Bulletproof Investing

CHAPTER 1Losing my best mate

I lost my dad, my best mate, in March 2019. He was just 59 years old. He died tragically and unexpectedly when he was hit by a train in suburban Melbourne. The impact killed him instantly. Dad's death is by far and away the hardest and most traumatic experience I have ever had to deal with.

My father was an ebullient character who lived life to the full. He was optimistic, generous and energetic — the life of every party. But not even those closest to him — my mum, his partner (Mum and Dad had separated at this point), his brothers and sisters, his own children — knew of his personal challenges until the end.

Despite having solid, well-paying jobs for most of his career, Dad never quite reached the point of being in control of his money. Financial independence continually eluded him and, such was his anxiety around money that, for 30 years straight, he took tablets nightly just to get to sleep.

Dad and Mum lived a rollercoaster lifestyle, often devoid of financial stability. There were gambling debts, two failed businesses, a Part 10 insolvency and two bankruptcies interspersed with periods of financial success and solidarity. They owned their home on four separate occasions but, eventually, the ongoing absence of certainty and order took its toll.

Dad moved out of our family home when my parents separated at the end of 2006, just as I was entering my final year of high school. I lived with Mum and my two sisters until I graduated, but there was ...