𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐲

The ‘Why’ seems to have become another buzz phrase. We all need a reason to do anything, so it appears. Recently I was asked what my ‘bigger why’ is. I’d thought it was obvious, but obviously it is not.

My primary business is in helping people with personal & business insurance. Is that all I am? Of course not. Take a look at the content on my business and personal profiles and you will see a lot of things about insurance, risk and finance. Look a little deeper, and you will notice a pattern of intent – financial education is key.

Without labouring on the past too long, my background is such that money wasn’t discussed at the dinner table. It was those out-of-the-kids-hearing ‘discussions’ (shouting matches) about credit card balance this, or mortgage repayments that. It was the accusation of blowing the weekly shopping budget, or castigating the spouse for buying reasonable quality school shoes instead of the cheapest ones. People who had ‘too’ (?) much money were w@nkers. That was it. End of discussion. Needless to say, my teenage years were chaotic as the family unit collapsed and imploded as the shame, guilt and toxicity ran rampant. Money was absent yet ever present in its lack.

When I got my first credit card, I was about to go to Israel on my OE. I’d been working in retail, had saved a bit for the trip and felt confident that I could make do, find some odd-jobs, and travel like a rolling stone. The card was for a back-up, just in case. “Yes”, everybody agreed that was a good idea. Some financial security. What happened? I had an awesome trip, seeing Israel, Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia. I got back to the UK and was promptly in debt. The job I had barely paid for a good time and I was going backwards. The thing is, I didn’t even really know it. I was in a cloud of ‘it’ll work out’, no worries, cruise… and nothing really changed when I moved out to Australia.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I had a job paying a very good sum for the age and stage I was at. The money that I thought would ‘solve my problems’ just meant that I spent more. My expenses grew with my income. Around this time, 2001, I really started to take notice of money; as in, what it is and what it is not. My wife and I read Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. That one book did more to change my thinking than just about anything else. It opened me to the possibility that how I had been thinking, was incorrect. I got thinking about the actions we take happen after the thinking machine (our brains) have made decisions. I had not taken responsibility for my money management in any way shape or form – and I hadn’t known this. Even when I’d thought I was ‘budging weekly’, or being ‘logical’ for a car loan, I didn’t have all the information to make the best choices.

Did my world change overnight? Nope. I had a lot of bad behaviours and ingrained habits to let go of. I had to reprogramme my brain completely and totally. I went on a journey of discovery reading a book a month for years, listening to tapes and CDs, changing my thinking and bit by bit, changing my behaviours and actions.

Two decades on and I have the opportunity to talk to people about finance and money management. Me. A past life as a UK bum with debt. Who’d a thought..? Only now, we are extremely careful about our debt position and I am a squirrel with our bank accounts and investments.

So when I talk with people about simple money concepts, and their faces seem blank, I understand them. I was them. When I see the desperation in people’s faces (although trying to put on a brave face), I get it. When many of the people I speak with week in week out, tell me that they wouldn’t survive a month if all income stopped tomorrow – I know them.

What do I do with that understanding then? When I designed the business I have now, financial education was to be ingrained in the philosophy of Your Money Matters.

Let’s be blatantly frank here. I spend a huge amount of time writing articles, doing podcasts, videos and getting marketing content produced with catchy little phrases. I’ve got a few low-budget courses and a book or two available on Kindle on basic money management. I can tell you that the current return on this investment is tiny. Why? Several reasons. Most people don’t want to hear it. My audience isn’t big, I am not an ‘influencer’ with a fancy suit and toothy smile. So why do I continue investing my time?

If one book could change the course of mine and my wife’s lives, then maybe something I put out will have that effect on someone else.

That is it.

Simple.

Understanding money management doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need an MBA to know good money habits. Bit by bit, I am trying to make it a little easier for people to understand basic money concepts. For those that want to know. I will never reach those who have zero intertest, but for those that do – how can I make it as easy as possible for them to get some basic information?

If you know anyone who might benefit from a little money management help, let them know.

As for the bigger ‘why’? – I still have a lot to do. Financial literacy in New Zealand is too low. This affects individuals, families and society. I can only do so much; one step at a time…