Financial Autonomy

What do Apple, Nike, Under Armour, Instagram, and Groupon all have in common? It’s not just that they’re hugely successful, multibillion dollar companies.  They also share a common birth – they all started life as side projects of their founders.  I’ve been reading Nike founder Phil Knight’s autobiography Shoe Dog recently, and I highly recommend it – very readable and interesting.  He was working as an accountant at Price Waterhouse whilst establishing what we now know as Nike, and when he needed to spend more time on the business, he switched to become an accounting professor at his local university.  It was several years into the business before he quit his day job and devoted himself full time to his enterprise. So if businesses as enormously successful as these can spring from a side hustle, perhaps you can attain your Financial Autonomy goal by using the same approach.  Let’s take a look at what a side hustle is, and how you might be able to use this approach to gain the choices in life that you’re year

In my next interview episode on the Financial Autonomy Podcast we chat to Adam Murray from the Subtle Disruptors Podcast. In this interview we cover: How a difficult personal time highlighted the need for Adam to take some leave from his career and reevaluate his life How the Good Life Project gave him a framework to take a gap year How identifying four key priorities during that gap year has now impacted his life The power of being present in the moment The focus on his health and how it impacted on his four key priorities How he managed financially to take a gap year How living frugally changed him and how it helped to develop a better understanding of what makes him happy How structuring his work around 4 days a week has allowed him to retain focus on his priorities after going back to work His journey towards self employment and his desire to make an impact The importance of designing a life on your own terms and creating a true work life balance Why you can only sacrifice part of your life only for a pe

There’s a template that all Australian’s are meant to follow. Study, enter the workforce, buy a house, raise kids, pay off a mortgage, retire. It’s served us pretty well for the past 100 years or so, so you know the saying about if it ain’t broke… But for an increasing number of Australian’s this model is broken. The original spark that started me on this Financial Autonomy journey was the realisation that the path from studying until around your early 20’s, then working in paid employment for the next 40 odd years, then retirement – the traditional path – was becoming less relevant, and a serious re-think was needed. Home ownership is an unspoken overlay applied to that traditional life path.  And whilst I certainly don’t believe that owning a home is a bad thing, in re-thinking how our life’s journey might unfold, I certainly think it’s worth questioning the place of home ownership as a core belief in one’s financial life. And it’s not even just the core assumption that we will buy a house, it’s the assum

In our first interview episode on the Financial Autonomy Podcast with talk with Felicity Loughrey. She shares her career transition journey from journalism to advertising that spanned across two continents. In this interview we cover: How this Australian freelance journalist ended up working in New York Why she finds Americans are good to work with How she handled the transition away from the dying industry of journalism into writing advertising copy The interesting journey of getting better at her craft but getting paid less for the work The subculture of freelance creatives in the US The importance of consistency pitching for work to maintain constant cash flow Overcoming the hurdle of getting paid for your work as a creative The need to be constantly learning when entering a new industry Her time at VaynerMedia and what it is like working for digital thought leader Gary Vaynerchuk The role a Digital Creative Running an autonomously team in a HR focused digital agency Hiring from outside your industry to c

How hard is it to get started?  I’m sure we’ve all had things that either need to be done, or that we’d like to do, but we put them off – shift them to the bottom of the pile or check out our Facebook feed instead. Procrastination is evil, and it afflicts us all at some point or another.  When it comes to Financial Autonomy dreams, I think procrastination is quite possibly the number 1 impediment to you moving forward.  So with this in mind, I’ve done some research on strategies to overcome procrastination woes, and today I’m going to share with you the key things I’ve learnt. When it comes to achieving something great, something worthwhile, taking the first step is often the hardest part.  Perhaps it’s not knowing where to begin.  Or a sense of overwhelm – the goal feels like this huge inflatable ball – impossible to get your arms around and difficult to know where to grab it. Procrastination does not equal lazy.  It's likely driven more by fear of uncertainty or failure, or anxiety, which is often closely

How good would life be if you were debt free? No mortgage payments, or car loans.  No credit cards.  Imagine the weight off your shoulders.  The financial freedom you would gain.  The financial autonomy. Of course many people, probably most people, achieve debt free status over their working life.  This episode is not for those who have already achieved this milestone. This episode is for those of you on the journey.  For whom debt obligations comprise a significant portion of your regular income. We’re going to look at some strategies you might be able to use to get to debt free status quicker.  And that acceleration in clearing your debt brings you closer to whatever your financial autonomy goal is. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume you, the listener or reader has debt, and debt you’d love to see the back of.  Given the title of this post, I’d imagine self-selection should deliver us this outcome. In the modern era, establishing yourself financially without taking on debt is near imposs

If you catch a snippet of the radio in the morning on your way to work, you’re likely to hear what happened to the Dow Jones overnight. If you read your news online or watch the news on TV it’s likely you’ll hear about the All Ords or maybe the ASX200.  You might even come across acronyms like the NASDAQ and the FTSE. Probably, you know this is something to do with share markets. If you turn your mind to it a bit more, you probably know that the share market is where people buy and sell shares in companies like Telstra or BHP. Maybe you have in mind that the share market is risky and people lose their money sometimes. Well, if this is about the extent of your share market knowledge, you’re not alone, and this episode’s for you. I think it’s fair to assume that you have an interest in achieving financial independence.  That is what we’re all about here. In working towards that goal, building wealth is likely to be an important feature. With wealth you can generate investment income with which you can then liv

Today’s episode is the 3rd and final look at the most common financial mistakes I come across when advising clients.  Thanks for your comments and feedback on the previous 2 posts, it seems that many of you have battled with some of these issues yourselves, and there were a few other mistakes that you’ve managed to make that, whilst being proud of them is perhaps not quite right, they are certainly something good for a laugh well after the fact. I’ve got 5 more for you today, so let’s dive in and help you avoid the most common financial mistakes. In episode 9 we looked at Jenny’s story, where her husband suffered pancreatic cancer and was without any personal insurance.  They had looked into obtaining personal insurance, and indeed Jenny had done so, but he took the “I’m tough as nails, it’ll never happen to me” attitude, to the detriment of their family. So the next common financial mistake I see is people not having appropriate personal insurance.  There are 4 types of personal insurance, and I’ve got expl

Welcome back.  In the last episode we explored common investment mistakes people make.  It’s not really essential that you listen to Part 1 before giving this one a listen, but if you haven’t listened to that one yet, perhaps make that the next episode you grab. Today we’re going to explore common cash flow mistakes that I see people make. I mentioned in the first episode that when I was first planning this post, I jotted down 12 ideas – financial mistakes I’d seen regularly over my 18 years as a financial planner.  Last episode we covered the three that I grouped together as investment related – procrastination, being too conservative, and trying to be a share trader.  In this episode I’m going to start with three more, that all have cash flow as a common theme. Hopefully you’ve listened to a few Financial Autonomy episodes by now, and if so you’ll know that a common pre-cursor to making progress on your Financial Autonomy goal is having a good handle on your household’s cash flow.  How much comes in, and ho

Enough people have hit their thumb with a hammer for you to know that it hurts quite a lot. You don’t need to do the experiment yourself. I’ve been helping people as a Financial Planner now for almost 18 years, and I’ve meet many, many wonderful people. Often people put off seeing a financial planner until they’re at some sort of cross roads – they’ve been made redundant, or retirement is rapidly looming, or they’ve separated from their partner. So prospective new clients often come in to see me with some baggage. Something that’s not working, or that they’ve put off dealing with, and that’s why they need our help. Of course over that time you see some common challenges that people face. Issues that repeat again and again. So today I’m going to share some of those with you, the product of my 18 years of helping people, so hopefully you can skip over these common financial mistakes, and reach your goals sooner. We’ve talked a lot so far in past episodes about strategies you can use to help get you to your goal

Having a job and a regular wage is comforting and secure, except if you lose that job.   UK stats say that 45% of workers will be made redundant at least once in their working life.  I’d expect the Australian numbers would be much the same. In that sense, being a full time employee is very binary.  Very secure and reliable whilst you’re employed, but when you’re not, there’s nothing. If Financial Autonomy is about having choices in life, then how does that align with being fully reliant on an employer to provide you with the income that you need to keep all the balls in the air? Most of us do work for an employer, and that suits us very well, so how can we align the desire for financial independence, with the financial dependence associated with being a full time employee? I’ve called today’s episode The Security Illusion, because I think for many people, they overestimate the level of financial security provided by their employer.  So what steps can you take to truly be financially secure?  Well, that’s what

How long since you’ve taken a step back from your professional life and considered where it’s taking you?  Is your current professional activity taking you to somewhere you want to be in 10 or 20 years?  Is it leading you towards inner happiness? It’s easy with the pressures of mortgage repayments or rent, perhaps kids, and just the normal expenses of life, to push on, head down bum up.  The problem is that can lead you to a destination when you are perhaps in your 40’s or 50’s and with plenty of working life ahead of you, of middle management restructures, possible redundancies, and industries changing. Or perhaps the outlook for your profession is good, but will it take you to your personal goals?  How many people throw their whole life into their work, only to neglect their family and home life, and then one day find themselves divorced, or just distant from their kids and partner? So today we’re going to ask the question, “is your ladder against the wrong wall?”. So you’re climbing the corporate or profe

When thinking about financial autonomy we are typically talking about medium to long term goals, and then developing strategies to get to those goals. The transition then is a planned one. What if your transition was thrust upon you? I met someone recently who faced this challenge, and with her permission, I thought it was worth sharing with you a little of her story and the learnings that we can all take. Financial autonomy is about standing on your own two feet and not being reliant on others. Having choice. Part of that should be having the capacity to withstand adversity. Having the financial resilience to not lose your house or be forced to ask family for hand-outs. Lets take a look at Jenny’s story, I think there are some great lessons we could all benefit from. I met Jenny at a social function a few weeks back. Through the course of our conversation I mentioned that I had made a podcast called “Financial Autonomy” and told her a little bit about what that was all about. She said, “That sounds exactly

Financial Autonomy is about managing and planning for major transitions in life.  A transition that many of us face unfortunately is divorce.  I understand researchers have found that going through a divorce can be one of the most stressful things you can experience in life. As a financial planner, I often work with clients who have been through or are going through a divorce, and assist them in the planning necessary to get them back on their feet financially. In this post I’ve broken down the things you need to be thinking about into 4 key strategy elements.  If you can work through these, you’ll be in a position to get your financial life back on track, and with this stress removed, hopefully your life back on track too. Divorce is certainly no fun.  But it does offer the opportunity to hit the reset button in your life.  With some good financial planning, this next chapter in your life can be the best yet.   Fortunately the days of couples sticking together in relationships that no longer work are behind

Many people that I speak to seek freedom from the need to clock on and clock off.  To not be answerable to a boss. To not having to devote time and energy to things that they’re not passionate about, just for the pay. The dream therefore becomes to retire early, and the sooner the better. In Australia superannuation is the primary vehicle that we use to save for retirement, and access to superannuation is available from age 60.  So, when we’re talking about early retirement, we’re referring to retiring earlier than age 60. But what does being retired before the age of 60 actually mean?  Does that mean sitting at home all day looking at the TV?  I certainly hope not. Of the people I talk to with the ambition to retire early, I believe their goal is to have choice and freedom.  To be able to say no to things they don’t want to do in a work sense.  Early retirement links very strongly with financial independence, and that is where we will be focusing the attention of today’s podcast. So your dream of early retir

I’ve known Nish for over 25 years.  He was there when I started my first job out of school, and over the years our careers and lives intersected. These days, as well as being a friend, Nish and his family are also clients.  For many years Nish was a financial planner, even running his own firm for a period.  To have someone with that professional skill and background decide to engage me and my firm to act as their financial planner is to me, one of the greatest professional compliments you can receive. Today I’m really excited to share with you a little bit of Nish’s hugely successful transition from the corporate world to running his own photography business – Nish Photography.  But it doesn’t just stop there.  Because Nish and his incredibly supportive wife Janine made a second transition a few years later by making a sea-change.  Leaving the big smoke with its big mortgage and hecticness, and moving the family to a small seaside community about an hour out of Melbourne.  Nish and his family have never been

Starting a family is a huge step in a great many of our lives.  Bringing a new little human into the world.   So much hope.  Scary too!  Completely life changing. Financial Autonomy is about you taking control of your finances, and not being controlled by your finances.  The focus of this audio blog is to think through the financial implications of taking this big leap, and what you can do to prepare for this major transition in your life. Also, if you’re reading or listening to this during the pregnancy phase, and are anything like my household was prior to the birth of our first child, you’ve probably read enough books like What to Expect When Your Expecting, and Up the Duff.  I promise there will be no references to what pregnancy will do to your body, or any of the seemingly infinite ways we can be a terrible parent and ruin our child’s life. My name’s Paul Benson, and thanks for listening to Financial Autonomy, the audio blog.  Let’s dive into today’s episode, how to be financial ready to start a family.

One fantastic and I find often overlooked way to achieve financial autonomy is to buy an existing business.  In comparison to starting your own business where cash flow starts at zero and you need to support yourself whilst the business becomes self-sustaining (refer episode 1), when you buy an existing business, you have cash flow and customers from day one. Buying a business is something I can talk about with quite a bit of experience.  I’ve bought two businesses, and for a couple years I was a licensed Business Broker as a side line to my financial planning practice.  The thinking at the time was that my business owner financial planning clients would need to sell their businesses when they retired, and so perhaps offering business broking services was a sensible expansion.  I ended up concluding that the two services weren’t especially complementary, but I picked up some great learnings that make me a better advisor for my business owning financial planning clients, and for those seeking financial autonom

I’ve named this podcast Financial Autonomy. So what is Financial Autonomy? What does it mean? Well that’s what we’re going to explore in today’s podcast I’ll give you a big hint – Financial Autonomy is about gaining choices in life. Buckle up – let’s dive in! Financial autonomy or financial independence if you prefer, is about being in a financial position to have CHOICE. In my role as a financial planner, every day I talk to people about their financial plans.  In almost all cases, amongst their financial goals will be retirement plans.  For the past 50+ years, most people in developed countries such as Australia have lived on an expectation that they will enter the work force in their late teens or early 20’s, and work through until somewhere in their 60’s, whereupon they will cease work entirely and live out their remaining days in “retirement”. This scenario is perhaps a bit male centric, as for many women, paid employment is often put on pause when children arrive.  But none the less, in more recent tim

Redundancy – not something most of us like to contemplate. Yet it is a reality for many of us in our working life. So rather than redundancy being seen as something negative, let’s flip it around - your redundancy could be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Financial autonomy is about building financial strategies to give you choices in life. And very often these choices present themselves at moments of transition. In this case, your transition is leaving the comfort of a work place you’ve been at for many years, maybe even decades, and moving onto the next chapter in your life. Today’s podcast will explore how you can make this transition a successful one. I’m Paul Benson and you’re listening to the Financial Autonomy audio blog. Let’s dive in!   It’s not you, it’s them. Over the years I’ve dealt with many people who have been made redundant and so I know it can be a huge confidence sapper. But I want to tell you, if you are currently facing redundancy that you being made redundant is almost neve