Barefoot Investor laments not installing solar panels years ago

‘Learn from my mistakes,’ says Scott Pape, who is kicking himself for being so slow to take up solar which he now regards as one of the best investments you can make.

Scott Pape is the Barefoot Investor. Picture: Jason Edwards

Let’s start off today with an embarrassing confession:

I’ve sat twiddling my thumbs for years when I could have earned a 30 per cent return on my money. Seriously, the thought of it almost makes me want to hang up my footprints in shame.

What investment am I talking about?

Installing solar panels.

I’ve just had them hooked up to the shearing shed, and the only thing I can keep thinking is … why didn’t I do it earlier?

Well, upon reflection, it turns out that I had the same excuses people give me about not investing in the share market:

First, it was all a bit boring and a bit complicated.

Second, I’d heard stories of cowboys and scammers ripping people off (which always happens when the government throws money at something).

And third, over the past decade we’ve had four kids, so life is busy … you know?

Okay, so all my excuses were not only pathetic – they were also costing me money.

Yet all that changed a few months back when I read this book:*

The Good Solar Guide: 7 Steps to Tiny Bills for Australian Homeowners, by Finn Peacock

* Actually, I just skimmed the book and then handed it to my 11-year-old, who read it cover to cover that weekend. (This is the start of a very long downhill slide of me relying on my children.)

Barefoot Investor says in most cases you’ll get a better return from installing solar than you will from most other investments.

The book does a good job covering the basics of solar, and steps out how to save big bucks.

So here’s what I did:

First, I went to solarquotes.com.au (this is Finn Peacock’s own website – which I fully admit feels a bit ‘suss’ – but the not-for-profit consumer champion CHOICE also uses this site for their recommendations).

After typing in my postcode, I was given three quotes for installers in my area.

Second, I stalked those companies’ user reviews on SolarQuotes, ProductReview, Google and Facebook. Two cut the mustard, one didn’t. (Still, that’s a better strike rate than Tinder.)

Finally, they both called me within the week and booked in a site visit. When they arrived I explained that the brains of the outfit was currently at primary school. It didn’t matter: they poked around the place, took some photos, grabbed a copy of my latest electricity bill, and were gone within 30 minutes.

A few days later they emailed through their quotes: they’d both designed basically the same system and came within a few hundred bucks of each other.

Look, the numbers don’t lie: in most cases you’ll get a better return from installing solar than you will from most other investments. Learn from my mistakes, and get your kids onto it! Seriously, it’s child’s play. Hello sunshine!

Tread Your Own Path!

For love, not money

Dear Scott,

I am a 58-year-old woman. I own an apartment in Sydney with about $1 million in equity and have $200,000 in super, though I have no savings. For the past 20 years I have run a reasonably successful small business.

Two years ago I married a rich older Asian guy, eight years my senior. His offer on the table was that he pays for pretty much all my day-to-day expenses, and when he dies I will inherit his monthly (ex-diplomat) pension of $US5000 per month until the day I die!

We live half at his place in Asia (I run the business remotely) and half at mine in Sydney. He does not want to combine any assets, nor move to Australia, and he wants to keep his assets and cash separate as all this will go to his daughter and grandson.

Yet now I’m jack of spending half the year in Asia at his house, and I want to move to Sydney, pay off my mortgage, find a lower cost home in rural Australia, and settle. He will not contribute to this move. Should I see a financial accountant or a family lawyer, or both?

The Wanderer

Marry for love, not money - even if that means rejecting someone with an old-school, defined benefit pension, says Barefoot

Hi Wanderer

Your husband has an old-school defined benefit pension (which defines the payout: $US5000 a month, probably increasing with inflation, for the rest of his life … or to his surviving partner). They’re so generous that almost no employers offer them now. Still, most of these plans are very clear: if you are not classified as his de facto when he kicks the bucket, you won’t be entitled to receive his pension.

Come to think of it, that would be a very attractive thing to put on a Tinder profile:

“89-year-old seeks fun-loving hot 25-year-old. I like long wheelchair pushes along the beach … and when I kick the bucket I can offer you a $US5000 a month pension, indexed to inflation, for the rest of your life.”

OH BEHAVE, BAREFOOT!

Hey, I’m just pointing out that there’s a lot of hungry young people doing OnlyFans earning a lot less.

All jokes aside. You’ve got a million bucks and, in your words, a decent business that affords you a decent living. You’ve got 20 (or so) years to do whatever the hell you want to do. So my advice would be to only stay with him if you love him – don’t do it just for the money.

After all, the old bugger might end up outliving you!

The Millionaire Mentor?

Hi Scott,

I’ve only just turned 18, but my question is actually for my 16-year-old brother. Recently, he has become increasingly interested in building his own business and learning how to be successful. A couple of weeks ago he found a ‘mentor’ who is apparently successful and is helping him start his own business.

He was giving his advice for free to my brother, but has now decided there should be something in it for him (which is fair enough). However, what he wants is $1200 for three months of mentoring, or $400 each month from my brother.

This is a lot of money for a 16-year-old still at school, who in a year of working on his business has not gotten a single client yet.

My parents have talked to him about it but he is adamant about it being beneficial. It is not my place to do anything but I do not want him to get scammed or waste his money. What should I do?

Sarah

Most 16-year-old boys are young, hungry and impressionable, says Scott Pape.

Hi Sarah,

First up, your little brother is blessed to have such a loving, protective big sister looking out for him.

So what do I think you should do?

Well, it sounds like your brother is young, hungry and impressionable … like most 16-year-old boys. So I’d help him get some perspective by asking him the following question:

How successful is this mentor if he has to resort to putting the hard word on a schoolkid?

Answer: not very.

I’d also point out that a successful businessman would set their price before they started a project, rather than retrospectively plucking a figure out of their backside months after, as he’s apparently done.

Your little brother is learning a lot from this mentor, but unfortunately it’s how not to behave in business.

So what do you do?

When I was your brother’s age I fell in love with books, because they were my mentors. I could escape into someone else’s world and learn from their mistakes, wins and wisdom.

So, what I’d do is to go to a bookshop and buy him these books:

How to Get Rich, by Felix Dennis (one of the UK’s richest self-made men).

Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight (the founder of Nike).

Oh, and I’d also throw in the classic How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and of course The Barefoot Investor!

Finally, let me just say this: when you’re young, the best mentors are older people who take the time and effort to see the potential that you don’t yet see in yourself. That sounds like you, big sister.

DISCLAIMER: Information and opinions provided in this column are general in nature and have been prepared for educational purposes only. Always seek personal financial advice tailored to your specific needs before making financial and investment decisions.

Originally published as Barefoot Investor laments not installing solar panels years ago