THE RESOURCE INDUSTRY
has been
responsible for a huge level of wealth
creation over the past decade. The latest
Australian Bureau of Statistics data lists
resource workers as the country’s highest
earners on average, taking home just
under $2,500 per week before bonuses
and overtime.
Unfortunately for some, entering a high-
paying resources role does not equate to
financial freedom.
“It’s even riskier for people who earn a
high income because they can do some
pretty significant investing or make some
really bad decisions and create a lot of
debt,” says Lacey Filipich, who recently
launched financial coaching business
Money School.
“I hear plenty of stories about people
overcommitting on financial purchases. If
they go down to a single income or lose
work, it can be a real shock.”
Thanks to her financially savvy mother,
Filipich learnt how to manage her money
from a young age and began investing in
property early.
She graduated as a chemical engineer
and went on to forge a successful career
in the West Australian resource industry,
working in business management and
training roles with BHP Billiton Nickel
West before becoming a senior business
coach with global consulting firm
Lodestone Partners.
As Filipich progressed her career and
financial goals, she saw plenty of others
struggle with money. Before long she
acted on a long-held desire to pass on her
financial know-how to others.
“Particularly in the mining industry,
people were earning lots of money but
often didn’t know how to make it work for
them,” she says.
“When I had my daughter I started
MINING WHIZ OPENS FAMILY
focusedmoney school
Lacey Filipich capitalised on her successful resources career with keen
financial planning skills learnt from her mother. Now she is helping other
resource workers and their families master the almighty dollar.
thinking more about my responsibility
to pass on the knowledge that my mum
taught me.
“We don’t really cover that anywhere
in our education, so Money School
particularly aims to address the existing
gap in school curriculum by teaching
families financial skills.”
Money School coaching sessions are
tailored to families, adults or children and
cover everything from the very basics
of how to save and plan a budget, right
through to investing.
“One thing that is really popular with
adults is understanding how loans work,
how credit works, what’s good debt and
what’s bad debt, and how to work out
how much you can afford to borrow,”
Filipich explains.
“Every course also has a component
about how to teach kids those skills. This
includes simulations, training and games
that you can play with kids to get them
learning about money.”
But Filipich doesn’t want to take all the
fun away from those earning a high income.
While she advises people to set aside some
money and make a list of ways to downsize
spending, she also encourages them to
create an ‘awesome rainy day plan’.
“This could be anything from doing
a 12 month house swap with a family in
Spain to completing an MBA full time at a
world-standard university,” she says.
“I have had several mini-retirements in
my life, and interestingly they have been
the least cost-per-week periods of my life.”
Filipich is also a non-executive director
of Consumers of Mental Health WA, a
not-for-profit that advocates the voices of
people with lived experiences of mental
health issues.
Believing financial skills can have great
influence on mental wellbeing, she says
the success of Money School will be
measured by helping people take control
of their money and thus become happier
in their lives.
“Worrying about money can be very
invasive in your life,” she says.
“The better strategies you have in
place, the less that becomes an issue in
relationships and the better chance you
have of success.”
RP
I hear plenty of
stories about people
overcommitting on
financial purchases. If
they go down to a single
income or lose work, it can
be a real shock.
Lacey Filipich
SUMMER 2014-15 RESOURCE
PEOPLE
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ECONOMY & FINANCE
50
