How the Barefoot Investor’s $10,920,000 Helps Us!

First things first, I think Scott’s book is great. The Barefoot Investor provides the basic steps towards becoming better at money management, and is widely applicable to many people’s financial positions.

I love that it has transformed lives, through people following the book’s advice. The book has made people more aware of the ins and outs of money, providing much-needed education, when in the past money has always been seen as a mysterious, complicated secret.

Scott’s book has reached thousands of people, as Australia’s best-selling book in 2017 with 438,000 copies sold. Nielsen BookScan shows it’s sold more than 546,000 copies to date, and that it’s the number one seller in 2018 so far. Incredible stuff, especially considering that at Target’s $20 selling point, the book would have pulled approximately est. $10,920,000 in sales!

So, how has Scott helped us here at 7Wealth?

Well, due to his book and 1000’s of people reading his advice, people are becoming more aware of the benefits of planning and spending time to improve their financial situation.

We’ve had clients come to us seeking advice after reading Scott’s book, because the solutions and steps the book describes are general, and they need personal guidance through their situation from a professional. Plus, the book doesn’t keep them accountable – we do. We have clients who tried to save and use strategies from the book, but it’s just not working for them. They’re slipping back into old habits, or simply not getting anywhere.

Many people are happy to have professional advice, just like you would if you needed help from an accountant to do your tax return, or a solicitor to create your will, or a doctor for a health problem. Sure, Google can guess what’s wrong with you, and YouTube can walk you through a potential solution, but it’s quicker and easier to use a professional who knows what they’re doing, and could save you money in the long run.

Scott and I are in a similar boat – we both have three kids, and suffer from a lack of sleep at the moment (we both had our 3^rd this year). We live half an hour away from each other in the Macedon Ranges, and we both provide quality financial advice.

Our difference lies in our methodology – Scott was very smart to produce a book with general, clear advice that has been around for years, condensed into readable language, marketed on a large scale as “the only money guide you’ll ever need”, reaching thousands of Aussies.

I work with our clients one on one, developing a relationship to understand their personal goals, and provide advice to reach those goals. I provide a personalised financial plan, based on my clients’ own unique situations. Sure, our advice is a little pricier than $20 (we aren’t selling 564,000 books!), but our fees are flat dollar-based amounts, based on our fee schedule that shows the types of advice with the cost starting at $770.

In our clients’ personalised plans, we show when they recoup our advice fee as part of the “better position statement”, which outlines exactly where and how our clients benefited from our advice, to put themselves in a stronger financial position.

So, if you have read Scott’s book, and executed everything he says to do relevant to your personal situation, I encourage you to continue the great work.

If you’ve read the Barefoot Investor and feel you’re only halfway there, or you want personal advice from a professional to plan out your route to reaching your goals, then we would love to hear from you!

7Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 44 609 210 246, is an Authorised Representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited ABN 89 051 208 327 Australian Financial Services Licence 232706 and Australian Credit Licence 232706
This blog contains information that is general in nature. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You need to consider your financial situation and needs before making any decisions based on this information. If you decide to purchase or vary a financial product, your financial adviser, and other companies within the AMP Group may receive fees and other benefits. The fees will be a dollar amount and/ or a percentage of either the premium you pay or the value of your investment. Please contact us if you want more information.