Pre-order Wealth by Design Here

This episode is the first in Eight Rules Revisited, a Thursday series running alongside the regular podcast. Each week, I take one of the eight golden rules from my 2018 book Investopoly and compare it with the version in my new book, Wealth by Design, out on 28 July. Some rules have changed, some have tightened, and some have simply been confirmed by eight more years of evidence and client experience. I'll tell you which is which, plainly, each week.

We start with Rule 1: think in decades, not days. The rule itself hasn't moved. What has changed is how I think about risk and volatility. In 2018, I told readers to ignore short-term market movements. That was true, but incomplete. I now define risk as the probability of failing to reach your goals, not the chance of watching prices fall. Seen that way, holding too much cash is risky, and refusing to invest in growth assets because they wobble is risky too. Volatility is simply the price of admission for long-term returns, and I put some numbers on how bumpy you should expect the ride to be.

I also share the four-question filter I now apply to every major financial decision, and a short exercise you can do this week on your next three big decisions.

If you find this useful, the full frameworks and worked examples are in chapter one of Wealth by Design. Pre-order before 28 July and you'll also receive the Investopoly Research Assistant, an AI tool trained on a decade of my writing.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Read Full Blog Here

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here

Financial advisers often manage their own money quite differently from the clients they advise. After more than two decades of observing both groups up close, those differences have become a reliable indicator of what genuinely good financial decision-making looks like in practice.

In this episode, Stuart shares nine observations drawn from that experience. Most financial advisers hold their superannuation entirely in growth assets, understanding that short-term volatility inside super is largely irrelevant when the money cannot be accessed for decades. They welcome falling markets rather than fear them. They use debt deliberately, neither avoiding it entirely nor using it recklessly, and they invest consistently from surplus cash flow rather than waiting for the right moment that rarely arrives.

Their household finances follow a clear structural discipline: invest first, then spend what remains. They track their net worth regularly and understand what the numbers actually mean. They treat superannuation as a serious wealth-building vehicle from early in their careers, often choosing wrap platforms or SMSFs for the control and transparency they provide. And they largely ignore the daily noise of market movements, checking their own portfolios far less frequently than most people would expect.

Some of these patterns sit at odds with conventional industry practice. That tension is worth examining, both for investors choosing how to manage their own money and for those deciding whether their adviser truly practises what they preach.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here

This episode brings together four listener questions united by a common challenge: knowing which lever to pull next when the financial position is solid but the path forward feels unclear.

The first comes from a retiree who connected with a recent episode on underspending in retirement, but raises a dimension that wasn't covered how to factor substantial debt-free property wealth, including a principal residence and a beach house, into retirement income planning. The question is whether to sell, rent, or consider a reverse mortgage to unlock equity before those assets simply pass to the next generation.

The second involves a 60-year-old about to access a $2.1 million superannuation pension, with a part-time working wife five years from her own preservation age. The question is whether additional contributions to her fund over the next two years represent the highest-value use of surplus cash flow.

The third is a detailed scenario from a 43-year-old with a $2.65 million home, a Geelong investment property, $200k in shares, and two children in private school asking how to prioritise debt reduction, renovations, asset allocation, and ownership structure across a 20-year runway to retirement at 60.

The fourth involves an SMSF holding a Townsville investment property with a $375k LRBA loan, and the strategic tension between building liquidity inside the fund versus aggressively paying down debt alongside a broader question about whether downsizing the family home should factor into the plan.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Read Full Blog Here

Pre- Order Wealth By Design Here

Commercial property is being actively promoted as a compelling alternative to residential investment, particularly as higher interest rates reduce borrowing capacity and tighter tenancy laws make residential property less attractive. On the surface, the pitch is appealing: higher rental yields, tenants paying most outgoings, and the potential for capital growth. But in Stuart's assessment, current valuations make the risk hard to justify.

This episode examines commercial property through a valuation lens, explaining how cap rates work, why current pricing looks stretched relative to historical norms, and how the spread between commercial yields and the 10-year government bond rate has compressed to levels last seen before the GFC. At recent auction prices, some properties are selling on cap rates below the risk-free rate, meaning investors are accepting less income than a government bond while taking on substantially more risk.

The analysis models what happens to investor equity if cap rates revert toward their long-term average of 3.5% to 4.5% above the bond rate. The results are stark: at 70% leverage, a reversion to historical norms could wipe out most or all of an investor's equity.

Stuart also explores why cap rates have stayed compressed despite rising bond yields, and why the structural forces holding valuations up may not last. Commercial property can be an excellent investment, but only at the right price.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-Order Wealth by Design Here

This episode brings together three listener scenarios that each involve genuinely complex financial positions, multiple moving parts, significant income, and decisions where getting the sequencing right matters enormously.

The first comes from a 34-year-old specialist trainee doctor in Sydney, engaged, planning a family, and facing a highly unusual income trajectory, moving from $250k now to as low as $130k during a London fellowship, before returning to Perth as a consultant earning potentially $600k or more. The central question is whether to buy a stepping-stone property in Perth's middle-ring suburbs before income rises, renovate it during an 18-month stay, then rent it out while overseas, or wait, save, and buy a better asset closer to his forever suburbs once borrowing capacity is fully established.

The second involves a 49-year-old earning $475k with seven Melbourne investment properties worth $6.77 million, net debt of just $330k, and $920k in super, but almost no share exposure. She is three years from being able to retire on rental income, but is questioning whether her heavily concentrated, all-property strategy leaves too much on the table in terms of tax efficiency, liquidity, and long-term portfolio resilience.

The third comes from a couple in their early fifties with a nearly paid-off home, a modest investment property in a good school zone, $1.2 million in combined super, and $100k in underperforming shares, asking for honest clarity on whether early retirement is realistic and what the best path forward looks like across property, shares, and super contributions.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here

Read Full Blog Here

Superannuation's enforced long investment horizon is one of the most underused structural advantages available to Australian investors. This blog examines whether internally geared ETFs have a role to play within super, and backs the analysis with detailed financial modelling rather than theory alone.

The numbers are compelling. A 30-year-old with $200,000 in super, contributing $20,000 per year and investing in a geared diversified ETF via an SMSF, is projected to retire with a balance of approximately $4.3 million, more than 26% higher than an equivalent ungeared strategy in a low-cost industry fund. The benefit is most pronounced for younger investors with larger balances, longer timeframes, and higher contribution rates. As retirement approaches, the case for gearing weakens materially.

But the strategy carries real risks that deserve equal attention. Volatility is amplified; a 50% market fall in a 35% geared ETF produces a balance decline of around 77%. Sequence-of-returns risk can turn a strong strategy into a poor one, depending on when a major correction occurs. And the cost and compliance obligations of running an SMSF add a layer of responsibility that should not be taken lightly.

The blog also surveys the available geared ETF options in Australia, covering diversified and single-market products across a range of gearing levels. The conclusion is clear: gearing inside super can be genuinely attractive, but is best treated as a complement to ungeared strategies rather than an all-or-nothing decision.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-Order Wealth by Design Here

This episode brings together four listener questions that each wrestle with a different dimension of long-term wealth building, from the early decisions that set the trajectory to the late-stage sequencing that determines how comfortably retirement unfolds.

The first comes from a 28-year-old physiotherapist two years into his career, carrying $1.1 million in mortgage debt and a $98k HECS liability, asking whether surplus savings should flow into ETFs or the offset account, and whether his wife's extra super contributions are optimally placed.

The second involves a couple aged 63 and 53 with three beachside properties, $780k in PPOR debt, and a combined income of $150k, working through four possible exit strategies to generate $150k per year in retirement income while preserving as much capital growth as possible for as long as practical.

The third is a thoughtful counter-perspective on Australia's proposed CGT changes, arguing that redirecting capital from residential property into shares could strengthen the nation's productive capacity and reduce its dependence on housing and mining wealth.

The fourth comes from a 44-year-old with three Brisbane investment properties, no shares, and 50% of his super sitting in cash since the GFC, waiting for the next major dip. He asks whether to buy a fourth property or begin tilting toward shares, and whether his cash-timing strategy inside super is sound.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-Order Wealth by Design Here

Read Full Blog Here

Charlie Munger left investors with ten principles that are deceptively simple and take a lifetime to apply well. This blog translates each one into practical, grounded guidance for Australian investors, moving beyond abstract philosophy to the specific decisions, mistakes, and behaviours that shape long-term outcomes in local property and share markets.

The ten principles cover starting every evaluation with downside risk before upside potential; building genuine independence from the conflicted advice that is common in Australian investment markets; preparation as the only real edge available to most investors; intellectual humility as a competitive advantage rather than a weakness; and analytical rigour that insists on evidence over compelling narratives.

The blog also explores capital allocation as the investor's single most important decision, patience as a structural advantage in a media environment designed to provoke action, decisiveness when the setup is genuinely clear, adaptability in the face of unremovable complexity like tax changes and interest rate cycles, and simplicity as the ultimate discipline.

Underlying all ten rules are four behaviours: preparation, discipline, patience, and decisiveness. These are not just investing virtues, they are the foundation of any long-term wealth-building strategy that actually works.

The hard part is never the knowledge. It is doing it consistently while the world tries very hard to distract you.

My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.