FIFO Sacrifice or FIFO Success? Building Wealth in the Mining Industry

Are you earning great money in FIFO but struggling to actually build wealth? You could be leaving thousands on the table and not even know it.

In this episode, our host Adam Schaal sits down with Tegan Larkins, Managing Director of Talent Mining & Minerals and host of The Mining Mum Podcast, to unpack one of the most costly mistakes high-income earners make: not having a financial plan.

They break down exactly how salary sacrificing works, why the "golden handcuffs" of mining income can trap you, and why so many FIFO workers put off getting educated about money despite the clear financial upside.

We cover:

• The real power of salary sacrificing into shares and super—and how it helped Tegan build her home deposit
• The "golden handcuffs" trap and how high income can actually cost you if you don't have a plan
• The barriers that stop FIFO workers from getting financially educated (and why most of them aren't as real as you think)
• How to take action today and start building real wealth
• Women closing the wealth gap through open conversations about money
• Why getting interested in your money early can completely change your future

Whether you're considering FIFO work, already in the industry, or just earning solid income, this episode could be the nudge that helps you stop leaving money on the table.

Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more!

ABOUT ADAM SCHAAL

Adam Schaal is the Founder and Director of Locale Property Group, a leading name in Australia's property and construction industry. With decades of experience and billions in property transactions, he's known for his integrity, leadership, and commitment to transparent, client-focused service. Adam is passionate about helping people achieve their property goals through honesty, expertise, and long-term relationships.

See more from Adam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-schaal/

Website:

https://localefinancial.com.au/ https://localehomes.com.au/ https://localewealth.com.au/

ABOUT TEGAN LARKINS

Tegan Larkins is the Managing Director of Talent Mining & Minerals and the host of The Mining Mum Podcast. Based in Western Australia, she has worked in the mining industry for 10 years and now uses her platform to spotlight people in the mining and resources sector. Through The Mining Mum, she shares conversations around FIFO life, mining careers, family, industry pressures, and the real stories behind people working in mining.

See more from Tegan:

Instagram: @miningmum Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0pG0VpYw4efjNnV6NoQD7r Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mining-mum/id1775364763 Website: https://www.talentminingandminerals.com/

ABOUT OWN IT Your Property Partner

Real stories. Real lessons. Real talk.

Buying your first home, upgrading, or investing? It's a big move and you don't have to go it alone.

Hosted by Adam Schaal, the founder of Locale Property Group, Own It is where we discuss property journeys, wins, mistakes, mindset shifts, and everything in between. No jargon. Just honest, empowering conversations that shed light on all things property.

To know more about Own It Your Property Partner, you can visit the links below:

Presented by: Locale Property Group

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LocalePropertyGroup

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

You have to get interested in your money, otherwise, you're just gonna keep digging yourself a hole. I started quite young, I was 23 or something. I did it and I didn't even know that I'd done it. And I had like 50 grand or something in there that I didn't even know. Money is stressful. Whatever you do, there's gonna be sacrifices and pressures. Overall, the biggest takeaway was like thinking about the money. You could be a millionaire if you just managed your money.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

It's amazing how simple the plan compared to the building block. Because it gets your mindset shifted.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

Get across a financial plan earlier on and have sunk goals because without the goals, there.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

My name's Adam Shahl, and I found a low-carb property group to help fix what's wrong with the housing industry after working at some of the biggest building groups. We started this podcast to share insights, real stories, help clients navigate the industry with real confidence. Welcome to the podcast. Today we've got Tegan Larkin. Um, you're a mum of two, a partner of a FIFO worker. Um you have your own podcast, The Mining Mum. Uh, you interview mining people, uh, talk about the industry, the pressures, um, insights. Uh, you personally worked in the mines for 10 years as well. Um, and you run your own talent and recruitment business. So you're a very busy individual. So welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Uh, thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

So our first segment is where is the liar? So you go away, you um come up with uh two truths and a lie. Yeah. And it's up to me to try to work out which one's a lie, and hopefully we learn a little bit about you in the process. So over to you.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

Okay, so my three my three statements.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Um so majority of our deposit for our house was due to the BHP shares. Um, so investing that's and company, so that's potentially one. Um the other one is that we self-sacrificed um into our crypto account and made like six figures. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Okay. Potentially.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Um, and then the other one is that um over those 10 years I was able to um build my super up to now buy um my second property.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Nice. I'm gonna roll with the crypto. Is that the lie? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

I literally was not good at that one.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

But I mean, lots of people did it was convincing, like but uh pretty high risk.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Very good.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

Like those are some things that I didn't know about until I actually got educated on it.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

So tell me about salary sacrificing for shares. That's it's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

You know, it's so funny, because obviously I started quite young. I was maybe like 23 or something. And each year they did the NTPHP to sh sign up to the shares.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

And I did it and I didn't even know that I'd done it. And so after five years, they're like, Oh, have you checked your shares? Like they're gone up. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And looked at it and I had like 50 grand or something in there that I didn't even know was in there. Um yeah, so super crazy. And then after three years, they match your shares. Um, so basically kind of built that up over a period of time, and I think after eight years, we we basically used that to help with most of our home deposit, um, which was so awesome. But yeah, I just thought it's such an interesting thing that I didn't know about because I was never taught that.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Agreed. And mining companies have some really great initiatives. Obviously, the maternity leaves are really great as well. Um, but things like this, obviously you tick the wrong the wrong box at the time. Yeah, absolutely the right box suit. Exactly, yeah. Um but yeah, it's such an incredible thing. And I think it's if you take away that little bit of money each month or Fortnite or whatever it is that goes into a savings account that essentially help you set yourself up and get yourself a property, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

You were saying you had super and you released that to purchase an investment property. Talk with me through that as well.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

So I'm not actually fully there yet, so I probably could need some guidance. So obviously, um over that time, I was able to build like a significant super account. Um, and so I've set up a self-managed super fund, but I haven't fully transferred it over yet. I was gonna buy a commercial property for our business, um, but it's a bit high risk where we are at the moment. So I'm now looking at potentially purchasing another residential property. Nice.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

That's really, really cool. Um self-managed super funds are incredible, and people like to take control of their own super. People putting it to Resi or commercial because you can literally drive past the asset. It's obviously a very safe, um, probably not as volatile asset when it comes to stock markets. Um so yeah, really cool. Good on you. So FIFO comes with money, comes with numbers, uh, but it also comes with pressures, trade-offs, um, and sacrifice. Um talk me through some of those sacrifices that you went through early on.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

So joining the mining industry quite young in my 20s, um, you know, while all my friends were over in New Zealand going to festivals and and traveling and doing their always. I was uh digging holes and you know, making money. And um, I did my like fair share of traveling as well. But I guess, you know, you are quite far away from home. I miss weddings and birthdays, and um it's quite expensive to fly back to New Zealand from Port Headland. Um so yeah, you you do miss out on a lot. Um, but then there's also like the perks to it as well. Oh, and then I hold on, if we move it to the next part of life, is like now my partner, he's just finished doing FIFO. Actually, we did it for one year, but that came with its own pressures, obviously, me at home, building the business, having the kids, him being away for two weeks. Um, yeah, it it's a big sacrifice, and yeah, you know, you put a lot of strain and stress on yourself.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Um how do you manage the the day-to-day, obviously juggling kids, the business, obviously him away. We have some incredible um mums that are in our business as well that manage to, I don't know, go they've got a superpower being able to juggle so much. But how did you get through it? And um are you just the most organized person in the world? Talk me through it.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

No, definitely, definitely type B. Uh so I'm just always winging it. But no, um I think well, in the first kind of six to nine months, I was just mainly working from home. It wasn't until like um we got an office that it became a little bit more difficult. Um, but yeah, obviously daycare, which is its own issue where it's $200 a day or something crazy like that. Um, daycare, but it does h help a lot. Um and yeah, I guess just having a team and clients that understand that I was working reduced hours around the school. Um so I'd try and fit everything into like 10 till two. Yeah, yeah, and then work till like whatever time at night. So nice.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yeah. So talking to me about FIFO. Um you were your FIFO previously?

SPEAKER_03 7:16

We lived residentially in the mining town. So two types of kind of So you've done both.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah, we've done both. Yeah. Uh talk me through those. How did that work with the drive-in, drive out essentially? And and then how did that um work uh against the FIFO life and what was the the pros and cons against both?

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Yeah. So um we were really privileged to live residentially in Port Headland.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Um so that meant obviously working for one of the big miners, you get housing. So we didn't pay rent, you don't pay bills, you are like five minutes away from where you work. Um obviously it comes with its um challenges, there's only one Kmart, that's the only shop you can, you know, and and then like we're we're we're regional, so there's not a lot of things. Um but what you do get is a really amazing community, um, and you can obviously project your finances a little bit faster.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

It's a very great way to get ahead.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

100%, especially for young families, you know, like you're five minutes to work, five minutes to school, you don't have all the financial pressures of like paying rent, paying a mortgage, on top of like trying to be a parent and a and a worker. Um so we absolutely loved being residential. I think it was a big, big shock moving to the city and then having to pay the mortgage, having to juggle the bills, having to um, you know, pay fuel because we had work cars as well. So it's really like it's jarring.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Life's expensive.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

I know, and I literally am like, I actually don't understand how people do it in these um kind of times.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

It's crazy. Yeah. And it is a huge sacrifice, right? A lot of people are like, oh I want to move to Port Headland, I don't want to move away from the city, I don't want to move to a regional town. But conversely, you're saying it was amazing and it was a really great community and you've made a lot of friends up there and you have a real set level of costs, and hopefully you can save a lot and then create a life that you want to create. So compromises often can be, you know, some of the best opportunities and then set yourself up for life.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Yeah, like you sacrifice being away in a regional town with low expenses, high finances, or you be in the city where you pay so much money, and then you have that stress of the money. Like money is stressful. Yeah. Whatever you do, there's gonna be sacrifices and pressures.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

So And you would see this a lot, obviously, your experience, seeing the community up there, and obviously in your recruitment business, talent business. Um what's your advice to the young generation um uh about you know getting into FIFO, exploring drive-in, drive out, or living in the regional town? What's um what would you recommend?

SPEAKER_03 10:01

Well, there's there's lots of different avenues to get in. It just depends what type of person they are. I think um I am glad that I went in my 20s and I had a little bit more of life experience before you get up there because it can be you do have to grow up pretty fast. It's high-risk environments like you you're working, you know, around live equipment, you're working in 40 degree heats, you're working like yeah, you do have to grow up pretty fast. Um so you have to be prepared for that as well. I've seen kids come in like straight out of school and it'd be quite a big shock if they haven't had a job and stuff before. Because it's not like just gonna go work at the cafe. Yeah you're out on an actual mind site. It's high risk. Like people unsafe. You're working 12 hours. So for the young, young generation, I would say like go to uni, get a job, like have a little bit of life experience and be prepared because it it is quite, you know, it's like working on a construction site, really, as well. Also, when they are ready to get in, I think it's really about like if they don't have the skills or or a trait, it's about going in with like a can-do attitude. Um, because you know, most of the entry-level roles is like I started as a gardener, you're over like a traffic control or a cleaner, you are gonna be there like shoveling holes.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Um and that's the reality of it. But I get some young people these days like, I don't want to be a cleaner.

unknown 11:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

I'm like, oh, what do you want to be? Oh, I want to be like a truck driver. Have you driven a truck?

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

What kind of license do you have? Have you worked on a farm? You know, like do you actually understand what you're going into? You've just seen on social media that dump truck drivers make heaps of money, but do you actually even know how to change the oil on a car? For sure. But do you know how to change a tire? Like, it's just like the important thing is get up there, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:59

If you want a career, um, like you said, pick the time when you feel emotionally right and ready to do it. But get in, start building relationships. Like you said, have a can-do attitude. If people see you turn up on site doing a really good job, um, I think the leaders in the business are going to see that, and you will grow. And pretty much everyone that I've known in mining that has done a really great job has got an incredible career progression and made such a career out of it. So I think um it all falls down to how they turn up and 100%.

SPEAKER_03 12:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

A big one is uh we see a lot of FIFA workers earn incredible money. Uh they have a lot of compromise, a lot of sacrifice, um, and it comes with like we deserve it. So um, you know, splashing out, holidays, cars, things like that. How do you see or how did you balance that, I guess, um when you earned really, really great money? Um, and how do you see a lot of people um balancing that in the industry?

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Look, I'm not gonna lie, we brought the 200 series and we had the caravans and you know, we went on the big trips. So we definitely had that whole mentality. Um I think if I was to look back on what I wish I had known is probably just um like I wish that we had managed our money from the beginning, brought more investments, you know, still being able to do all of the splurges, but being more strategic. Like it's it's crazy to think back on like the potential stuff we could have done. Um so yeah, I guess if I was to like give anyone advice when they go up there, just like get across a financial plan earlier on and have sunk goals because without the goals, then you know, you're just gonna keep buying the 200 series. And keep upgrading. And that's all good to have it.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

But you know, like you should reward yourself after you've made your money work for a self-respect as well. We all gotta um have our fruits of our labour 100%. Um But yeah, it's like the opportunity cost on that money that you could have invested in something else, like buying a 200 series and a caravan and might be a few hundred thousand dollars early on, and then that could have been in a couple of investment properties and what the compounding growth would have been on those investment properties versus a depreciating asset. It's like it's pretty wild. And we do see that with quite a lot of clients. It's like, yes, understand that you want to go down that path, understand that you probably deserve to buy some things and get fruits of your labour, but try to put the nest egg away first, yeah. Get that working for you, hopefully buy a couple of investment properties, and then whatever you earn from those investment properties potentially could help you buy a 200 series or whatever that makes sense. So build the foundation first. Um I've always found I've been super guilty of buying really crazy shit sometimes and bought some silly cars and all sorts, and I find it's not as fulfilling as you think it's gonna be. Like you you get it, it's like the most awesome thing for like two weeks. Yeah. And then you're like, okay, I've just got a car. Yeah, I was happy with my one prior. Yeah. You've gone through that exact experience.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah, like we had Yeah, we had the 200 series and it was we did all the trips, you know, the offer and went to X-Math. And but then we're like, look, this is a lot of money. Let's just um sell it. And then we were gonna we sold it and we're gonna buy a house. Then COVID came.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

So what did we do with the money? Like that's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

Um I think we just put it on the mortgage or something like that. But yeah, it's like you get to a point that you're like, oh, this is probably not the best idea. Like it's 80 grand sitting there. They could have bought another house or something.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:29

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

So how are you seeing the industry now? Is there a fear for fi file fair workers or uh mining workers that you know the window may close? You know, there are is volatility within the industry. Um we have seen mining booms and busts before. Um how does that sit with people and is that in the back of people's minds, or are they just sort of working day-to-day and don't really think about it?

SPEAKER_03 15:50

I think uh since I've been in the industry, obviously there's been highs and lows, and every 10 years is a cycle of like redundancy or transformation as they call it, and I got um one of the redundancies. Um so usually like I was there when the last kind of cycle happened, usually it goes down, then it goes up. But um, I guess the biggest thing facing us at the moment is the fuel crisis, and as I mentioned before, some of the um track drivers that I've spoken to have been stood down from their jobs. Um, so I think there's always going to be a sense of like that volatility in the market. Um but you know, it is a stable industry overall. Like you look what happened in COVID, it was the main industry. We never like we worked every single day during COVID, like there was no impacts there. Um, other than that, we just had to stay in a little bubble and whatnot. But it basically powers Australia, you know.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

So we are the engine rooms. Yeah, it's the engine room, I don't think the government will hopefully always um incentivise and encourage the industry to be a high-performing industry like it is. But I think it does identify that um there are booms of buffs, like you said, and it's like making sure that you have some money there for a rainy day because there are run redundancies that come and go, but um you may be able to work for three months, six months sometimes at the worst case scenario, and then you get back on. Um so I think it's important that people always sort of have a bit of an S egg there for the future.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

So we're seeing women retire uh with anywhere from 25 to 33 percent less super than men, um, which is obviously an issue. Um how do you see that um being fixed?

SPEAKER_03 17:31

I d probably don't have the answers for it, but I guess like from a overall perspective, obviously women going off to have children, that's gonna affect your super. But one thing that I heard recently from someone that I admire, Emma Greed, she's like a billionaire business builder. And so she said, women, you know, naturally do not talk about their finances with their friends. So one thing that I've actively been doing with one of my friends is um she's ex-finance and up in the corporate ladder, we talk a lot about like investment strategies and like, you know, she gives me tips on like business stuff or like she taught me how about the super, like how I could turn that into self-managed super fun. So I think one thing on that, although I don't know what's gonna close the gap, it's potentially about you know opening up uh open conversations more because I think women don't talk about finances the same way that men do. Like you'd probably sit at a table with your mates and be like, oh, I'm investing in these shares and these shares and these shares. Whereas like if a woman came in and was like, I made a hundred grand on this share the other day, it'd be like looked almost down upon.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

So it's yeah, it's getting rid of uh I guess making creating awareness. Yeah, exactly. And um, I guess it being celebrated as well. Like there can be the challenge of tall poppy syndrome in Australia. Um I think it's it's not as bad as what people say it is, but uh celebrating people's success and getting around other women and other people and um rewarding them and getting behind them to for being successful.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Exactly. And there's so many good financial podcasts for women now, books, um, community groups. I think it's just like traditionally we read books probably about cooking and cleaning, and now it's about business and investing and like leveling up on all different aspects.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

I think that is the beauty of all the information out there in this day and age. And what we're seeing is a huge shift of single females buying their first home.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

Yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Um, like a big, big shift, and it's like getting bigger every year, which is really, really nice to see. And we're seeing a huge amount through our wealth business um buying their investment properties by themselves as well, either rent vesting or having their own home and then buying investment properties really, really cool. Like we've got a case study that we talk about. Her name was Taylor. Um she was just turned 18 when she bought her first home, and her parents were talking her out of it, saying, Don't do it, don't do it, which is madness. Anyway, she did, and it was just near sort of COVID times, or just after. Did really well. Um she actually bought and is building her second investment property as well. So she's like 20 sub-22, and she's got two properties already, and probably, you know, nearly $500,000 in equity. And that's just being out there, having a crack, not listening to, I guess, bad advice from friends and family around the barbecue. She educated herself with all the right information that was available, and then listened to people that had uh the expertise as well and just took um the plunge. So I think it's exactly what you said, just sharing, uh getting rid of the stigma, just opening it up and bringing it to light.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

In your opinion, do you think people go into FIFO um thinking long-term, or is it sort of a short-term get in, get out, make some money, get back? Um what are you seeing?

SPEAKER_03 20:49

I see both sides of it. Yeah. I've got a lot of friends that have built long-term careers in the industry. But like for myself, for example, I was going there for one year to make heaps of quick cash, and then I wanted to leave and and move. Um, so the industry does trap you, or not they call it the gold golden handscuffs, yeah. You get used to the income. But then you actually see how good it can be and you can build a career. So it really depends on like people's goals. I also see a lot of um people that have worked there just to go home to New Zealand and build a house and live comfortably and not have a mortgage, and so they have like sacrificed and done it really fastly. So I see a bit of a mix really in the um, I guess in the business at the moment, I see a lot of people wanting to come into the industry and build careers, even at the later stages of life. They want to come in to kind of like help accelerate their retirement and such. Um, but then you also get the really eager, young, new generation ready to jump in. So yeah, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

The ones that want to get in, get out. Do they have a strategy? Is it like they have an exit strategy? Is it like I'm gonna make as much bank as possible and chuck an interesting? investment properties, get a nesting. What is their exit strategy?

SPEAKER_03 22:04

I've seen some really driven people that have come in and for example, one of our friends, they probably moved over to Port Headland um about three years ago. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure they've bought like three investment properties.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

Yeah. And they've got two young kids. So all in Port Headland as well, which is probably somewhere that you like it is a volatile market. But it's at quite a low at the moment, which is a good time for them. But what they've done is obviously brought their first one, reinvested next, next sex. And so I'll like I'm like we've been here for 10 years and they got three houses and we've got one. What are we doing with our life?

SPEAKER_01 22:45

That's the bloody line cruise apartment on that.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

Yeah so I've seen that end of it. And then I've also seen like the young generation. So actually my cousins just moved over from New Zealand. And he got his first job underground. He had a house over in New Zealand as well, but he wanted to come over and rent that out and and he he's only probably been underground um for maybe since the beginning of the year and he's already talking about buying a house. Like he's already saved he flies to Bali on his days off. So he lives cheaply and he's putting everything back in to buy that next house. So it's just it's it's really um great to see how many people are invested in their future at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Absolutely you're sacrificing so why not obviously and he's going to work in Bali sorry not work in Bali have his downtime Bali. It's just pretty bloody cool not everyone can do that. But yeah swirling away your money and setting yourself up with property or anything really just invest it. So you've got sort of money that's compounding and setting yourself up for the future. Really cool.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

You see a lot of people in the industry is there any really cool things that people are doing with investing their money?

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Me and a couple of my girlfriends who have been in the mining industry for a while are looking at starting a investment fund for women female business owners in mining and tech. So we are just kind of nutting out how that will look but obviously as you know like female mining other than Gina who's amazing but um you know female mining services businesses are anywhere between five to ten percent and then also in the tech space very low low stats for like VC funding and stuff in both industries. So that's something we're really passionate about and I think it'll be amazing because obviously I know how hard it's been to kind of like bootstrap a business but not just financially even just from a mentoring perspective. The other girls that we're I'm doing it with you know have long-term business and financial experience. So that'd be really awesome.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

What what sort of industries are you trying to crack into um with that investment fund?

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Yeah anything to do in the mining industry or tech industry those are kind of our two main focuses because that's what we both work in.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

Perfect love it love it that's awesome this next segment is think you're ready so some quick fire questions. So think on your feet um I'll go first. Do you think FIFO money creates freedom or pressure?

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Freedom money is freedom.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Do you think FIFO families think about the future enough or is it just about getting through the next roster?

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Well when I was in the trenches it was the next roster but I think it depends on the family and like what their financial goals are.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

So what's one piece of advice you've learnt from your podcast that you would like to share with the FIFO community?

SPEAKER_03 25:40

One piece of advice with the FIFO community I think get educated. So obviously as I mentioned I've talked to a lot of people that have done really well with their money and made it made work for them. But then I've also had like friends that ha have potentially not um and so I think the biggest piece is education and and and talking to the right people and researching like there's so much online now that you know you have to get interested in your money. Otherwise you're just gonna keep digging yourself a hole.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Love it.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

Some of these questions are from your socials. So in my late 30s and only just starting to think about investing now is that too late?

SPEAKER_01 26:24

It's never too late. We're seeing the average age for people buying their first home well into their 30s now anyway. So it's certainly not late and we're all living longer as well. So there's you know the best time to start investing was yesterday the next best time is today. So 38 or mid-30s or late 30s is still very young. So absolutely get cracking.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

Yeah exactly. What do you think women can do to be more financially independent?

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Like we said earlier awareness, education, feeling comfortable with having the conversation and I think male or female you should be always really exploring your financial security, thinking about the future, putting something away for a rainy day and trying to use money and potentially other people's money to buy assets like property and allow that property to grow over time and having a compounding effect and you know ideally having a tenant paying for that property. So there are fairly simple ways to get yourself really far ahead but it's just I guess creating awareness and exposing yourself to that information. So next segment is bring it to the table. So you bring something that's been meaningful to you that maybe changed your life or inspired you so I'd love to hear what you brought to the table.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

So I haven't physically brought it but I I would say like bring to the table my favorite book that kind of changed our way like mine and my partner's way of how we look at investing. So it's a simple book Barefoot Investment Barefoot Investor but basically like that was the first book that we read about investment prior to having kids and it just opened your eyes into like how to set up your finances, how to streamline different accounts like even small things like how to manage your super things away to buy your house. So yeah it was it was crazy and it's really easy read like it wasn't one of those just like business jargon books that is like you know paragraphs it was really simple and easy.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Nice. What were the probably the three key takeaways that sort of made a click for you?

SPEAKER_03 28:32

I think like um I see a lot of people use ING now. So like you know transferring everything over to the ING accounts obviously low interest and um everything's online. The next thing was definitely about how you manage your accounts so you know having like your splurge account then your um rent and bills accounts and then like you know all the other different accounts and making sure that when the money comes in it gets filtered into those different things. And then I think just overall the biggest takeaway was like thinking about the money. Like you know everyone wants to be a millionaire but then like you don't actually you could be a millionaire if you just managed your money and look because that's the thing, the plan. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah it's amazing how simple the plan can be and obviously it's just a real simple starting points but they're the building blocks because it gets your mindset shifted and once you start shifting your mindset and you start seeing some wins from those small you know strat strategic plays you've made it gets exciting it gets addictive and it's also nice knowing you're setting yourself up for your future and hopefully you're retired earlier. So really cool good advice. Yeah thank you all right so to lock it up we covered a lot really cool but um uh what we heard today is FIFO people um incredible industry um a huge amount of opportunity comes with a lot of sacrifice um but the most important thing is people need to sort of plan for the future be um financially literate is really important and making sure that they're setting themselves up for their future. Did you have anything else to add?

SPEAKER_03 30:06

No thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

Of course thank you so much for coming thank you for listening to Own It Your Property Partner. If you found today's chat helpful share it with a mate subscribe and leave us a review. Today we're recording on the land of the Wujak Nungha people see you next time