My friend asked me how to get wealthy. Here was my honest answer

October 27, 2026 — 1:39pm

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I completed the 7 Bridges Walk in Sydney over the weekend with a friend. As we crossed one of the bridges, we admired the views – the water, the boats, the mansions.

My friend joked: “How do I get one of those?” I said, “Well, learning to invest helps.” We had chatted about investing a few times before, so I knew it was an area of interest. This sparked an interesting conversation about wealth, some of which I’m sharing today:

Her: How do you know which ETFs to pick?

Me: Most people think you’re supposed to pick investments that will give you the “best return”, but it’s more about getting a good balance of return and risk.

There are different asset classes – like cash, bonds, real estate, stocks etc. Each asset class has different characteristics. Something like cash may have less risk, but it also has low returns.

Something like stocks may have higher potential returns, but also comes with greater risks. So, instead of trying to pick the best returning investment – it’s better to learn how to design a portfolio that balances the risk and return across different asset classes.

They say money........

© The Age