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| Colin & Dorothy - Life Changing Experience |
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"You can take it in bite size pieces or go as fast as you like and your with a lot of like minded people which makes it easier to learn" They say life flashes before your eyes when you are close to death but for Colin Blythe, a student at the Australian College of Financial Education (ACOFE), it was not his past he was confronted with but his future. "I have an unusual tale to tell" Colin began. "I discovered I had a form of heart disease in the year 2000 and as a builder I was unable to work. After more than 42 years in the industry, I suddenly had a lot of spare time on my hands so I gave my life an entire change in direction." Colin says he realised his hard earned superannuation was "being spent by the institution" which drove him to find a way to make his money work better for him. "I'm not able to work physically, but I can sit at a computer quite comfortably so I decided to look at this as an investment into a lifelong learning opportunity." Colin and his wife Dorothy couldn‚Äôt be happier with their career change and say it has given them the opportunity to take their business with them wherever they go. "If we want to be professional travellers, we can pack up and go. As long as we have a laptop and the ability to connect to the internet, we can work from anywhere in the world. Technology has given us this opportunity. We wouldn't have been able to do this five years ago." The couple commenced the ACOFE course in July 2004 and say one of the most valuable aspects of the class is the flexibility. "You can take it in bite size pieces or go as fast as you like and you‚Ä're with a lot of like minded people which makes it easier to learn. "In other courses, you come across people who don't want to be there which makes it difficult to concentrate but with ACOFE, everyone is extremely committed." Colin says even though a financial education course is the last place you would expect to meet others on a social level, the atmosphere is friendly and extremely family oriented. "It's great, we've met a lot of like minded people and it's quite social but I've found the most important part of ACOFE is they give you the ability to make your money work best for you. "Financial advisers tell you that you have however many years to live and that you will need a million dollars to have an annual income of $45,000 for the rest of your life." "But it's a myth they sell you to make money for themselves." Colin believes ACOFE teaches you how to take matters into your own hands and to play the stock market successfully. "Except I'm not playing, I'm deadly serious." |