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First Time Property Investor is for Australians who want to invest in property but feel stuck between too much information, conflicting advice, and the fear of getting it wrong. Get honest conversations, practical insights, and clear strategy to help you avoid costly mistakes and move forward with confidence.
Hosted by: Imtiyaz Rather from Hack Mortgages, Pete Theodorou from Mindset Property and Skye Taylor from Taylored Property. You get get the full picture from Mortgage Broking, Buyers Agency and Property Management.
Want to connect with us? ➜ https://linktr.ee/ftpi.pod
[00:00:00] Imti: Today's episode is a little bit different. We're not starting with rates or suburbs or property prices or anything like that. We're gonna be talking through a framework that's shaped a lot of the really big decisions in my own life, and for the last 10 years or so, it's helped guide me through every major milestone that I've faced.
It's something that I bring to every client conversation when they're starting their property journey and when they're at a key crossroads as well. It's the idea of Ikigai, and I tend to come back to it whenever I've got a big decision to make because it always seems to show you something different depending on the stage of life you're in.
It's like looking at a painting from a few different angles and seeing five or six different things. And for someone listening to this who's starting their property journey or they're in the middle of it or they're about to purchase, it's going to help you make those key decisions with clarity moving forward and know that you can commit to something long term and you're moving aligned with what your purpose is because that's what it's all about.
Now, Pete hasn't actually read the book, so what I'm gonna do is I'll explain the framework a bit first just so for you who's listening at the moment, you'll be able to understand it, but also then I can get Pete's reaction in real time as to how he thinks it would apply to his clients and helping people navigate the maze that is property investing. Because it's all about long-term decision-making while working with a plan that fits your life.
Now, in plain English, the framework is actually broken down into a diagram, so you're gonna have to try visualise this for a second, Pete. it's broken into three key parts. So think of three circles. One is what matters to you. So what are the things that are most important to you at a day-to-day level? What you're good at. So that could be, for example, for you, finding people, get amazing properties at amazing prices, and taking all the stress away during their journey. For the listener, it could be, they might be a teacher who loves educating young minds, right? And then what's useful in the real world? And then you've got an additional section of that which is what practically supports your life. So getting paid, what can you actually monetise? And all of those things when they overlap, what's important to you, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for, in the middle of that overlap tends to be your aligned sense of direction or your ikigai or your purpose. Pete, when I explain it to you like that, what stands out to you from an investing point of view when you're talking to clients daily?
[00:02:51] Pete: It'd have to be what matters to you. Mm-hmm. Because when you're investing, you gotta take the long-term approach. there's no more quick wins in investing in property as there have been in the past, and particularly now you need to take that long-term view. And the only way I think to actually continue towards that plan is to have an understanding of what matters to you and where you wanna land.
[00:03:09] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:03:09] Pete: So that to me would probably be number one from an investing point of view.
[00:03:12] Imti: Mm-hmm. And if you using this framework or trying to help a client through that journey, how do you think this framework could actually be useful to them when they're either feeling stuck or they're being pulled in multiple directions?
[00:03:25] Pete: Well, that's the thing. There's so much going on in the investing space at the moment. Everyone's got their own opinion, everyone's pulled different ways, family at barbecue, social media, and all that kinda stuff, and you do lose your sense of direction very quickly. I've just recently gone through that, and will continue to go through that-
[00:03:40] Imti: Yeah
[00:03:40] Pete: and have been through that over the last 10 years, and I'm sure you have as well.
[00:03:43] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:03:44] Pete: You'd have a grand plan, and then an opinion would come out and things would change. So I think making sure you're very clear on these guiding principles will help you navigate, I wouldn't say negativity, but the distractions that you are gonna face.
Because once you do kinda fall off that trajectory that you set in terms of what matters to you, things can get messy pretty quickly 'cause you'll make decisions that aren't really aligned to what matters to you, and that's when mistakes happen. That's where you sell early, buy the wrong asset, lifestyle gets impacted, and it just starts to fall apart.
[00:04:15] Imti: Mm-hmm. No, I wholeheartedly agree. I think the point of alignment is the overarching, right? It's if you are pushing in a direction where... I mean, if you're listening to this, I'm sure you've been in a job that you've hated before, right? You double down, you grit your teeth, and you keep moving forward because it's paying the bills or it's paying the bills well, and you might be good at it but it doesn't matter to you.
And so even though you're good at it-
[00:04:39] Pete: Mm
[00:04:39] Imti: ... and getting paid well, you feel severely out of alignment and you're just not happy with your day-to-day.
[00:04:45] Pete: Yeah. You can't level up. You're not going to level up.
[00:04:47] Imti: No. But even then, you may not even need to level up, right?
[00:04:50] Pete: Mm.
[00:04:51] Imti: It could be a situation where you could take less money, feel aligned, and be happier day to day and be able to commit to a long-term plan.
[00:04:59] Pete: Yeah. A- and even from money point of view, leveling up is also, from my point of view, is getting happier and happier.
[00:05:05] Imti: Mm.
[00:05:05] Pete: And often that does involved, you could take a pay cut, but you'll be more aligned.
[00:05:09] Imti: Mm.
[00:05:09] Pete: So to me, that's leveling up- Yeah ... because you're getting closer and closer to what makes you happy.
[00:05:13] Imti: Yeah. Bringing it back to, and I know we'll touch on it in a second, lifestyle and investment design in general, is that for most people, there's a point where making more or investing more actually doesn't bring you any more freedom or joy because you're able to live the life that you wanna live. Ikigai itself has helped me through multiple challenges through my life, whether it be career changes, deciding to start a corporate gig, deciding to leave a corporate gig, deciding to leave Sydney in the rear view mirror and move down to Adelaide, it's helped me navigate separations. It was the biggest driver for me to start the business. I was struggling with my own sense of purpose, and every single time that I am at a crossroads, I do crack out the book, and for anyone listening, it's 16 bucks at Big W, it's the best money you'll ever spend, and just revisit it. Even just the framework.
And once I do that, I come out of the process knowing which direction I need to be heading in. It may not be with 100% clarity, but I'll know that if I was at a fork in the road and there was a left or a right, I know, okay, yeah, I'll follow the road to the right and I'll eventually get to where I wanna get to.
[00:06:28] Pete: It's the mental clarity piece though, isn't it? People don't realise how much of this stuff occupies our mind.
[00:06:34] Imti: Mm.
[00:06:34] Pete: And then how much it impacts us to actually think differently-
[00:06:37] Imti: Yeah
[00:06:37] Pete: ... and objectively about the decisions that we make. It's freeing up your head space to
get back to the core of what's important.
[00:06:43] Imti: Yeah. And that head space piece is really important when we're talking about applying it to a first time property investor, is that that's a lot of mental load, right?
[00:06:52] Pete: It's huge.
[00:06:53] Imti: And what we see every day is actually just a lot of confusion, right?
Why do you think that is?
[00:06:59] Pete: It's kinda what I touched on before with everyone's opinion, really.
[00:07:02] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:03] Pete: And then that leads to second-guessing yourself, but also catastrophising what could be.
[00:07:08] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:08] Pete: you start to think, my uncle at the family barbecue has said, " don't invest in property," or, "Don't invest in that location. You should invest here." Then on social media what we're seeing is , "Don't buy your first home. You need to rent-vest." Or it's like, "Don't rent. Buy your first home." So you start to question everything.
[00:07:22] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:23] Pete: And it's just not healthy.
[00:07:25] Imti: That's where you see a lot of people, they're pulled away from their own priorities-
[00:07:29] Pete: Yeah
[00:07:29] Imti: by either comparison, urgency, or outside opinion, whether it be family, whether it be social media, or just that nagging voice inside them that says, "you need to be doing this," and not questioning it.
[00:07:42] Pete: Mm.
[00:07:43] Imti: Because most people don't need a 5, 10, 15 property portfolio to actually achieve the lifestyle goals that they want to achieve, right?
[00:07:50] Pete: Most people just go out wanting to have some form of passive income.
[00:07:54] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:54] Pete: And the most extreme normally is to, what is it, 100 grand or replace my income-
[00:07:59] Imti: Yeah
[00:07:59] Pete: ... or something like that, right? D-
[00:07:59] Imti: it's always the, yeah- It's- ... 100 grand's always the magic number ...
[00:08:01] Pete: y- which is achievable with two.
[00:08:03] Imti: Mm.
[00:08:03] Pete: But people forget that very quickly, when they see stuff online, and then all of a sudden they want five, six, seven, eight, 10 properties, 20 properties, because that's what the influencers are kinda pushing at the moment.
[00:08:14] Imti: Mm-hmm. It's a status thing, right? And ego. And we've both been on the other side of that, where we've both openly admitted that ego buying and going down that path was something that we did do. And- what we found, at least I know I found was that you didn't actually feel a sense of achievement.
It left you feeling pretty hollow and empty because bringing it back to that alignment piece, you're not actually doing the things that are important to you.
[00:08:41] Pete: Yep. Keep shifting the goalposts as well.
[00:08:43] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:08:43] Pete: It's that old thing of "I'll be happy when I buy my first investment property." Then you get it, you kinda downplay it and you're, "Oh, I could do another one. I'll be happy when I do that."
[00:08:51] Imti: Yeah.
[00:08:52] Pete: And you just continue to do that and push it, and you forget about what matters to you, so kinda bringing it back to the guiding principles of this whole podcast.
[00:08:58] Imti: Yeah. And I think that that's where, my million-dollar question to clients all the time is, how much is enough?
And I can see Pete smiling-
[00:09:06] Pete: Hmm ...
[00:09:07] Imti: at me at the moment because it's something that I have been constantly pestering him about the last few months.
[00:09:11] Pete: Yeah.
[00:09:12] Imti: where- For most people, even at the $100,000 figure, right, most people don't actually need that
[00:09:17] Pete: You don't
[00:09:18] Imti: if people looked at their lives and went, " I wanna be able to go on a couple holidays a year, cover part of my expenses, and I actually really like part of my job, I just wanna do it part-time so I have more time," which is usually what we come across, right?
[00:09:33] Pete: Yeah. as you were saying that, and I know I mentioned the 100K-
[00:09:35] Imti: Mm
[00:09:35] Pete: ... and replacing income, but that would be the majority.
[00:09:37] Imti: Yeah.
[00:09:38] Pete: And then the extreme would be-
[00:09:39] Imti: Mm
[00:09:39] Pete: ... replacing my income. That's always the nice-to-have.
[00:09:42] Imti: Mm. But the thing is, most people fall into, because of the outside opinions-
[00:09:46] Pete: Yeah
[00:09:46] Imti: "Oh, I need to replace my entire income."
[00:09:48] Pete: Yeah, yeah.
[00:09:49] Imti: And unless someone pulls them back in and goes What's the aligned life that you actually wanna live day to day, and how much does that actually cost? And do you actually wanna be not working at all and not doing anything?" And for most people, it's no, right?
they do wanna work, they do wanna contribute, and they wanna have the flexibility to live their life. And then very quickly that 100k becomes 50.
[00:10:11] Pete: Mm.
[00:10:11] Imti: Because all they want is two days a week back in their life so they can be more aligned.
[00:10:16] Pete: Yeah. Flexibility and choice, would be the, two key ones.
[00:10:19] Imti: Mm-hmm. And that's why I am so passionate about this concept, is that the question of why are you doing this and what is enough are probably the two anchoring points that I bring every client back to. And if you're listening to this, it's something that it's two very easy questions to ask, it's two very hard questions to answer, and it takes a lot of time, and it also changes all the time.
life stages change. you might get married, you might have kids, you might decide that you wanna run a marathon. I don't think that's on either of our lists. But as those priorities change, so does what day-to-day alignment and where you spend your time does.
And- Being able to be clear on that is what allows someone to execute an aligned investing strategy, right, Pete?
[00:11:07] Pete: Mm, definitely.
[00:11:08] Imti: And what do you think that looks like? in terms of if someone's listening to this, what does an aligned investing journey look like for them in real life?
[00:11:19] Pete: I think it's making sure all important parts of your life are relatively healthy.
[00:11:23] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:24] Pete: So for me, it would be sitting down and thinking, "Right, so I've got family, friends in one bucket."
[00:11:29] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:29] Pete: You've got your social life in one bucket. You got, your career in the other bucket. And then what would the last one be? It'd be hobbies, fun stuff, whatever it is. Sounds like- Travel, whatever it is, right?
whatever
gets you up and makes you excited
[00:11:41] Imti: 100%.
[00:11:41] Pete: Yeah.
[00:11:42] Imti: I definitely agree. I mean-
[00:11:43] Pete: Yeah
[00:11:43] Imti: ... hobbies is definitely the first one to go in a lot of these situations.
[00:11:47] Pete: Yeah.
[00:11:47] Imti: And it's one of those ones that most people actually suffer from the most once they get rid of them-
[00:11:51] Pete: Yeah
[00:11:51] Imti: 'cause they rely on everyone else-
[00:11:53] Pete: Yeah
[00:11:53] Imti: ... to fill their cup. and if your investing journey is actually taking away from those four buckets- Well, what are you actually doing it for? That's right,
[00:12:00] Pete: yeah. That's exactly where I was getting at. It's if you start to dip into any of those
Look, it, it depends on what point in time, right?
[00:12:06] Imti: Hmm.
[00:12:06] Pete: if you're trying to buy one or two properties, unfortunately the social and the hobbies may need to slowly-
[00:12:10] Imti: Yeah, they'll have to go for a little bit
[00:12:11] Pete: ... kind of dip at that, at that point in time.
[00:12:12] Imti: Yeah.
[00:12:12] Pete: Yeah, yeah. But when we look at an aligned journey, it's a 10-year journey.
[00:12:15] Imti: Hmm.
[00:12:16] Pete: So for me, it's family and friends, career doesn't take a hit. Maybe the social side, maybe the hobbies takes a little bit of a hit at that point in time, and there's a bit of an adjustment because you obviously got holding costs.
[00:12:25] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:26] Pete: But when we look at it over a 10-year period, it's just going to need to be for a few years-
[00:12:30] Imti: Yeah
[00:12:30] Pete: where those buckets might not be in alignment.
[00:12:32] Imti: Yeah. that's where it's important for anyone who's going on an investing journey and we see this trap happen all the time , where the first two years, even the first 18 months tend to be the hardest, and then the 12 months leading into that.
So the final point where you're saving for a deposit and in the first year of owning the property tend to be the most expensive. Once people get through those two years, that's usually when things start to settle down and things are on autopilot, and then they feel the itch to go again .
[00:12:58] Pete: Yeah.
[00:12:58] Imti: Because they're like, "Oh, that stress is missing from my life. It must be telling me that I need to go and do the next thing." And for a lot of people, if they need one investment property or two, or whatever it is, that's where the " what is enough?" conversation actually comes in. 'Cause, bringing it back to me reflecting on Ikigai, your natural instinct might be, "Oh, I need to go again."
But then if you can revisit a framework that actually makes you think about what direction you're going in, you might actually be like, "Oh, actually I can just spend this time sleeping in on Sundays- Mm ... ' cause I've got my head around things.
[00:13:31] Pete: Being okay with that.
[00:13:32] Imti: And being okay with that because I know that I'm heading in the direction that is most important to me, and I don't need more for the sake of wanting more.
[00:13:40] Pete: Yeah. It's hard though.
[00:13:41] Imti: Mm.
[00:13:41] Pete: when we talk about the 10 years that we've been investing, sounds a bit hypocritical, but we haven't done this.
[00:13:46] Imti: Oh, yeah.
[00:13:46] Pete: We haven't done it well.
[00:13:47] Imti: It's a battle.
[00:13:47] Pete: Yeah, it is. And we're only just seeing the benefits of doing it now, within our own lives, but it's still my recommendation for anybody starting investing.
[00:13:55] Imti: Mm.
[00:13:55] Pete: Because it's a different landscape now as well.
[00:13:57] Imti: Yeah.
[00:13:57] Pete: It's not what it was 10 years ago. And you can fall into the trap of always wanting more.
[00:14:02] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:02] Pete: And then 10 years goes really quick.
[00:14:04] Imti: Yep.
[00:14:04] Pete: Very quickly. And particularly if a lot of the things that people are saying that you're trying to do, build 10 property portfolios, it's not realistic, so you're gonna be chasing an unrealistic goal.
[00:14:13] Imti: Mm.
[00:14:13] Pete: And the impact on you mentally, physically, and all of that side of it, it's just not worth it.
[00:14:18] Imti: Mm. And- 'Cause you're
[00:14:19] Pete: never gonna reach it.
[00:14:20] Imti: No. Not to be morbid, but life's short, right? Yeah. And if you're just chasing this bouncing ball that actually doesn't even make you happy-
[00:14:28] Pete: Mm.
[00:14:28] Imti: what are you, what are we doing it for?
Yeah. And, and this is coming from, two people who have been on the opposite end of the spectrum. we... I know that part of the reason why Pete and I do this is because we kinda wish we had someone who had all the battle scars that we've accumulated over the last 10 years at the start of our journeys with us, because we would've done them completely differently.
[00:14:51] Pete: Yeah. There would've been a lot more alignment.
[00:14:53] Imti: Mm.
[00:14:53] Pete: You know what? I would even argue we probably would've been better off, because when you have alignment, mentally, physically, everything is just so much better, and that actually helps you progress a lot quicker, right?
Mm. you can't tell me if we were aligned over those 10-year period, better lifestyle and everything like that, I do think we'd be better off.
[00:15:08] Imti: 100%.
[00:15:08] Pete: Yeah.
[00:15:09] Imti: I would've plugged into a whole bunch of experts that I didn't on my journey. I would've prioritised time with certain people, working on my own mental health earlier.
So many things that would've been massive needle movers if I'd focused on the alignment piece sooner. And for someone listening to this, what we're really getting at is the framework and having something to actually work through- It deliberately slows you down, right? It's like when you jot down your thoughts on a piece of paper, I know not a lot of people are journaling people. I never was until I figured out how to do it in a way that my brain could comprehend it and actually stick to it. But I know that when I slow down and I take that time to actually deliberately think and unplug, I come out of it a lot clearer and a lot more aligned, and the Ikigai framework does that for you.
it does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of the key questions you need to ask yourself. because it's hard if someone goes, "Oh, what's your purpose and why are you investing?"
[00:16:11] Pete: Yeah.
[00:16:12] Imti: , How do you answer that on a 30-second impulse?
[00:16:14] Pete: You can't, because it'll be different day to day.
[00:16:17] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:17] Pete: Depending on what you're listening to and hearing and being told, it's so hard.
[00:16:21] Imti: And that's where for someone listening to this It's about focusing on the long-term journey and then working your way backwards. Yeah. Like, how do you want your life to look in 10 years' time? But then also, how do you want your life to look like during those 10 years?
And I think the during the 10 years is what a lot of people tend to neglect or underestimate, right?
[00:16:43] Pete: Yeah, and that's where I think the bucket analogy's great because-
[00:16:46] Imti: Mm ...
[00:16:46] Pete: something's gotta give. if you wanna
[00:16:48] Imti: Mm-hmm
[00:16:48] Pete: ... hit these massive aspirational goals, something needs to give, and if you're okay doing that, then that's okay. I mean, that's how a lot of people have made their success is because they were willing to give up the social bucket and the hobby bucket, and even more likely than not, the family bucket, too.
[00:17:02] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:03] Pete: So if you're okay with doing that, then that's fine, but that's where that all comes into the question really, doesn't it? And-
[00:17:08] Imti: Mm ...
[00:17:09] Pete: if you're willing to give that up, then great. If not, then you gotta get yourself in alignment.
[00:17:12] Imti: Yeah, and I think a lot of people, though, won't realise that that's the stuff that they need to sacrifice. then you hit a fork in the road where you go, "Well, unfortunately, in my space, very often I'm dealing with clients who are going through separations and things like that, and a lot of the time it does boil down to, the money and the budget of it all, and that they were in a good position and then something changed, or they weren't able to...
When they were planning their journey, one of them might have hated their job, and that's what they were relying on the whole time, and-
[00:17:46] Pete: That's a huge one, isn't it? you get a couple of years into the strategy and, and they've had enough, and-
[00:17:50] Imti: Yeah
[00:17:50] Pete: ... they wanna quit the job.
[00:17:51] Imti: And then the income drops 30%, lifestyle gets-
[00:17:55] Pete: Leverage yourself
[00:17:55] Imti: extremely tight.
[00:17:56] Pete: Yeah.
Yep.
[00:17:57] Imti: You've leveraged yourself up, and then that has a, compounding destructive impact on everything that you've built.
[00:18:04] Pete: Yep.
[00:18:04] Imti: And that's, to me, where the importance of aligned investing comes in. If the journey isn't anchored to your long-term goals, something will break along the way, and it won't break in a small way.
[00:18:19] Pete: What kind of questions do you think people should ask themselves?
[00:18:22] Imti: For me, the most basic, but again, one of the hardest questions is what does a day look like where I'm happy?
[00:18:28] Pete: Mm.
[00:18:28] Imti: What are the things that I do in that day every single day? And that is probably the anchor point for how much wealth you need to build, how aggressive your strategy needs to be, whether you even need to be investing in the first place.
Because you might realise that actually the things that I wanna achieve and the daily joy aren't actually all that complicated, so then what am I sacrificing all this time, money, and effort for?
[00:18:54] Pete: Mm.
what's another question that you would think of, Pete? We've talked about joy, we've talked about the financial side as well, around, if someone left their job or for even if it's a single person, it's "Can I take six months off for the year and be okay?" You know-
[00:19:05] Imti: Mm-hmm
[00:19:05] Pete: ... 'cause they wanna travel and stuff like that.
So we've touched on, that side of it. It's planning for the worst.
[00:19:10] Imti: Mm.
[00:19:11] Pete: So let's say everything goes to shit.
[00:19:14] Imti: Yep.
[00:19:14] Pete: Right? Property's not tenanted, you lose your job, interest rates are high. Yep. Stuff like that. Is that gonna derail you?
[00:19:21] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:21] Pete: Is your investing alignment going to be derailed because there might be a six-month period of- everything going wrong? But that's when your buffers come into place, right?
[00:19:28] Imti: Mm.
[00:19:29] Pete: That's when you have your cash reserves, and if you've got that, that also forms part of, your alignment, too.
[00:19:33] Imti: Yeah. And that's the thing, right? And I'm not saying that anyone in the industry does things the right way and things the wrong way.
We just have a certain philosophy that we believe in, and that's why a lot of times we spend a lot of time getting clients to reduce their budgets, slow down a little bit, keep a little bit more cash in the bank, pay extra per month for insurance. The amount of clients that probably get sick of me mentioning them dying to them or needing income protection is,next level.
But, I reflect on my career pre-broking, and that was my day-to-day that I was exposed to, right, was people who always were in that situation, and trying to get them through that, and they didn't have someone to tell them to stop and slow down and prioritise what's important, and make sure all these risk guardrails are in place so that it's a sustainable journey.
Because it is, it's a really long walk. It's not a sprint.
[00:20:26] Pete: Yeah. Yeah, and then can you imagine, like, when you've developed this strategy and you're in alignment and you've got your joy, you can take a hit with the income. You can still-
[00:20:33] Imti: Mm
[00:20:33] Pete: ... travel. if everything goes to shit, you're fine, 'cause you got your safety buffers.
[00:20:37] Imti: Yeah.
[00:20:37] Pete: There's no way that alignment piece falls off.
[00:20:40] Imti: Yeah. And I wanna bring this home with an example of one of the decisions this helped me make that financially, on paper, worst possible decision I could have made, but from a life and alignment perspective, best decision I've ever made in my life.
And it actually came down to selling an investment property. prior to starting my business, I was in corporate gig, good money, good benefits, worked a nine-day fortnight, did 30 to 35 hours a week. Like, all the stuff that on paper you think would make you happy, but I was miserable, and at that point, utilising that salary and all of the things, I did have a few properties that were doing fairly well and revisiting Ikigai, reading it, and understanding where I wanted to go, and I guess my overall belief that, life isn't about dollars and cents.
I ended up selling one of the investment properties to quit my job to cashflow the business. and f- for the listener who may not know much about, the broking industry and stuff like that, generally when you go out on your own, you want 12 to 18 months worth of expenses under your belt.
and doing this exercise gave me the courage to pull the trigger on that and pursue this dream, not knowing financially where I would end up on the other side of it. But at least I could go, " I did the thing," and worst case scenario, I end up back in a corporate gig. But if I only looked at that through a financial lens and what is my return long term and what is this arbitrary long term wealth thing that I want to achieve, that is probably the worst financial decision that I've actually made. Because 18 months later, that property kept doing amazing things, probably grew by an extra 150, 200 grand. Those two years, my net worth could have been probably $400,000 to $500,000 further along because I would've been working on a really good salary, would've had that property growing in the background.
But Being able to step back and work through the Ikigai framework in a really difficult time period gave me the confidence to just go, " You know what? Whatever. It'll land where it'll land, but this is something that I need to do." Pete, anything you wanna add before we wrap up?
[00:22:49] Pete: Well, this is all new to me.
[00:22:50] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:50] Pete: So I think I've been indirectly doing it-
[00:22:52] Imti: Mm-hmm ...
[00:22:53] Pete: but just didn't have any kind of framework. I let myself get buried in all the information and put my head in the sand at times, and I think this definitely would've been able to pull me out.
And I guess my phase of life now is I'm transitioning more towards cashflow. I'm done with acquiring, resi properties that are gonna cost me all this money and gonna get married soon, and then we'll probably have kids one day. So I'm definitely entering into a different phase of life.
[00:23:15] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:16] Pete: And I think this book is gonna be unreal for that. I think it's gonna continue to keep me grounded.
[00:23:21] Imti: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:21] Pete: So I will be going out to Big W- Yep ... and buying this book. not that we're sponsoring Big W, but anywhere I could get my hands on it. And start to apply it because, and if anyone's been listening to the podcast, a couple episodes back we talked about the stuff I've been going through with my next stages of investing. So yeah, this is gonna be great. I'm gonna definitely apply this, to help me transition into that next phase.
[00:23:40] Imti: Amazing. Well, I'm glad you were able to take something out of it, and I hope that if you've been listening, you're able to as well. In all honesty, best $16 you'll ever spend. always just lives next to my office desk. And, I'll wrap us up there, really wanted to just make sure that we covered the emotional and long-term thoughts, feelings, considerations when it comes down to actually having an aligned investing journey because most people realise that they don't need as much as they need to and once they come to that realisation, the journey actually becomes a lot more enjoyable and a lot more flexible.
So Pete, thank you and if you've made it this far, thank you for listening and we'll catch up with you all next week.