By Cam McLellan

Let’s talk about fear and money. You might hear people say money is ‘evil’. But anyone who says that doesn’t have any! When you have money, you have the power to make the world a better place.

The old saying ‘money can’t buy happiness’ should end with ‘it won’t make you sad either’.

Money gives you choice and lets you do what you want. Be careful, though; don’t waste money or flash it in people’s faces.

Above all, be humble.

This reminds me of a story about Kerry Packer (previously Australia’s richest man). He was in a Las Vegas casino when he heard a guy mouthing off about how he was worth $60m.

After a while of listening to this, Packer turned to the guy and said, ‘I’ll flip you for it (the money); double or nothing.’

The lesson? There’s always someone bigger and badder than you.

What does money give me? Precious time. I now wake (actually, one of my children wake me) at around 6am. I get his brekkie, then run to CrossFit while listening to some tunes. I get to the office at around 10am, have meeting after meeting, then leave around 3pm.

What property investing and money give me is time with family.

And that’s all that matters to me.

I once heard a saying: ‘To a child, love is spelt T-I-M-E’. So I’ll play with my kids as much as possible now, because I know that once they hit their teens, Dad won’t be quite so cool.

Tips

• Money can’t buy happiness, but it won’t make you sad.
• Don’t throw money around or flash it in friends’ faces.
• Always be humble.
• Property investment and money give you time for the important things in life.