Aussie Firebug
by Aussie Firebug
My name's Matt, I'm a country boy for regional Victoria who is on track to reach Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) by my mid-thirties. I interview interesting people on topics relating to financial independence. You can learn more about the FIRE movement in Australia here https://www.aussiefirebug.com/start-here/
Episodes
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101. Goodbye For Now
After 10 years of Aussie Firebug, I’m stepping back, with October 2025 marking both my final net worth update and the point we reached financial independence. My priorities have shifted away from FIRE content towards family, business, and a more intentional approach to spending. I’m taking an...
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100. Pete Adeney - Mr. Money Mustache
Today’s episode is a special one - it’s the 100th episode of the show. I just want to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who’ve supported the podcast over the past 10 years. Whether you’ve been here from the start or only recently discovered the show, your messages, reviews,...
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99. Ben Felix - Rational Investing, Market Efficiency & Building Wealth the Smart Way
This week, I’m joined by Ben Felix, Chief Investment Officer at PWL Capital and co-host of the Rational Reminder podcast. Ben is best known in the FIRE community for his YouTube channel, which has nearly 500K subscribers and features insights on investing, financial decision-making, and living a...
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98. Alan Donegan - Building Businesses Without Debt & The Rebel Way to Financial Independence
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Alan Donegan - co-founder of Rebel Business School and host of the Rebel Entrepreneur Podcast. Alan and his wife Katie reached financial independence in 2019, and since then they’ve been travelling the world, teaching people how to start businesses debt-free...
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97. Andrew Page - Strawman
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Andrew Page - founder and Managing Director of Strawman.com. With over 20 years’ experience as an analyst, commentator, and private investor, Andrew is a well-known voice in the Australian investing community. Before launching Strawman, he worked at The…
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96. Evan Lucas - Mind Over Money
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Evan Lucas - behavioural economist, financial commentator, author of Mind Over Money, and former Head of Strategy at InvestSMART. Some of the topics we dive into are: How the increase in dual income households is reshaping family dynamics. (00:16:03) How we…
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95. Pete Wargent - Shares, Property and FIRE
Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Pete Wargent—investor, author, market analyst, and one of Australia’s earliest FIRE pioneers. Originally from the UK, Pete reached financial independence by age 33 after building a portfolio of shares and property across both Australia and the UK. Since then,...
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94. Andy Darroch - Independent financial advice
Today on the podcast, we have Andy Darroch, an Independent Financial Adviser and Director of Independent Wealth Advice. Andy is one of the very few truly independent advisers in Australia—less than 1% fall into that category. After time at Macquarie, Wilson HTM, and Deloitte, he started his own...
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93. Mark LaMonica - Are we being ripped off by super?
Today on the podcast, we have Mark LaMonica, CFA, a Director at Morningstar and co-host of the Investing Compass podcast. Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having spent time in both the US and Australia, which gives him a unique perspective on their financial systems and…
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92. How FIRE Changed Everything - But Not the Way I Expected
It’s been a decade since I started down the FIRE path, and life looks very different these days - especially since becoming a dad. In this episode, I reflect on how early retirement gave me something more valuable than money: time. But it also left me unexpectedly restless. I talk about...
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91. Amy and Matt from FI Freedom Retreats
Welcome back to the Aussie Firebug Podcast, the financial independence podcast for Australians, where I interview interesting people on topics relating to financial independence. Today on the podcast we have Amy and her partner Matt from FI Freedom Retreats, a five-day financial independence...
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90. Ana Kresina - Kids Ain't Cheap
Today we're joined by Ana Kresina, Head of Product and Community at Pearler and the Co-host of the 'Get Rich Slow Club' and 'ETFs for Beginners,' podcasts. She’s also just become a published author with the book “Kids Ain't Cheap”. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are: Ana’s FIRE...
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89. Terry - Wealth Time Freedom (WTF)
Today's episode is something a bit different. Terry, the host of the Wealth Time Freedom (WTF) podcast interviewed me a few months ago. The response was so positive from that episode that I decided to repost it on my show. In this episode, Terry asks me about becoming a dad, my recent pivot with...
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88. Captain FI - Financially free at 29
Today, my guest is fellow FIRE enthusiast/podcaster/blogger, Captain FI! He’s actually been on the podcast before but I had to take that episode down due to ASIC’s 2022 guidelines. Cap came and stayed at the Firebug household after attending the Rask event in my hometown. It was a lot of fun...
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87. Clayton - My Accountant
Today, my guest is none other than my accountant, Clayton! Clayton and I have talked about doing this podcast for a while. I pay him thousands of dollars each year to help with tax planning, structuring our investments and businesses and other strategic decisions that ultimately help me reach…
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86. FIRE/Life Update
I've been thinking about this post for the past 18 months, and to be honest, it's long overdue. So much has changed over the last 11 years since I first stumbled across FIRE. And if the podcast's feature image wasn't obvious enough, I recently became a father. So, now is the perfect time for a…
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85. Mr. 1500 - Retired Early at 43
Today my guest is Carl Jensen who is better known in the FIRE community as Mr. 1500. He’s a family guy living in Colorado with his wife and two young children and managed to retire at the ripe old age of 43. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are: The story behind the name "Mr. 1500"...
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84. Tony - My Dad
Today’s episode is very special to me personally. I’m speaking with my dad about how he grew up and what money and life lessons he learnt along the way. He’s probably had the biggest impact on how I view the world (along with my mum) and set the foundations early on for me to be in the position…
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83. Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley - The Property Couch
I’m excited today to be having a conversation with Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley who co-host the very popular podcast called The Property Couch. Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are: How Ben and Bryce originally made a connection (00:02:00) Property investing guidelines and...
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82. Dr Toni Lindsay - The Certainty Myth
My guest today is Dr Toni Lindsay. Toni is a clinical psychologist who works primarily with people who are at the end of their life or have a severe illness (usually young people!). In her own words: “My work has shaped how I think about all this FIRE stuff!”. Toni is also the author of multiple...
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81. Super Changes Debate - Scott Phillips vs Cameron Murray - Part 2
Following on from the previous episode, this is part 2 of the debate. There’s been a few potential Super changes put forth by the Albanese government lately and I wanted to get two different viewpoints on the podcast to debate the pros and cons of the changes. I also wanted to talk about Super as…
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80. Super Changes Debate - Scott Phillips vs Cameron Murray - Part 1
I’m so excited for this one today. There’s been a few potential Super changes put forth by the Albanese government lately and I wanted to get two different viewpoints on the podcast to debate the pros and cons of the changes. I also wanted to talk about Super as a high-level concept. What exactly...
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79. Queenie Tan - Invest with Queenie
Today my guest is Queenie Tan. She’s a 26-year-old Sydneysider who has amassed over 350K followers on various social media platforms. Raised by a single dad in Sydney, Queenie was earning $400 a week after she moved out of home at just 19. A few years later she was able to save a $100,000…
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78. The Mad Fientist - Life After Financial Independence
My guest today is Brandon Ganch who is better known in the FIRE community as the Mad Fientist. Brandon is an ex-computer programmer turned blogger and podcaster who reached financial independence at the ripe old age of 34 with his wife Jill. It’s always a pleasure to speak with Brandon as one of…
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77. Liz Thames - Mrs Frugalwoods
Today my guest is Liz Thames who is better known as Mrs Frugalwoods. Liz is a mother of two who lives with her husband Nate on a 66-acre homestead in rural central Vermont USA. She’s the author of the popular FIRE book called “Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple...
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76. Tim Washington - Vehicle-to-Grid and the Energy Network of the Future
Today I’m talking with the Chair of the Australian Electric Vehicle Council, Tim Washington. Tim has also co-founded two companies - JET Charge, who specialise in supplying and installing EV Chargers and Charge Fox, Australia’s largest EV charging network. EVs have been a hot topic in the FIRE...
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75. Scott O'Neill - Investing in Commercial Property
Today I’m welcoming back property investor Scott O’Neill to the podcast. Scott and his wife are self-made multi-millionaires that created $300K in passive income by 28. Since Scott was last on the show, I received a fair amount of emails asking me to get him back to give a more practical guide on...
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74. Jeff Speck - Walkable City
Today my guest is city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck. Originally trained as an architect, Jeff is most famous within the FIRE community for his award-winning 2012 book: ‘Walkable City: How Downtown Saves America, One Step at a Time’. It’s amazing how such a small detail like walkability…
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73. Kate Campbell - The Importance of Taking Calculated Risks
Today I’m talking with financial educator and podcast host Kate Campbell. Kate grew up in country Victoria and joined the defence force as a teenager before changing careers to finance and investing later on. She’s probably best known in the FIRE community as a co-host for many of the very…
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72. Dave Gow - Strong Money Australia Book
Today we welcome back Dave Gow who retired at the ripe old age of 28. He’s better known online as Strong Money Australia where he blogs about early retirement and how to live a happier life. It’s a really light-hearted chat today where we mainly talk about Dave’s new book which will be available…
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71. Steve McKnight - From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 Years
Today is a very special episode because if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be chatting to Steve McKnight on my own podcast, I would have never believed you. Steve is a professional investor, media commentator and online entrepreneur. But he’s probably most famous in the FIRE community…
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70. Entrepreneur Brad Smith - Starting a Company at 18
Today I’m talking with Brad Smith. Brad is an entrepreneur and former young Australian of the year for Tasmania who founded a motorcycle company Braaap in 2005 at the ripe old age of 18. Entrepreneurship is sometimes popularised as a quicker way to reach FIRE with the added benefit of doing...
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69. FinFest 2022 & Sydney FIRE Meet-up with Luke
Today I'm joined by my high schoolmate Luke. Luke and I attended FinFest and the Sydney FIRE meet-up over the weekend. I thought it would be fun to recap the event/meetup because we both had a blast. Some of the topics we cover in today's episode are: The FinFest event (02:51) The presentations…
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68. Economist Dr Cameron Murray - Scrapping Super, Affordable Housing, Inflation and Political Corruption
Today I’m talking with Dr Cameron Murray. Cameron is a father of two currently living in Brisbane and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney. You may have seen Cameron in a collection of print media outlets and in TV programs such as Q&A on ABC. This is a big episode today because...
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67. Noel Whittaker - Australian Personal Finance Legend
Today my guest is a legend in the Australian personal finance space. Noel Whittaker has been educating Aussies in money management and investing for over 50 years. He’s probably most famous for his international bestselling book "Making Money Made Simple" which has sold over a million copies...
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66. Scott O'Neill - Self-made $300K in passive income by 28. Marketing BS or the real deal?
I have an interesting episode for you guys today and I think you’re really going to like it. My guest today is Scott O’Neill. Scott bought his first investment property in 2010 with a $60K deposit after saving for 5 years. Just 8 years later, Scott and his wife had 28 properties generating $300K…
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65. My Efficient Electric Home (MEEH) with Tim Forcey
Today I’m chatting with chemical engineer/home energy advisor Tim Forcey. He’s probably known best in the FIRE community for creating the extremely popular Facebook group, My Efficient Electric Home (MEEH) which currently has over 65,000 members. I’ve always said one of the most common traits in...
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64. Starting Your Career: Big4 vs Gov with Jeremy
Today we’re talking about two popular career paths - starting out at one of the big four or going into a government role. The Big Four is the nickname used to refer collectively to the four largest professional services networks in the world. These include Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and...
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63. Succession Planning with Terry Waugh
Today we’re talking about succession planning with the one and only Terry Waugh. This is a pretty big topic but we’ll be focusing in on areas such as: What is succession planning and why should we care? (02:22) What are some of the available options for succession planning? (04:19) Wills (07:06)...
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62. How to Vet Financial Advisors with Phil Harvey from PIFA
Have you ever been ripped off by a financial advisor? Today’s podcast is all about identifying the tactics financial advisors use that put their interests ahead of yours. Joining me in this discussion is Phil Harvey. He’s an independent financial advisor and one of the founding members of PIFA...
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61. Matt Ridley - The Rational Optimist
My guest today is Matt Ridley, a British science writer, journalist and businessman who holds a PhD from Oxford in Biology. He’s worked for many famous publications such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and The Times (London). Matt is probably best known within the FIRE community for his...
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60. Second Hand Electric Vehicles - Good Car Co.
In this episode we’re not talking about money or investing but rather touching on the sustainable side of the FIRE movement. Today my guest is Anthony Broese van Groenou, a sustainability expert, environmental scientist, PhD researcher and the co-founder of the Good Car Co. This company's goal is...
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59. Terry Waugh - Debt Recycling
Today I’ve invited Terry Waugh back on podcast to talk about a topic that’s very popular in the Aussie FIRE community. I recently published an article about how we (Mrs Firebug & I) are Debt Recycling and have received a lot of questions from the community about the details of how it all works....
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58. Mark Monfort - Crypto, Web3 and DeFi
This episode is a follow up on my previous conversation with Vijay Boyapati about Bitcoin. Today Mark Monfort joins me to talk about other Crypto currencies, Web3 and DeFi. Mark has worn many hats in his career working as an equities and macroeconomic analyst in Melbourne and London and also…
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57. Bill Perkins - Die with Zero
Today I have Bill Perkins on the podcast who is the author of the very popular book titled “Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life.” The book challenges a few core FIRE beliefs and has definitely had an impact on the way I’m modelling for my retirement. Some of the…
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ASIC Crush Independent Content Creators & the End of Ask Firebug Fridays
Today’s episode is a summary of my blog post titled “ASIC Crush Independent Content Creators & the End of Ask Firebug Fridays”. The new ASIC guidelines have major implications for content creators in the FIRE and personal finance communities. This is why I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions...
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56. Semi-retirement with Mrs Firebug
I have a really fun podcast for you guys today. It’s been 5 years since she was on, but I’ve finally managed to get Mrs Firebug back on the podcast. Sometimes it’s nice just to stop, turn around and look back at how far you’ve come. I thought it would be cool to get a life update from her...
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We Bought Bitcoin
Today’s episode is a summary of my “We Bought Bitcoin” article which is all about why we have decided to buy Bitcoin and how Bitcoin plays a part in our financial independence strategy. Some of the topics I cover are: Post-crash and General Feelings (04:51) Down the Rabbit Hole (06:46) Risk Verse...
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55. John Pidgeon - Investing in Property and Tips for First Home Buyers
My guest today is John Pidgeon. John is probably known best as the co-host of the very popular podcast, ‘My Millennial Property’ and has been investing in real estate for over 20 years. I had so much fun with this episode because John and I bounce around all different topics and we even get some...
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54. Terry & Ryan - Passive Income Project
Today I’m chatting with Terry & Ryan from the Passive Income Project podcast. I’ve been listening to their show for a few years now and what I really like is their emphasis on the psychology of investing and money. They’ve recently gone deep into the world of crypto in their latest podcast series...
About this show
My name's Matt, I'm a country boy for regional Victoria who is on track to reach Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) by my mid-thirties. I interview interesting people on topics relating to financial independence. You can learn more about the FIRE movement in Australia here https://www.aussiefirebug.com/start-here/
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Aussie Firebug
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