Why are people stealing my book?

Every father wants to be a hero to his son.

So, a few weeks back, I took my four-year-old to a bookstore to show him my bestseller.

Only problem? I couldn’t find a single copy anywhere (not even in the bargain bin).

“Your book. It isn’t here, is it Daddy?” he said, consolingly.

This wasn’t going well.

Thankfully a shop assistant recognised me and said “follow me”.

She took us out to the storeroom and showed us a sign pinned to the staff noticeboard (see pic).

“Barefoot Investor … Because of theft, NO copies will be kept on the floor.”

True story.

I didn’t know how to handle this one with the boy: “Daddy’s book is popular … with thieves.”

Yet I’m taking it as a win — even with the pilfered copies, the book has still sold over 300,000 copies!

And its success has meant that I’ve received thousands of follow-up questions on the book, far too many for me to answer individually (though I try!). With that in mind, here are the top questions people ask me.

“Is this really how you manage your money?”

Yes it is.

I’ve lived the nine Barefoot Steps

Liz and I have set up our buckets. We have a shared bank account. We do our Barefoot Date Nights.

And that’s why I believe the book has resonated so strongly with people — I know it works.

The steps won’t make you rich overnight, but they will give you a clear path that will keep you and your family safe.

“You need more than $250,000 to retire on!”

Well, having more money is certainly better

In case you haven’t read my book, my chapter on nailing your retirement sets out my ‘Donald Bradman Strategy’, which says that to enjoy a comfortable retirement you don’t need $1 million … or $2 million.  

As a minimum, I argue you need three things to have a comfortable retirement where the money doesn’t run out:

A paid-off home, around $250,000 in super combined (or $170,000 if you’re single), and the ability to continue working a few days a month (which you should do, no matter how much dough you’ve got, to keep the grey matter ticking over and to get you out of the house).

Some people got all ‘Tony Abbott’ about the fact that I advised people to rely on getting the age pension.  

Let me defend myself:

First, the average Aussie approaching retirement has around $200,000 in super, so my strategy is giving them something realistic to aim at … rather than simply just throwing up their hands in the air.

Second, let me be very clear: I do not encourage planning to rely on a government handout. In fact, I wrote the rest of the book so you can set yourself up to not need the Donald Bradman Strategy!

“Can’t I just use my offset account for my Mojo account?”

Sure you can.

(I have received literally hundreds of emails from people who tell me they could be $48.50 a year better off by using their offset account for their ‘Mojo’ — my word for savings.)

It’s just not how I do it … but the most important thing is that you have Mojo!

Again, the power of this book is that it’s what I’ve actually done in my life.

And, personally, one of the things that really helped me was giving each of my accounts a name.

There’s power in being intentional about things, and you tend not to dip into an account that has a name on it (the more emotional the better).

When my house burned down, I went to my Mojo account and drained it.

“Should I keep my credit card … just in case?”

You could do that … but it’s like a drunk keeping a beer in the fridge just in case a ‘mate’ comes around.

The truth is that credit card ‘rewards’ for all but the highest spenders are a gimmick … and their value gets eroded with every passing year (some points are worth as little as half a cent each).

Yet showing your kids that Mum and Dad can get through life without relying on someone else’s money?

In the words of the MasterCard ad … priceless

“How do I get my partner on board?”

Right now people all over the country are going out for their Barefoot Date Nights.

If you can’t rope your partner in with the promise of booze and good food, what else can I do?!

“Will you be updating the book?”

Yes. I’ll be updating it every year. In fact I’ve just finished the 2017/18 update, which will be released for Father’s Day.

There’s also an audio book version that I’ve laid down.

And finally …

“What happened to your alpacas?”

I’m pleased to announce that Pedro and Alberto, my two highly protective alpacas, are still very much alive and spitting!

Tread Your Own Path!

The Day Our Lives Turned Around

Hi Scott,

In December last year -- after struggling with personal debt of over $55,000, no job, and rent that had zapped my entire savings -- I took a train into the city with my wife (who had been holding the fort for us both on her $80,000-a-year job). We walked around for the whole day and decided something had to change -- WE had to change. So we bought your book. Seven months on and, for the first time ever, we are in control of our lives. We now spend a lot less, I am in a great job, and we have already killed $14,000 of the debt. Thanks, mate!

Lucas

Hey Lucas,

What an epic story. It’s simple to buy a book, it’s easy to read it, but it’s a lot harder to actually act on it. And that’s what you’ve done and that’s why you deserve all the credit.

Enjoy the date nights mate!You got this!

Scott

How to ruin your financial life

He didn’t even introduce himself.

An old bloke just walked straight up to me, poked his knobbly old index finger into my ribs, leaned in, and said:

“They don’t listen to you, do they!”

“Huh?” I replied, cowering like a schoolboy (I was at a function, and I didn’t know this old codger.)

“I’ve been reading your questions in the newspaper for years … and they don’t listen to your advice!”

He did have a point. Maybe my message just isn’t getting through. After all, each week I try and give people honest, commonsense advice to help them out.

Fat load of good that does!

So this week let’s try something different — a bit of reverse psychology.

If people don’t respond to good advice, maybe they’ll listen to some bad advice?

So in honour of the old bloke, let me give you half a dozen ways to totally screw up your financial life.

How to Lose Your Shirt in the Share Market

Buy shares based on the tips of your brother-in-law (a 43-year-old IT helpdesk employee who ‘dabbles’ in shares, porn, and sporting memorabilia).

Yet what if you are not lucky enough to have a brother-in-law who has outspoken views on things he knows very little about?

Easy.

Just read scary newspaper headlines: “Sell Everything!”, “Prepare for a Cataclysmic Year!”

(The Royal Bank of Scotland made these headlines in January 2016. Since then the US stock market has jumped 35 per cent, while our market is up around 18 per cent … not including dividends.)

And after you’ve bought some shares, make sure you watch them right throughout the day.

Do not take your eyes off them for a second.

The minute the shares go up, buy more. The minute they go down, sell.

Okay, so now let’s focus on losing money in something you are an expert in: property.

You’ve been living in a house your entire life … right? How hard can it be?

Let’s roll.

You: Property Mogul

If you buy an investment property, don’t buy a good-quality family home from your local real estate agent.

What do those losers know?

Instead, go to a wealth-creation seminar, preferably hosted at a suburban Holiday Inn conference room.

You want a tanned fellow from the Gold Coast who’ll teach you the ‘secrets’ the rich have been keeping from Domino’s-Pizza-munching plebs like you.

Ideally, you’d like a complicated strategy that involves you purchasing ten properties in ten years and will have you retired at 40 and living off $229,345 a year!

Go ahead and buy a property from the spruiker using ‘OPM’ (Other People’s Money), interest only (remember, the more debt you have, the wealthier you are). Location? Preferably South-East Queensland, though what matters most is that the property you buy at the seminar is located somewhere far, far away. While you’re at it, use their legal representatives and mortgage broking ‘team’. It’s so much easier than worrying about all those annoying details yourself.

Yet the real money is made (and lost) in business.

You’ve read Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal, and look where he ended up.

Okay, so he did get a multi-million dollar loan from his father, but screw it — let’s do it!

How to Go Broke in Business Without Even Trying

Start a business you have no experience in, preferably in partnership with your ex-boyfriend … preferably funded with credit card debt.

Focus on ‘brand positioning’ (business cards, a fancy office, an agency-designed website) before you even think of finding any customers. If your product is as good as your friends on Facebook think it is (38 ‘likes’ — you GO girl!), customers will beat a path to your door.

And what if you can’t think of an idea for a business?

Easy. Just buy a franchise, like Pie Face, or 7-Eleven.

They always work out well.

Harness The Secret

Money can be attracted through your mind.

(Picture me rubbing my temples as I write this).

Let’s be clear: God wants you to be rich.

The 800 million people in sub-saharan Africa? … not so much.

But you? … Sure.

Now, one way to awaken the spiritual money muse is to always keep $2,000 worth of cash ($5 notes) in your wallet. It’s a sure-fire psychic signal to the universe that you are bathed in abundance.

And it works! Every time you open your wallet you’ll see your riches … and so will the sketchy dude waiting behind you at the Taco Truck on King Street.

Now repeat the affirmation: “please, take my money, just don’t hurt me”.

How to Find the Wrong Financial Advisor

Once you’ve got a bit of dough … you need to share it with someone. So it’s time to find the most expensive financial planner you can find.

Judge them on (a) their car, (b) their office, (c) their pinky ring.

Let them know you’re a player.

Explain that you want the most expensive super fund they have. Your retirement is no time to be a tightarse.

And when they explain it to you in terms you don’t understand – nod like an idiot.

And make sure you invest in things you don’t understand.

And if someone cold-calls you about an investment opportunity, under no circumstances should you Google them.

Who cares what other people’s experiences have been?

Let’s be honest, the interwebs is just full of freaks that like cats anyway. If you are tempted to go near Google, the only keywords you should use are: “get rich”, “lifestyle design”, “Barnaby Joyce”, and “Multiple Streams of Income”.

Let’s be honest though, the real reason to get rich is so you can exert control over your family, right?

Well, I’ve saved the best to last.

How to Ruin Your Relationships

If you’re dating, don’t talk to your partner about their financial situation, or their views on spending and saving.

Didn’t your mother teach you anything?

It’s rude to talk about money — and unless you’re loaded it’s not going to help you in the sack anyway.

Split everything down the middle except for: your secret shopping money, your secret mistress money, and your secret betting money. Oh and keep a little set aside that your partner doesn’t know about, just in case you have to run. Because you will, eventually. And divorce will be the final crowning achievement of your financial life.

So there it is: six simple ways to completely screw your financial life.

Are you listening? Don’t make me have to poke you in the ribs.

Tread Your Own Path!

How Would You Invest a Spare $10,000, Barefoot?

Hi Scott,

I’ve just turned 28, and after reading your book I came to the realisation that my savings have been sitting in my bank account for several years doing nothing. I have no investments whatsoever, but I do have $10,000 I could invest. Based on your previous advice, I am looking to invest $5,000 into AFIC and $5,000 into Argo. Is this a good idea, thinking about the long term (30-40 years)? And if I continue to add to them over time, is that better than adding the money to my super?

Rick

Hi Rick,

If you’ve read my book, you’ll see that I set out a time-tested plan: do a monthly date night (Step 1), set up your buckets (Step 2), domino your debts (Step 3), then start saving a 20 per cent deposit for a home (Step 4). Step 4 is where you’re up to at the moment.

So right now you have $10,000 sitting in a bank account. I want you to give that account a nickname, call it “my house deposit”. I know it sounds like I’m making you suck pea and ham soup, but make no mistake, the act of naming something is powerful. It gives you clarity and purpose.

If you’ve been Barefoot for a while, you’ll know that I love low-cost index funds as investments, but everything at the right time. Now, after you buy your home, you’re onto Step 5, where you boost your pre-tax super contributions from the standard 9.5 per cent to 15 per cent (or up to the annual cap of $25,000). If you can do that before you’re 35, your retirement will be soupy.

Scott

Reminder: I first wrote about this years ago and highlighted the low costs. Today there are better deals on offer. How do I know? Because my readers constantly email me about them! So before you do anything, do a quick google.

Thank You Barefoot

Scott,

We spoke way back in 2010. That was the year when my husband died, I had a six-month-old baby, and I could not afford my mortgage repayments. Since then I have treated your (first) book like a bible. Now I have tripled my super, am building up my savings, and am working towards being financially independent. I just wanted to say “thank you”.

Alex

Hi Alex

Six years ago your family tree probably looked like a shrivelled up little sapling.

Today it’s not only strong but it’s growing into something magnificent!

Make no mistake, your actions over the past six years have literally changed your family tree forever.I’m proud of you.

Scott

We’re Waging a War!

Dear Scott,

My hubby and I have read your book and are on a ‘Barefoot warpath’. However, we have one big problem. Our mortgage is far beyond 60% of our combined incomes.  It’s actually more like 85%! And we earn decent money -- I am on $95,000 and he is on $115,000. We have two young children, aged eleven and five, who want things all the time. Can you recommend a saving strategy without simply saying “you bought a house that was too expensive”? We know this. Also, we live in Perth, so it has lost value. It is not finished yet either, and we are now having to do the renovations ourselves. What can we do?

Jan

Hi Jan

You may be on the warpath, but the enemy has you surrounded.

I get that you’re looking for reassurance, but you’re asking me to recommend a savings strategy when 85 per cent of your combined income is going towards your (unfinished) home and you have two school-aged kids who ‘want things all the time’. I’m good, but I’m not that good!

I can only guess that you bought the home when you were on a higher household income, because there’s no way a bank could-a, should-a, would-a lent you that money on your current income. I actually can’t work out how you’re keeping afloat (perhaps you have a lump sum you’re living off that you haven’t disclosed). Either way, unless you can increase your income dramatically and quickly, you’ll eventually lose your home.

That’s the only way I can see you could lose the battle while still standing a chance of (eventually) winning the war. Right now, you need some good soldiers on your side, and there are none better than Financial Counsellors Australia. Call them on 1800 007 007 and have them represent you with your bank’s hardship department.

Scott

Last weekend I made a terrible mistake.

My wife left me alone for three hours, and in that time I generated a full-scale social media storm.

And it all started when I posted a picture of my undies on Facebook.

Let me explain:

In my book I wrote about ‘how to live like a multi-millionaire right now’. Basically it involves spending your money consciously on things that will make you feel like a million bucks.

One way to do this is by splashing out and buying really comfy undies. After all, some people justify spending $8,000 on a 14-hour business class flight … why not fly business class in your undies every day?

(With such hard-hitting advice, is it any wonder my book has sold 300,000 copies?!)

Anyway, what I didn’t envisage at the time of writing was that enterprising underwear manufacturers would start sending me samples of their product in the post.

So a few weeks ago I went to my country town post office, where the Australian Post lady handed me a big box:

“Looks like more undies”, I said matter-of-factly, like it was completely normal.

She smiled nervously and avoided eye contact.

Just for kicks, I took a pic of the box — which had the underwear brand on the box — and uploaded it to my 107,911 followers on Facebook with the caption: “I think I’m the only finance guy who gets sent undies in the post. Second time this week.”

On my way home from the post office I rang my wife and told her about the undies.

Mrs Barefoot: “Hang on. Are you telling me that women are sending you their underwear in the mail?”

Barefoot: “No, honey. Underwear companies are sending them to me.”

Mrs Barefoot: “Oh! Well that makes sense. Of course, if they’d actually seen you in your underwear … they wouldn’t bother sending you any … ”

Barefoot: Frowning.

Mrs Barefoot: “… I mean, it’s clearly ridiculous that you would be an undies influencer … ”

Barefoot: “You can stop now.”

Mrs Barefoot: “I’m joking! But you’re an idiot for posting that picture. It looks like you’re being paid to promote their product.”

When I checked my Facebook feed … I realised she was right.

All hell had broken loose.

The first reply to my undies post was less than encouraging:

“Why are you posting this crap? Stick to finance or firetruck* off” (*the substitute word we use in front of our four-year-old).

And the comments went downhill from there. As I sat nervously on my verandah patting my trusty old sheepdog, people from the corners of the interwebs jumped in to bite me on the backside. It was like trying to placate an angry mob ready to burn me at the stake.

In my underwear.

(This incident is now referred to at Barefoot HQ as #undiesgate.)

The Rise of the Influencer

In the olden days, advertisers would buy ads in glossy magazines to try and influence readers.

Today, glossy mags have all but been replaced by social media (especially Instagram, with its 700 million users). Advertisers now pay social media influencers to create the ads, by posting a promoted pic with their product in shot.

It’s actually big business for social media starlets (generally those who are ridiculously good looking … or post pictures of ridiculously good-looking food). According to Bloomberg, brands will pay up to $US250 a post if you have 10,000 fans, $1,000 a post if you have 100,000 fans, and all the way up to $US300,000 for a single post if you’re a Kardashian.

Contrast this to my Instagram account, which has a total of three posts: a picture I took in 2012 of a busker playing the bagpipes while dressed as a duck, and, for reasons I don’t quite understand, two identical headshots of my 55-year-old editor, Wally.

Again, when it comes to social media I’m kind of clueless. However, #undiesgate aside, I know a thing or two about building a business, and I’m proud of being fiercely independent.

To prove it, let me drop my dacks and show you an email I received last year from a marketing company representing an Aussie bank.

The $9,000 Post

Hello Scott,

XXX Bank have tasked us to identify some social influencers who could boost the video views of their brand-new online documentary “All I Need: Is the Australian Dream Getting You Into Unnecessary Debt?” (YouTube/Facebook versions). We have come across your social media channels and, given your strong influence as a thought-leader in the financial sector and of course Australia’s most trusted finance expert, we would love for you to participate.

This is a paid opportunity of $9,000 and we can also offer the opportunity for your content to be amplified on the XXX Bank’s pages. We would love it if you were able to:

1. Write and upload a blog discussing your own personal opinions on the content.

2. 1x social media post focused on original blog post – this post will have the blogpost linked into it.

3. 1x social media post (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram).

So I watched the doco, fully expecting it to be horrible, as most corporate videos tend to be.

Turns out, it was actually pretty good! (Who’d have thought a bank would tackle the issue of borrowing too much?)

So I wrote back to the PR firm, thanked them, and turned down their cashola.

Then I wrote about the doco and shared it with my audience anyway.

Now here’s the wedgie: the only reason a PR company would be willing to shell out nine thousand clams to me … is that I’ve built an audience who knows I wouldn’t take it.

Tread Your Own Path!

I Got This!

Hi Scott,

I want to thank you. Reading your book helped me take financial control. I am a single mum of three. But in seven months I have paid down $10,400 in debt, saved $2,000 in ‘Mojo’, put aside $1,000 for Xmas, registered my car, and purchased a new fridge and drier -- all without having to use my credit card. In 12 months I will be DEBT FREE. Thank you! I am sleeping easy at night for the first time in years and can now make a better future for my kids.

Aruna

Hey Aruna,

I can feel your excitement dripping off the page. You’re in control, you’re winning, you’re unstoppable!

You may think your kids aren’t paying attention … but I promise you they are. Well done!

Scott

After the Fire

Hi Scott,

I was in a pretty horrific accident six years ago -- most of my body was burnt after being in a car accident that was on fire. I will get $900,000 from my insurance company, though I will need to put aside some of it for my future burn surgeries.

I am going through the process of building a house with my partner. Our house and land will come to $490,000, and we will be eligible for the $15,000 First Home Buyers Grant. We both have jobs (I work casual 12 to 24 hours a week as I can’t work more than that). We own both our cars. He still lives at home and I rent with my brother. We have no debts or loans and we each have over $12,000 in our saving accounts. Honestly I am freaking out, because I am 25 and have no idea about finances or what to do with my life. The insurance settlement goes through in just under a month. What should I do?

Danielle

Hi Danielle

I’m so sorry for what happened to you. It must have been horrendous.I know it’s a lot of money, but you don’t need to freak out. You could (and probably should) lock most of it away in a term deposit for 12 months while you take stock of things. There’s absolutely no need to feel pressure. None. If you rush, you could make impulsive, emotional decisions.

Then, when you’re ready, here’s what I’d suggest you think about:

First, talk to your medical team and get an accurate understanding of your future medical costs, and when you’ll need to pay them. Overestimate. Then, if it’s in the next 10 years, keep that money in a high-interest online savings account.

Second, if you can see yourself living in the house for at least the next 10 years, go buy it (if you have enough left over after your medical costs, that is). However, I’d like you to buy it outright, and in your name only. Go and see a solicitor and have them draw up a cohabitation agreement between you and your boyfriend. He can pay you rent and you can split living costs -- which will help, given you can’t work full time.

Three, I’d keep $10,000 in a (separate) high-interest online savings account as Mojo money.

Finally, I’d invest the rest in a low-cost share fund.Good luck!

Scott

I Got This!

Hi Scott,

I spent my twenties telling myself I could never afford to own a home, so I just spent my money. Then I started reading your stuff. When I saw that even singles on the minimum wage could make a go of it, I kicked myself in the backside. I got a better job where I could put in heaps of overtime, I sold my car, and I set about paying off my personal loans (plural, because I was still paying for the car before it too!). I stopped using drugs (all of them, massive effort) and I saved.

I found a sense of self-worth, pride and confidence. I met an amazing woman, and we bought a house together. We have a small mortgage on a beautiful home, and no other debt. We own shares (something else I thought was beyond my reach) and we have cash in the bank.

We will pay our home off just after my 45th birthday -- I am 33 now. We got married two months ago, we have been on holidays together (I never had money to travel before) and now I am moving into a new career over a period of a couple of years because it is time to spend my days doing something I enjoy rather than something that pays me enough to survive. And all this in just under five years, with so much time left to achieve more. Thanks mate, you changed my life.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I didn’t do anything.  That’s what happens when you give up your excuses, and fully commit. Well done!

Thank-you for reading.

Scott

I Got This!

Hi Scott,

I have suffered with chronic alcoholism and drug addiction my whole life. Father not present, nor any real family. Mum (the main provider) died suddenly when I was in my mid-twenties. Never really holding down a job, I faced being homeless. Very scary times.

But I took control. I cleaned the family home and rented it out. This gave me space to go to rehab. I was there for 18 months and re-learnt everything -- how to live, how to look after myself, how to be accountable -- and I have been 100% sober now for five years. I also went to TAFE, and secured a role in sales at a contact centre. I have held that job for three years now and have been promoted to managing a team of sales reps.

Earning around $80,000, I have some money to invest, so I have got onto your newsletter and am learning more each day. I now have $40,000 in my ‘Grow’ account and an investment portfolio worth $27,000. I am proud to say I have just built my brand-new home, and am renting out a room to subsidise costs. I have also been overseas six times in the last two years. I took control of a very scary situation at a very uncertain time in my life. I am now living the life of my dreams -- a far, far cry from the person I was when my mum died.

Bill

Hi Bill,

You’re a shining example of how anyone can tread their own path. Your mother would be proud. You got this!

Scott

Why Are You Randy?

Dear Mr Pape,

I enjoyed your book. However, as a non-native speaker, there were things that confused me. Could you please explain what “Paint me red and call me Randy” means?

Yu

Hi Yu,

I have no idea what it means either.

Thanks for reading.

Scott

Let’s Hear It, Barefoot

How come your book does not come as an audiobook? I am sure there are many visually impaired younger people who would love to learn from you. You have podcasts available on iTunes, so where is your audiobook?

Pete

Hi Pete

I chose your question because it provides me with an excellent opportunity to shamelessly plug my wares. As luck would have it, I recently recorded the book for Amazon’s Audible service. (They were going to get James Earl Jones to narrate it ... but I put my foot down.) It’ll be available next month.Happy listening.

Scott

The Revenge of the Oldies

You never actually know what will become a ‘hit’.

Case in point:  when I wrote my book, I had no idea that my ‘Donald Bradman Retirement Strategy’ would resonate so strongly with readers. To date, I’ve received literally hundreds of emails from people in their 50s and 60s -- some admitting they were in tears as they typed -- thanking me for taking away their fear of retirement.

For the first time, they realised they can live a dignified retirement even if they have far less than the minimum ‘magic million’ in super that everyone tells them they need.

For those of you who haven’t read my book (What’s your excuse? Buy a freaking copy! The royalty from each book buys me half a can of Coke), the aim of the strategy is for retirees to still be at the crease at 100, hitting it out of the park while enjoying a comfortable retirement.

(And by ‘comfortable’ I mean lapping it up on a nice three-week trip to Noosa each year with your mates each year. Regularly eating at nice restaurants. Going to the flicks. Driving a near-new Toyota. Spoiling the grandkids. Having enough money for top-quality health insurance. And having some Mojo stashed away for emergencies.)

The Donald Retirement Bradman Strategy is a four-step process: First, you need to own your own home before you retire.

Second, you (currently) need to have $250,000 in super (couples), or $170,000 (singles).

Third, you need to claim the full age pension.

Fourth, you need to continue working a day or so a week. And here’s where the gravy cup from Canberra really runneth over: retirees can earn $57,948 a year (couples) or $28,974 (singles) before they pay a dollar in tax. And if they just want to supplement the age pension -- and not reduce it -- they can earn $13,000 (couples) or $6,500 (singles) a year under Centrelink’s ‘Work Bonus’.

The Million-Dollar Myth

Let me be clear: having a million bucks or more in retirement is a very good thing, and if you follow my book from a younger age you’ll almost certainly achieve it.

However to say that you need a million-dollar nest egg is a myth, peddled by the finance industry who get paid by clipping a percentage of your assets. It’s also a myth that a successful retirement is never having to work again.  

It’s said that the two most dangerous years of your life are the year you’re born and the year you retire. (That’s possibly because your partner will kill you if you hang around too much messing up the house).

Now listen up: you don’t have to keep working at the same job. But it’s essential that you find work (paid or voluntary) where you feel like you’re making a contribution, helping people, and even learning something new. It’s good for your savings and your self-confidence.

And that brings me to a very interesting discussion I had this week.

A Few Good Apples

I caught up with Matt Higgins, who runs Australia’s largest online jobs board for more mature employees -- olderworkers.com.au. Matt started the business nine years ago with his old man, who at the time was struggling to find a job after being laid off and then being unemployed for two years. Today the site has over 50,000 registered older workers looking to connect with ‘age-friendly’ employers.

Who do you think these ‘age-friendly’ employers are?

Well, Bunnings (of course), the RSL (sure), and … Apple.

Huh?

Yes, Apple.

As in the technology company, not fruit-picking in Mildura.

In fact, at the moment they’re picking a bunch of oldies to work in their Apple stores across the country.

Why?

Well, Higgins says one reason is that Apple is getting a lot more older customers coming into their stores (and who knows, maybe the young blue-shirted hipster crew aren’t that jazzed about teaching grandma how to turn on her iPad?).

However, Higgins believes the main reason that Apple is advertising on his site is simple:

“Older people are bloody hard workers.”

Makes total sense. The older generation has a great work ethic. They turn up on time. They’re ready to work. They focus on the job at hand ... instead of standing around staring at their phones and Instagramming their lunches. Most importantly, when they’re on the job, they tend to really enjoy their work. In fact, a survey of 17,000 Aussie workers released week by Curtin University backs this up. It found that workers aged 70 or older were three times more likely to be happy at work than their melancholy younger colleagues -- Gen Y recorded the lowest level of job satisfaction, at only 24 per cent. And here’s the kicker: those who claimed to be very satisfied with their jobs earned a lower amount on average each week than their less satisfied counterparts.

And that, my friends, is why Apple is the world’s biggest company. Hell, they’ve not only worked out how to dodge paying billions of dollars in taxes -- they’ve cracked the code on hooking up happy, engaged workers!

The researcher behind the report, Professor Rebecca Cassells, said: “Our research suggests that people working beyond the age of 65 are less likely to be doing it because they need the money … they’re doing it for the love of the job.” Howzat!?

Tread Your Own Path!

P.S. Happy Birthday to Mrs Rickert, who turned 102 a few weeks back. You may remember that I interviewed her a couple of years ago to get a reality check on why all us young ’uns should harden the hell up.

She’s lived through the Great Depression, a flu pandemic that wiped out 100 million people, and two world wars. And how’s this for hard -- she gave me the interview just after she’d finished mowing her lawns!

I asked Mrs Rickert how it feels to be 102, and she told me: “I don’t feel a day over 100.”