32:44] I don't understand the scepticism of that.
[32:46] Like, hey, here's my statement, man.
[32:48] It makes no sense.
[32:50] He's like, dude, here's my bank balance.
[32:52] It makes no sense.
[32:54] But we've just decided the best way to do it is by...
[32:57] Action.
[32:57] Just doing it.
[32:59] Look, they'll come around when they turn around and they're still in the same place they're in.
[33:03] They'll do what you do, wake up one day and go, shit, what do we do now?
[33:06] Exactly.
[33:06] Or they'll look at what we've got and go, how do you get that?
[33:09] Well, you know what we've been talking about or what we said before?
[33:13] We just followed that.
[33:14] And look, we're miles in front.
[33:17] Miles.
[33:18] So how did it feel when you first started smashing the debt down and seeing the sweeps?
[33:24] Oh, dude.
[33:25] We're very competitive.
[33:26] Okay.
[33:28] Oh, I'm very competitive.
[33:30] Yeah, okay.
[33:31] But it was unbelievable.
[33:33] It was how long?
[33:34] Ten months, worry?
[33:36] Yeah, about ten months.
[33:37] And we'd taken way more off than we had for the last ten years.
[33:40] Yeah.
[33:41] And that sort of thing was mind-blowing because we thought it would be
[33:47] And we thought that it will work, not like this.
[33:53] We're looking at each other going, how did we just save that money?
[33:58] It was mind-blowing.
[34:00] It was...
[34:01] So when you first join and you listen to everyone else share and other people's podcasts and testimonials, is it safe to say, sit there and go, oh, yeah, we'll do all right, but not that well?
[34:10] Oh, yeah.
[34:11] Like, we'll never be those people.
[34:13] We looked at the Rosies.
[34:15] Oh, yeah, from the Shire.
[34:15] Because they're from the Shire.
[34:16] Did you see them downstairs?
[34:18] No, I haven't, no.
[34:18] Oh, they do.
[34:19] You have to say g'day.
[34:20] Well, they're here now.
[34:21] Yeah, yeah.
[34:21] They work here.
[34:22] Yeah.
[34:23] It seems like half the business is former clients and now they're bloody team members.
[34:27] That's it.
[34:27] But they started at the same age we are.
[34:30] They started with about the same mortgage as we did.
[34:33] So we really resonated with them when we were on the masterclass.
[34:37] It was the masterclass, yeah.
[34:38] The masterclass of that.
[34:39] And, you know, the Cherries with Oscar who plays soccer and they were on the masterclass on the way to watch Oscar play soccer and that's been our life, doing the same sort of thing.
[34:48] They're very, very influential, all the podcasts.
[34:51] I think you take a bit of everything from all of them.
[34:54] From each family, yeah.
[34:55] They've all been... A few nuggets of gold.
[34:57] Oh.
[34:57] But here you are sitting here doing similar results to the Roses.
[35:01] Yeah.
[35:02] Yeah.
[35:03] Yeah.
[35:04] It doesn't sink in, does it?
[35:06] No.
[35:07] I think it's hard to...
[35:09] to realise that we've done it.
[35:11] Yeah.
[35:11] That we're on this journey and we've come so far already.
[35:16] But we're so excited now.
[35:19] We're excited for the next chapters.
[35:20] So have you guys been setting yourself like a monthly amount?
[35:24] Have you got a challenge there where you're like, we've got to hit a specific amount each month?
[35:29] I think not necessarily a certain amount.
[35:31] I think because every month can be different depending on bills.
[35:34] You get rates and this and insurance for the car.
[35:37] I think we're just trying to do as much as we can every month and watch that top line just drop.
[35:47] And that's been the exciting thing.
[35:49] And we're living through Anika's 50th birthday year.
[35:51] It's not a day, it's not a week, it's not a month.
[35:54] Yeah, so from the 1st of March I had to get up and say happy birthday to her.
[36:00] Every morning since.
[36:01] I don't think I've said it today.
[36:02] Happy birthday.
[36:02] Oh, thank you.
[36:04] I dragged mine out for about a week.
[36:07] I'm sorry, I'm milking it a little bit.
[36:08] Yeah, enjoy it, enjoy it.
[36:11] Yeah, I think we're definitely being...
[36:16] looking at how we can just keep smashing it down.
[36:20] Okay.
[36:21] Yeah.
[36:21] We've kind of set a goal we'd like to have paid off by 2030.
[36:25] 2030, okay.
[36:27] So that's the big picture goal.
[36:28] That's the big picture.
[36:29] Yeah, our goal.
[36:30] We know it will be a bit tricky.
[36:31] So that'll be, what was the opening balance?
[36:34] 620.
[36:34] 620, 90, 20?
[36:35] Okay.
[36:37] So 620 from 2024.
[36:41] So the 620 in six years.
[36:43] Okay.
[36:44] So 100-ish a year, 90-something.
[36:46] Okay.
[36:48] That's a pretty big goal.
[36:50] It is a goal.
[36:50] Yeah.
[36:52] I think we can do it.
[36:53] Yeah.
[36:53] I think we can do it.
[36:54] Yeah, Rosie's did 595 in I think four years and four months.
[36:59] Four months, yeah.
[37:01] And it gets more aggressive, right?
[37:02] Yeah.
[37:02] So it's like it's harder now but as it gets lower and lower it gets really, really quick.
[37:06] Yeah.
[37:06] So there were a few other things we'll do along the way to have a couple of wins.
[37:11] Yeah.
[37:12] Okay, so 2030.
[37:13] That's our big goal.
[37:14] So 2030, how old will you be then?
[37:16] What are we today?
[37:19] So another four years.
[37:19] What is that, 26?
[37:20] Four years.
[37:20] Yeah.
[37:21] 59.
[37:22] 59.
[37:23] Debt free.
[37:25] And 21.
[37:25] And 59 and 21, yeah.
[37:27] And our factories paid off the same year.
[37:29] Right.
[37:30] Okay, so there's a lot happening at 59 and 2030.
[37:33] Yeah.
[37:33] Big year.
[37:34] Yeah.
[37:35] Where to from there?
[37:37] Or along the way?
[37:38] Oh, we just want to keep investing.
[37:40] Keep investing, yeah.
[37:41] Yeah.
[37:42] Yeah, we want to go as hard as we can.
[37:44] Okay.
[37:46] Okay.
[37:46] Okay.
[37:47] We keep knocking on Brenton's door and ringing AR.
[37:51] Okay.
[37:52] Okay.
[37:54] And eventually you think you want to end up on the Gold Coast?
[37:57] No, we want to be in between.
[37:59] Or in between, sorry.
[38:00] Yeah, we want to have the freedom to be able to go overseas.
[38:02] See your son.
[38:03] Yeah.
[38:04] Like even, I don't know whether the property's available over there or whether we help him out over there.
[38:11] Yeah.
[38:12] But having a place up here, having a place in Cronulla and some investments wherever they may be.
[38:19] Okay.
[38:20] Okay.
[38:21] I'm liking this.
[38:25] Compared to how and where you guys started, it was pretty messy.
[38:29] It was all over the place.
[38:30] You're being told no.
[38:31] It's a very quick turnaround to go from not structured to very structured.
[38:38] Oh, it's amazing.
[38:41] It was...
[38:44] Because you're always bashing forward and you're always looking forward... ...and going what's next, what's next... ...until you turn around and have a look and go... ...wow, if we knew we could have done that in such a small amount of time.
[38:57] No regrets, no regrets.
[38:58] It's always good.
[38:59] Should have met me ten years ago.
[39:01] Should have rolled into the Cronulla office years ago.
[39:03] Should have.
[39:04] I know.
[39:06] We should have.
[39:08] I'm curious what you want to ask me while we're here today.
[39:12] And we've got a few questions.
[39:13] Hit me.
[39:14] Let's go.
[39:14] Okay.
[39:15] You know that we've got three adult children.
[39:17] Yep.
[39:19] Sometimes advice coming from mum and dad doesn't always land.
[39:22] Yep.
[39:23] So what would be your advice for young people to get ahead and with the savings so they're all working, if they've got savings, what should they be doing with that?
[39:38] we're about to do a whole section of content not for any commercial benefit because we do mortgages and real estate and all that sort of stuff and um i'm about to do a whole series of content because we're getting screaming for it just to help which is going to be on how to pay your car off in two three years not seven years or five years
[39:59] How to do this.
[40:00] We're about to do a whole heap of short shop content for that, which we're just going to pop onto socials for free so everyone can see it globally and nationally.
[40:08] So that will come out shortly.
[40:10] It's really hard because they've just got jobs.
[40:15] They've finally got some money that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want with it.
[40:19] It's going to burn a hole in their pocket.
[40:23] obviously as well they've grown up seeing a different version of mum and dad financially exactly right yeah so it's even harder for you to have any serious impact and influence right now because previously just get whatever you want spend everything what then all of a sudden they would have known when there was financial pressure and stress because you would have said no
[40:44] Yeah.
[40:45] Right?
[40:45] Because the card's going to cut off or whatever.
[40:47] So they've seen a bit of a, not many, but mostly whatever you want, whenever you want, off we go.
[40:53] So then, which is a little bit, it's like up and down, if that makes sense.
[40:57] Yeah.
[40:58] So they would have, and this is just me paraphrasing the situation.
[41:02] they would have experienced some up and downs financially throughout their youth trying to model and mirror or match or figure out what they should do and how they should transact and act.
[41:17] So for the kids, for yourself, it would be a little bit blurry of you now saying, hey, we're doing this amazing stuff and here we go and blah, blah, blah.
[41:24] Very hard because mum and dad aren't typically the cool ones.
[41:27] I know with like my nieces and nephews and stuff,
[41:30] They won't listen to mum and dad, but they'll listen to Bec and I because of homes and cars and things.
[41:36] So we're the cool ones.
[41:37] So it typically needs to come from somebody else.
[41:40] So if I use Oscar as an example, besides the fact, and I don't want to discredit, mum and dad are two of the most beautiful people on the planet, David and Jackie.
[41:49] They've done an amazing job.
[41:51] Sure.
[41:52] It's only recently I realised Oscar's decided, the poor kid, decided he wants to be me in some aspects, right?
[42:00] That's okay.
[42:01] Just don't take any of the bad habits, right?
[42:03] But he obviously seen something in me that he aspires to follow, whether it's financially or wealth or business.
[42:12] He's seen something.
[42:14] And he's been gravitated to that and he's followed that.
[42:17] And he's followed it very well.
[42:19] Amazing.
[42:19] And it took me a few years to acknowledge and respect and go, oh, this little bugger's trying to be like me, right?
[42:26] He's doing a good job of it, right?
[42:28] So his financial acumen, his aspirations, et cetera.
[42:31] So I think it's really important that they find or you can help them find someone positive they aspire to be in a similar position.
[42:44] So like a mentor?
[42:45] A mentor.
[42:45] Yeah.
[42:46] Now that could be that they listen to you, Stephen Bartlett, Diary of a CEO.
[42:51] Amazing, amazing podcast globally, right?
[42:54] But it could be a bit boring for someone in their 20s unless they like the topic.
[42:57] But he gets the best of the best globally.
[42:59] Amazing podcast.
[43:00] Yeah.
[43:02] They could go down a political rabbit hole So in America Andy Frisella You go into a personal growth Tony Robbins Gary There's so many people out there right
[43:19] it's about finding or putting within their ecosystem a positive influence that they hopefully would aspire to be like.
[43:27] Now, that person typically needs to speak their language.
[43:32] Yeah.
[43:32] Yeah?
[43:33] Or they won't relate.
[43:34] It'll be friction.
[43:35] So that's something of, hey, have you heard of this podcast?
[43:39] Or play it together or whatever or send them stuff and see if they –
[43:42] You can only be suggestive because if you ram it down their throat, they'll push the other way.
[43:47] And like a 25-year-old son has got a different mindset to our 18-year-old daughter.
[43:52] Correct.
[43:54] And they'll gravitate towards different things.
[43:56] All you can do is try to be suggestive but not aggressively suggestive.
[44:01] And until they either experience financial pain and need help
[44:08] Well, when they're in that position, that's where you have leverage.
[44:11] Yeah.
[44:11] Exactly right.
[44:11] Because then you're like...
[44:12] They come to you.
[44:13] If we will help you... Yep.
[44:15] If not, we will.
[44:16] We're not just going to solve your fuck up.
[44:18] If we were to consider helping you, we need you to commit to A, B, C, D, E. So it becomes a negotiation, which all kids are a negotiation.
[44:26] Yeah, absolutely.
[44:27] Even as young adults, right?
[44:28] Yeah.
[44:29] So I would say until you find a position where they need some help, or they start asking for help, it's hard to have any real influence.
[44:38] At the moment you can try to persuade and guide.
[44:41] Or when you have family dinners, or book a family dinner and make them all be home and be like, right, we want to talk about this and go around the table and get a feel for it.
[44:51] Because parenting is hard.
[44:53] And most parents don't want to parent.
[44:54] You guys obviously want to help and parent.
[44:56] Have conversations with them.
[44:58] Be really open.
[44:59] This is a shit topic, Mum.
[45:00] I just want some more pizza.
[45:01] It's like, no, tonight we're talking about, we're doing our parental duties.
[45:05] We want to talk to you about this.
[45:07] And then at least you've talked about it.
[45:09] And say, okay, cool, but if you don't want to talk about it, when you come to us for help for car rego or for a bond, for a unit or a deposit on a house, maybe we don't want to talk about it.
[45:19] Yeah.
[45:20] Yeah, exactly right.
[45:21] So I think it's try to be fun and playful, I say to parents, but all you can do is try to be a bit persuasive, a bit suggestive.
[45:28] Don't ram it down their throat.
[45:30] Right, yeah.
[45:30] Yeah.
[45:31] I know we get a huge following from a younger audience because of the way I walk, talk, actually who I am because it's real to them.
[45:40] In the same token, there's some other people in Australia that have a much larger younger audience because...
[45:46] they just talk about basic stuff to that younger audience, not so much mortgages or real estate.
[45:53] So, yes, they just need to find someone that they can just listen to a podcast on the way to work every day or watch a YouTube in their lunch, you know, something that helps them grow every day if they're that way inclined, you know, on the treadmill at the gym, podcast or YouTube or whatever.
[46:07] So just try not to ram it down their throat until they're ready.
[46:11] When they're ready, that's your opportunity to strike.
[46:14] To go through it, yeah.
[46:15] And negotiate with them.
[46:17] It's a good one.
[46:18] But, yeah, until they're ready, you can't really, you know, like Oscar was ready.
[46:24] Yeah, they're starting to become more receptive.
[46:26] Yeah.
[46:27] Especially our son.
[46:28] Like, he's the one that lives over in the States.
[46:29] Yeah.
[46:30] Whereabouts in the States is he?
[46:31] He's in Ohio, Cleveland.
[46:33] Oh, okay.
[46:33] Yeah.
[46:34] But he's in financial – he does 401k plans.
[46:42] Yeah, yeah.
[46:42] So the super side of things.
[46:44] For work.
[46:44] For work.
[46:45] Yeah.
[46:46] So he's so interested in everything.
[46:48] Yeah.
[46:49] Yeah, well, we kick off there shortly, so... Yeah.
[46:53] So he's great, but then the 18-year-old daughter has just finished...
[46:57] Finished school now?
[46:58] Just finished school.
[46:58] Going to uni or working?
[47:00] No, doesn't want to go to uni.
[47:01] Yeah.
[47:02] Doesn't know what she wants to do yet, but she's... That's okay, gap year.
[47:05] Yeah, she's working.
[47:06] We said as long as you're working.
[47:08] But we're trying to teach her about budgeting because, you know, all the friends just go and, I guess, like we used to, you just give the money...
[47:16] The biggest thing you can do if they're not going to do any form of budgeting or anything like that is bond.
[47:22] But it's hard.
[47:23] If you didn't charge any of the others, you can't start charging her.
[47:25] Yeah, we do charge.
[47:27] We're not charging the younger one yet.
[47:29] We've got the boyfriend and the middle daughter that live at home, so we've got them paying us both.
[47:34] What else we got?
[47:35] Well, so starting with Infinity, we've followed the rapid repay system, which has been phenomenal.
[47:41] That's how we've got rid of our debt reduction so far.
[47:45] We've got a couple of investment properties coming on.
[47:47] Yep.
[47:48] And once they come on, is that something that's going to help us reduce our place of income?
[47:56] Principal place.
[47:56] Yeah.
[47:57] So good question.
[47:57] So there's some really shitty marketing out there about getting tax back and to salespeople and stuff.
[48:03] And so, yes, it will help a little bit, but not a great deal.
[48:09] Right.
[48:09] What will really help?
[48:11] is one of those investments going up in value, let's just make up a number, million-dollar investment property, goes up to $1.3 million in the next couple of years.
[48:23] Your balance has dropped from six-something down to three-something, four-something.
[48:27] You're paying it off really aggressively, right?
[48:29] The goal is 2030.
[48:30] So it's kind of a, think of a gas pedal clutch.
[48:33] You're rapid repaying the debt down.
[48:36] One of your investments goes up.
[48:39] Yeah.
[48:39] We sell it.
[48:41] You invest to make money.
[48:44] Your investments have been acquired before there's any change to the capital gains tax bullshit you're hearing.
[48:49] And I say to people, stop fucking talking about it.
[48:52] Don't worry about it.
[48:54] Profit is profit.
[48:55] And if they do change it, they do what's called grandfathering.
[48:58] So any properties purchased from this date, this is the law.
[49:02] I'm going to go and undo fucking the world's, you know, Australia's tax law forever.
[49:05] So typically it'll take effect from a date.
[49:08] So like...
[49:09] Previous to the 1980-something, there was no CGT.
[49:13] So like parents, grandparents, there's no CGT.
[49:15] They introduce it from a date.
[49:17] And that's what people don't understand.
[49:19] So one of your properties that you've acquired pre any changes there, 50% of the profits, no CGT at the moment.
[49:27] So if we have something that you're paying your debt down with rapid repay, doing really well, on track to get there by 2030, we get to 2028 and a half and your property's gone up a couple of hundred,
[49:39] we'll tell you to sell it.
[49:40] We'll tap you on the shoulder and go, hey, let's get rid of that.
[49:42] We'll take that profit.
[49:44] We're going to have some capital gains tax.
[49:46] We're going to have a big chunk of it that's free.
[49:49] And we're going to use that to pay off the balance of the mortgage.
[49:52] Ta-da.
[49:52] Yeah.
[49:53] So the very simple perspective is if you invest in an asset, in any asset that goes up in value, that can be sold, pay some tax and have a big chunk of profit, that's the equivalent of a third wheel, fourth wheel, fifth wheel, sixth wheel.
[50:11] And that's exactly what Rebecca and I have done.
[50:13] And we're showing that just very simple little four, five, six hundred, eight hundred thousand dollar units, shitty older units in a holiday building, you know, 20 years old, beautiful property, but 20 years old.
[50:24] We're like, hey, you can start doing it with little one and two bedroom units.
[50:28] You can also do it with a sub penthouse, three, four better.
[50:32] The reason we did that was just to be also because someone said never buy a holiday unit on the Gold Coast.
[50:38] And I'm like, let's test that theory.
[50:41] My bank balance is big enough to test the theory, right?
[50:44] And it worked.
[50:46] We made $6 million out of it.
[50:48] So to answer the question, yes, it will.
[50:52] But to give people a better answer from a helicopter is how will it?
[50:57] Yes, you'll get some tax benefits along the way, some depreciation.
[51:01] The biggest thing will be the cash flow.
[51:03] So if you've got two or three investments giving income that most people very sadly, naively sit in a rent account or the agent's trust account, cycling all of those cash flows through your home loan will reduce interest every month.
[51:18] Okay.
[51:19] So it will allow you to have an increased principal reduction because more cash will sit through your loan and run through your loan.
[51:24] So you will pay more off each month, you'll notice.
[51:27] But that's more nominal.
[51:28] It's the, hey, we're in a housing crisis, sadly, and someone else will want to buy that from you to live in soon or another investor, probably a family to live in.
[51:37] Great.
[51:37] We sell one.
[51:38] We use the profits to pay off the balance of the home.
[51:41] Yeah.
[51:42] So that's where the real win would be.
[51:45] I know it's like, oh, never sell.
[51:47] But you invest to make money.
[51:49] So when you make the money, make it, realise it, and then sell one and go buy two more.
[51:55] Yeah.
[51:56] Good question.
[51:57] What else?
[51:57] Anything else?
[52:01] Now that you've moved into the US market, our son Jordan who lives over there and works over there, he's trying to save money as well.
[52:11] He's had to go and get a credit card to get a credit score over there.
[52:16] Yeah, that doesn't apply here.
[52:17] It's very different.
[52:18] And having credit actually is bad for your credit score in Australia.
[52:25] So it's a myth, right?
[52:26] So here, but keep going, yeah.
[52:28] Yeah, so he's wanting to buy property and he's just trying to work out whether is it best to buy over here or is it best to buy over...
[52:40] If he's living and working over there, it's best to do something there.
[52:44] Okay.
[52:45] Because depending on circumstances, cross-border transactions, the amount of profit you could potentially make is typically always negated.
[52:55] by attorneys, attorney in the US, lawyer in Australia, attorney, attorney, accountant, accountant, conversions, all sorts of things, non-tax residents.
[53:05] So there's so much compliance and we're still investigating all of that before we actually launch a business over there, if that makes sense.
[53:15] So it's full on.
[53:16] So typically always where you work, live, play, have a taxable income, that's where you should stick to.
[53:24] Okay.
[53:25] Yeah.
[53:26] That doesn't mean it might not change in the future.
[53:27] Taxes, legislations, governments, ATOs, IRS, you know, all sorts of stuff.
[53:33] But typically where he's operating, and especially if he intends to stay there.
[53:37] Yeah.
[53:37] If he's going to build a career there and forge a career and find a partner and want to raise all those sorts of things, then, yeah, ideally you would execute there.
[53:46] Yeah.
[53:46] Because that would be his home.
[53:48] And the way to get a loan over there is...
[53:51] Same process, yeah.
[53:52] I mean, Infinity will hopefully be full swing over there and can do everything we've done for you, for him over there.
[53:58] That's exciting.
[53:59] Yeah.
[54:00] Really exciting.
[54:01] Fingers crossed.
[54:03] Yeah.
[54:03] What else?
[54:04] Anything else?
[54:05] Anything else?
[54:06] Nope, that's it.
[54:08] I think the other question answered.
[54:10] Yeah, the other question was about wanting to downsize and live between three places.
[54:15] Yeah, so that'll just come into play as we get closer to that.
[54:19] You'll know.
[54:20] Like you'll wake up one day and you'll have that and you're like,
[54:22] I think, like, you know, the kids have flown the coop and, you know, we're pretty comfy now.
[54:27] Let's get ourselves an apartment on the beach or an apartment here.
[54:30] And maybe get an apartment on the beach in Nullar and an apartment on the beach in the Gold Coast or Sunny Coast or somewhere.
[54:35] You know, it's like, cool, we'll bounce between those.
[54:37] How does that work with people?
[54:39] Like you can only have one PPR.
[54:41] Correct.
[54:42] So one's going to be a holiday home or an investment.
[54:46] Yep.
[54:47] So you'll find some people will have the holiday home or investment and they might Airbnb all through peak season and you could be in the US seeing your son.
[54:57] Yep.
[54:58] So I'll give you an example.
[54:59] You might say in winter, I'm in the Gold Coast because the weather's better than Sydney.
[55:05] I don't know if growing up in Sydney.
[55:07] So in winter, the weather's not too bad on the Gold Coast.
[55:10] In summer, we're in Cronulla.
[55:13] And then we're travelling the world or in America the rest of the time.
[55:16] So you might follow the seasons, if you don't make like chase the seasons, for example.
[55:20] So what some people would do is they'll Airbnb or they'll rent their property on the Gold Coast for six months during summer or peak season or holidays.
[55:30] And then they'll end that lease and then they'll use it, Airbnb it, etc.
[55:35] It's very, very common.
[55:36] A lot of people have got Airbnb plus they stay in it occasionally.
[55:39] That's not something you like doing, is it?
[55:41] Not really.
[55:42] Banks don't use it until it's in your tax returns as income because it's transient income.
[55:46] They'll use the permanent lease.
[55:48] But the Airbnb, you need a year or two in your tax return and it can go up and down.
[55:53] And I just don't like the thought of if that's my space, somebody sleeping in my bed or laying on my couch.
[56:01] It's either mine or it's an investment.
[56:03] They're completely different transactions.
[56:05] Yeah, fair enough.
[56:07] But you can do a short-term lease.
[56:09] Yeah, again, if you're going to be in the US or travelling the world or seeing your son or enjoying yourself semi-retired, well, sure, you might do a three-month lease or a six-month lease while you're overseas.
[56:19] That's fine.
[56:19] And you might lease it furnished.
[56:21] I mean, places like the Gold Coast or Bondi or something like that, they're very – coastline is a very commonly leased furnished because people will locate or be there for work or come there or on holidays, et cetera.
[56:35] So you might do that.
[56:36] You might lease it furnished or whatever.
[56:38] I just don't know about someone else sleeping on my mattress.
[56:40] It gives me the ick.
[56:41] I don't get that.
[56:41] You know what I mean?
[56:43] And then they throw their suitcase on the bed and they brought bloody bedbugs with them or something and it's like, I don't know, I'm a bit weird.
[56:49] We'll have to think about that one.
[56:50] I'm a bit weird with all that stuff.
[56:52] We say that as we stay in hotels all the time.
[56:54] Yeah.
[56:55] Yeah, look, we all stay in hotels all the time.
[56:57] I just get an ick with it.
[56:58] Yeah.
[56:59] So I think it's just one of those things that we cross that border, but you'll wake up one day and feel the time's right or soon.
[57:05] Yeah.
[57:05] And we just want to plan for that.
[57:07] Yeah.
[57:07] Just want to get you in a position to go, okay, well, let's start selling that asset, doing this, paying, like, and start manoeuvring and having a strategy, a really clear strategy to go, right, we can get you there in the next 12 months.
[57:19] Yeah.
[57:20] Yeah.
[57:21] That's great.
[57:22] Good question.
[57:23] Well done.
[57:24] Thank you.
[57:24] Well, you should be bloody proud of yourselves.
[57:27] And we'll have to get you back to do a 2.0 in sort of 12 months' time or six months' time just so everyone can get a bit of an update and see how you're going and where to from there and see where the journey takes us.
[57:41] Sounds good.
[57:42] Well done, guys.
[57:42] Thanks for sharing.
[57:43] Thank you.
[57:43] Cheers, mate.
[57:44] Thanks so much.
[57:44] Appreciate it.
[57:45] You're fucking gone.
[57:46] See ya.

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