The Barefoot Investor

Scott Pape

• Verlag: Wiley
• Jahr: 2022
• ISBN:
  9780730397526
• Auflage: 2
• Thema: Persönliche Entwicklung
• Thema: Private Finanzen

**This Classic Edition has been updated for 2022 and beyond**

THE ALL-TIME #1 AUSTRALIAN BESTSELLER

This is the only money guide you'll ever need.

That's a bold claim, given there are thousands of finance books on the shelves.

Yet there's a reason this book is in one in every 20 Australian homes.

You'll find out how to create an entire financial plan that is so simple you can sketch it on the back of a serviette … and you'll be able to manage your money in 10 minutes a week.

The Barefoot Steps stand the test of time. In this classic edition, you'll get the skinny on:

• Saving up a six-figure house deposit in 20 months
• Doubling your income using the 'Trapeze Strategy'
• Saving $77641 on your mortgage and wiping out almost 7 years of payments
• Handing your kids (or grandkids) a $140000 cheque on their 21st birthday
• Why you don't need $1 million to retire …with the 'Donald Bradman Retirement Strategy'

Sound too good to be true? It's not.

This book is full of stories from everyday Aussies—single people, young families, empty nesters, retirees—who have applied the Barefoot Steps, freed themselves from crippling debt and achieved amazing, life-changing results. And you're next.

Part 1
PLANT

It's time to get your hands dirty.

By the time we've finished the ‘Plant’ part of this book, you'll have built your entire financial infrastructure, and as a result you'll be tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars better off.

See, this book isn't for flicking — it's for doing (preferably while eating garlic bread and drinking wine, as you'll see in a moment).

I'm not going to throw a bunch of generic tips at you.

Instead, I'm going to be super specific about the first three Barefoot Steps that I want you to follow to plant the seeds of your future wealth.

And if you've just read this and thought to yourself, ‘Dude, my seeds are already planted’, well I've got a few surprises in store for you.

I'm going to:

• show you how I manage my money in around 10 minutes a week, including the exact accounts I used at the time of writing
• detail how you can live — and spend — like a multimillionaire, even on a below-average income
• explain why I shut down my self-managed super fund (SMSF) … and introduce you to the cheapest super funds in the world
• give you a specific script that you can follow to get ‘wholesale’ deals on your insurance
• show you how to turn dumping your debts into a game you'll enjoy playing — and winning.

Plus we'll sketch out the only financial plan you'll ever need — a plan so simple that it fits on the back of a serviette.

Let's dig in.

STEP 1
SCHEDULE A MONTHLY BAREFOOT DATE NIGHT

You love going out and eating nice food, right? And you've never seen a $50 note you didn't like, right?

Well, we're going to combine the two and have a Barefoot Date Night — once a week for the next five weeks (to get you up and running with the Barefoot Steps), and then monthly thereafter.

Money talk is better with garlic bread and wine

Once a week, for the next five weeks, you and your partner are going to get dressed up, go out to dinner and put in place the Barefoot Steps — that is, actually do them: set up some accounts, and have the conversations while you munch on garlic bread and have a glass of wine.

What if you're single?

Well, you're in luck.

First, you can find a friend or family member you respect, give them this book and work your way through the steps together. However, I totally understand that you may not feel comfortable spilling your financial guts to someone.

If so, it's you and me, babe (or … dude).

Really?

Am I saying you should do a Scott No Mates and go on a Barefoot Date Night Han Solo?

Yep.

Don't believe me? It worked for Janine:

Dear Scott,

Three years ago I bought your book when I could least afford it, with sixfigure debts written on my fridge door. I took you and the book to dinner every week as I was dying inside and out.

I just wanted to say thank you for literally saving my financial life. I didn't go bankrupt. I made the calls. I cried with you. And screamed at you and learned from you. And formed a great relationship with my creditors. And survived. I began to live again. I educated myself and found a new kind of personal wealth. Thank you.

Janine

I have permission from my wife for you to take me out (well, my book) and sort your money.

And you don't even have to do it at a restaurant. It could be a coffee shop or it could be your bedroom, though it's much more fun to make a date of it. The important thing is that you intentionally carve out time one night a week for the next five weeks (and then monthly, forever).

There are three reasons you should stop what you're doing and schedule your first Barefoot Date Night immediately:

• First, because it'll make you happier.
  The only thing that psychologists are unanimous on is that spending time with your family and friends is a direct predictor of wellbeing — and hands down one of the best things you can do for your relationship.
  Liz and I do our Barefoot Date Night on the first Tuesday of the month (the same day that the Reserve Bank meets to decide on interest rates … how hot is that?). She gets dressed up, I comb my hair, and we go out for dinner and talk about our money.
  And let me tell you, it's a lot of fun.
  It's like kicking off tight shoes at the end of the day. The stresses and strains of life that buzz around your brain — work, the dishes, Facebook, the phone, the kids — fall away as you treat yourself for a few hours.
  You'll look forward to it, I promise.
  (And spending an evening with your partner talking about how committed you are to providing for your family — well, that's some good financial foreplay right there … mmm-hhmm, you know what I'm talk'n 'bout.)
• Second, because it's the two of you against the world.
  That's the way I look at our marriage. Yes, we're parents, uncles and aunties, friends and bosses, but at our core we'...