Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Aussie Firebug
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99. Ben Felix - Rational Investing, Market Efficiency & Building Wealth the Smart Way | 09 Nov 2025 | 01:35:37 | |
This week, I’m joined by Ben Felix, Chief Investment Officer at PWL Capital and co-host of the Rational Reminder podcast. Ben is best known in the FIRE community for his YouTube channel, which has nearly 500K subscribers and features insights on investing, financial decision-making, and living a good life. Ben is one of the clearest voices in evidence-based investing. His work breaks down complex financial ideas into straightforward, data-driven insights that help investors cut through the noise. It’s a masterclass in rational investing, delivered by one of the best in the game. In this conversation, we cover:
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| 98. Alan Donegan - Building Businesses Without Debt & The Rebel Way to Financial Independence | 12 Oct 2025 | 01:22:33 | |
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Alan Donegan - co-founder of Rebel Business School and host of the Rebel Entrepreneur Podcast. Alan and his wife Katie reached financial independence in 2019, and since then they’ve been travelling the world, teaching people how to start businesses debt-free and take control of their finances. In this episode we cover:
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| 89. Terry - Wealth Time Freedom (WTF) | 07 Jan 2024 | 01:15:55 | |
Today's episode is something a bit different.
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| Episode 11. Self Wealth | 11 Dec 2017 | 00:33:41 | |
Our guest today is Andrew Ward, the founder and managing director of online investing tool Self Wealth. Andrew is a former Executive Manager at Commonwealth Bank who has held many other high positions throughout his 20 years in the finance sector. Andrew seen an opportunity in the market for an online community for investors, but after failing to get through the red tape that comes with working in a large organisation, decided to start up his own company. | |||
| Episode 10. Ms Frugal Ears | 31 Oct 2017 | 00:50:54 | |
Our guest today is Serina Huang or better know as, Ms Furgal Ears. Serina works as a public servant but is also a writer, blogger, and foodie. A self proclaimed frugalista, Serina lives with her two sons in Canberra and has appeared in such publications as the RIOT ACT and the Canberra Times. She is currently wiritng a book about becoming a frugal multi millionaire and one day hopes to be a billionaire! In this episode, we talk about:Serina upbringing and working as an expat in TaiwanManaging 10 investment properties during a downturnThe importance of having your finances sorted especially if you go through a divorceStriking a balance between enjoying life and being frugalLiving off $50 a week for food, groceries, and toiletries | |||
| Episode 9. Pat the Shuffler.mp3 | 26 Sep 2017 | 00:56:36 | |
Our guest today is Pat from life long shuffle.com. Pat’s a 29 year old construction engineer working in Sydney who is planning to retire early within 10 years. Having amassed a net worth of over quarter of a million already, he is well on his way.In this episode, we talk about:* Investing! And in particular franking credits and why Pat is such a fan*Extra Super contributions? Should you be adding more to your *Super each year?*Buying a house in Sydney*Explaining FIRE to normal people*Reaching FIRE with a partner | |||
| Episode 8. Jayden from the Rentvesting Podcast | 27 Aug 2017 | 00:58:11 | |
Our guest today is Jayden Vecchio, a director, and co-founder for Red and Co who was awarded the 2016 FBAA Commercial Mortgage Broker of the Year award. You may know Jayden better as the co-host for the very successful 'Rentvesting Podcast' aimed at Gen X and Y Property Investors.In this episode, we talk about Jaydens path to success coming into the finance world when the GFC hit in 2009 and the devastation that caused the finance sector in Sydney. We also chat about his journey with property investing, moving cities, starting a company as well as a podcast and many more things. | |||
| Aussie Firebug Post - Property Vs Shares | 05 Jul 2017 | 00:27:33 | |
Is there a more hotly debated topic among avid investors than property vs shares? Owning 3 investment properties and nearly $90K worth of ETFs over the last 5 years. I feel like I have experienced some of the best and worst of each asset class.This article details the pros and cons of the two, and ultimately which one is suited better for specific investing styles. | |||
| Episode 7. Mrs Firebug | 30 Apr 2017 | 00:32:31 | |
A big part of the journey towards financial independence is finding a partner along the way who has the same goals and aspirations as you do towards your finances. It's more common to find a partner who has no idea that financial independence even exists! I invited Mrs Firebug on the podcast today to chat about what it's like on the other side of the relationship and dealing with someone who is obsessed with reaching financial independence. | |||
| Episode 6. 2015 Property Investor Of The Year: Steven Ryan | 21 Mar 2017 | 00:55:51 | |
Steve Ryan, a 31 year old property investor who at age 29 became the 2015 'Your Investment Property Magazine' Investor of the year. Steven has been featured on such programs as ABC's 7:30, Property Investor Magazine, Real Estate Talk and many more. His net worth is well into 7 figures and has reached financial independence but does not plan to stop working anytime soon. | |||
| Episode 5. Chris | 28 Feb 2017 | 00:44:13 | |
Chris is a 29 year old millennial from north east Victoria who owns a net worth of over $300K! Mainly invested in Vanguard managed funds, Chris also has a side business programming clocks and renting out his spare room through Air BnB. Tune in to hear about how he amassed this fortune at such a young age and how he plans to hit FIRE by 41. | |||
| Aussie Firebug Post - P2P Lending | 30 Jan 2017 | 00:28:21 | |
Peer to peer (P2P) lending matches people who have money to invest with people who are looking for a loan. A relatively new service that follows a similar business model of other P2P services such as Airbnb and Uber. I invited Chris onto the podcast today to share his two years of experience with Australian based P2P lending services.Some of the topics we cover in today's show:* How P2P lending works* What returns has Chris been getting over the last two years* The differences in platforms available* Chris's overall experience with P2P lending and his advice to anyone who is considering investingArticle Link: http://www.aussiefirebug.com/p2p-lending/ | |||
| Aussie Firebug Post - Rentvesting | 29 Oct 2016 | 00:22:00 | |
What is Renting? What a horrible mash-up of words. Rentvesting? Rent-Investing? Rentvestor?Yuck!While the term itself doesn't sit well with me, the underlying principles defiantly do and I think a ton of millennials could benefit from it, so listen up muchacho's!... http://www.aussiefirebug.com/rentvesting/ | |||
| 88. Captain FI - Financially free at 29 | 17 Dec 2023 | 01:19:09 | |
Today, my guest is fellow FIRE enthusiast/podcaster/blogger, Captain FI!
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| Episode 4. Stockspot | 04 Sep 2016 | 00:57:33 | |
I invite the founder and CEO of the Australian robo-advising company Stockspot to chat about entrepreneurship, investing and how traditional fund managers are ripping you off! Chris Brycki holds a Bachelor of Commerce, was the national winner of the ASX Schools Share Game three years in row, a highly experienced trader spending most of his career as a Portfolio Manager at UBS investing the banks’ capital and more recently an entrepreneur, founding his own company Stockspot. Show NotesWhat is a Robo-advisor?StockspotFat Cat Funds Report | |||
| Episode 3. Detrimental12 | 22 May 2016 | 01:06:20 | |
Summary Our guest today bought his first shares of News Corp at 12 years of age. Realising later in life that money through investing and business ventures would be his escape from conservative country living in rural NSW. Investment properties in Australia and the US along with his own company are propelling Detrimental12 to reach financial independence in his early 30's! With a net worth of over $800K he is well on his way. Show Notes Financial Independence Australia Subreddit Detrimental's Blog about US Real Estate for Aussie's When Koalas attack! | |||
| Episode 2. Mad Fientist | 30 Mar 2016 | 01:06:29 | |
SummaryI have been following today's guest for a few years now. He is one of my favourite FI bloggers and has recently hit financial independence in his mid thirties.The Mad Fientist analyses the tax code and looks at personal finance through the lens of early financial independence, he develops strategies and tactics to help you retire even earlier.Most personal finance advice is geared towards people retiring in their 60s or later and doesn’t apply to those pursuing early financial independence. The Mad Fientist focuses on providing advice and innovative tax-avoidance methods specifically for people wanting to break away from full-time employment very early in life.You can check out his site here but be warned, a lot of the information is geared towards the US system. But not all is lost, there is also countless information that can be transferred to an Australian striving for FI so I would defiantly check it out.One of his best resources is his podcasts which can be found here. I have listened to all of them and they are fantastic! A big reason that I started to podcast was because of how much quality info I was able to get out of the Mad Fientist's podcasts.Show NotesWhat is negative gearing?www.madfientist.comMad Fientist PodcastsPickle with more fans than Nickleback (the Facebook group has since been deletec) | |||
| Episode 1. Ben Everingham: The Stars Align In Paris... | 22 Mar 2016 | 00:44:00 | |
In this episode I chat to Ben Everingham who was able to retire from full time work at the age of 29. Ben knew he was not wired the same as everyone else when he started working full time and quickly discovered that the 'normal' working life was never going to make him happy. After a Euro trip at 19 and finishing Uni, Ben was able to land a great job in Sydney earning over 6 figures. Most would think that they have it made with a great job straight out of Uni but after working a while Ben knew that this job was never going to satisfy him long term and whilst the money was great, he was miserable.After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, Ben's eyes had been opened up to the possibility of investing and business ownership. Eager to get started, Ben was able to purchase 6 properties within 4 years and started his own business, thus achieving his goal of quitting full time work before the age of thirty... | |||
| 87. Clayton - My Accountant | 10 Dec 2023 | 01:08:48 | |
Today, my guest is none other than my accountant, Clayton! Clayton and I have talked about doing this podcast for a while. I pay him thousands of dollars each year to help with tax planning, structuring our investments and businesses and other strategic decisions that ultimately help me reach FIRE sooner.
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| 86. FIRE/Life Update | 22 Oct 2023 | 00:22:40 | |
I've been thinking about this post for the past 18 months, and to be honest, it's long overdue. So much has changed over the last 11 years since I first stumbled across FIRE. And if the podcast's feature image wasn't obvious enough, I recently became a father. | |||
| 85. Mr. 1500 - Retired Early at 43 | 23 Jul 2023 | 01:12:13 | |
Today my guest is Carl Jensen who is better known in the FIRE community as Mr. 1500. He’s a family guy living in Colorado with his wife and two young children and managed to retire at the ripe old age of 43.
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| 84. Tony - My Dad | 18 Jun 2023 | 01:03:17 | |
Today’s episode is very special to me personally. I’m speaking with my dad about how he grew up and what money and life lessons he learnt along the way. He’s probably had the biggest impact on how I view the world (along with my mum) and set the foundations early on for me to be in the position I’m in today.
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| 83. Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley - The Property Couch | 08 Jun 2023 | 01:31:22 | |
I’m excited today to be having a conversation with Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley who co-host the very popular podcast called The Property Couch. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 82. Dr Toni Lindsay - The Certainty Myth | 30 Mar 2023 | 01:31:34 | |
My guest today is Dr Toni Lindsay. Toni is a clinical psychologist who works primarily with people who are at the end of their life or have a severe illness (usually young people!). In her own words: “My work has shaped how I think about all this FIRE stuff!”. Toni is also the author of multiple books but the one which probably has the most application with FIRE would be “The Certainty Myth: How to be resilient when the world keeps changing”.
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| 81. Super Changes Debate - Scott Phillips vs Cameron Murray - Part 2 | 09 Mar 2023 | 00:48:27 | |
Following on from the previous episode, this is part 2 of the debate.
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| 80. Super Changes Debate - Scott Phillips vs Cameron Murray - Part 1 | 02 Mar 2023 | 00:55:30 | |
I’m so excited for this one today. There’s been a few potential Super changes put forth by the Albanese government lately and I wanted to get two different viewpoints on the podcast to debate the pros and cons of the changes. I also wanted to talk about Super as a high-level concept. What exactly is Super? What’s the purpose of Super? Is Super fulfilling its job? etc. We have two returning guests joining in today’s discussion. CIO of The Motley Fool Australia, Scott Phillips and Economist Dr Cameron Murray. I’m playing moderator between these two as they give their different opinions on some of the following topics:
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| 97. Andrew Page - Strawman | 14 Sep 2025 | 02:22:03 | |
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Andrew Page - founder and Managing Director of Strawman.com. With over 20 years’ experience as an analyst, commentator, and private investor, Andrew is a well-known voice in the Australian investing community. Before launching Strawman, he worked at The Motley Fool and Team Invest, and now focuses on helping everyday investors cut through the noise and build better portfolios. In this episode, we cover:
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| 79. Queenie Tan - Invest with Queenie | 23 Feb 2023 | 01:24:50 | |
Today my guest is Queenie Tan. She’s a 26-year-old Sydneysider who has amassed over 350K followers on various social media platforms. Raised by a single dad in Sydney, Queenie was earning $400 a week after she moved out of home at just 19. A few years later she was able to save a $100,000 property deposit and now at age 26, has a net worth of half a million dollars. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 78. The Mad Fientist - Life After Financial Independence | 26 Jan 2023 | 01:19:16 | |
My guest today is Brandon Ganch who is better known in the FIRE community as the Mad Fientist. Brandon is an ex-computer programmer turned blogger and podcaster who reached financial independence at the ripe old age of 34 with his wife Jill. It’s always a pleasure to speak with Brandon as one of my financial/investing heroes and someone who’s been on the scene since the early days when I first discovered the concept of FIRE. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 77. Liz Thames - Mrs Frugalwoods | 19 Jan 2023 | 01:05:30 | |
Today my guest is Liz Thames who is better known as Mrs Frugalwoods. Liz is a mother of two who lives with her husband Nate on a 66-acre homestead in rural central Vermont USA. She’s the author of the popular FIRE book called “Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living”. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 76. Tim Washington - Vehicle-to-Grid and the Energy Network of the Future | 08 Dec 2022 | 01:08:49 | |
Today I’m talking with the Chair of the Australian Electric Vehicle Council, Tim Washington. Tim has also co-founded two companies - JET Charge, who specialise in supplying and installing EV Chargers and Charge Fox, Australia’s largest EV charging network. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 75. Scott O'Neill - Investing in Commercial Property | 01 Dec 2022 | 01:04:51 | |
Today I’m welcoming back property investor Scott O’Neill to the podcast. Scott and his wife are self-made multi-millionaires that created $300K in passive income by 28. Since Scott was last on the show, I received a fair amount of emails asking me to get him back to give a more practical guide on investing in commercial real estate. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 74. Jeff Speck - Walkable City | 24 Nov 2022 | 01:16:25 | |
Today my guest is city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck. Originally trained as an architect, Jeff is most famous within the FIRE community for his award-winning 2012 book: ‘Walkable City: How Downtown Saves America, One Step at a Time’. It’s amazing how such a small detail like walkability can touch on so many tenants within the FIRE ethos. The economy, health benefits and sustainability are all areas that are impacted greatly by our poorly designed cities which are where the majority of humans on earth live.
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| 73. Kate Campbell - The Importance of Taking Calculated Risks | 17 Nov 2022 | 01:12:25 | |
Today I’m talking with financial educator and podcast host Kate Campbell. Kate grew up in country Victoria and joined the defence force as a teenager before changing careers to finance and investing later on. She’s probably best known in the FIRE community as a co-host for many of the very popular podcasts that Rask Australia produces. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 72. Dave Gow - Strong Money Australia Book | 10 Nov 2022 | 00:52:20 | |
Today we welcome back Dave Gow who retired at the ripe old age of 28. He’s better known online as Strong Money Australia where he blogs about early retirement and how to live a happier life. It’s a really light-hearted chat today where we mainly talk about Dave’s new book which will be available on the 1st of December 2022 which is very exciting. But we also cover a range of other topics such as:
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| 71. Steve McKnight - From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 Years | 03 Nov 2022 | 01:29:45 | |
Today is a very special episode because if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be chatting to Steve McKnight on my own podcast, I would have never believed you. Steve is a professional investor, media commentator and online entrepreneur. But he’s probably most famous in the FIRE community for his book “From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 Years”. This was actually the second book about financial independence that I ever read and completely changed my life. Steve is one of three people who I’d consider as the most influential figures for me to come across throughout my investing journey so as you could imagine, this was a special episode for me personally. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 70. Entrepreneur Brad Smith - Starting a Company at 18 | 27 Oct 2022 | 01:05:59 | |
Today I’m talking with Brad Smith. Brad is an entrepreneur and former young Australian of the year for Tasmania who founded a motorcycle company Braaap in 2005 at the ripe old age of 18. Entrepreneurship is sometimes popularised as a quicker way to reach FIRE with the added benefit of doing something that you love. But it doesn’t always work out this way. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 96. Evan Lucas - Mind Over Money | 31 Aug 2025 | 01:35:56 | |
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Evan Lucas - behavioural economist, financial commentator, author of Mind Over Money, and former Head of Strategy at InvestSMART. Some of the topics we dive into are:
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| 69. FinFest 2022 & Sydney FIRE Meet-up with Luke | 20 Oct 2022 | 00:45:36 | |
Today I'm joined by my high schoolmate Luke.
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| 68. Economist Dr Cameron Murray - Scrapping Super, Affordable Housing, Inflation and Political Corruption | 06 Oct 2022 | 01:35:11 | |
Today I’m talking with Dr Cameron Murray. Cameron is a father of two currently living in Brisbane and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney. You may have seen Cameron in a collection of print media outlets and in TV programs such as Q&A on ABC. This is a big episode today because Cameron has such a breadth of knowledge across so many areas that affect our ability to retiree early. He has one of the most interesting and original takes on our Super system too which I think a lot of early retirees, such as myself, will be interested in hearing. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 67. Noel Whittaker - Australian Personal Finance Legend | 22 Sep 2022 | 01:03:37 | |
Today my guest is a legend in the Australian personal finance space. Noel Whittaker has been educating Aussies in money management and investing for over 50 years. He’s probably most famous for his international bestselling book "Making Money Made Simple" which has sold over a million copies worldwide! Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 66. Scott O'Neill - Self-made $300K in passive income by 28. Marketing BS or the real deal? | 15 Sep 2022 | 01:26:24 | |
I have an interesting episode for you guys today and I think you’re really going to like it. My guest today is Scott O’Neill. Scott bought his first investment property in 2010 with a $60K deposit after saving for 5 years. Just 8 years later, Scott and his wife had 28 properties generating $300K of profit each year plus around $7Million of equity. And Scott is very adamant that he didn’t receive any financial help, gifts, inheritance, living at home rent-free until his late 20’s etc. He’s self-made and agreed for me to dive deeply into exactly how he managed to do it. Some of the topics we talk about today are:
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| 65. My Efficient Electric Home (MEEH) with Tim Forcey | 08 Sep 2022 | 01:13:24 | |
Today I’m chatting with chemical engineer/home energy advisor Tim Forcey. He’s probably known best in the FIRE community for creating the extremely popular Facebook group, My Efficient Electric Home (MEEH) which currently has over 65,000 members. I’ve always said one of the most common traits in FIRE community is hyper efficiency of everything we spend money on, so I was very excited personally to have Tim on the show, especially with energy prices creeping higher and higher. Some of the topics we cover include:
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| 64. Starting Your Career: Big4 vs Gov with Jeremy | 01 Sep 2022 | 01:10:03 | |
Today we’re talking about two popular career paths - starting out at one of the big four or going into a government role. Joining me in this discussion is my old schoolmate Jeremy who did a cadetship at Deloitte where he worked for 6 years. Jeremy explains the interview process, culture, work-life balance and salary during his time at one of the big four. I’m going to be representing starting out in government as I spent the first 8 years of my working life in the public sector. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:
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| 63. Succession Planning with Terry Waugh | 18 Aug 2022 | 00:48:01 | |
Today we’re talking about succession planning with the one and only Terry Waugh. This is a pretty big topic but we’ll be focusing in on areas such as:
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| 62. How to Vet Financial Advisors with Phil Harvey from PIFA | 11 Aug 2022 | 00:58:55 | |
Have you ever been ripped off by a financial advisor? Some of the topics we cover are:
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| 61. Matt Ridley - The Rational Optimist | 04 Aug 2022 | 01:15:28 | |
My guest today is Matt Ridley, a British science writer, journalist and businessman who holds a PhD from Oxford in Biology. He’s worked for many famous publications such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and The Times (London). Matt is probably best known within the FIRE community for his award-winning book, The Rational Optimist, published in 2010. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read that offers a counterpoint to the prevailing pessimism of our age and proves, however much some people like to think to the contrary, that things are getting better. Some of the topics we cover are:
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| 60. Second Hand Electric Vehicles - Good Car Co. | 21 Jul 2022 | 00:55:58 | |
In this episode we’re not talking about money or investing but rather touching on the sustainable side of the FIRE movement. Today my guest is Anthony Broese van Groenou, a sustainability expert, environmental scientist, PhD researcher and the co-founder of the Good Car Co. This company's goal is to accelerate the uptake of Electric Vehicles in Australia by offering second-hand EVs at an affordable price. Some of the topics we cover are:
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| 95. Pete Wargent - Shares, Property and FIRE | 17 Aug 2025 | 01:21:20 | |
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Pete Wargent—investor, author, market analyst, and one of Australia’s earliest FIRE pioneers. Originally from the UK, Pete reached financial independence by age 33 after building a portfolio of shares and property across both Australia and the UK. Since then, he’s written multiple best-selling books, launched a property buying business, and become a trusted voice on investing, markets, and wealth creation. In today’s episode, we dive into:
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| 59. Terry Waugh - Debt Recycling | 14 Jul 2022 | 00:58:06 | |
Today I’ve invited Terry Waugh back on podcast to talk about a topic that’s very popular in the Aussie FIRE community. I recently published an article about how we (Mrs Firebug & I) are Debt Recycling and have received a lot of questions from the community about the details of how it all works. Terry is one of the most knowledgeable people I know on this topic and he has kindly agreed to join me to answer as many questions as we have time for. Some of the topics we cover are:
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