Financial Independence Podcast

Is Online Business Still Worth It in 2026?Captain FI sits down with Matt Raad from the eBusiness Institute to answer the big question on every digital entrepreneur's mind: has AI killed the online business model, or is it creating more opportunity than ever?Matt shares why it's now a buyer's market for websites, how savvy investors are picking up undervalued "diamonds in the rough" for as little as $5,000–$50,000, and why the old passive income playbook has evolved into something more active — but potentially far more rewarding. They cover what's working in 2026 (community-driven sites, lead gen, course businesses, search everywhere optimization), what's dead (mass AI-generated content blogs), and how AI tools like Gemini and Claude are changing the way online businesses are researched, built, and grown.Captain FI also shares a personal update — including selling off parts of his portfolio, reviving his email list, and doubling down on the assets that matter most. Plus, Matt makes the case for why online business remains one of the fastest paths to financial independence, especially for millennials navigating a tough economic climate.Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale, this episode is packed with practical, no-fluff advice on how to build real cash flow online in the age of AI.

On board today is Michael Quan, author of the book The FirePlanner, and the man behind the popular Financially Alert blog and the Breakthrough Millionaire Podcast. Michael reached FIRE in his early thirties and It was actually only after he sold his IT company to a larger provider and inadvertently found himself back in a nine-to-five corporate job that he decided he was going to pull the pin and FIRE at age 36, which is pretty impressive. Post FIRE, these days, Michael is a stay-at-home dad in sunny San Diego. He loves raising his kids, spending time with his wife, and in his downtime, writing, podcasting, and financially coachinghis students and readers. Michael's latest project has been setting upand running a real estate investor mastermind group, which he does a couple of times a month.I really enjoyed my chat with Michael and he had heaps of awesome suggestions for learning resources and inspiration too!

On board today is Phil Muscatello, the host and producer of theawesome podcasts, Shares for Beginners, Stocks for Beginners, ETFs for Beginners and Talking Companies.Phil is not from a finance background, but he wants to learn more about becoming a better investor. So he hopes that his listeners come along for the ride and don't make the same mistakes that he has. Phil actually has degrees in Media Production and Literary Studies. He played in some awesome, psychedelic, heavy rock cabaret bands in Sydney during the 80s, before moving into a more stable career in radio, working at the ABC, and TripleJ. Phil describes himself as a seventies punk boomer, he loves playing guitar, ocean swimming, cycling, going to the gym, and anything to do with technology. He grew up in Sydney, has always been interested in music, playing guitar, loves literature, arts and is an avid reader. He went to UTS in Sydney and became a little bit of a political radical. After leaving university with a media degree, there was a recession and a lot of depair, as well as very limited jobs in media, so he ended up driving taxis for a few years before starting a career in radio, moving into commercial radio and then started his own recording studio. He recorded one of the first podcasts in Australia, setting up his own server and fast forward to today, is still loving the podcasting! Phil was incredibly interesting and had a thing or two to teach me too!

On board today is Louise Howard, a Sydney-based executive who I met through the FIRE community. Louise is an incredibly talented, dedicated and successful person who has held executive roles in infrastructure projects in the public sector, as well as management and consulting in the private sector.She recently decided to take a break from her government job and launched her own advisory business called Louise Howard Advisory, where she advises and speaks publicly, all over the world on topics such as infrastructure, development, career mentoring and leadership. Louise is from a big Italian family and learned some solid financial lessons from her parents who provided a wonderful start for her and her siblings. Louise lives in a high cost of living area in Sydney, but is a mean negotiator when it comes to her salary, and is passionate about pay equality for women in the workforce. Louise is 5 years from her FAT Fire goal, has made some very smart money and investing decisions along the way and it was awesome to catch up with her again!

On board today is Michelle from Making Sense of Cents. Michellereached financial independence through her online businesses and has enjoyed living a variety of interesting lifestyles post FI, including, but not limited to van life.Now, Michelle and her family even live part-time on a sailboat, and get to travel the world via the seven seas, which is pretty bloody cool. Michelle used to work as a financial analyst and documented her journey towards FI through her blog, Making Sense of Cents, which she started in 2011, so her first series of blogs was aboutpaying off nearly $40k worth of student loans in just half a year, which is a pretty mind-boggling accomplishment in itself. Michelle went on to write tips and insights aboutpersonal finance, budgeting, and how she was able to make more money which helped her to pay down these debts so quickly, and then she was able to turn this cash firehose into building her wealth. Her blog became incredibly popular, and fast forward to today, Michelle's website has reached over 20 million readers, regularly goes out to over 300, 000 subscribers and has earned her a tidy USD $5 million in revenue! Michelle has actually meticulously documented this income showing the various income streams through areas such as advertising, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing and selling her own digital products and courses. It's pretty awesome. And it's a transparency that youdon't often see online. Jump on board, I learned a lot from Michelle!

On board today is Dr. Jordan Grumet, better known as Doc G from the DiverseFI blog and the host of the incredibly popular Earn and Invest podcast, but he's also the author of the blog, In My Humble Opinion. Doc G specializes in palliative care and despite reaching FI continues to work in the hospice part-time where he compassionately helps people through the finalstages of their lives.Unlike most doctors I know, Doc G is pretty amazing when itcomes to money. He sees it as a tool that we can use to improve our lives and live a more fulfilling life. He even says that becoming a money expert became his second career, and it was incredibly fulfilling to him to help put the veil back around money andhelp people find their true identity, purpose, and passions in life.In addition to his award-winning blog and podcast, he has written and published two books with his latest book being titled, 'Taking Stock, a Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, building Wealth, and Living a Regret Free Life.'Doc G has observed that as a community, though we're pretty obsessed with investing, we're probably not interested enough in our own unique purpose, identities and connections. Although he has helped thousands of people transitionfrom life to death, he says, we don't actually have to wait for a death sentence before we start searching for meaning and ask the important questions.He wants to remove the hurdle of good money management so that we can all learn to live well today. Doc G was incredibly inspiring and forced me to think differently about FI! Jump in!

On the pod today I interviewed Nicole Martin, owner of Martin & Fortuin, teaching Financial Literacy Australia. Nicole began her career as an accountant in Cape Town, South Africa. After 4 years of training, she made the move into finance, working firstly for a Listed Investment Company, and then as the assistant accountant to the financial director in a manufacturing business. When Nicole and her family moved to Australia, they settled in Coffs Harbour and she worked as a financial accountant for a company in the seafood industry. With a growing passion for education, she really wanted to work with people and so she launched her business Martin & Fortuin, an organisation teaching financial literacy where she works as an educator with both children and adults doing one on one coaching and also running workshops. Nicole now also trains other bookkeepers and accountants and has made it her mission to spread and teach financial literacy in Australia.

On the pod today from Austin, Texas is Corwin, a fellow aerospace engineer and FIRE blogger from 'Engineering your FI' with a Bachelor's, Masters and PhD in aerospace engineering, as well as over a decade of engineering industry experience. He definitely fits the engineering bill, which we often see here in the FIRE community. Corwin and his partner reached financial independence at ages 35 and 33 respectively, which he puts down to a lot of hard work and some good fortune. Corwin has worked for NASA, and also gained a position at the University of Texas as a researcher, where he still works to this day. He calls personal finance a hobby, he's clearly a very intelligent bloke and with his engineering background, we had a lot in common! He worked bloody hard to command a high income and has sensibly invested a large portion of it over time, allowing him to reach financial independence at such a young age, and it was awesome to hear about his experience and his journey! Listen on..

On board the pod today is Dom who runs the popular blog Gen Y Finance Guy, where Dom's been blogging about his journey to financial independence and posting net wealth updates for the past decade. Dom is from California, where he lives with his wife and 2 kids. He faced some immense challenges early on in life, growing up below the poverty line, and eventually having to be raised by his grandparents after his parents ended up in jail. Dom refers to this as humble financial beginnings. Dom's grandfather was a business owner and had a huge influence on Dom's finances and outlook on life. As a result, Dom had a pretty Big Hairy Audacious Goal to reach a net worth of $10 million by age 40. Dom managed to climb the corporate ladder, where he was a CFO for a large company, all while side hustling to build his business and his side income. His side hustle became his full time software business, and he was able to build his business to exceed his corporate income, eventually selling the business for over $20 million. His share allowed him to reach a fat FIRE goal with a net wealth of over $10 million, so he now enjoys financial freedom, blogging on Gen Y Finance Guy and managing his family's capital part time. He's a very ambitious guy, loves numbers and math, will be starting his own podcast soon, and our chat was VERY eye opening! Jump on board!

We welcome back Matt Raad from the E-Business Institute for Part THREE of our Q and A Session! Matt and his wife Liz, teach and mentor their students on how to create online business (websites) for passive income.This podcast is the third in a series of three pods where we unpack a huge series of listener Q and A's. So tune in for Part Three of our Q and A session and make sure to catch Parts One and Two if you missed them, with even more listener questions answered!

Today on the pod, all the way from London, I welcome Barney Whiter, The Escape Artist, to discuss his journey to financial independence and escaping the cubicle. Barney is not just your average blogger, he has a degree in economics and has worked for over 2 decades as a qualified charter accountant in corporate finance. He was able to retire at the age of 43, about a decade ago, never having won the lottery or inheriting a fortune, but all while paying off the family mortgage and raising 3 young kids. How did he do it? Barney talks about the four key pillars of financial independence - earn more, spend less, wisely invest the difference and know how much is enough. Barney says that anyone who follows these four pillars, can reach financial independence. He talks a bit about his coaching program and more about his great escape! Jump on board!

For today's podcast, I welcome Deacon Hayes from Well Kept Wallet who went from over $50,000 in debt, to financial independence and who actually became a financial planner along the way. Deacon paid off his debt in just over a year and a half and became so excited about the process. He studied finance, became a financial planner and founded Well Kept Wallet, advising high net worth clients as a way to share his experience with money and to help others. He wrote the book, 'You can retire early' and has been featured as a personal finance expert by the mainstream media. He joins me today to share his journey to financial independence and to share the money lessons he has learned!

Today I'm chatting to one of my all-time favourite authors and an idol in the FIRE community - JL Collins. JL is the author of the bestselling personal finance book, 'The Simple Path to Wealth' and his online blog - jlcollinsnh.com features his stock series. JL has been investing for nearly 50 years, has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to investing and money, he has had diverse career roles, and travelled the world extensively. He is a loving husband and father and his blog posts actually started off as letters to his daughter, with lessons on how to achieve the simple path to wealth. I love to think of JL Collins as the godfather figure of personal finance and I'm very excited to share my interview with him on the podcast today!