Eat, pray, panic

Late last year we got back from our latest family adventure.
 
We spent three-and-a-half months travelling through Europe in a motorhome.
 
Just writing that last line makes it sound very … Instagram influencer … #bestlife!
 
So let’s rip off the filter, starting on day three of the trip in the Swiss Alps.
 
Like all good horror movies, this one began innocently enough:
 
Liz jumped into the motorhome and sang:
 
“We’re heading to Italy today … who’s ready to have some gel-a-t-oooo!?”
 
(I personally think she came out a little early with this carrot … after all, we had a boring six-hour drive ahead of us, mainly in dark tunnels through the Swiss Alps.)
 
After about half an hour driving up what seemed to be a gigantic mountain, I nervously turned to Liz and said, “The tunnels … they’ll come soon … right?”
 
“Ummm”, she said, starting to bite her lower lip.
 
Uh-oh.
 
Our kids picked up on the tension in the cabin, and dutifully pressed ‘go’.
 
My two-year-old began totally teeing off, thrashing about in his car seat trying to escape like a drunk bogan being kicked out of the cricket, screaming “I want to go back to the farm NOW!”
 
My five-year-old, who’d been quiet for the entire morning, suddenly announced she was feeling dizzy (altitude sickness) and began chundering into a chip packet.
 
My seven-year-old started screaming at her, “Do you know how DISGUSTING you are?!”
 
While my 10-year-old sat reading Harry Potter, oblivious to the carnage surrounding him.
 
And then as we approached the top of the highest mountain peak … it happened.
 
“There’s a tunnel up ahead”, I cried to Liz.
 
A bright red road sign above the tunnel read:
 
“WARNING: LOW TUNNEL 3.2 METRES.”
 
And that was a problem, because the sticker on my windscreen read:
 
“WARNING: MOTORHOME HEIGHT 3.5 METRES.”
 
And so there we were, on the top of the Swiss Alps, literally on a cliff face, on a road so narrow you couldn’t turn a Vespa, let alone a 3.5-metre-high FIAT motorhome.
 
Calming myself, I hit the hazard lights, came to a gentle stop, turned to the kids, and started screaming at the top of my lungs, “STOP SCREAMING!”
 
Then I looked in my side mirror. There were now at least 25 cars banked up behind me, tooting and repeatedly yelling “FICK DICH!” at me.
 
It’s in pressure cooker moments like these that you work out the sort of husband, father and leader you really are. So I took a deep breath, turned to Liz and said:
 
“Get out.”

She nodded, and dutifully walked through the dark tunnel into oncoming traffic … flagging down cars, trucks and buses with nothing more than mum energy.
 
A few moments later she emerged back through the tunnel and gave me the thumbs up.
 
So hot.  
 
And so, with the cabin now dead silent, we crept through the centre of the tunnel – missing the top of the roof by no more than Peter Dutton’s fringe.
 
We made it!

Did things get better?

You bet they did: this was after all a trip of a lifetime.
 
What made the biggest impact on us?
 
Well, it wasn’t the major must-sees:
 
The Mona Lisa: “It’s pretty small, Dad.”
 
The Eiffel Tower: “It’s too big, there’s no way I’m going up that many stairs.”
 
The Trevi Fountain: “It’s kinda like the one in Bendigo.”
 
Rather, it was the tiny towns and villages we visited:
 
You see, Italy is very rancho relaxo.
 
They work to live, not the other way around (like we do).
 
All the shops close down at lunchtime and everyone goes home for a few hours to relax and spend time with their family. And then in the evenings the old people gather in the town square and play cards, talk, and enjoy a vino while all around them their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids play.
 
We quickly became part of the community. The little Italian nonnas at our local espresso bar would whisk my blond two-year-old away and play with him. After a few espressos, and some Nutella-filled pastries, I’d go and find him. “Is he being annoying?” I’d ask.
 
They’d smile and say …
 
“Scialla.” (Don’t stress.)
 
Tread Your Own Path!

Editor’s note: I haven’t checked my inbox in six months. There are a *lot* of emails. The one that follows was sent back in June …

Barefoot Christmas Books!

Here are the three books that will be in my Santa sack this year (apart from Barefoot Kids, of course):
 
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
By Charlie Munger
 
The world lost an investment legend this year when Charlie Munger passed away at age 99. For the uninitiated, Charlie was Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, and together they spent decades running the world’s greatest compound interest machine, Berkshire Hathaway.
 
Charlie was rich enough to say whatever the hell he wanted, which he did – railing against the greed of Wall Street, Bitcoin Bros (he famously called crypto ‘rat poison’), and giving wise advice on living a decent life. Despite being a multi-billionaire, Munger – like Buffett – chose to live in the same humble home for 70 years.
 
“There are answers worth billions of dollars in a $30 history book”, writes Munger.  
 
And this is one such book.

Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity 
By Peter Attia
 
I didn’t want to like this book.
 
After all, I’m highly cynical of best-selling how-to books (hello, Barefoot Investor).
 
Surely it couldn’t be as good as everyone says it was?  
 
Actually, it was better.
 
Attia is a super-smart quack, and he’s produced the definitive guide to living a long, healthy life. Yet what sets this book apart from other health and diet books is that I gave it to my editor, Wally, a man who knows his way around a sausage roll, and it totally changed the way he approaches his health.
 
Much like the shoeless book, it’s good because it works.
 
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma
By Mustafa Suleyman
 
So this one comes with a warning: it totally stressed me out. And not just me. A member of my unofficial book club told me he couldn’t get past the third chapter: “It was just too scary, I couldn’t cope.”
 
Suleyman isn’t some blow-hard author trying to sell some books by frightening the pants off us. He’s totally got the chops, having co-founded one of the world’s most successful artificial intelligence (AI) companies, Deepmind Technologies, which was bought by Google a decade ago for $750 million.
 
AI is going to fundamentally change the world, and sooner than we think.
 
He writes about the latest ‘litmus test’ for AI, which is to give it the instruction to “make me $1 million selling stuff on Amazon”. The AI bot will scan Amazon for the most profitable products, have it made in China, list it online, write all the ad copy, manage fulfilment and customer service … and then deposit $1 million into your bank account.
 
Crazy, huh?
 
In the coming decade AI will infiltrate our lives, driven by the fact that it will get smarter and faster, and it won’t get drunk and make an arse of itself at the office Christmas party.
 
This bloke knows what’s coming down the tunnel. Read it to find out what (maybe) happens next.
 
Tread Your Own Path!

A tough Christmas?

Last week I did an (unpaid!) gig for Australia’s largest mental health support organisation, Beyond Blue.
 
Unbeknown to me, an eager beaver from their comms team went ahead and entitled the presentation “Take the pressure down: A guide to navigating end-of-year stress with Beyond Blue and the Barefoot Investor.”
 
As I read the title, a shot of anxiety squirted smack bang into my left eyeball … a place that’s generally reserved for my two-year-old, who is currently attempting to drop his afternoon napandpotty training.
 
Beyond Blue’s commissioned research has revealed that the overwhelming majority of people (77%) are feeling stressed heading to the end of the year, and over eight in ten of them say the top stressor impacting their mental health is financial pressure.
 
What could I say about that?
 
Quite a lot actually, though I was a little stressed that I was about to depress everyone, which kind of goes against the entire ethos of Beyond Blue.
 
You see, I actually don’t agree that it will be a tough Christmas formostpeople.
 
Yes, I know only too well that forsomepeople – like many financial counselling clients, and the people I’m serving at the local Foodbank – it’s going to be pretty grim.
 
For the rest of us?
 
Not so much. The fact is we’re rear-ending another ‘annus horribilis’, to quote the dearly departed Queen. And so many of us will, either consciously or unconsciously, let it all hang out over the holidays, and pinky promise ourselves that we’ll ‘get it under control’ in January (or February). In other words, there ain’t no one counting calories when the Christmas pudding gets passed around.
 
So let’s you and I talk about how to make this Christmas the most enjoyable one yet.
 
Quick quiz time:  
 
What did you get for Christmas last year?
 
Go on, stop reading now, and spend 10 seconds thinking about it.
 
You’ll be lucky if you can remember one thing. (Fun fact: I did this with my four children, who each have Christmas lists longer than my last manuscript, and even they couldn’t remember more than a handful of things.)
 
Chances are you (or your kids) won’t remember the gifts you received – but you likelywillremember the vibe of the house, especially if it was full of stress and anxiety.
 
So I have a couple of suggestions.
 
First, don’t be a tight-arse this Christmas.
 
It’s been a tough year. Life is for living, so spend lavishly on nice food and booze (or mocktails for us teetotallers). You’ll get a similar dopamine rush anticipating and enjoying a nice spread than you will from that soap-on-a-rope gift set. So go all out on the Christmas pudding.
 
(Another fun fact: each Christmas my father threatens to slip coins into the pudding for the kids to ‘discover’ as they’re eating, just like when he was a kid. Depending on how much Christmas cheer he’s had, the results could range from diarrhoea to death. Seriously, do you know how much bacteria there is on the average coin? It’s always a tense time for Liz … “What if one of the children swallows a 20-cent piece? They’ll choke!”)
 
Second, don’t focus on the economy, or house prices, or interest rates, or your boss – you have no control over any of that. Instead focus on what you can control, and take some small but decisive steps to build your confidence and control.
 
And lastly, don’t waste money on expensive presents for adults.
 
They don’t want or need another scented candle. Or a key-ring. (Which is what my wife bought me a few Christmases ago. Nothing says 11 years of marriage quite like a key-ring wrapped and put under the tree: “You’re always losing your keys, so I thought this would be … practical”, she said, passively aggressively.)
 
Ho! Ho! No!
 
Instead, I’d suggest buying people books. They’re cheap (under $30), don’t need a card (just scribble a message on the first page), and the bookshop will even wrap it for you. Best of all, it says to the recipient “I think you’re smart”, which is, after all, the emotion you’re really trying to buy.

I’m Back

It's been a while since we last spoke.

Clearly.

“Well, I never thought I’d see you again”, grumbled my long-suffering editor.

Why’s that? I asked.

“Maybe because you basically fell off the face of the planet for the past six months!

“Your phone rang out.

“Your emails bounced back.

“And we couldn’t even track you on social media … because you’re not on it!”

I apologised profusely, and then placed this Christmas column on his desk.

I’ll be back in 2024, ready and raring to go.

Merry Christmas!

I’m so ashamed of my son

Hi Barefoot,
 
My 20-year-old son’s (ex) girlfriend signed up for a car finance loan so my son could buy a $21,000 car. The car was registered in his name, the finance contract in hers. He promised to pay her the monthly amount owing on the contract, but this was never put in writing. He made a couple of repayments, then crashed the car. It was only insured for third party fire and theft. They broke up. It’s now unregistered, uninsured and undrivable. He’s refusing to pay her anything at all and isn’t taking her calls. I’m incensed, angry and embarrassed about how he’s treated her. She’s obviously very upset – she’s only 20 herself, has been left with a five-year debt, and is just a student with a part-time job. My question is, can she get out of the contract? What are her options?

Edwina
 
Hi Edwina,
 
So this is the first question in 20 years that’s truly stumped me.
 
And no, it’s not because I don’t know the answer, which is actually quite simple:
 
Your son’s ex-girlfriend will not be able to get out of the contract with the lender. It’s now a civil matter, and if she wants to pursue it she’ll need to get independent legal advice (which she’s unlikely to do as a broke student).
 
What I’m finding difficult about your question is putting myself in your shoes, as the parent.
 
What would I do?
 
Well, I’d give him a kick up the backside. (I know that’s not politically correct … but I’m not a politician.)
 
I’d tell him how deeply ashamed I was and give him an ultimatum: if he doesn’t make things right, you’ll cut him off financially from that point on.
 
Then I’d make contact with the ex-girlfriend and offer to make the repayments on her behalf.
 
I’d also encourage her to book in and see a financial counsellor (1800 007 007). They will likely suggest that she surrender the car back to the lender, and will help her apply for a compassionate debt waiver.
 
Hang on, why would the lender even consider waiving the debt?
 
For a few reasons:
 
First, it could be that your son coerced her into signing for the loan.
 
Second, it could be argued that the lender was at fault for not requiring her to take out comprehensive car insurance … or for lending a substantial amount of dough to a student on a very low income (take your pick).
 
Finally, given she’s a broke student, they may decide she’s not worth chasing for the dough (she likely has no assets and not much income, so the lender may be thinking she’ll go bankrupt and stiff them).
 
At which point the financial counsellor could negotiate a ‘full and final’ settlement of a few thousand dollars – which your little kidult should definitely pay.
 
Get your boots on, Mama!

Scott.

Tread Your Own Path

As you read this, I’m flying somewhere above your head.
 
We’re on a long-haul flight to Europe, which means that our four free-range farm kids are currently locked up in an aluminium tube for the next 22 hours.
 
Madness.
 
Yet that’s not the craziest thing we’re doing … that happens when we land.
 
We’re picking up a six-berth motorhome and doing an epic road trip through Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and the UK.
 
If I’m honest, the trouble started when I was booking the motorhome. I noticed they all seemed to be manual drive. So I emailed an Italian car-hire business and requested an automatic, but was told:
 
“I’m sorry sir, but automatic vehicles are only for … disabled people.”
 
I wanted to reply and tell him that I do have some lead in my saddlebags: I’m driving on the wrong side of the road … in a seven-metre-long bus … on tiny narrow roads built thousands of years ago … in the peak holiday season … with four kids!
 
And you know what?
 
I can’t wait.
 
It’s been three years since we did our ‘lap of the Aussie map’, and that was hands down the best investment I’ve ever made. So much so that we started planning this trip the day we got back.
 
We’re going to be doing a bit of free camping (which has Gran absolutely scared stiff). Yet we’ve also hired local Italian and French travel agents (via the freelance site Upwork) to guide us on our itinerary and book some off-the-beaten-track campsites and farmstays. Best of all, for $15 an hour, they’re our on-the-ground ‘fixers’ – on hand via WhatsApp whenever we get in a jam. (“Buon giorno, Sabrina, can you please speak to this lovely traffic policeman in Italiano for me … tell him I’m really sorry.”)
 
For the next few months, it’ll be all about the open road and the adventure with the people I love.
 
After all, the best thing you can spend on your kids is time, right?

Till we meet again …

Tread Your Own Path!

This one is not for you

Dear Scott,
 
I’ve wanted to email you this for a while, but unfortunately this message is not only for you but for someone very important in my life: my nana. For the past four years she has cut out your articles from the paper and mailed them to me. Your advice, as well as a copy of your book, not only helped me out of a financially stressful life but gave me the skills to buy my first home at 28 years old, all by myself. I know my nana will read this because she will be cutting it out to put in a little envelope for me. To both of you I say thank you so much for setting me up for life by treading my own path. I love you, Nana. (You too, Scott!)
 
Charlotte
 
Hey Charlotte,
 
Clearing the financial runway in your twenties means you’ll reach cruising altitude much earlier in life … and it means you can choose where you’re going to land. Well done.
 
Yet this answer really isn’t for you.
 
It’s for your nana – and for the hundreds of thousands of kind and thoughtful Barefooters like her who have cut out this column, or bought my books, and handed them to the people they care about.
 
In truth, my message hasn’t changed in 20 years. It’s people like your nana, who put it under the nose of someone who it is new for, that make all the difference.

Scott.

Your bucket system failed us

Scott,
 
The bucket system outlined in your book is now failing us. With interest rises and inflation, our cost of living has increased significantly, and now our mortgage takes up 55% of our daily expenses bucket. Given these changes, how would you amend your system to accommodate this?
 
Heidi
 
Hi Heidi,
 
Where in my book did I say take out a loan where the repayments are more than half your take home?
 
That’s right, I didn’t.
 
However, I did devote pages and pages to explaining why interest rates would eventually rise … and my answer was to borrow less than the bank offered and to set up different money buckets to prepare for it.
 
So what can you do now?
 
You need to get your home loan repayments down to a more sustainable level – around 30% of your take-home pay is a good rule of thumb – and you need to do it pronto. After all, what are you going to do if rates go higher from here?
 
And you’re not going to get there by cancelling your Netflix or swapping burrata for baked beans. You either need to earn more money – by getting a raise, or taking a second job, or both – or you need to think long and hard about whether you can afford the house.

Scott.

Holy Moly!

Last week I challenged you to do ‘one thing’ towards what you’ve been putting off, and then email me and let me know what you did.
 
Strike me pink!
 
Sitting back on the farm, tapping this little note each week to you, it’s easy to forget how many of you there are out there in the wilds. (My inbox got absolutely destroyed … in a good way.)
 
Here are some of the things people have got off their rumpus and done:
 
“I’ve been a stay-at-home mum for almost seven years. My ‘one thing’ is I’ve now enrolled in TAFE to reskill myself”, says Tania.
 
“I got suckered into a high-pressure sales pitch for a super fund years ago. I knew it was a bad idea, but I felt so ashamed and stupid that I just ignored it. This week, I called them up and transferred to AustralianSuper”, said Paul.
 
“I’ve had the Vanguard Aust app on my phone for close to 12 months, but fear of the unknown has stopped me from doing anything. Now I’ve transferred $500 from my savings to Vanguard and will invest it in their International Shares Index Fund. It’s a pretty exciting feeling to be a first-time investor”, says Billy.
 
“I have made the list of outstanding debts and paid the first one off – the dreaded credit card. Already a sense of relief has washed over me. One small step but a step in the right direction nonetheless”, says Tom.
 
“I quit my executive role and took a $50,000 pay cut to be with my family more – and I couldn’t be happier!” says Linda.
 
“We have spoken with our bank and reduced our mortgage interest rate by 0.5%, as well as changing our repayments to fortnightly instead of monthly. It costs nothing and will saves us $$. Small steps, but they all help”, says Daniel.

“For years we felt we were inseparable from the hooks sunk into us by our financial adviser. But not today. We sat down with a known, trusted and experienced fee-for-service professional who was able to clearly lay out a pathway to extract ourselves from our SMSF (and cut some very expensive ties with our existing adviser)”, says Col.
 
“Today, after your email, I’ve decided to do a digital detox on my phone. I’ve deleted the three key apps that lead to 3.5 hours a day on the phone screen”, says Susan.

Bingo Bango!
 
Thank you to everyone who wrote in. The answers have had a deep impact on me (and my kids … I’ve been reading some out at the family dinner table). We have so many amazingly determined and inspiring people in our community. I’m still reading through them all, and I look forward to reading about your wins too.
 
You Got This!

I Got Carjacked!

Hi Scott,

Am I up a brown creek with no paddle? Years ago an ex-partner left me financially screwed. Fast-forward to now and my husband and I have started our Barefoot life and are loving it (even though we are low income earners). However, last year I needed a reasonably priced second-hand car, and with the trade-in we took out a loan with Money3 for $8,000. The interest rate is a hefty 24.95% and the cost of the loan is $6,200 over three years! I know I signed and am liable for the amount, but I feel like I’ve been financially exploited because of my previous situation.
 
Ursula
 
Hi Ursula,
 
Yes, you got exploited.
 
And that’s not just my opinion; it’s also the view of the corporate cop, ASIC, which is currently taking Money3 to court over their second-hand car lending practices.
 
It may be the case that your loan was unsuitable (and unconscionable), so I’d suggest you contact the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 to help you make a complaint to Money3.
 
Here’s the truth: there’s an entire industry that benefits from people’s financial illiteracy. The business model is to trap their customers in a merry-go-round of financial misery that most people never get out of.
 
This is the reason I’m so passionate about financial education in schools: we simply expect kids to know this stuff, when in reality they don’t. And they’re going up against experienced, wealthy finance businesses that know – and use – every trick in the book.

Scott.

How to Earn $6,000 in One Hour

Hey Scott,
 
My wife and I are fiercely trying to pay down our home loan. After trying to negotiate down our rate with our lender last year, we decided it was time to switch to what was, at the time, the best variable rate we could find. Fast-forward a year and there are far better rates ‘out there’, with many lenders offering enticing cash bribes. So my question is: what’s stopping me from refinancing regularly … even yearly? Is there a chance lenders might start rejecting my applications, leaving me in no-man’s land?
 
Tim
 
Hi Tim,

No, I don’t see that happening.
 
I had a Barefooter write to me about what happened when he threatened to leave his bank for a cheaper rate, and the bank called his bluff.
 
Here’s what happened next, in his own words:
 
“ANZ were offering new customers a $4,000 sign-on bonus (and a slightly better rate), so we switched. But then, a few weeks later, I saw that my original bank was offering $3,000 for new customers. Bang! Before you know it, I’m back with my original bank. For about 1–2 hours of paperwork and a few phone calls and emails, we were able to pay $6,000 off our home loan (after fees!).”
 
Nice one!
 
Last month the CEO of ANZ Bank said that the home loan market was the most competitive he’d ever seen, and some banking analysts are suggesting that the discounts and incentives new customers are getting offered at the moment are irrational.
 
Understand this: the banks aren’t flashing the cash to their loyal customers … only those who bother to switch. So the only irrational thing you can do is not spend a few minutes putting your bank under the hammer this weekend.

Scott.

Die With Zero

I’ve had a bloke living in my back paddock for the last couple of months.
 
True dinks.

His name is Oliver, and he’s a 21-year-old pommy backpacker who works on my farm, lives in his van, and does his business in our shearing shed portaloo (which, up until now, has only been used by shearers and requires a full hazmat suit to do a number two).
 
The other night he pulled out a map of Australia and said, “Where should I go next?”
 
“You’re living the dream, mate!” I told him, as I retreated to my warm home, with a flushing toilet.
 
Now the ‘sensible’ financial advice for a young bloke like Olly is that he’d be better off in the long run staying home, getting a good job, and starting to sock money away to save for a house deposit.
 
If he did that he could buy a cheap (overpriced) home in his late twenties. And if he did that he could spend his thirties and forties working even harder to try and pay it off. (As one burnt-out forty-something manager told me over coffee this week, “I spend more time mentoring the kids who work at the office than I do my own kids at home”).  
 
The sensible financial advice says that Olly will finally be able to slow down and enjoy himself when he retires, but there’s only one problem …

You see, the big taboo topic of retirement is that many retirees don’t end up spending their nest eggs.
 
They hoard it, because, understandably, they’re scared of running out of money. Yet by the time they work out they’ve got more than enough left over … they’re often too old to enjoy it.  
 
And so they die in their eighties with a big pot of money that they worked bloody hard for and sacrificed precious moments for … but never got around to enjoying.
 
That money is then left to their kids, who are then in their fifties or sixties and don’t really need it (they really needed help in their early thirties when they were starting their own family).
 
In the book Die With Zero, author Bill Perkins argues: “The number of actual experiences available to you diminishes as you age. Yes, you need money to survive in retirement, but the main thing you’ll be retiring on will be your memories – so make sure you invest enough in those.”  
 
And right now Olly is investing in memories that will last him a lifetime: he’s fallen for a lovely Aussie girl; partied on a deserted island under the moonlight; and met weird and wonderful people (my kids want to take him to school for show and tell).
 
So what’s the lesson?
 
Well, it’s not to ‘die with zero’ (as the book says). That’s fraught with danger, given you don’t know when you’re going to die, and you don’t want to run out of dough early.
 
No, the lesson is that, once you’ve worked through the Barefoot Steps and have your financial bases covered, you should spend your money on having life-changing adventures (or enabling them for your loved ones!) instead of spending your time accumulating more money.
 
After all, life is all about the memories we make with the limited time we have. And I’ll share with you my next adventure … next week.
 
Tread Your Own Path!

Do this one thing for me

Howard Marks is one of the world’s greatest investors.
 
He’s so influential that Warren Buffett says that whenever Marks writes anything he stops what he’s doing and reads it immediately.
 
Late last year Marks wrote about a major ‘sea change’ that he believes will change everything:
 
“In my 53 years in the investment world, I’ve seen a number of economic cycles, pendulum swings, manias and panics, bubbles and crashes, but I remember only two real sea changes. I think we may be in the midst of a third one today.”
 
That sea change is what we’ve experienced this year: sustained higher interest rates.
 
Marks argues that the last 40 years of falling interest rates have provided investors with a wonderful wind in their sails. And, as a consequence, many people still believe that interest rates of 2% are normal.
 
They are not.
 
Inflation has put an end to our smooth sailing. Rising interest rates means we’ll soon be moving into much more treacherous waters.
 
So what does all of this mean for you?
 
Well,you need to understand that the economic winds are now blowing against you (and all of us).
 
So let’s focus on you, and where your ship is heading.
 
Yes, I’m talking to you.
 
You’ve been putting off making that financial decision, right?
 
Perhaps it’s selling that dud investment property … or downsizing from your current place.
 
Maybe it’s reaching out to your super fund’s financial advisor about your retirement … or making the call to get a better home loan rate.
 
Hopefully it’s to sell your Dogecoin … or perhaps it’s calling the Small Business Debt Helpline (1800 413 828) to admit you haven’t paid your business taxes and ask for their help.
 
Heck, it could even be to finally make the ultimate (diamond ring) investment.
 
You may tell yourself that it’s not the right time, or that you don’t have all the facts, or that you’re too busy.
 
Yet deep down you know they’re all excuses.
 
So, whatever you’ve been putting off, I want you to do something – anything – towards it this week.
 
Call your bank. Break up with your stoner boyfriend. Buy some index funds.
 
And then email me at scott@barefootinvestor.com and let me know what you did (big or small).
 
I promise I’ll read it.
 
So go on, name your ‘one thing’ you’ve been putting off, and then set sail!
 
Tread Your Own Path!

So My Wife Has a Boyfriend …

Hi Scott,

I was reading your article ‘So My Husband Has a Lady Friend’ from last week, and it struck me that this is exactly my story. Except it’s me, the husband, who has discovered his wife is having ‘catch-ups’ with her ex-boyfriend from before we met. I’m gutted. She is already talking about getting her name off joint accounts and is asking about separate bank accounts. I’m very worried because I run my own business and don’t know how this will affect it, as well as the equity we’ve built up in our home (we have put most of the retained profits from the business into the mortgage). Is there any advice you can give dads out there, as this doesn’t only happen to women – it can happen to hardworking, loving, supportive blokes too.
 
Terry
 
Hi Terry
 
Thank you so much for reaching out to me – I can’t imagine how tough this would be for you.
 
So let me be blunt:
 
Whether you work it out with your wife or not, the next year or two is going to suck.
 
You’re going to be put through the wringer emotionally, and you’ll need a lot of time to focus on you. Yet, if you’re the chief ballboy and bottle-washer for your business, something’s going to have to give. It could be your mental health, or the health of your business, or … both.
 
So here are three meetings I’d suggest you have:
 
First, sign up to a free Small Business Mentoring Service in your state and get some help setting up procedures and strategies that will allow you to step away from the business when you need to.
 
Second, talk to the NewAccess for Small Business Owners service (1300 945 301). It’s a government-funded program that matches you with a mental health coach (all the coaches are former small business owners, not bureaucrats) who will have really practical ways to help you manage stress and overwhelm.
 
Finally, see a family lawyer – this week –   and explain exactly what’s going on.
 
Good luck.

Scott.

The Farmer

G’day Scott,
 
My name is Sam Williams, I’m 13 years old, and I own a business – a Poll Dorset sheep stud. We’ve had an exceptionally wet couple of years – the sheep have wet feet (which causes lameness), they have skin issues due to moisture, and my first lamb went a little crazy in the yards and broke its neck and died in my arms.
 
It has been hard, very hard, but it’s my dream. My parents have worked so hard to be supportive and constantly say they don’t want me to have to work to breaking point like Dad, while still appreciating the values and work ethic it takes to get there. I was wondering if you have any words of advice for me, and does it matter if I am forced to sit still for a bit as our finances are tight?
 
Sam 

Hi Sam,
 
There’s no doubt your parents are proud of you … I am too!
 
Now let me tell you a little secret, Sam. I bought my farm so that my four kids would learn the lessons and values you’re living: hard work, resilience, and an understanding of where money (and food!) comes from.
 
Now, to your question.
 
I don’t think it matters if you’re forced to ‘sit for a bit’ if money is tight. Sometimes it’s the best thing to do, given prices have come down quite a bit (I sold some lambs the other day and got absolutely fleeced).
 
More importantly, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture either, Sam.
 
While everyone is getting excited about the future of artificial intelligence, for me a much more fundamental fact is that we need to work out a way to feed billions of people sustainably.
 
That’s where the smart money is going right now. And with your hard work, country ethics and down-to-earth nature, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t be someone who leads the industry into the future.

Scott.

The Magic of Manifesting Money (Without Hard Work)

Hi Scott,
 
You need to share this book with your audience. It’s called "The Magic of Manifesting Money: 15 Advanced Manifestation Techniques to Attract Wealth, Success, and Abundance Without Hard Work".

I read it last Sunday, and then strange things started to take place. My little business scored three new clients which will bring in $15,000, and my husband got a call from an organisation that had found an old long-forgotten insurance policy worth $3,000! Money is energy, and you just have to tune into its frequency.

Taylor
 
Hi Taylor
 
Whenever I read about these ‘magical’ money books I think about the favela (slum) I visited in Brazil a few years ago. It was built on the side of a mountain. Tens of thousands of families living in tiny tin sheds, ruled by violent gangs with bigger guns than the police. Surely all these wretchedly poor people needed to do was simply think the right thoughts and they’d magically grow rich?
 
Oh no, señor, it’s not that easy.
 
My worry is that if you buy into the belief that it’s the universe’s job to kiss your ring then you’ll be less likely to do the thing that really manifests success (and money): a well-thought out plan backed by hard work and a commitment to taking massive action.
 
At Barefoot, I’ve noticed a pattern: the most hardcore people who follow my book tend to sort themselves out inside of one year and, if they keep going, become successful (in their terms) in around six years.
 
The results people manifest frequently astonish me … but there’s nothing magical about it.

Scott.

My Ultimate Father’s Day Present

Scott,
 
Last year on Father’s Day you advised readers to sit down with their father and ask them five questions on video. My father was 75 and was over for dinner on Father’s Day so I did this and recorded his answers. Two months later he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, and last week he passed away after a four-month battle. Tomorrow is his funeral and we will be playing this video. This footage is the last video of my father truly happy without the fear of a terminal cancer diagnosis. My family and I can not thank you enough for giving me the idea to ask my father these questions, and I strongly urge everyone to do the same as we truly cherish this video.

Nathan
 
Hi Nathan
 
I’m really sorry for your loss.
 
However, I’m thankful you’ve given me the opportunity to give people a nudge to do what I call the ‘ultimate Father’s day present’.
 
If you’re lucky enough to have your father (or mother!) still with you, whip out your phone, hit ‘record’, and ask them the following questions:
 

• How did you meet Mum?

• What advice can you share with me about money, life and happiness?

• What does being a dad mean to you?

• What are you most proud of?

• How would you like to be remembered?

There are a few things in life that cost nothing but are truly priceless. You now have one of them.

Scott.

The ‘Die with Debt’ Strategy

Dear Scott,

I feel a bit disturbed when a different strategy recently came to my attention. If you don’t have any children (or don’t plan to, which is becoming more common) and are therefore not worried about what you might pass on to your children when you die, then you should borrow as much money as you can and pay back as little as possible. Get a mortgage to buy a beautiful house, get loans to go on holidays, buy things that bring you joy, live it up a little. Just enjoy your life to the fullest without worrying about working too much. Just pay back a little to keep the lender off your back but don’t worry about how much you are borrowing, or how much interest it would add up to over the years … because you get the money, spend it, enjoy it and then you die with no one left to pay the debt. Win! Or is it?
 
Debbie
 
Hi Debbie,
 
This is the sort of ‘strategy’ that people come up with at the pub … after six schooners.
 
It is true that, if you die without enough to repay your debts, they’ll generally be forgiven. (Though not if the debt is in joint names – the lender will chase the surviving person.)
 
Sounds simple, right?
 
It most certainly is not.
 
Can you imagine how stressful it would be to be old and financially stressed about keeping up your repayments? To be getting hassled by banks or debt collectors?
 
Besides, the vast majority of people want to leave a legacy, or at least square the ledger before they meet their maker.

Scott.

What you’re about to read is going to get me into trouble

What you’re about to read is going to get me into trouble.  
 
So I’m going to cut to the chase: to all the marketing managers of the products I’m about to mention, please email my assistant: idontcare@barefootinvestor.com 
 
When I was a kid, I used to try and hide my school report from my parents, hoping they’d simply forget (this was in the days before email, and helicopter parenting).
 
Yet my plan was always foiled by my older sister, who was the dux of her class, and waited in anticipation all year for her brief bath in the parental sunshine.
 
Mole.
 
Well, the Government just released a (long, confusing, boring) report card on your super fund card - it’s called the APRA External Report (www.apra.gov.au), and the worst super funds are hoping that you never read the report.
 
So let’s dig in.
 
OnePath was like my Year 8 report card: a total and utter sh…earing show (as my father would say). OnePath was singled out by the regulator for having no less than 33 dud super funds.
 
Thirty-three!
 
OnePath was joined in veggie maths by BT Funds Management, Colonial First State, Auscol (Mine Super), Perpetual Super, MLC Super – whose report cards revealed “significantly poor performance”.

Some of the funds that were singled out for charging high admin fees include Verve Super (who market to women), Spaceship Super (who target millennials), Student Super (who need a detention), and the ironically named Cruelty Free Super (well, except for their barbaric admin fees).
 
And last but not least, Equity Trustees appear to be really struggling with their pencil grip, after being singled out by the regulator for both high fees and poor returns.
 
Am I being too harsh?
 
I don’t think so.
 
There is currently around $10 billion of our retirement savings sitting in underperforming funds. Many of them are not taking on new customers – because, well, who the hell would actively choose to join them?! However, they’re still more than happy to continue milking their existing customers with high fees and/or poor performance.
 
Why?
 
Because, unlike their customers, the people that run the funds are making seriously good profits!
 
Their only way of keeping this going is to hide their report card, and hope you forget to ask.

Don’t let them.
 
Tread Your Own Path!

So My Husband Has a Lady Friend …

Hi Scott,
 
My husband has met a new lady friend. We got through Covid without killing each other (or the kids), but this year has been horrible. I’m totally stressed out that in November our home loan repayments will jump $1,200 a month, and so I’ve been telling him we need to buckle down and stop spending. But he has no idea about money. In fact, just to tick me off, a few months ago he joined a very expensive gym which he flat-out refuses to drop. And today I’ve learned that he’s been messaging a woman there that he ‘trains’ with. I’m at boiling point, and I want him to leave. But what do I do then?
 
Hi Natalie,
 
I am not a relationship counsellor.
 
However, I’ve helped enough people in your situation to know one thing for sure:
 
After the initial shock wears off, you’ll know in your gut whether it’s going to work out … or not.
 
And if you decide it’s over, here is what you do next:
 
First, lock everything down.
 
Change all your passwords and PINs, and lock down your phone’s privacy and location tracking settings. Then find as much financial information as you can: you’re looking for copies of your marriage and birth certificates, and any information on shares, property or superannuation.
 
Second, call your bank’s hardship department.
 
Let them know what’s going on (and if there’s been any family violence tell them that too). Ask them to put a freeze on all joint accounts, including credit cards. And, if you have a redraw or a line of credit on your home loan, have them change it so you both have to sign before making transactions. Then, open a new bank account in just your name that he can’t access.
 
Third, see a family lawyer.
 
Actually, you should meet with a family lawyer even if you’re still sitting on the fence with the relationship. Reason being, the first meeting will be free, and you’ll be able to get answers to many of the questions that are swirling around in your head as you lie in bed at night.
 
Finally, whatever happens, make sure you reach out for support – it sounds like the next 12 months could be rough, and you don’t need to do it on your own.

Scott.