33 - Lacey Filipich on Life, Money, Mini-retirements and Death

I first heard of Lacey after she gave a TEDx talk at the University of Western Australia in 2018 on the concept of mini-retirements, that is, taking regular sabbaticals throughout a career as part of a genuine commitment to work life balance, and I thought it was brilliant.

Lacey was so genuine and brutally honest about her life experience and struggles working in such a high stress operational role in the mining industry. Listening to her talk about trying to balance her career, family life and deteriorating personal health issues really struck a chord with me as it sounded all too familiar.

Laceys TEDx talk has nearly reached one million viewers on YouTube, and I still get goosebumps every time I watch it.

Lacey is the Author of Money School, a book she founded with and dedicated to her late mother Fran. Lacey credits Fran for much of her financial success; from encouraging her to save from a young age, helping her early business ventures through to gently nudging her into rethinking an expensive first car purchase into a deposit on an apartment at only 19 years old.

Lacey continues to run Money School to honor Fran’s legacy. Her mission is to teach young people the skills they need to become financially independent, in line with Frans motto ‘It is never too late to start on the path to financial independence’.

Money School tackles a pretty huge but often neglected part of FIRE - that is, what does the RE part even mean? Vicki Robbins famously said, "Financial Independence is just the beginning, and I love Laceys take on what comes next.

I love their book so much that I have since bought dozens of copies to give away to friends and family, and it's a regular feature for my online giveaways. It is a brilliant and practical guide on how to work towards becoming financially independent and time rich, which has even got some people calling her the ‘female version of the barefoot investor’

I felt a huge sense of connection to Lacey and her story. Learning a bit more about her, I found out that not only was she a great public speaker and a talented writer, but she was also a savvy entrepreneur and bloody great with her money.

I also found out that Lacey is probably one of the nicest and most compassionate human beings around. She has personally helped me through some difficult periods in my life, like helping me to navigate my parents terminal illnesses, overcoming the trauma of family members suicide attempts and dealing with my own mental health issues as I agonized with the decision whether to leave my high-stress flying career or stay

As you might know, I recently took the plunge and it was bloody scary. But having pioneers like Lacey there setting a great example and only ever a message away, I have never felt so privileged to be part of this unique, wholesome and genuine community.