Now here is a question you may have... So who advises The Mug Millionaire?

Now, this is a most interesting question.

I have a number of advisors for legal purposes, personal tax accounting, business tax accounting and for some equity investing. However, I have always been one that would

read books, read investment articles, observe what is happening around me and in the economy, listen to podcasts, subscribe to a few independant quality equity advice newsletters and I would try to look at and understand the macroeconomic trends.

Being a bit of a "mug", it was not easy for me and I had to do a lot (and I mean a real lot) of learning before I could actually even partially interpret the informtion I was looking at. I swear, it was not easy, and I asked lots and lots of questions, researched lots of information etc in order to get up-to-speed.

I am rather selective as to who I listen to.

The reason for this is because I know that 95% of people live at a mediocre level of wealth, or below. So obviously, choosing who to listen to, and take advice from, becomes very difficult.

A few examples for you:

1. I was once advised by an accountant that I have too much invested in the one asset class (property) and I should diversify into other investments such as bonds and shares. - I never followed that accountants advice and stuck with what I knew, what worked for me. Remember what Warren Buffett said?... "Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes little sense for those who know what they are doing".

2. I was told (many times) by my tax accountant, that the most tax effective way to invest is through my superannuation fund (retirement fund). Yes. it is, but the catch was that I could not access the fund until I reached 62 years of age. What if I wanted to retire earlier than 62? So, instead, I decided to invest BOTH inside my super fund, and outside my super fund so if I had decided to retire at an earlier age, I had the option to do so! As it turns out, I was fortunate that I did invest that way, otherwise I would still be waiting to retire, as I have yet to turn 62!

3. I was advised that investment properties were not the most effective investment. The person that made that statement had never invested in such a way, had not considered my needs (I wanted a set-and-forget investment) and had not takem my situation into consideration. By the way, that person ended up duplicating what I had done and also began investing in property.

In my opinion, I worked hard and took risks in business to make the business profitable and generate enough cash to invest.

• As such, I had to take responsibility for my future and my family's future.

• I had to take the responsibility of how our money was invested and put to work.

• I had to become financially literate and smarter with regard money, in order to do the best job possible with the investments.

• I was the only one that knew my circumstances, my expectations, my goals and aspirations. As such I came to realise that it was up to me to decide what was needed as an investment strategy and an investment vehicle.

• I needed to create an investment plan and stick to it.

• I decided that I was NOT handing over control of my family's financial future and financial independence to some "fund manager", who, if they lost my investment capital, would not care. This is what the masses do - they hand over their cash, and hope that the fund manager does the right thing, looks after their money and makes it grow. That is NOT always the case.

• I decided if I was going to lose money in investments, then I was going to be the one to lose it and take responsibility for the loss. I just needed to study hard, learn as much as possible in order to ensure I became financially smart enough to minimise losses, and if or when they happened, make sure I learned from my mistakes so I could do better next time.

The first decade of my investment journey saw a lot of mistakes. I saw a lot of misinformation, much of which I became smart enough to ignore.

I learned in that first decade, that my wife and I thought so much more differently than almost everyone we knew. We began to understand that we were entrepreneurs, investors and headed for serious financial security. We were well down the path that 95% or more of the population in our country will never travel.

As a result of this understanding, we also realised that we were smarter than 95% of the people we knew.

Now, I know that I can appear to be (and sound like) quite an arrogant, critical, cynical and narcissistic person. Maybe I am.

However, in my defence, I have spent a lot of time and money improving myself and my skills over the years, so much more than anyone else I know.

I know what it has taken to create our wealth, and what it took to be in the top 0.5% of Australia's wealthy.

So, I am more than happy to dismiss any "investment advice" by someone that knows less than I do. I am also happy to dismiss any "business advice" from people that have never run a profitable business.

I have stated it in an earlier lesson, that if you are in the top few percent of the wealthy, then you walk your path alone, and your path will be heading in a completely different direction that is different to the masses. Different to the 95% of the people that will forever live in mediocrity, or worse.

That first decade shaped my mindset, my investment philosophies and also moulded my investment strategy. Because I developed a cynical view of the financial and investing world, and I questioned any financial "advice" I was given (no matter the source), I became more independent, more analytical, and as such wanted to learn more so I could handle our own investments.

So, who advises me?? Well, you may be surprised at the answers below, but here they are in no particular order:

• I was advised by the Rich Dad Company for many years, as I learned about positively geared property investing. I had read every book written by Robery Kiyosaki and his team, listened to numerous podcasts 9and still do), did online courses as well as a course studying directly under Robert Kiyosaki. This was a huge learning curve. The cost of all this was around $12,000. Value to me... millions!

• I subscribe to an independent equities newsletter - The Wellington Letter. The macroeconomc information supplied in this newsletter is, in my opinion, comprehensive and invaluable. It is US based, but generally what happens in the US equity markets affects the Australian equities.

• I have had advice and lessons, in my early equity investing days, from my youngest son. Though it is still early in his investing journey, his knowledge base is solid and he keeps within his investment knowledge boundaries. We have some great discussions where we use each other as a sounding board.

• I have had such "sounding board" discussions with my eldest son also. Both my sons have quite logical minds, and we have always involved them in our investment and business journey. The result is that they understand most the concepts discussed on this site. I do believe that we think alike most of the time.

• My wife, has been an invaluable advisor. She understands our goals, our needs and our family's and business financial needs. She is a logical thinker and great advisor. Her input is always encouraged and valued. Funnily enugh, very few people are actually aware of how smart she is in the areas of accounting, finance and investing!

• I read a lot of material every day. Anything to do with the world economy, the Australian economy, latest trends and research, and macroeconomic data are all of interest to me.

• I try to study what great investors do, and if their investment style, strategies and thinking align with mine, then I will try to emulate what they do. Investors like Warren Buffet I find fascinating.

• History. Now here is an arbitrary advisor! History is a great advisor. History repets itself because humans fail to learn from history. 95% of we humans will repeat the same mistakes, generation after generation. 95% of humans fail to see the investment cycles that repeat every decade or so. If you take the time to study financial history, then you will have a huge edge over 95% of the population.

• When it comes to the area of taxation: My tax accountant is my advisor and the person we ask questions of.

• When it comes to the area of law: We have lawyers that we use, depending on what the matter is concerned with.

• Insurance matters are handled by our insurance broker.

• Property management advice comes from our chsen property manager that manages the specific property in question.

• Investment advice (outside property) is where I do my own due diligence with regard to where I choose to invest. My wife also provides input in this matter.

However, nowadays, I think my strength lies in my ability to analyse a situation based on the data available, see through the "hype" and make a judgement call and be willing to "pull the trigger" on an investment decision.

I don't always get it right, but nowadays I get it right much more often than I get it wrong.

Though I do listen to some advice (not a lot mind you!), I have reached a point now where I have made enough mistakes in the past, and learned enough through those mistakes, that I can now make my own correct and profitable financial decisions based upon my experience, and the data available.

My biggest challenge, is finding someone that knows something that I do not, and that can advise me accordingly AND then be able to justify, and explain, in plain easy-to-understand English, why they have chosen that particular piece of advice.

They need to know their justifications, and be able to back it with facts, data, trends etc, Their advice needs to stand up to scrutiny - becaue, as you know, I will ask those questions... "why, why, why"!!!

Yep, I know I may sound arrogant, but that has come about because I have dealt with way too many time wasters and dummies over the decades - and time is our most valuable resource and I prefer not to waste it!

The one thing I do more than most people is keep an open mind.

Now this does NOT mean I believe everything I hear. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I will scrutiise everything I hear, but I always will listen to all ideas and concepts.

However, nowadays, I do follow one of Warren Buffett's famous quotes.... "You've got to keep control of your time, and you can't unless you say "no". You can't let people set your agenda in life".