Paul Clitheroe

She then rang them again on their number to ensure they got the $100.

And then she sent off the 10% deposit to buy the property.

Now, a very smart 31-year-old girl who's grown up in a financial literacy house, she said to me, she said, gee, Dad, that was really smart.

I probably should have thought of that, shouldn't I?

So some of this stuff is, this is this sense of your, I know I'm using corny Australian analogies, this swim between the flags and a life jacket and stuff.

But the thing you can't afford, particularly as a 31-year-old, to lose that 10% deposit for her

would have been a financial catastrophe.

And so she did spend an extra 10 minutes making a couple of phone calls.

But if you look at a couple of extra phone calls to protect a 10% deposit, that's one of the cheapest investments she's made in her life.

It's that sort of stuff, James.

And it's not the sort of stuff that comes obviously.

And many of the people who've been ripped off on sending their deposit to an intercepted email or the wrong solicitor's account number, these aren't dumb people, James.

They're just not used to the idea of how sophisticated fraud has become.

So you kind of need this, I've got to spend less than I earn and invest the rest.

Then you work out just fine over the decades.

If someone offers you an investment miracle, it's certain to be a rip-off.

But unfortunately, in this day and age, and it makes me sad to say this, James, you can't really trust anyone with your money unless you're certain it's a verified source.

And I'm sad to say that.

You've got to make money real for the young people.

I mean, we've got a wonderful one in one of the focus groups for the Financial Literacy Board many years ago.