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Most office workers have quickly had to adjust to working from home in recent weeks. The pace at which businesses were able to make this happen has been quite extraordinary. Before COVID 19, if you’d told most companies they needed to transition to work from home arrangements, it would have been a 12-month plus planning … Continued

Volatility and share investing go together like honey and crumpets. As a share investor, how can you use volatility to your advantage? And how can you ensure volatility doesn’t derail your strategy to build wealth and gain choice in life? I’ve invested through the GFC, the Asian Currency Crisis, September 11, the Japanese tsunami, Brexit, … Continued

You’ve probably heard the phrase “never waste a good crisis”. The origins of this quote aren’t clear, though some point to Winston Churchill. Regardless, its point is that in times of crisis, habits and practices are forced to change. When things are going well, it’s easy to just let things float along. Some changes need … Continued

Those who have never owned shares before will be surprised at how easy it is to get started. Very simply the process is: Open an account with a broker Research what you want to buy Log into your broking account and place your order 3 days later, you’re a share investor In contrast to property, … Continued

I’ve been researching all the ways one might go about generating Passive Income. Unfortunately, many of those found on the web won’t work in Australia. So I’ve produced a custom list especially for those of us on the largest island in the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s what I’ve come up with: 1. Low input business 2. … Continued

Not as polished as our normal blog posts but this podcast transcript might provide so important information to help you through the current challenges: Welcome back to another Financial Autonomy episode. My name is Paul Benson. Coming to you live from my home office, like a good proportion of you guys no doubt. Today’s episode, … Continued

Today’s episode is a bit different. I don’t have a script and I don’t have a guest. I recently ran a community survey to everyone that gets the Gaining Choice email. In this podcast I want to share with you what we learned and some of the ways this information will be used to shape … Continued

I’ve interviewed numerous Side Hustlers over the past 3 years, including Side Hustle guru Nick Loper from the Side Hustle Show, and have conducted my own fair share of entrepreneurial experiments. The time has come therefore to provide the definitive guide to starting a Side Hustle in Australia. A Side Hustle could be the way you earn some extra dollars to pay for an overseas trip. Perhaps it accelerates the repayment of your mortgage. Your ambitions might be grander, with the Side Hustle being your entrée into becoming your own boss and pursuing self-employment or a major career change. Side Hustles can certainly provide choice, and of course that’s what we’re all about here at Financial Autonomy. So how can you get started with your Side Hustle here in Australia?

2019 was a bumper year for investors, so can we expect more of the same in 2020? Or is a pullback inevitable? I receive reports almost daily from fund managers and financial institutions. In the last few weeks they’ve tended to focus on the current state of the global economy and what that means for … Continued

In this episode I review the wins and challenges faced during 2019 and look ahead to our plans for Financial Autonomy in 2020. A bit of a pull back the curtain episode that I hope you enjoy. General Advice Warning

I put this diagram together yesterday to explain the central framework that we are working to here at Financial Autonomy. Anyone who successfully achieves Financial Autonomy will employ at least one, and usually two or three of these approaches. The self-employment route spotlights the difference between Financial Independence and Financial Autonomy.  Financial Autonomy success is … Continued

The cost of private health insurance in Australia keeps on rising. After housing, food and motor vehicle expenses, health insurance typically comes up as the next big-ticket item in most household budgets. So it’s worth asking the question – do we need it? Private Health insurance is likely to be worth having if: You are … Continued