# Build The Retirement You Want | Mark & Steph | CHANGING LIVES | Season 4 Ep 51

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 17 Jun 2026, 48 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/zx2ng7vkwknhslvz7k7hbb4j.mp3

In this episode of The Money Mentor, we speak to Steph and Mark, who spent a decade exploring Australia, taking on work wherever they landed, from managing caravan parks to long-haul driving, without ever pausing to think about where their money was going. They owned property, but with no strategy in place, they ended up juggling two mortgages and just a few hundred dollars a week to live on. Everything changed in June 2020 when Stephanie found Infinity, and a new approach, buy, grow, sell, and repeat. Mark was on board and they finally had a strategy that made sense. Then in 2024, Mark's prostate cancer diagnosis forced the couple to think about a question they'd been putting off: what did they want their future to actually look like? With property sold and their mortgage cleared, Steph and Mark are now using the freedom they found on the road to build a retirement that lets them live life to the full. This is their story of trading uncertainty for a plan and finally building freedom their way. Ready to change your financial future? 👉 Start by watching the FREE webinar and see what's possible: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] And after getting so many no's, you know, trying to invest and purchase more property and then coming on board with us and becoming mortgage free and then investing again, did you think it was possible?
[0:09] Were you a bit surprised?
[0:11] Surprised that we could do a lot more than what we understood.
[0:16] And, you know, if we'd started earlier, we could have done, you know, so much more.
[0:22] So anybody out there that's thinking of it and they're only in their 20s or 30s, do it early.
[0:26] I hear that so often.
[0:28] It's our biggest advice, yeah.
[0:30] So, I mean, I had the right ideas early on, but I just didn't have the guidance.
[0:35] The know-how and the structure.
[0:36] Yeah, that's right.
[0:38] Money isn't the root of all evil.
[0:39] The fucking lack of it is.
[0:40] Not money, the lack of understanding money.
[0:43] When I put that into emphasis, when I realised our psychological effect and how it hit our family, I FDB all the fucking way.
[0:49] You are now watching the money man talk.
[0:54] For 10 years, Stephanie and Mark worked their way around Australia, managing caravan parks, driving trucks, picking up whatever came next.
[1:04] They were free, they were moving, and they had no real idea where their money was going.
[1:10] They owned property, but owning isn't the same as building.
[1:14] And when one place wouldn't sell, they found themselves juggling two mortgages on almost nothing.
[1:22] If the old way didn't work, you know, you've got to try something different.
[1:26] Yeah.
[1:27] They found infinity in June 2020.
[1:29] The strategy that finally made sense.
[1:32] Buy, grow, sell and repeat.
[1:36] Not hold forever out of sentiment.
[1:39] Stuff like that, it just made sense that, you know, don't hang on to it.
[1:42] Let it go.
[1:44] Use the equity that you've made.
[1:46] Yeah.
[1:47] And move on and do it all over again.
[1:50] Then in 2024, Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
[1:55] And the question they'd been putting off, what does our future actually look like, couldn't wait any longer.
[2:01] The property sold.
[2:03] The mortgage was cleared.
[2:05] The decade on the road gave them a taste for freedom.
[2:08] Now they're building a retirement that actually funds it.
[2:13] Stephanie and Mark, building freedom their way.
[2:18] Welcome back to the Money Mentor Podcast.
[2:20] We have another episode of Changing Lives Financially.
[2:23] Today we have Steph and Mark.
[2:26] Guys, how are we going?
[2:27] How are you feeling about being here?
[2:30] Excited.
[2:32] Yeah.
[2:32] I think you seem a bit more excited than nervous.
[2:34] You've already told me you're an open book, so that's good.
[2:37] Nothing's off the table.
[2:38] We're going to start with first your story.
[2:40] I want to know all about you guys, where you're at before infinity, what ended up getting you to infinity.
[2:46] Yeah.
[2:47] Okay, so we had been travelling around Australia.
[2:51] So we'd spent, we were up to about year eight of travelling and we were in Karratha living there.
[3:00] And yeah, so we'd had a couple of properties before then.
[3:07] and we had our son with us travelling and I had always been interested in property, watched Rich Dad, Poor Dad, read all the books, done things like that.
[3:19] And then working from home during COVID and Graeme came up on Facebook and I thought, oh, I'll just investigate this a little bit further.
[3:30] And, yeah, then sort of signed up for the free...
[3:36] seminar and Mark was away so I didn't tell him.
[3:41] Why do all these stories start this way?
[3:43] All these stories start with there was one person that had no idea what the other was doing.
[3:48] Yes.
[3:48] Yeah, I did the class and, yeah, then I had to confess that I had paid for a course which was, but that was fine.
[3:58] Mark was on board and he didn't, he wasn't able to.
[4:02] Well, he realises he's married to a smart woman.
[4:04] Yeah, that's it.
[4:07] Yeah, so that was sort of the start of our journey.
[4:10] So we had just bought a property in Karratha a couple of months before I did the class.
[4:15] Because you had two before you started.
[4:16] Yeah, so we had another one in Canberra.
[4:18] Yep.
[4:20] And, yeah, and then the house, the unit we were living in.
[4:23] So, yeah, that was the sort of start of it.
[4:26] Yeah.
[4:27] What inspired you guys to travel around Australia for so long?
[4:30] Well, we set off on a two-year trip originally, and it just blew out to ten years.
[4:35] But it's been something we'd wanted to do.
[4:37] Yeah.
[4:37] Get out and, you know, have a look around.
[4:39] See Australia.
[4:40] Yeah, we're sort of, I don't know, both a little bit adventurous, I guess.
[4:43] Yeah.
[4:43] We like sort of, you know, getting around.
[4:45] It's a very cool goal.
[4:46] It's been like staying in one place for too long.
[4:48] Yeah.
[4:48] Hence the 10 years.
[4:50] Yeah.
[4:50] It always starts too like that, doesn't it?
[4:52] It's like, oh, we'll just, so the couple out on the podcast before said, oh, we moved to Pilbara.
[4:56] We said we'd just do it for two years for the money.
[4:59] Yeah.
[4:59] Get a good job and then 15 years later.
[5:01] Yeah.
[5:02] Yeah.
[5:03] And we probably would have stayed in Western Australia except our son wanted to sort of be closer to grandparents and he was going into high school so we thought we'd better come back to Babins Bay.
[5:12] Yeah.
[5:13] Because you had a blended family as well.
[5:15] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[5:16] So I've got a daughter in Melbourne as well.
[5:18] Yeah.
[5:19] Yeah.
[5:20] So, but, yeah, there's been a lot of travelling and, yeah, all sorts of things.
[5:25] Yeah.
[5:25] It was sort of hard while we were travelling too.
[5:27] The banks, because they'll change their jobs all the time.
[5:29] Yeah, because you'd worked various jobs throughout that, didn't you?
[5:32] Yeah.
[5:33] But the banks weren't always on board.
[5:35] Yeah.
[5:36] Yeah, I mean we had good paying jobs and we were able to save while we travelled but, yeah, in the way of buying property wasn't really an option until we sort of got to Carrethra.
[5:45] Yeah.
[5:46] So it was something you were still trying to do during that 10 years?
[5:49] You still wanted to try and buy a property?
[5:51] We looked at a few different places, Cairns.
[5:54] Yeah, we were sort of always interested but it just never really ticked the box or, you know, we set off with a dream, we'll have a property in every state but that didn't really happen.
[6:03] Yeah, it was just circumstances at the time really I think were holding us back.
[6:08] Yeah.
[6:09] And did you try to work direct with banks or were you working with brokers?
[6:13] Just directly with the bank.
[6:14] Yeah.
[6:15] Yeah.
[6:15] So we didn't have any problem getting the loan for our unit in Caratha.
[6:20] Yeah.
[6:20] So that was fine.
[6:22] We were both on reasonably good money then and we paid, got it for a bargain really.
[6:29] So that was good.
[6:32] And, yeah, then just sort of had to come back home and our money halved.
[6:36] Yeah.
[6:36] And life changed a bit.
[6:39] Yep.
[6:39] Yeah.
[6:40] So.
[6:41] What made you decide finally we're going to go back home, we're going to set up roots again?
[6:45] Well, it was mainly for Cooper, our son, yes.
[6:48] Because both parents, both parents are still alive, but they were all getting on.
[6:53] Yeah, so it was sort of more for him.
[6:56] And it was getting hard for him to move places.
[6:58] Yeah, the older he was getting harder was to let go every time he moved.
[7:01] Yeah, true, because he's probably making some friends.
[7:03] Yeah, that's right.
[7:05] Yeah.
[7:06] And then we finally found Infinity.
[7:07] We see G on social media.
[7:10] What was that decision to finally go, okay, we need to do something?
[7:14] Yeah, because we sort of didn't really have any sort of set goals on where we wanted to go and he sort of...
[7:22] I don't know, he instilled sort of confidence in what he was talking about because I had looked at a lot of different, you know, brokers over the years.
[7:32] You know, we wanted to buy in Melbourne.
[7:34] I just couldn't find anyone that I was comfortable with.
[7:37] Yeah.
[7:38] And, yeah, so everything he sort of said sort of made sense and, you know, I sat down with Mark and I said, you know, you've really got to listen to this guy.
[7:45] And, yeah, and it just sort of, yeah, it was easy sort of after that.
[7:51] Just showed that it was possible, I think.
[7:52] Yeah.
[7:53] You didn't have to be on mega money and, you know.
[7:56] have a lot behind you really, just sort of the small steps.
[7:59] Yeah.
[8:00] Because you did the webinar.
[8:01] Yeah.
[8:01] You didn't.
[8:02] No.
[8:02] You pretty much just signed up for the masterclass and said, you're in.
[8:05] Yeah.
[8:05] That's it.
[8:06] Yeah.
[8:06] Don't ask questions.
[8:07] Yeah.
[8:08] Just disappear in the truck and go and bring home and Kufa would be saying, oh, mum's on watching that bloke on the theatre again.
[8:13] That's a bit of a confronting call while you're away, isn't it?
[8:18] Talking to that bloke again.
[8:19] Here we go again.
[8:19] Yeah.
[8:21] And talk to me about the masterclass, what it was like for you sitting that weekend and some light bulb moments you might have had during that weekend.
[8:28] The biggest one that I can sort of think of was the fact that don't hold on to property.
[8:34] Yeah.
[8:34] So we had our home in Canberra and I thought, you know, this was our dream home and we had it rented out and I thought, no, I'm just going to keep it.
[8:42] Yep.
[8:43] And, you know, I was attached to it because we built it from scratch.
[8:47] So he sent that sentimental value for you.
[8:49] Yeah, yeah.
[8:51] And then he said, you know, all the stuff that he said in the master class and I think that day I thought, no, we're going to sell Gerabomba.
[9:00] The house that we were in.
[9:01] So, yeah.
[9:02] So, but, yeah, just...
[9:04] Stuff like that, it just made sense that, you know, don't hang on to it.
[9:08] Let it go.
[9:08] Use the equity that you've made.
[9:11] Yeah.
[9:12] And move on and do it all over again.
[9:15] Yeah, because where did you have you set up roots at this point?
[9:18] We're in Batemans Bay.
[9:19] Batemans Bay, yeah.
[9:20] In southern New South Wales.
[9:22] Yeah.
[9:22] Yeah.
[9:22] And had you bought there?
[9:24] Yep.
[9:24] Yep.
[9:25] Yeah, well, Mark had a home in Batemans Bay years ago.
[9:28] Originally, when we left, I did.
[9:29] We told it.
[9:30] Oh, yeah, and then we bought again.
[9:31] So then we moved back.
[9:33] We was in the middle of COVID again.
[9:35] Mark didn't even see the house and I signed on the line.
[9:38] Yeah, again, I get a phone call.
[9:39] We bought a house.
[9:41] I think she's led you in good direction so far.
[9:43] So you're doing well so far, Steph.
[9:45] Yeah.
[9:45] So, yeah, we've been in there for five years now.
[9:50] Yeah.
[9:50] And what was the mortgage when you first found Infinity?
[9:53] Yeah.
[9:54] After, well, we'd sold the house in Canberra, so I think the mortgage was in the high 300s.
[10:01] Yeah, so.
[10:03] Yeah.
[10:03] But you'd still had the two properties before G was like, we don't hold on to property.
[10:08] Yeah, that's right.
[10:09] Yeah, yeah.
[10:10] And it didn't take you long to sell?
[10:11] No.
[10:12] No.
[10:13] Oh, all the Canberra House did.
[10:14] Yeah.
[10:15] Yeah, so.
[10:16] It fell through the day they were supposed to settle.
[10:17] Yeah, because you were having to float those two mortgages for a bit.
[10:21] That was hard.
[10:21] That was very hard.
[10:22] So borrowing from family just to make ends meet.
[10:27] But, I mean, it was good that we had a budget, even though we had to be way below the budget to survive then because of the two mortgages.
[10:37] But, yeah, once the house sold, you know, we paid down the mortgage and, yeah.
[10:42] Do you remember how much it brought the mortgage down by?
[10:45] No, I don't really because I think we also bought investment property.
[10:50] At the same time.
[10:50] Yeah.
[10:51] So it sort of all coincided.
[10:53] Yeah.
[10:54] So, yeah, and then we've just recently sold the Karratha property and that's made a big difference to our lives.
[11:01] Because we're now mortgage-free.
[11:02] Yes.
[11:03] Yeah, so officially mortgage-free because when did you join Infinity?
[11:05] Infinity.
[11:07] So that was 2020.
[11:08] Yeah.
[11:09] Yeah.
[11:10] So five and a half years so far.
[11:13] Yeah.
[11:13] So this is your sixth year.
[11:14] Six years.
[11:14] Yeah, that's right.
[11:15] So you've been able to become completely mortgage-free in six years with Infinity.
[11:20] So I've done it through a few avenues.
[11:21] We've sold some older properties and then also the budgeting as well.
[11:26] Was there anything else during the masterclass that you found was quite a lightbulb moment?
[11:31] Well...
[11:32] The idea of setting up a budget.
[11:35] So I had done sort of basic ones over the years but never sort of stuck to them.
[11:41] And, yeah, so, yeah, just getting that sort of knowing that you had to put that in place to get ahead.
[11:50] Yeah.
[11:50] In conjunction with purchasing property and also selling the property?
[11:53] Yeah, that's right, yeah.
[11:54] Were you scared of budgeting?
[11:56] How did that feel?
[11:57] Oh, well, no, it was actually.
[11:59] Our person that we had at the time when we first joined Affinity, like I'd get a call every month and I was actually scared.
[12:10] Yeah.
[12:10] Because Mark was never home so it was always me.
[12:13] It's always me having to deal with it.
[12:15] I don't want to talk to this guy anymore.
[12:17] We've gone over budget again.
[12:19] She'd be all quite nervous.
[12:21] What's wrong?
[12:21] Infinity phone call the mark.
[12:24] So, but yeah, no, after, after sort of getting the flow of the, you know, how the budget worked and it was fine.
[12:32] Yeah.
[12:32] We sort of got the hang of it and yeah, even still doing it.
[12:35] Now it's like second nature.
[12:36] Yeah.
[12:36] Cause you're mortgage free and you're still doing the budgeting.
[12:39] Yeah.
[12:40] Why do you think it's so important to continue doing it even though you're bad debt free?
[12:43] Yeah.
[12:44] Well, we didn't go without anything by doing it and it sort of, you know, showed a lot of gain.
[12:49] Yeah, just money control, I guess, and just seeing that we don't need to waste it all.
[12:57] Yeah.
[12:57] Yeah, I mean, we've got money in the bank but, you know.
[13:00] You don't have to go and spend it.
[13:01] On Mondays, you know, before the payment sort of happens, like if I don't have enough to go and do some shopping, I'll wait until the next day.
[13:09] Like you sort of.
[13:11] When it hits the account again, yeah.
[13:13] No, I mean our son, if he wants something, oh, sorry, Cooper, maybe tomorrow.
[13:19] Well, how has he taken to it?
[13:20] You know, mum and dad have been...
[13:22] Budgeting for six years now.
[13:24] Yeah.
[13:25] I mean he was brought up not needing too much because in a caravan he had a bucket of toys.
[13:32] And so if he wanted something, something had to leave the bucket.
[13:36] Make room.
[13:37] It was about the room.
[13:38] Yeah.
[13:39] So he was never a needy kid and even now he asks, what do you want for your birthday?
[13:43] It's like, I don't really know.
[13:44] So yeah.
[13:45] He's always known that, you know, we're sticking to sort of controlled money spending and, yeah, he's fine with it.
[13:55] It doesn't bother him so much.
[13:56] That's good.
[13:56] I suppose that, you know, 10 years in the caravan probably set him up for a good mindset when it came to that anyway, that he doesn't need that much.
[14:04] He's got a part-time job now so with his own money he's sort of very, not tight, but he really thinks about what he's going to spend it on.
[14:13] Yeah, he knows, you know.
[14:15] If I go to the shop and spend $10 on a sandwich and, you know, $5 on a drink, you know, it does add up if you do it often.
[14:21] Yeah, times that by five.
[14:22] Yeah.
[14:23] You do it every single week.
[14:24] Yeah.
[14:25] Yeah, he doesn't even want a lunch order.
[14:27] Isn't that crazy?
[14:29] And sometimes I have to say, Cooper, you have to have a lunch order.
[14:31] Yeah, and FFF doesn't eat until tomorrow.
[14:36] And have you brought him along with the journey of anything else with Infinity?
[14:39] Because it's, of course, not just the budgeting, you know, do you talk to him about investing?
[14:43] Yeah, yeah, we do.
[14:44] We don't hold it back from him.
[14:47] Yeah, we keep an open book with him and, you know, tell him where we're at and, you know, even when it was, you know, tough.
[14:53] You know, we said, you know, we're struggling so, you know, this is why.
[14:57] And, yeah, no, he's been all on board.
[15:00] Yeah.
[15:02] He's not overly interested.
[15:05] Like, you know, if we want him to listen to a masterclass or something like that, he's like, oh.
[15:09] He's not quite there yet.
[15:10] No, he's sort of, yeah, that teenage stage where he prefer to be doing gaming.
[15:15] Yeah.
[15:17] Yeah, it's a bit like that.
[15:19] Some of them make good money with gaming now.
[15:21] Yeah.
[15:21] Yeah.
[15:22] Which, yeah, he has mentioned a few things a couple of times.
[15:25] Oh, is he wanting to get into that?
[15:26] Well, it's a different sort of type of investing.
[15:28] Oh, my friend's making money doing this.
[15:30] I'm thinking, no, no, we'll just stick to property.
[15:35] Yeah, I know one of the other couples I was doing a podcast with yesterday was just saying, oh, yeah, my son's friends are all into this crypto and making a quick buck, you know, and it's like, oh, gosh, none of them have that delayed gratification anymore.
[15:47] They just want to make it really quick and now and, you know, look at what they can just buy really quickly.
[15:52] But, you know, it sounds like he's getting there.
[15:55] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[15:56] Yeah, and he'll have the right learning, I think.
[16:00] Yeah, from us, he'll be fine.
[16:03] Yeah.
[16:04] I mean, you plant the seeds and eventually.
[16:06] Yeah, that's all you can do.
[16:06] Yeah, exactly.
[16:07] Yeah, something will grow from it.
[16:08] And what about your daughter?
[16:10] No, she hasn't really been, because I don't see her that often living in Melbourne, but, yeah, she does know that we're.
[16:17] Yeah, she's about older though.
[16:18] She's in her 30s in her life.
[16:19] Yeah, she's in her 30s.
[16:20] Yeah, so.
[16:22] But, yeah, her idea of owning property is having a tiny house.
[16:25] Yeah.
[16:26] Which she has.
[16:27] Oh, that's what she's living in now.
[16:28] Yeah, she's got that.
[16:30] So, but, yeah, she's on a different journey.
[16:34] Yeah.
[16:35] But, yeah, I mean, she supports what we do.
[16:36] I was going to say, does she know what mum and dad's doing?
[16:38] Yeah.
[16:39] Yeah.
[16:39] Yeah.
[16:40] Yeah, no, she's all for it.
[16:44] She can see that it's had results.
[16:46] Yeah.
[16:47] Will she watch your podcast?
[16:48] Yeah, she will.
[16:50] And what else have you been able to achieve with Infinity?
[16:52] So we've paid off the home.
[16:54] We've got a good budgeting structure now.
[16:56] What else have we done?
[16:58] I mean, we'd like to sort of travel again.
[17:02] Yeah.
[17:02] That's our goal for the future.
[17:04] You know, we've had a few hiccups on the way with, you know, marketing prostate cancer.
[17:11] So that was... That was only two years ago now.
[17:13] Yeah, two years.
[17:14] Yeah.
[17:15] So financially that set us back a little bit.
[17:17] Yeah.
[17:18] We had private health insurance.
[17:19] If you want to get something done straight away, you still have to pay.
[17:23] And then, you know, he was off work for a little while with that.
[17:26] So...
[17:28] But, yeah, I don't know.
[17:29] What else?
[17:30] Just open our eyes really to what's possible.
[17:33] It is a little bit harder being older as well.
[17:36] Yeah.
[17:37] You know, your sort of working career is getting shorter.
[17:41] So now we're sort of looking at, you know, what we can do to make our life sort of comfortable in the future.
[17:47] So, yeah, coming on to retirement in the next sort of 10 years or whatever.
[17:52] Yeah.
[17:53] Was that something that drove your decision to also work with Infinity where you were thinking about retirement?
[17:59] Not so.
[17:59] We probably weren't thinking about it too much then.
[18:01] Yeah, probably not so much then.
[18:02] Yeah.
[18:04] We did want to be financially free.
[18:07] Yeah.
[18:08] We didn't want to be on the pension.
[18:10] Yeah.
[18:11] So, you know, I've always wanted to sort of retire with some properties behind us.
[18:17] Just, you know, as a sort of safeguard.
[18:20] I think, you know, working in the Caribbean parks, a lot of the clientele are older.
[18:24] Yeah.
[18:24] And we used to see a lot that travel north for the winter from southern states.
[18:29] Yeah.
[18:29] And they'd just get there and, you know, they'd budget to get there and budget to stay there but do nothing while they're there.
[18:35] It's sitting in the warmth and in the sun.
[18:38] Because they were relying on it.
[18:40] Relying on attention.
[18:41] Yeah, they just couldn't afford it.
[18:42] Yeah.
[18:43] Yeah.
[18:44] Oh, so you'd hear a lot of stories like that during your travels.
[18:47] Yeah, that would have been quite eye-opening for you.
[18:49] Yeah, and it's a bit sad really.
[18:50] Yeah.
[18:51] To see people still active and healthy enough but just no fun for doing it.
[18:56] Yeah, couldn't actually really do it to the full extent that they probably would want to because they didn't set themselves up.
[19:02] Yeah.
[19:02] Yeah.
[19:03] And then you also see the couples leaving home
[19:07] enjoying life till really late in their age and then they get sick.
[19:13] So, you know, because they can't afford to do it.
[19:15] Yeah.
[19:15] Yeah.
[19:16] It was just work, work, work all the time and they're just like, we'll do that at retirement.
[19:20] We'll do it when we retire.
[19:22] Yeah.
[19:23] Yeah.
[19:24] That was a big one to me really, you know, just to not want to be in that position.
[19:31] Yeah.
[19:32] To have more choice.
[19:34] Yeah.
[19:34] Yeah.
[19:35] And what does being financially free look like for you guys?
[19:38] Once again, not having to rely on a pension and to live comfortably, just maintain standards.
[19:48] Yeah, I mean we don't need too much.
[19:53] But, you know, health issues sort of put a bit finer point on it as well.
[19:57] Yeah.
[19:58] If you need something done, you need it done in a timely manner, not sort of wait another year or two years.
[20:05] So, yeah, that sort of was how I am my priority list.
[20:09] Yeah, of course.
[20:10] Yeah, talk me through what that was like, getting that diagnosis.
[20:13] I know it's a bit of a sensitive topic, but that definitely is a bit of a speed bump in your journey.
[20:20] So talk to me through, you know, finding out and eventually having to stop work or reducing work to get that treatment and financially having that blow.
[20:28] What did that all look like?
[20:30] It was obviously a shock to get that news.
[20:36] It was, well, fortunate enough, you know, I had a good urologist and, you know, good medical team sort of that I was in touch with and it all happened quite quickly.
[20:45] It was just before Christmas you got diagnosed.
[20:47] Yeah, yeah.
[20:48] But it was, what, six weeks off work I think, wasn't it?
[20:51] Yeah.
[20:52] But I mean it was a long time from Christmas to March to have the operation as well.
[21:00] Yeah.
[21:00] So it was just that, you know, waiting.
[21:02] That's a very scary time.
[21:03] Yeah.
[21:03] Not knowing what's going to happen and, yeah.
[21:07] I was lucky I was caught early enough, you know, and good result.
[21:10] But, yeah, financially it was a big hit financially, you know, not only not working but, you know, to have the treatment done was quite expensive.
[21:18] Yeah.
[21:19] And if you're not in a position to...
[21:22] Do that, pay for it yourself.
[21:23] You know, you could wait two, three years.
[21:25] Yeah.
[21:25] And then, you know.
[21:26] On the public wait list.
[21:27] Yeah.
[21:28] Because they just keep blowing out and out and out.
[21:30] There's a lot of pressure on the public system right now.
[21:33] Oh, yeah.
[21:33] Yeah, which, you know, the latest federal budget is they're trying to put more into it because of how much pressure is on the medical system right now.
[21:40] But they also want to continue to encourage people to get private health insurance to alleviate some of that as well.
[21:45] Yeah.
[21:46] Yeah.
[21:46] And that's why, you know, when our clients are looking at their budgets and they want to do so well at their debt reduction and they think, oh, can we get rid of the private health?
[21:53] And we're like, no.
[21:54] No.
[21:55] It's not about the tax deduction, you know.
[21:57] It's about making sure that when those things happen, we hope they never do.
[22:00] Yeah.
[22:01] But when they do, we want to make sure you're covered.
[22:04] Yeah, that's right.
[22:04] Yeah.
[22:05] Yeah.
[22:05] Yeah.
[22:06] That's a huge part of, you know, a presentation I do for the clients during like a real estate mastery or monthly accountability meeting is where we talk about people want to know how do I increase borrowing capacity.
[22:16] And that's one of the things I teach on there where it's like make sure you're properly insured.
[22:20] Yeah.
[22:20] Because when those moments happen and if you have to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
[22:24] Yeah, yeah.
[22:25] It's hard to find.
[22:26] Obviously you're going to do it but that's going to be a big blow to the debt reduction journey and the investing journey.
[22:32] Yeah, that's right.
[22:32] Yeah.
[22:33] So I think private health insurance is very valuable.
[22:35] Oh, yeah, for sure.
[22:35] For sure.
[22:35] Yeah, especially, I mean, as you get older as well.
[22:38] I mean, Mark had a hip replacement in his 30s and we didn't have health insurance.
[22:43] Yeah.
[22:43] And, again, he was off work for about six months.
[22:47] So another financial blow.
[22:49] Yeah.
[22:49] Yeah.
[22:49] So after that we got health insurance in case it had to happen again.
[22:54] Well, there you go.
[22:55] Yeah.
[22:56] You're like, oh, I learnt the hard way.
[22:57] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[22:58] See, that's why he listens to you now.
[23:00] He's like, I'm never going to learn the hard way again.
[23:01] Yeah.
[23:03] And now he needs a hearing aid.
[23:04] That's another big cost.
[23:06] Just goes on and on.
[23:08] Good fun this getting older.
[23:12] But that's why you're preparing yourself for those things that do happen because, you know, a lot of people I see on the master class especially because they're not, they haven't seen their own strategy yet come to life like you guys have the last six years is there was like, but what about this and what about this?
[23:26] Oh, my gosh, you're going to tell us we can't do birthdays or we can't do this.
[23:29] And it's like, no, that's the whole purpose of what we do.
[23:33] So if and when those moments come up, you're fine.
[23:36] Yeah, that's right.
[23:36] It's sorted.
[23:37] Yeah.
[23:39] If you're enjoying this story and want to set yourself up for financial freedom as well, it all starts with our free 45-minute educational webinar.
[23:48] Click the link below this video to begin your journey today.
[23:52] And what about your investing journey?
[23:54] Talk to me about that.
[23:56] From now?
[23:57] Since you've worked with Infinity.
[23:58] Oh, okay.
[23:59] So, yeah, we had obviously a couple of properties and then...
[24:06] Went to the REM in 2023 and, yeah, signed up to two properties, one in a self-managed super fund that we got set up.
[24:16] And then, yeah, so one has started, we've got tenants in and it's all going smooth.
[24:22] Yeah, just ticking along.
[24:23] Yeah.
[24:23] The other ones hopefully early next year will come on the market.
[24:28] And, yeah, now we're sort of at the stage where, you know, what do we do next?
[24:33] So we want a strategy review now.
[24:35] Yeah.
[24:35] Yeah.
[24:36] Because we committed to those investment properties before your diagnosis.
[24:40] Yeah.
[24:41] How did it feel then knowing that you'd committed to these properties
[24:44] these investments and then going into that diagnosis, how did you feel and did you feel like, you know, Infinity had a plan for you so you weren't stressed?
[24:53] Oh, it wasn't even a thought really.
[24:55] Yeah.
[24:55] It was just, you know, I'm fairly practical when it comes to these things.
[25:01] I just accept it and work through it and move on.
[25:04] I don't even think we told anyone at Infinity.
[25:06] No.
[25:06] It was sort of, it was such a...
[25:09] Yeah, it was just a bit of a shock and a...
[25:11] Especially finding out before Christmas.
[25:13] Yeah, yeah.
[25:13] We had planned a holiday which we had to cancel.
[25:16] Yeah.
[25:18] But, yeah, so, yeah, it didn't... Get through it and move on.
[25:21] Yeah, we never even thought about, you know, leaving Infinity or, you know, changing any of that sort of stuff.
[25:27] Yeah.
[25:27] Yeah, it was just...
[25:28] part of our journey.
[25:31] Just wait and see what comes out the other side.
[25:33] Yeah.
[25:34] And after getting so many no's, you know, trying to invest and purchase more property and then coming on board with us and becoming mortgage free and then investing again, did you think it was possible?
[25:44] Were you a bit surprised?
[25:46] Surprised that we could do a lot more than what we understood and, you know, if we'd started earlier we could have done, you know, so much more.
[25:57] Yeah.
[25:57] So anybody out there that's thinking of it and they're only in their 20s or 30s, do it early.
[26:01] I hear that so often.
[26:04] Yeah.
[26:04] Yeah.
[26:05] So, I mean, I had the right ideas early on, but I just didn't have the guidance.
[26:10] The know-how and the structure.
[26:11] Yeah, that's right.
[26:12] Yeah.
[26:12] Well, yeah, let's talk about that.
[26:14] What were your priorities back then versus how have they changed now?
[26:20] Well, then it was only a roof over her head, I think, wasn't it?
[26:23] Yeah.
[26:24] You know, own our own home and just move on because that was a dream.
[26:28] That was what we've drummed into as well.
[26:30] Yeah, yeah.
[26:30] I think like most parents, that was what they did.
[26:32] Yeah, it's the old school.
[26:33] Yeah, yeah.
[26:34] Buy a house.
[26:34] Yeah, yeah.
[26:35] Get your partner, have your kids.
[26:37] Yeah, that's right.
[26:38] Set them up, yeah.
[26:39] And they had the right idea in the way of owning their home.
[26:42] Yeah.
[26:42] Because, I mean, I don't even remember my parents ever having a mortgage.
[26:46] And your parents have always had a home.
[26:50] So we've been lucky in that respect.
[26:53] But they were never... Never risk takers.
[26:57] Yeah, risk takers, yeah.
[26:58] Yeah, so did they ever invest?
[27:00] My mum and dad did buy a place outside of Sydney once and she still brings it up.
[27:07] It was the worst mistake we ever did.
[27:09] Was it really though in Sydney?
[27:10] Well, that's right.
[27:11] Exactly.
[27:11] That's right.
[27:12] So because they had a pool and I don't know whether they managed it themselves.
[27:18] But, yeah, so they got rid of that pretty quick.
[27:20] Oh, we should look up the address.
[27:21] Yeah, yeah.
[27:24] But they always, my parents always did the right, they would build, because my dad was in the building industry, so they would buy the land, build, sell, and they did that a lot.
[27:37] So we had always a good upbringing in the way of making money out of property, but they just did it different to how...
[27:48] Infinity doesn't.
[27:49] We're doing it.
[27:49] Yeah.
[27:50] And look, what worked back then worked back then.
[27:53] Yeah.
[27:54] But we're in a very different climate now.
[27:56] Right.
[27:57] And I think, you know, that generation, they really struggled to pivot when things moved as quickly as it did.
[28:03] Yeah.
[28:03] Yeah.
[28:04] Was your parents' version of success your version of success?
[28:08] No, not really.
[28:09] Yeah.
[28:09] No, so... Yeah, proud of what they all achieved but, you know, because it was totally different times as you see.
[28:15] Yeah.
[28:15] But, yeah, it wasn't my capacity.
[28:17] So you knew something was different.
[28:20] Yeah, I always wanted to own our own home but never thought it would happen so quick.
[28:25] Yeah.
[28:26] And always wanted to have, you know, several investment properties going into retirement types of things.
[28:33] situation.
[28:34] Yeah.
[28:35] Why was it so easy for us to turn you around in one day on a masterclass to no longer hold?
[28:40] We usually got to beat that out a bit.
[28:43] Yeah, I thought, no, that was, yeah, I don't know, just everything he said just made sense.
[28:48] Yeah.
[28:50] Yeah.
[28:51] That was a big learning curve.
[28:54] Yeah, you know, the few bits and pieces I'd watched and then the REM was a real eye-opener to me.
[28:59] Yeah.
[29:00] Wow.
[29:01] It was...
[29:02] Look at all these people doing it and working.
[29:04] Yeah.
[29:05] Yeah, because Mark was always away whenever there was something on to watch.
[29:09] Is that why it took you guys a bit longer to come to a real estate mastery?
[29:12] Yeah.
[29:13] And where we were, I think we were in Carrethra.
[29:15] Yeah, true.
[29:15] Yeah, I don't think.
[29:17] It was a big thing to get to here from there.
[29:19] Yeah.
[29:19] Yeah, that's right because he wasn't venturing into sort of the Western Australian market back then so much.
[29:25] I don't, there was hardly anyone in Western Australia.
[29:27] Oh, my gosh, now it feels like half our clients at WA and he gets real stirred up when we've got to fly him over from WA.
[29:34] Yeah.
[29:35] Yeah.
[29:37] Yeah, and I think just to.
[29:40] Irregular jobs and that sort of thing?
[29:42] Yeah.
[29:44] Yeah.
[29:45] And still, I mean, I've had my job for a while now, but Mark's just changed jobs, so that's sort of put another spanner in the works.
[29:54] I think you guys are just thriving on that at this point.
[29:57] Let's see what we can get through this time.
[29:58] Yeah, you hear a lot of people say, oh, I don't like change.
[30:01] I just like doing the same thing.
[30:03] Yeah, we're totally the opposite.
[30:04] Totally the opposite.
[30:05] If you're dressed to leave out or a new job, we're fine.
[30:08] And you just pivot, you just go with it.
[30:10] Yeah, but look, you're all still smiles.
[30:12] Yeah.
[30:13] Making it work.
[30:14] Yeah, it's been experiences and, you know.
[30:17] If the old way didn't work, you know, you've got to try something different.
[30:21] Yeah, exactly.
[30:23] And that's what we, you know, drill into our clients.
[30:25] It's like if nothing changes, nothing changes.
[30:27] Exactly, yes.
[30:28] And perception is reality.
[30:29] Yeah.
[30:29] You know, it's so easy for you to look at something a certain way because you were taught that.
[30:34] Yeah.
[30:34] And that becomes your reality and you'll go along in life and you believe that until somebody comes along and you go, you know what, I'm going to open myself up to something different and then it becomes a completely new reality.
[30:45] Yeah.
[30:45] Yeah.
[30:46] And you guys have really embraced that.
[30:47] Yeah.
[30:48] Yeah.
[30:49] Yeah, and we tried to sell it to friends, but you can see they're just like, you know, too cautious.
[30:54] Oh, that's, you know, I couldn't do that.
[30:56] And but, you know.
[30:59] It's crazy, isn't it?
[31:00] It's like no matter how much you can show them, they're still like, nah, that's a scam, it's a cult, you guys are brainwashed.
[31:06] We got that last week.
[31:07] We were talking, we said, oh, we're going, oh, cult's going again, is it?
[31:11] Yeah, like.
[31:13] laugh at them.
[31:14] Whatever.
[31:14] Some of their friends are okay with it but they never get on board because it's out of their comfort zone.
[31:20] Yeah, and that's what it is, isn't it?
[31:22] That's the biggest thing.
[31:23] It's outside of their comfort zone.
[31:24] Yeah, that's right.
[31:25] You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable for a little while until you see that it's real and it's going to help you through those tough times in life and, yeah.
[31:34] Yeah, yeah.
[31:35] Even, you know, Graeme's book away a few times and it just keeps coming back.
[31:38] Yeah.
[31:41] So they at least read it.
[31:42] Yeah, well, a friend of one friend did read it and he said, oh, yeah, that'll make sense and just do what they do.
[31:48] Put them back in the box.
[31:51] It'll happen in time.
[31:52] Yeah.
[31:53] Yeah, we've had a few clients that have said, oh, yeah, friend introduced us to this like two years ago, four years ago, didn't buy into it.
[32:00] Then I kept seeing G on social media and he just was everywhere.
[32:03] I couldn't get rid of him.
[32:04] I thought, all right, I'll do it.
[32:06] Now I'm really wishing I listened to my friends.
[32:09] Yeah.
[32:09] Yeah.
[32:10] And how did you guys find the Real Estate Mastery?
[32:13] Why do you think that's such an important event for our clients?
[32:17] Oh, well, there's so much information shared there, like, you know, testimonials and, you know, the learning that you're still giving there.
[32:29] And just the whole event was sort of real eye-opener.
[32:32] And, like, it's a big social event as well as an educational and a selling event from your end.
[32:37] Yeah, yeah.
[32:38] And talking to other people that have been in the same boat and where they're at and how they got there and stuff.
[32:44] So that's always interesting.
[32:45] Yeah.
[32:46] Even just being in the foyer talking to some people today.
[32:48] Yeah.
[32:49] So, yeah, no, it's good.
[32:51] And you sort of feel a connection with those sort of people.
[32:55] You know, you can go to a dinner party and have no connection with anybody.
[32:59] Yeah.
[33:00] Just general chit-chat.
[33:01] But you go to something like the REM and we've all got the same common goals.
[33:05] Yeah.
[33:06] We want to get ahead, you know, buy property.
[33:09] It's funny, isn't it?
[33:10] You talk with five minutes after meeting someone, you're talking bank details.
[33:13] Yeah.
[33:15] You're like, yeah, look at my FF.
[33:18] Yeah, and you're happy to share it too because, you know, you can learn from other people as well, different strategies or, you know, different things.
[33:25] Do you find that quite valuable being able to talk to you?
[33:27] Because G always prides himself a lot on the fact that we can put so many of our clients into the same room knowing you're all going to have really good things to say.
[33:35] Yeah, that's right.
[33:36] It's not going to be, you know, everybody just sitting there and nothing in common.
[33:39] We've all got something in common.
[33:40] That's right, yeah.
[33:41] Like I said, a dinner party of six or eight people, you can not know them when you leave them.
[33:46] Yeah, and you're like looking at the clock going, when are we going home?
[33:49] And people don't want REM to end.
[33:51] Yeah, yeah, that's right.
[33:52] I mean, we've been to the social events in Canberra as well and again next week.
[33:57] And, you know, it's daunting.
[33:59] There's a couple hundred people there, but once you get there, that's easy.
[34:02] Everyone's in the same situation.
[34:04] Yeah.
[34:04] No, it's fun.
[34:06] Do you think we'll get you along to another REM?
[34:08] Well, we'd like to.
[34:09] Yeah.
[34:10] Yeah, we've sort of got things settled a bit.
[34:13] We're keen to keep going, push forward.
[34:15] Because it does sound like we're due for a strategy review.
[34:18] Yeah, sure.
[34:19] Yeah.
[34:20] I mean, Mark's work's a little bit up in the air at the moment, so he's in negotiations at the moment.
[34:26] Oh, there was that spanner, right?
[34:27] Yeah.
[34:29] So my work's pretty consistent, but, yeah, so we need to.
[34:35] I don't need him to get sorted.
[34:37] It's been a pretty big income drop, hasn't it?
[34:39] Yeah.
[34:40] But it's a lifestyle too, yeah.
[34:42] Yeah, I was going to say, is that a lifestyle decision?
[34:44] Yeah.
[34:44] Because he was away, you know, four nights a week.
[34:47] So I was pretty much bringing up Cooper on my own and he was just there on the weekends and then in bed at 7 o'clock Sunday night and doing it all over again, so...
[34:58] Yeah.
[34:58] Five years of doing that and now he's home every night.
[35:01] Yeah.
[35:02] Like, yeah, you actually have to help out around the house now.
[35:04] Yes, I haven't made a school lunch in six months.
[35:08] Oh, that's so good.
[35:10] But do you feel like the ability to make that decision is due to the position that you're in now?
[35:15] Would you have been able to do that 10, 20 years ago?
[35:18] No.
[35:18] No, no way.
[35:19] Yeah.
[35:21] No, it sort of all, you know, started with the prostate thing.
[35:25] It sort of got the ball rolling that, you know, I really had to, and it had been back in my mind for a while anyway, sort of getting off the road, out of the trucks.
[35:32] But, yeah, just sort of put a finer point on it and sort of, you know, wanting to be at home more.
[35:38] Yeah.
[35:39] And enjoy life a bit.
[35:42] But being able to know that, well, we nearly owned the house at that stage and we had the ability to move things around to, you know.
[35:50] Yeah, so that was definitely comforting.
[35:52] So it's given you a lot more freedom.
[35:54] Yeah.
[35:54] Which I think is very valuable in its own way.
[35:57] Has Infiniti been able to teach you anything else or give you anything else outside of just the investing and the budgeting?
[36:05] Just the way that everyone's come together, like once again, the community atmosphere that can be built, that's really impressive to me and what G's achieved.
[36:18] And also, you know, what you really need in your life as well in the way of, you know, toys or whatever.
[36:27] You know, if you've got, you know, $50,000 sitting in your driveway doing nothing, you know, that sort of stuff, that's been interesting.
[36:35] Like even when we were struggling, we're paying the two mortgages off, we're going through the garage.
[36:40] What can we sell?
[36:41] Yeah.
[36:41] And we did have stuff that was just sitting there that was worth money.
[36:44] And you'd think it's not worth a lot, right, until you actually then start to collate all the numbers and start selling it off.
[36:50] You're like, wow, I actually have $5,000 here, $10,000 here.
[36:53] Yeah.
[36:53] So, and, I mean, you know, we're not into, you know, we don't need new cars or whatever.
[36:59] You know, we own our cars and we're happy with the ones we've got.
[37:03] We don't need new stuff because it's just dead money.
[37:06] Yeah.
[37:07] So.
[37:07] Do you feel quite content?
[37:09] Yeah.
[37:09] Yeah.
[37:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[37:11] Yeah.
[37:11] Yeah.
[37:11] You know, we're doing a few things on the house at the moment, which we haven't been able to do.
[37:17] We've been wanting to do it since we moved in five years ago and now we can afford to do a couple of little renovations.
[37:24] Yeah.
[37:25] Make the home a bit more of a home.
[37:27] Yeah.
[37:27] Yeah.
[37:28] Yeah.
[37:28] Even though we're happy to just pack up and leave.
[37:31] It sounds like you're ready to just do it again.
[37:35] Yeah, so that doesn't worry us.
[37:36] Would that be another ten-year stint, do you think, or...?
[37:40] Probably not so long.
[37:41] Well, we do have another plan.
[37:43] We'd like to, you know, a dream is to get a boat, a sailboat maybe or do the country by water.
[37:50] Wow, you guys really want to do it all, don't you?
[37:53] I love it though.
[37:54] That's awesome.
[37:55] You've got to have a dream.
[37:56] Because you're focusing on experiences.
[37:58] I think that's also what's really cool about the mindset shifts a lot of our clients have is they start where you said we don't need the toys and the cars and stuff.
[38:06] They start to go, you know, what would you need is the experiences.
[38:08] Yeah, that's right.
[38:09] Yeah, they become more important for them.
[38:12] And some of the stuff we've done, yeah, like in WA, you know, flights over Mitchell Falls and swim with the whale sharks.
[38:18] Oh, my gosh, that's on my bucket list.
[38:21] Don't tell me how amazing it is.
[38:23] It's awesome.
[38:24] I've swum with so many sharks.
[38:25] Oh, have you?
[38:26] Great whites, tiger sharks, leopard sharks, grey nurse, so many, and I haven't done the whale sharks yet.
[38:33] That would be, I wouldn't do none of what you've done.
[38:37] But even the whale sharks freaked me out.
[38:39] Really?
[38:40] Oh, yeah.
[38:41] When you see this mouth coming at you.
[38:43] Yeah, I think that would be the scariest thing.
[38:44] It's funny, yeah, because we were outside the beach at Ningaloo.
[38:48] Yeah.
[38:49] On the big boat and they say, right, everyone, jump over there.
[38:52] Okay, so in we go and nothing here, nothing here, and then all of a sudden this freight train comes.
[38:58] Just coming towards you.
[38:59] Oh, I'm so jealous.
[39:01] Yeah, it's still on my bucket list because I'm big on the experiences and stuff too.
[39:05] Like I just, I don't need a lot, but that's, yeah, that is like way up there for me.
[39:09] Yeah.
[39:10] Yeah.
[39:10] Definitely.
[39:11] Well, now you've got to do great whites.
[39:12] Oh, no, thanks.
[39:14] Not open on the back of this.
[39:18] So, yeah, that's our goal, get Cooper through high school.
[39:22] So he's got another year and a half to go.
[39:24] Yeah.
[39:24] Year 11 now.
[39:25] Yeah, and he's talking about going to the Defence Force.
[39:28] Okay.
[39:29] Which would be good to go.
[39:30] Do you feel okay about that for him?
[39:32] Yeah.
[39:32] Oh, yeah.
[39:34] Go to Adford.
[39:35] Most of the time.
[39:35] He can live there.
[39:37] Oh, you're trying to get him out of the house.
[39:40] And then we're off then, yeah.
[39:42] So that's the plan.
[39:43] We want to leave once he's set and.
[39:46] Yeah.
[39:47] Not straight away.
[39:48] Yeah.
[39:50] Elderly parents are worried about them.
[39:51] Yeah.
[39:53] Have they seen your journey?
[39:55] Yeah.
[39:55] Yeah.
[39:56] Yeah.
[39:56] They don't know the full extent, I don't think.
[39:59] No.
[39:59] Once again, the blinds go off a bit.
[40:00] Yeah.
[40:02] But, yeah, they know that we're here.
[40:04] Yeah.
[40:04] Yeah.
[40:07] Just give them snippets.
[40:08] Yeah.
[40:09] Because they might want to tell you how they think it should go.
[40:12] Yeah, exactly.
[40:14] Yeah.
[40:14] That's good.
[40:15] You're embracing what's working for you.
[40:17] Yeah.
[40:17] Yeah.
[40:18] Yeah.
[40:18] And, you know, they did a great job, you know, bringing us up in the way of, you know, being mortgage-free their whole life.
[40:24] Yeah.
[40:26] Yeah, sort of learnt from them.
[40:28] But, yeah, like you said, different journey now.
[40:30] Yeah.
[40:31] Yeah, exactly.
[40:31] Because did they do much trouble at any time?
[40:34] Yeah, that's where we got the trouble bug.
[40:35] You got the trouble bug from them?
[40:36] Because it's either one or two things.
[40:38] Your parents did a lot of it or they did none and you're like, I need to go do it because they didn't do any.
[40:43] Yeah.
[40:43] I don't know about it.
[40:44] Your parents did a little bit.
[40:45] A little bit.
[40:46] Yeah, not a great deal but a bit.
[40:47] Yeah, parents would take us in the caravan.
[40:49] We went for a trip around Australia.
[40:51] We only got as far as Airlie Beach, I think, and my mother was ready to kill three daughters so we had to turn around and come back.
[41:00] So, yeah, no, we did.
[41:01] Oh, they still got pretty far though.
[41:03] Yeah, yeah.
[41:03] That's still pretty good.
[41:04] Yeah.
[41:04] Yeah, and then we ended up in Batemans Bay.
[41:07] Yeah, nice.
[41:08] And have you had any other mindset shifts?
[41:10] Because you mentioned before too, which I really love, where you're like we don't feel like we miss out.
[41:14] Yeah.
[41:15] That's a big shift, isn't it, because that's everyone's fear.
[41:18] Yeah.
[41:18] And that's why a lot of people set their FFF really high on the master class and I'll look at the chat bar now especially that I'm running them with G and I'm just looking at people, you know, oh, it's just us and a dog and we've got 900 a week and I'm like, what?
[41:32] Yeah.
[41:32] And it's like you're scared that you're going to miss out on something, so you're over-inflating it.
[41:38] Yeah.
[41:38] But then you get into the journey and you're like, we're not actually missing out.
[41:41] Yeah, that's right.
[41:42] So do you still get date nights?
[41:43] Are you still, you know?
[41:45] Yeah, we don't go out a lot.
[41:46] We sort of have dinner with friends more so than going out.
[41:50] Yeah.
[41:50] I mean, I've been.
[41:52] changed my eating style so that's made it a little bit more challenging going out.
[41:57] Yeah.
[41:59] So, yeah, and I love cooking so I'm happy to, you know, entertain at home and things like that.
[42:05] So, yeah, no, if we want to go out, yeah, we don't hesitate.
[42:10] And can you still do it?
[42:11] Yeah.
[42:11] And still do the entertaining at home and it still fits in the FFF and, yeah.
[42:15] Yeah, yeah.
[42:15] I mean there are times we go over.
[42:17] Good to see you.
[42:17] Good to stretch sometimes.
[42:19] But, yeah, and there's other times that we've still got money in the bank at the end of the week.
[42:24] So, yeah, it just fluctuates.
[42:27] Yeah.
[42:28] Awesome.
[42:28] And what would you tell somebody who's maybe sitting on the fence about joining Infinity or maybe feels like, oh, it's too late for us?
[42:35] Well, we sort of thought that too, being in our 50s.
[42:38] Yeah.
[42:38] Yeah.
[42:40] Yeah, and I've seen people join in their 60s.
[42:42] Yeah.
[42:43] And I think, well, good on you, but if you had the opportunity, do it younger.
[42:47] Explore it anyway.
[42:48] Yeah, it's definitely worth a look.
[42:49] Yeah.
[42:50] Even if you don't follow it up.
[42:51] But you've got to have a look at what's behind the door.
[42:54] Yeah.
[42:54] Yeah.
[42:55] Yeah.
[42:56] Yeah, that's right.
[42:56] Yeah.
[42:57] And you'll be surprised if someone did the webinar and everything and then sort of pulled out really.
[43:01] Yeah.
[43:02] If they were half keen about investing.
[43:04] Yeah.
[43:05] Well, I mean, we give that money back guarantee for a reason.
[43:07] If you find one not for you, get your money back.
[43:10] Yeah, that's right.
[43:11] You can't have more, can you?
[43:12] Yeah, exactly.
[43:13] Yeah, no.
[43:14] What do you think is like still some of the biggest misconceptions around wealth creation out there?
[43:20] Oh, scams.
[43:22] Yeah.
[43:22] Scammers.
[43:23] Which, look, in fairness, like in the climate we're in at the moment with AI and all of that, it is a fair point.
[43:29] Yeah.
[43:30] But I think with how we tailor or we do get on live on a master class and you can see we're real people talking to you, that should help really see beyond the veil of a lot of that because, yeah, it is a scary time with all that AI and everything.
[43:44] Sometimes you look at videos and you're like, yeah, yeah.
[43:46] I don't know if that's real but it looks very real.
[43:49] Yeah.
[43:50] And a lot of people or, you know, friends that we've had over the years are just like, oh, I've got to wait for the market to come back down.
[43:59] Oh, that's the worst one.
[44:00] That's a big misconception, isn't it?
[44:02] I mean, when we were in Karratha coming back over here, we were thinking we need to buy property to live and we thought, oh, we'll wait until COVID's over.
[44:12] That was a big mistake.
[44:13] It cost us hundreds of thousands.
[44:14] Yeah, it cost us, yeah.
[44:16] Because what were you seeing in the media though?
[44:17] Yeah, well, that's right.
[44:19] Yeah, exactly.
[44:20] And, yeah, so that was a big lesson learned.
[44:24] Yeah.
[44:24] You know, the market's not going to come down.
[44:29] It might go, you know, flat out.
[44:31] But it's crazy because that's exactly what the media was doing.
[44:35] Everything was doom and gloom.
[44:37] COVID's going to rock the market.
[44:39] And then in 2021 we had one of the biggest years in property growth and that was right in the middle of COVID when people apparently, I shouldn't say apparently losing their jobs because people were, but yet we still had a very strong property market.
[44:51] Yeah.
[44:52] the house that sold out from under us, you know, you ring up and inquire about it.
[44:56] And it was gone.
[44:56] Yeah.
[44:58] Yeah, it was only that we had a reasonably good agent.
[45:01] She said, I've got a property that's coming on the market.
[45:03] It hasn't hit the market.
[45:04] Would you like to have a look?
[45:05] I said, yep, let me show me.
[45:08] Bought it there and then.
[45:09] I said, I'll pay you the deposit.
[45:11] Because you had FOMO then.
[45:12] Yeah.
[45:14] So we were living with our parents in a granny flat and needed to get out.
[45:23] So, yeah.
[45:24] And what are you guys most proud of as a couple since joining Infinity and being through this journey?
[45:30] Well, we're doing something together because I always felt it was always me wanting to sort of go down that property journey, you know, in our early years of marriage and Mark still had probably parents in the back of his head, no, just buy your house and, yeah, that's it.
[45:47] Yeah.
[45:48] So it felt like I was sort of doing it on my own then, but since joining Infinity we're both, you know, 100% together on it.
[45:57] Yeah.
[45:57] And, you know, he hasn't done too many, you know, webinars or anything.
[46:01] No.
[46:02] But, yeah, just, you know, he read the book and...
[46:05] Yeah, just...
[46:05] The room was the turning, like the... Yeah, yeah, that's right.
[46:08] Yeah, locked it in for me.
[46:10] Yeah.
[46:10] That was, yeah.
[46:10] You're like, I finally get what you've been raving about.
[46:13] Yeah, that's right.
[46:13] Yeah, yeah.
[46:14] Yeah.
[46:15] Yeah, that's probably been the biggest thing, that we're on a journey of property investment and stuff together.
[46:20] Yeah.
[46:21] Instead of me on my own.
[46:22] Gets him more involved.
[46:23] Yeah.
[46:24] Yeah.
[46:24] And does it strengthen your relationship?
[46:26] Yeah.
[46:27] You talk about money more and you're investing more.
[46:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[46:30] And it's been pretty smooth sailing really, you know, between us.
[46:33] Yeah.
[46:34] There's been no big disputes about any of it.
[46:38] No, no, we've agreed on everything.
[46:40] This is what we've got to do and see how we've got to do it and go to it.
[46:43] That's awesome.
[46:44] Well, thank you so much, guys.
[46:45] Is there anything else you'd like to add before we close off?
[46:48] Oh, no, just, yeah, glad we joined, you know.
[46:53] Wish we did it earlier, but, yeah.
[46:56] So, no, it's been great.
[46:57] He's doing a great thing.
[46:58] Everybody's really helpful in the group.
[47:01] Like everyone says, it's just a big family.
[47:03] Yeah.
[47:03] You know, every time we sort of connect with Infinity, that's how it feels.
[47:09] Yeah.
[47:10] Amazing.
[47:11] Sounds great.
[47:11] It's good.
[47:11] Well, you guys have fully embraced the whole journey.
[47:13] You've had a lot of ups and downs through it, but I think for you guys you've had a lot of resilience and you should be very proud of everything that you've achieved and obviously we love having you part of the family.
[47:23] So thank you for sharing your story.
[47:24] It will definitely resonate with people.
[47:26] Yeah, absolutely.
[47:26] Thank you.
[47:29] You're fucking gone.
[47:30] See you.

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