Known for his best-selling books and plain talking advice about money, Scott Pape – the Barefoot Investor has been visiting fire affected communities in the Upper Murray.
Scott, who has also been the victim of a bushfire, is paying it forward, as a volunteer financial counsellor to locals who are struggling.
“I’ve been through it myself, when a bushfire came through in 2014 and we lost everything including a lot of stock,” Scott said.
“We’d been married only a couple of years, had a baby in nappies, and we went to the emergency centre and the first person we saw was a financial counsellor.
“They said, ‘I’m paid for by the government, you’ve lost your house and everything in it, you’ve got a little baby and you need to let me help you. You focus on your family, the kids and getting the farm sorted, I’ll sort out the finances and come back to you.’
“The last thing you want to do is go through a 35 page insurance document and try and calculate this stuff when you’re traumatised,” explained Scott.
He has literally put his ‘barefoot investor’ stamp in the local ashes, personally visiting Cudgewa and the Upper Murray region, meeting with fire affected victims and spreading the message that financial counsellors, like him are here to help.
“We’ve got a lot of people in this community that are really struggling and we expect them to be able to make financial decisions which in some cases will affect them years from now – maybe their entire life,” he said.
“We have financial counsellors in this region that can help. We’re not for profit and totally independent.
“I’m not there with a magic wand. I don’t come in and make everything better, but what I can do is stop that overwhelm, and help you. It’s a real privilege, because there’s some amazing people in this community.”
For more on Anglicare Financial Counselling – 1800 244 323
Read Scott Pape’s recent Blog on his visit to the Upper Murray, first published on barefootinvestor.com: https://barefootinvestor.com/greetings-from-fire-affected-cudgewa/
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