In today's episode we speak to one of our wealth coaches, Ian Halfpenny, and he tells us about the dangers of falling into the trap of trying to do everything yourself when starting on your wealth-building journey. He also shares with us how he became financially independent and how he benefited from being around like-minded people.
When starting the wealth-building journey, it’s common to fall into the trap of doing everything by yourself. Putting your trust in professionals to manage your money, and not being aware of the different resources available to help you build your own knowledge to take more control over your own personal wealth. We call this the DIY approach! Through no fault of their own, people don’t realise the value of being part of a like-minded community that can provide inspiration, help and support. In this week’s episode, we hear from one of our wealth coaches, Ian Halfpenny. Tune in to hear Ian’s story of becoming financially independent and how he benefited from being part of a community of like-minded people.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
>> Connect with Ian Halfpenny [LinkedIn]
>> The Brant Effect: How To Live Your Dream Life Through Property Investment
>> REGISTER HERE FOR FREE RESOURCES ACCESS
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Unknown Speaker 0:01 The purpose of wealth talk is to educate, inform, and hopefully entertain you on the subject of building your wealth. Wealth builders recommends you should always take independent financial tax or legal advice before making any decisions around your finances.
Christian Rodwell 0:19
Welcome to Episode 111 of wealth talk. My name is Christian Rodwell, the membership director of wealth builders. I'm joined today by my co host and founder of wealth builders, Mr. Kevin Whalen. Hello, Kevin. Hi, Chris. Good to be with you again. Yeah, and we are continuing in launch mode for the wealth builders Academy. Just a quick reminder, we had the webinar earlier this month on the third of June. And if you didn't catch that, you can catch the replay and find out all about the brand new wealth pose khademi by heading over to wealth builders.co.uk forward slash Academy launch. And that's relevant today because we've actually got one of our wealth builder Academy coaches as our guest today. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1:00
Yeah, Ian is a very fascinating individual. And it's not that he's coaching because he needs any money, as you'll hear, but because he's got a passion and a purpose that it took him a little while to get the hang of, I guess.
Christian Rodwell 1:15
Yeah. And specifically, we're talking about the dangers of building wealth in isolation today. And I know you shared your story as well, Kevin, but you know, we talked about DIY, in your way to wealth is a really slow process. But, you know, that, unfortunately, is the case for many people.
Unknown Speaker 1:31
Yes, there's some there's something going on. I think in the mind of some people, obviously, we're not trying to attract those people, which is the best way to build wealth is to do it on your own. And I understand, when you're beginning, you're probably doing a lot of things on your own. Because you're thinking on your own, you don't have people to talk to, you're possibly learning on your own, you don't have anybody else to learn with. And as a result, you can easily fall into the trap of thinking that wealth is a DIY sport, and it isn't. It's a team sport, and the value of a community, the inspiration and a community the help, and support to the community is so powerful to see once you've experienced it. But until you kind of are open minded enough to look inside, you know why the communities exist as well. You know, we're social beings after all. And I think there's the power of masterminding, there's the power of somebody else's distinctions we know about wealth dynamics, and wealth builders, and everybody looks at life through a certain lens. But it's the distinctions and differences you get from other people can be the change that sometimes you need a new in order to make a smooth path, because sometimes just following the same path can end up in a bit of a cul de sac. So I think we're very passionate about the strength of a community. And we believe that's the best way to build that. Don't we really?
Christian Rodwell 3:00
We sure do. Yeah. And is there every week helping our members. So let's head on over and listen to our interview today. with Ian Halfpenny. He earned very warm welcome to wealth talk today. Thank you, Christian, great to be here. And you have featured previously on wealth talk, but not as a full episode dedicated to you. So I'm really looking forward to being able to dive into your story. Obviously, our members know you well as one of our wealth coaches. And today, we're talking about the dangers of building wealth in isolation. So it's a really key point, you know, it's a big part of the wealth builds community is the connection that people have. And we know that it's a difficult, lonely journey sometimes. So I think it's definitely on point. And so why don't we kick off for those that don't know you? So well, finding out a little bit about your background and and your road towards financial independence?
Unknown Speaker 3:57
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it's a great topic. I'm glad we're able to talk about it. Yeah, my journey started back in July 2016. And it's actually a little bit of a sad story. My my stepfather was very close to was diagnosed with cancer, quite shockingly, in his early 60s. In fact, he was 60 at the time. And later on for four and a half months later, he passed on. And I sort of just remember sitting there with him just reflecting on his life a little bit and saying, he did something slightly different. He actually, in his early 50s, he decided to get out of the rat race, and do what he was passionate about, which was photography. And basically worked virtually part time, most of the week, less than part time, really. And I just reflected on that and thought, you know what, there's got to be a better way to live rather than being in the rat race. I feel like we're so conditioned to you've got to work for 40 years of your life and then retire and then enjoy life. And as I reflect on his life, He, if he'd waited to retirement age, you know, 67 going up 68 whenever he actually would never have got there. So he would never have been able to have the freedom that he got in his early 50s. And so that set me on my path. And I'd already already been involved in property a little bit. I've done everything the wrong way, basically. And so I then set out on a journey to gain financial independence using properties that the main pillar. And remarkably, 22 months later I'd hit financial independence. So that was October 2018. Still took me a while it actually took me till the following July 2019, to let go of other income and employed income. And then from there onwards, I retired in my 30s, the property portfolio just continues to grow. And yeah, that's, that's really sort of where everything sort of kicked off from.
Christian Rodwell 6:00
Yeah, well, that's a remarkable feat to achieve that, that financial goal within two years. And if we're talking wealth builder language, and what was your pillar? What was your strategy? And what was your point of leverage that helps you to do that?
Unknown Speaker 6:15
Yeah, so my pillar was property. The strategy I use was the Brr strategy. And at the time, I never even knew that's what he stood for. And your final question, I
Christian Rodwell 6:26
forgotten your third question or your your points of leverage to help you. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 6:31
so I used home capacity to help sort of accelerate my journey. And so for me, it was using that leverage using mortgages, and then using the Brr strategy that helped me sort of achieve that fairly quickly.
Christian Rodwell 6:48
Yeah. And then our paths crossed. So how did that come about? A and I do remember the call. And, you know, it's been a fantastic relationship that we've built since then. But yeah, what led you towards picking up the phone that
Unknown Speaker 7:02
day? I even remember exactly where I sat when I was talking to you. I pulled over into a lay by? Yes. So it's really interesting. We talk a lot about hitting financial independence. But what do you do after that? So I had a reefer project at home, which kept me entertained for a month or so then we did all the national trusts, and then we had coffees out in the afternoons, we went through all loads of dog walks. But you sort of get to a point where, if I'm honest, boredom, can start kicking in a little bit. And if you get too bored, then depression can kick in quite quickly. So for me, there was two things there was a, okay, I've got a lot of friends asking me, you know, how did you do this? Is this real? What's going on? So there were two things that sort of drove me into a conversation with you. One was about how can I help other people, but at the same time, protect my time freedom, which was really important to me. And so I actually had a mental block I was I don't want to be setting up a business of any sort, and going back into my own created rat race. What I really want is to be helping people. And that conversation with you was absolutely brilliant. Because from there, I basically was able to join wealth builders, as a coach and help your community, which I'm fully committed to, and I absolutely love it. So yeah, for me, the thing that sort of drove to that conversation was a blocker of, I know, I don't want to be doing something by myself. I don't want to be building a business, but I genuinely want to be helping people. But at the same time, I want to protect my time freedom. And so our paths aligned and it was just a beautiful romance, shall we say?
Christian Rodwell 8:48
Well, you know, it was really good timing, because it was when we were just about to launch the seven steps to wealth program, which had initially been the foundation program. So we've been building that up for, you know, the first 12 months or so with our first 100 members and really getting their feedback to shape the program. And and then we Yeah, we introduced the wealth coaches, of which you, you were one of those and, you know, how's that first year been? If you look back to, you know, when you first started the coaching and seeing those members, you know, grow and evolve over the last 12 months.
Unknown Speaker 9:23
I love it. I absolutely love it, it energizes me to see a couple of things I absolutely love when people join the either the wealth builders, the seven steps or the academies, it's going to be where people join. It's almost like deer in the headlights when they actually realize there's multitude of ways Seven Pillars that you can build wealth. Because a lot of these things are hidden. We don't get this financial education anywhere else. It's not in schools, it's not in universities, and it's not in life and you don't talk about it in the pub. So I sort of love that first interaction with people where their minds I opened and their mindset starts changing. And then as you're sort of walking with them and coaching them over time, you see a few things, you see the mindset shift, which I think is absolutely critical for people, then you see them form a very well articulated financial plan. And that is, which pillars are they gonna use to accelerate their journey to financial freedom, and then ultimately into independence. And then you see the winds along the way, you know, only the other week, I had a phone call with someone who just bought their first property. And it taken them nearly four years. And purely because of the coaching and the program, they were able to get over the things that were holding them back. And finally make a plan that makes sense to them in their situation, and then get over that hurdle of spinning that wheel of wealth once and making that first purchase. And I was absolutely delighted to play a tiny part in their journey. So yeah, absolutely love it.
Christian Rodwell 11:01
Yeah, that's great. And, of course, we refer now to our recurring revenue roadmap, our nine step roadmap, which we we walk all of our members through from a place of financial insecurity, to security to independence, and we break it down into three stages. And that foundational stage is all about building confidence, exactly what you've just said there in, you know, we know that people sometimes have invested huge amounts of money, huge amounts of time, huge amounts of energy. And sometimes it doesn't work out for them. And that can be demotivating, demoralizing, and having the support of others, you know, your peers, other people who are on that same path, and a coach who you build a relationship with, it can really build up that confidence. And it's almost like holding your hand to make sure that you've avoiding the pitfalls and the mistakes. Which kind of brings us to our point of today, isn't it the dangers of building wealth in isolation? So So what are some of those dangers that that you have observed here? Yeah, I think,
Unknown Speaker 12:00
for me, if I just think about my journey for a little bit, I like reading, so I read a lot of books. But unless you take that to the next level, and you fully understand what people are talking about and how they're doing it, then it's very easy to make mistakes. And the problem with making mistakes is it's going to cost you one or two things, it's either going to cost you time, or it's going to cost you money if you make the right the wrong mistake. I think it was Benjamin Benjamin Franklin who said, Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, but involve me and I will learn. And I think that's absolutely critical. I think education is key from the education, you develop that knowledge. But I ultimately believe community is where you can get to the bottom of absolutely everything and learn how to apply that knowledge into your situation to then reach your goals. So I think there's a couple of dangers, there's, there's you can make mistakes, because you don't have that support around you. And that's going to cost you time or money. I think if you're not within some sort of community, then it's going to take you a lot longer because you don't have that support. And also, you know, we call it DIY is when you do it yourself, if you go out and build wealth by yourself as a DIY, it's a very lonely journey, you know, I'm guilty of it. Absolutely. And you don't have anyone around you to bounce ideas off or to clarify ideas or to check ideas. You also have people around you telling you telling you their story and how they've done things because that might open your mind to maybe a different pillar or a different strategy within a pillar. And I think, you know, a community unites us together with a common cause. And when you've got other people around you, they can build you up. And you know, let's be clear, it's not easy. building wealth is not easy, whichever pillar that you use. And so there are times where things get difficult. I remember receiving a phone call. It was my wife's birthday weekend, we were in London at a nice restaurant, I got a phone call, basically to say three properties that I was about to buy, were all about to go belly up and I was going to lose them purely because I've got the wrong people around me. I haven't picked my power team, my leadership team, right and my mortgage advisor, I've got something wrong, but I have no one to turn to. In that time. Obviously, I have my wife and she's a great support. But I had no one else I could turn to to say, Look, I've hit this barrier. How do I overcome it? And if I'd had that, I think I would have definitely hit financial independence quicker. And I think that's the key. It's sort of it's keeping your sanity along the journey. It's helping to build the right mindset. It's having that support around you and ultimately from that I wholeheartedly believe you accelerate your success in whatever you're doing.
Christian Rodwell 14:55
Yeah, and I think another important aspect which perhaps we can touch on here. is trust is knowing who to trust, because one of the, you know, one of the common roots that, you know, I, myself and so many others, you know, venture into the world of entrepreneurship of personal development is, you know, as often through picking up a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you know, that's so often the lightbulb moment for people, or perhaps is listening to a podcast or coming across a video, but it opens up a whole world online of, you know, conflicting opinions and, and people telling you, you can be successful doing this or successful doing that. And people just don't know where to turn who to trust. So there's many communities, many fantastic communities out there. And but but, you know, that can be almost prohibitive content for people and perhaps why they DIY is because they're just not quite sure. You know, who to follow who to trust.
Unknown Speaker 15:53
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it is critical joining the right community or being part of the right community with like minded people, I think there's absolutely a danger of information overload by just being a DIY or googling things, listening to multitude of people's opinions, because there are different opinions out there on different topics. And I absolutely believe if you are walking hand in hand with someone who is one step ahead of you two steps ahead of you, or five steps ahead of you, they are going to help you on your journey and support you where there's a lot of people, and I'll tell you what, what really frustrates me, I'll try not to create a rant moment from this. But when there's so many people online who are giving advice, but they're five steps behind where you are already, and people start listening to those people who they're not credible, you might like them, you might feel like you trust them, because you've got some sort of social media connection with them. However, where's their path? Where's their journey? And do you really know them? Can you really get to know someone through social media very well. So again, I really point people back to a community because within a community, you get to see people, you get to talk to people, you get to build a relationship with people. And I think from that, then comes the right support that you need to accelerate your journey. Now,
Christian Rodwell 17:23
you mentioned the rat race earlier, Ian, what advice would you give someone who is listening now and they're stuck in the rat race, and they want to own more of their time? What would be a few key lessons? Yeah, it's,
Unknown Speaker 17:36
it's, it's so easy to get stuck in the rat race, because it's like, society sort of dictates it to you, you go and get educated, you might carry on and go into university, then you get a job, you work for four decades, you save your pension a little bit. And then you spend maybe one or two decades, if you're lucky, enjoying life doing what you want to do. I was looking at the lns data recently, and the National life expectancy for a man is 79.4. And it's 83.1. For a woman. Now, retirement age is 65. That's going up to 67. In 2028, I
Christian Rodwell 18:13
think it is.
Unknown Speaker 18:15
So basically, as a man, you've got 12.4 years to do what you want with your time. And as a woman, you got 16.1 years, do what you want with your time. And let's be honest, it's at a time where your bodies don't really allow you to do everything that you might really want to be doing anyway. So I feel like this whole system is just against us. By the time you've you can actually have time freedom and you've maybe you've used pension, this is the traditional way, you've used a pension to enjoy life, your body won't let you do what you really want to do, you might not have the energy to do what you really want to do. So it's all backwards for me. So I would my advice would be the first thing is learn the foundations and the fundamentals about money. Because the key is going to be understanding how you can have money work for you. So you don't have to work. And that that phrase can seem so foreign to some people because it's not in our DNA in any way, shape, or form. But there is absolutely many ways we talked about the Seven Pillars, where you can actually use what you've got. And that can actually be helping you to create more money rather than you're exchanging time for money. So I think my absolute advice number one is going to be you've got to get education, you've got to get an understanding of how money works and what to do with it. And I really do feel like I'm laboring a point here about community but you've got to have people around you that you can talk to about it wherever you're at in the journey. So if you are stuck in the rat race, start talking to people who are not how did they do it? What steps did they take because you know as British People, we don't really go right down to the pub and talk about money. We hold that back, you never ask someone you know? or How much do you earn? What do you do with that money? We just don't we don't talk about it don't talk about money. I moved to Australia, in my early 20s or mid 20s. They talk about money. Someone asked me directly, how much do you earn? I was offended. How do I answer this question? Because we don't in our society, we won't talk about money. And I think we've got to break that and go, okay. You might not be comfortable talking about how much you earn, or what's your net worth, or anything, but maybe open up conversations about how are you using your money to further invest in your life or to invest, so it's earning more for you? And have those sort of conversations and you know, they're not really with family and friends, unless they've been on the journey. It's got to be in a community of like minded people who can talk openly about it. So I realize I've ranted on a little bit. So absolutely understand money, foundations, fundamentals, get into a community where you can talk about things and just challenge the preconceived social norm of let's work for decades so we can enjoy one.
Christian Rodwell 21:10
We've covered a lot of key points there a and if you if you look back at when you were right at the starting blocks again, is there any one thing that you would do differently? Oh, yeah, good.
Unknown Speaker 21:22
I feel like I'm going to overlap on the answer quite a lot. Because I would say, if I was to start all over again, I absolutely would want the community there we are mounting on about it. But I want people around me that I can talk to about investments about my pension, I couldn't be performing better about what on earth is a SAS? What's a CIP? How do they work? property. You know, people talk about investing in property. But there's millions of strategies within property just alone. So I absolutely would have wanted more people I could talk to about it. I thought it was a one way dialogue between me family and friends. And I didn't have that, even if it's just one person, a good coach or mentor, or someone that I can bounce ideas off and talk about. And I would absolutely look at broader education. So my focus initially was I knew about property, I thought about property. So I went straight into property, it got me to financial independence, which is great. I've carried on with that. But also, after hitting financial independence, I then learned about all the other pillars and what else I could be doing. Because once you own your own time, and you've been on a journey, you start thinking about other pillars, and how else can I get my money to work harder for me, so I don't have to. And so right back at the beginning, I would love to have had a bit more of a broader understanding or broader knowledge. And maybe maybe there was a quicker way to financial independence for me rather than rather than property in the strategy that I picked. So I would look for a community look for broader education. And of course, look for some sort of support where I've got people I can bounce ideas off.
Christian Rodwell 23:08
Now, in a recent episode, in Episode 107, we were looking at social media and how you can leverage social media, you know, to build investors build your reputation, but it can be a double edged sword social media, and sometimes we see skeptical people on there who, who kind of point the finger and say, Well, if you're already financially independent, you know, why are you still doing coaching? Why are you still doing this stuff? You know, what would be your response to to anyone who, who says that? And? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 23:36
well, I think the stereotypical responses I want to help people and and I realized people would just tune off from that. But there is a genuine desire, once you hit financial freedom, or independence, you realize you you've you've achieved something, which is quite grand, not many people get to do it in their lifetime. And you genuinely want to help people, because you can see them suffering in the rat race. You know, I've got friends who were on a great journey, but they're still getting up before their kids wake up commuting on the motorway to go to work. By the time they get home, their kids are in bed. So their quality time as a family is purely at weekends when actually they need to be recharged, recharging, ready for the week ahead. And they're trapped in that because they they're not part of a community, they don't have that support. They're not open to learning. And it breaks my heart to see people not living what will be defined as their dream life. So you know, stereotypically The answer is helping others however, I think for me, the other driver was once you've achieved financial independence, and you own your own time, what are you going to do with it? Because if you don't plan that it's so easy to get bored. And there's only so much of a good thing that you can actually take you know, I remember one year we did 17 holidays and 17 long weekends away. It was wonderful. But you do get to a point where you're like, Where do you want to go next? Well, we just come back from somewhere, shall we go anywhere, I was no, Johnny, let's just stay at home for a little bit and enjoy home. So you do get to a point where so much of a good thing actually can were a little bit thin. And so I would say for me, it was about helping people. It was about investing some of my time, but not all of my time. Because time, freedom is really important to me. But I wanted to invest my time into something else. That also helps me keep my mind stimulated, keep me learning to keep educating more. Behind me, I've got five different books, and I'm ready to read. Because I've constantly want to be evolving and learning more, learning more about money, opening up conversation with people about money. I mean, some people even cringe when they hear the word money, let's talk about money, money, money, money, money, money, and it can be a good conversation to have. So for me, it was it was about stimulating my mind by helping other people. But at the same time, I needed something to do.
Christian Rodwell 26:09
Well, we appreciate all of the help that you are providing for our members. And, and obviously now we've we're just relaunching as the wealth builders Academy, with, you know, even more structure, even more support, even more education for people who want to embark on that journey towards financial independence. So exciting times. Absolutely. Yes. Amen. Really appreciate you sharing with us today. And I look forward to the next time that we we have you share on wealth talk. You welcome been been a great chat. Thank you. But Ian belabor the point there. But it's an important one is the importance of community, Kevin, and having like minded people who are on the same journey as you But of course, having some people that are a few steps ahead that you can learn from, and they can help you avoid some of those pitfalls that certainly come along the way
Unknown Speaker 27:00
while also recognizing that you're going to be a few steps ahead of somebody else. So is that imagination we give, don't we on the bridge across from being financially insecure to secure an independent? It is a bridge is always a gap? And of course we have our members visualize, don't we reaching out ahead of them being humble enough to ask for help. And not arrogant about that. And reaching behind him to help other people and what surprises? people, especially those who come from a corporate background? I think, is that how helpful people genuinely are not self serving Lee not in some kind of, you know, I need to give to get way, but just the way that people share knowledge, share contacts, share inspiration, you know, there's so much sharing going on. It's kind of a it's not woowoo it's not, it's not a cult. It's just people who are building wealth seem to be much more warm and engaging and predisposed to want to help other people just as they want to be helped themselves, don't you find?
Christian Rodwell 28:04
I do. I do and talking or sharing. We have had one of our members share on trustpilot this week. So why don't we quickly read out the latest review. And this is from Chris, who says a truly enriching journey with wealth builders, I'm totally impressed and inspired with the wealth builder service. They have truly excellent method, methodology, culture and community to help you on your wealth building journey to time and financial freedom. I've never seen an equivalent offering. And my only wish is that I discovered them 20 years ago, highly recommend start with the wealth builders podcasts, which have tons of value and go from there.
Unknown Speaker 28:44
Oh, well, that's very nice thing. Wealth builders didn't exist 20 years ago, of course, but mean I was doing things I was DIY and you're Chris, let's be honest, 20 years ago, but that's because there was no program. So it's thanks to the lessons that I learned and then laterally, Chris, with your great temper energy to help me get this documented and shared, that we've been able to create such an accessible program, you know, I was coaching or mentoring people really which what I do primarily for quite high premium prices. But it wasn't accessible to lots of people. And I was feeling frustrated that my goal of 50,000 people or football stadium full of wealth building people or looking to help people and being helped, just wasn't being fulfilled because you know, I can only probably deal with 5200 people max at a time. And I wasn't serving enough. So you know, thanks to you. And the remainder of our team Chris for bringing that more to life and because we can capture all the lessons and all the IP, we can make it accessible because not about me delivering it one on one.
Christian Rodwell 29:52
Yeah, no, it's been it's been a pleasure. And now of course, now one of the main reasons why we you know, evolved into the academy now. is to create that structured process that anybody can follow. And as you said, you know, it was all in all in your head, Kevin. And that's the process you followed. We know it's tried and tested, many, many people having success with it, but we've never really kind of got it into an accessible format where, you know, we have it now where hundreds of people can join and go through that together. So, you know, every month, we invite one of our members, and we talk through the roadmap that we have now our recurring revenue roadmap. And we always hear similar lessons. And again, we've heard some today from me, and because their principles, as we often say, that don't change, you have to go through these steps in the order, if you want to move from insecurity, to security to independence. And it all begins with a strong reason why, and that's certainly the case for me.
Unknown Speaker 30:47
Well, that reason why echoed my own didn't in many respects, the tragic death of somebody early, in his case, a thing, the difference was his, his relation was had taken decisions, hadn't they earlier to be kind of focused on their time and made a decision almost to retire early. For sure. My father didn't make it to retire early. And that was the big catalyst for me. So it's interesting that you don't have to have tragedy to have a catalyst. But usually, the catalyst is the thing that interrupts you from inertia, a reason to overcome inertia, that's an ROI aggress, another one of the little nuggets that come up from time to time. And you need that reason to overcome inertia in order for you to make a commitment to become financially independent. And that's what it takes, you know, it takes a commitment, it doesn't take a plan in the beginning, because you're not going to be confident yet, you're not going to be competent, yet, you just need to be committed. And as Dan Sullivan would say, you know, courageous, so you get committed, and then courage steps in and you have to be courageous, because you, when you start your wealth building journey, you don't know how you're going to make it. You don't, you've got to have a leap of faith, right? So it's just now we've got a pathway for people to follow. So it's no longer a leap of faith, because we've got a safety net, and we've got a path. So we teach them all the skills. So hopefully, you know, we're making a big difference in the lives of our members. And hopefully, they will help other people influence other people's lives, too,
Christian Rodwell 32:21
you know, so powerful in, you know, saying that had a stepfather not have made that decision to retire in his early 50s. And focus on his passion, which was photography, he never would have, would have would have made, it never would have had any time to enjoy that later life. And
Unknown Speaker 32:38
that's a sad tragedy for so many people, isn't it really. But it's nice to be thinking about, kind of what that passion that you have, or even just the imagination of Imagine you're financially independent, you've got all the money you could possibly spend. How do you want to spend your day? How do you want to spend your month? How do you want to spend you? Yeah, you know, what are the ingredients in that that would be important to you? And I think again, probably, you know, from his own admission, didn't quite do that at the start.
Christian Rodwell 33:09
Yeah, and, you know, I guess we heard from Bronwyn recently, didn't we? And, and she always said that it was a passion for her to travel. And so some people, you know, they're very clear about what that end goal looks like. And others, as you said earlier, you know, perhaps it's not, you just have to take that first step, you know, you have to get some momentum. And, you know, you don't always need to know what the end picture looks like, you just got to first step
Unknown Speaker 33:32
know, you're quite right, it helps if you do because it gives you something to look forward to. But and some people have that, you know, Bronwyn was very clear, I think, you know, we got a future podcast coming and we were one of our members is very clear on their passion, which is, you know, a particular hobby, a particular thing, they just love to do that they never found the time to do enough of whatever that means for you, you know, we're not talking about just beach surfing and playing golf, you know, talking about lots of things that people want to do to give back. And it could even just be a focus on your family, how to teach them and pass on the wisdom to them. That's just as good a purpose as any.
Christian Rodwell 34:12
Yeah. And I think a good lesson, but on out of the conversation with Ian is kind of keep it simple. And even if it wasn't following, you know, a particular process, he had chosen his pillar, which was property, he found a strategy that suited him well, which was the by refurb refinance. And he used some leverage, which was hope, capacity. And I mean, very, very quickly, within 22 months, he had reached his own, you know, financial independence level. So, you know, when you get clear and sometimes keeping it simple is the best way?
Unknown Speaker 34:45
Well, it certainly can be because we know one of the challenges for many people in all different wealth dynamics will approach in a different way. They'll they'll see the plethora of opportunity, the horn of plenty that it appears, you know, So many choices, not just in property, I mean, there's dozens of property strategies, dozens of investment strategies, dozens of business strategies, dozens of IP strategies, dozens of JV strategies, you know, if you compound that up in your brain, then all of a sudden you get overwhelmed. And people get stuck, or they get, you know, somehow, like a rabbit in the headlights. So having some process that you're enjoying, you can follow to get you to security, ideally, so that when you get to security, you can afford to give up the day job, which is what ended or give up the need to spend as much time let's say, not necessarily give it up. But you could spend less time and we've seen some of our members go to four days a week, and then three days a week, and so on. So they're giving themselves time. And in fact, you know, we're very passionate about this, Chris, we give our own staff, don't we time, every month to be able to pursue their own wealth building activities, as a sort of a benevolent employer. So, you know, we're pleased to be able to do that, because we know, most people in jobs just never find the time. Absolutely.
Christian Rodwell 36:05
Yeah. So we've talked a lot about community today. And of course, we've got our free community on Facebook. So, you know, if you're listening now, and you're not already a member, then do just search for wealth builders in facebook and join the community. And, you know, you can ask questions, you can see what other people are up to, and just build that first bit of confidence. Or if you're ready some way down the path, you know, perhaps connect and build some relationships with people who are doing other things in different pillars, different strategies. And that's what it's all about.
Unknown Speaker 36:37
I mean, I remember seeing a comment from somebody on joined our Facebook group. And it's, of course, it's free to join in, there's no promotion going on inside the community. It's just a genuine, open community for people talking about their wealth. They said, you know, we, we give people the option, don't we, if they want to have a conversation with us, they've got a burning question. There's something they've been putting off, there's something they've overlooked, you know, they know it, and they want to talk about it, we offer that opportunity, right from the get go. But remember, this person is saying, I just like to learn inside the community and be part of it. And I think that's a perfect answer. That's just great. just consume our information, we're very passionate about giving things for free. We want to do that, because we want to make ourselves accessible. And if the timing is right for you to get to know us more great, and if it isn't, just keep consuming the stuff until you find a pathway that you're willing to set off, ideally not in a DIY way, as we said earlier on. But whatever community you choose, find a community you resonate with, and you'll find it a much more enjoyable and less stressing experience, if you've got other people to talk to. Because let's face it, only 5% of the population build their wealth. So who are you going to talk to, you know, the rest of the population aren't going to make it so they're probably not interested in a conversation with you. They'll probably poopoo your plan to be financially independent. What that sounds risky, or are you sure you really want to do that? You know, there's all sorts of naysayers that go on, which can derail anybody. So find a community, get support, wherever you get it from, you know, we'll be happy for you to be in our community for free if that's what's useful for you.
Christian Rodwell 38:19
Yeah, so hopefully you enjoyed listening today to the conversation with Ben and discussing some of the dangers of building wealth in isolation. We'll be back again with another episode of wealth talk, same time, same place next week. Until then, my friend so yeah.
Unknown Speaker 38:36
We hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget that we are constantly updating our resources inside the wealth builders membership site to help you create, build and protect your wealth. Head over to wealth builders.co.uk slash membership right now for free access. That's wealth builders.co.uk slash membership.