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How losing everything in a bushfire inspired finance-whiz Scott Pape’s No. 1 bestseller

Out of the ashes.
Man in a checkered shirt smiles in a sunny green field landscape.Supplied

Financial adviser Scott Pape never imagined he’d pen a bestseller, yet that’s exactly what he has on his hands. His money guide, The Barefoot Investor (Wiley, $29.95), has topped the national bestseller lists for three months. “I’m grateful and humbled,” the 38-year-old tells WHO. “The best thing has been the emails I’ve received from readers telling me how much of a difference my little book has made to their lives.”

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Pape, who as “the barefoot investor” has been offering free financial advice through his weekly newsletter for years, says the book was born in a moment of devastating loss: the Victorian home he shared with his wife and baby was destroyed in a devastating bushfire in 2014. “It was the worst moment of my life—but it gave me the insight that I needed to write this book.”

(Credit: Supplied)

For Pape, helping others is its own reward. “Sooner or later, everyone faces their own financial fire,” he says. “What matters in that moment is that you have the ability to say, ‘I’ve got this.’ That’s what I did. And I wanted to help other people have the confidence to do the same.”

For more on the Barefoot Investor and his bestselling book, pick up this week’s issue of WHO, on sale now.

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