FS360 Podcast 81 - The human side of financial wellbeing - life, resilience, and perspective.

On episode 81 of the FS360 Podcast, Ben Pettingill and Mike Rolls of Legless and Blind discussed the human side of financial wellbeing, life, resilience and perspective.

Joining host Gavin Nash and M Group Mildura financial planner Lynde Adams, Pettingill and Rolls, who co-host the Talkin Tough podcast, discussed their views on financial wellbeing following their respective life changing health battles.

When Pettingill was 16 he woke up having lost 98% of his eyesight after noticing his vision going blurry the day before. Two weeks later, following a range of tests, Pettingill was told he had an incurable, one in a million genetic condition.

At 18, Rolls went on a footy trip and while there, contracted meningococcal. He slipped into a coma for six weeks and was given a 5% chance to live.

After beating the odds and waking up, Rolls spent six months in hospital, dealing with the impacts of septicaemia, a life-saving surgery resulting in the amputation of his right leg, half of his left foot, a couple of fingers on his right hand and a bit of his nose.

“The randomness of what happened to me has shaped my viewpoints, I’d have to say I’m more of a pessimist when it comes to thinking about the future and money and I’m probably more conservative in my approach,” Rolls said.

“I had a physio and she told me something I’ll never forget … ‘For you in your particular situation Mike, every single time you do a push up or a sit up or a bench press, that’ll be like putting money in the bank for your physical future’.

“From a financial perspective, using that metaphor, you need to prepare and you need to consider what may or may not happen in the future … that’s what I try and do and I think I became more risk averse than the other way around.”

Pettingill holds some of the same values as his best friend, however added he sees the importance of “having a balance”.

“Once I lost my eyesight you go ‘hey, tomorrow’s not guaranteed, we don’t know what tomorrow’s going to look like, therefor let’s not be super conservative’,” he said.

“Losing my eyesight at 16 … taught me that nothing in life is guaranteed and we can’t just leave everything we want to achieve and do, especially if there’s dollar signs attached to it, until tomorrow.

“The opposite of that has then come into play now that I’ve had kids … now you’ve got two young kids and a family, having that same mindset of I don’t know what’s going to come tomorrow, that financial security for them, is really important, so for me it’s a balance.”

Pettingill’s life changed in so many ways when he lost his sight and in his financial world, navigating the systems customers use now is a struggle.

“Digital accessibility plays a huge role in me being able to independently access anything in life, from banking apps to financial planning … that’s a complex process,” he said.

“It’s not just someone who can’t see that that can be hard for, it can be someone from a whole range of walks of life and with different access requirements and needs.

“The thing for me that I always suggest for any organisations out there, your customer base is so broad in terms of their unique set of needs and how you can best cater to them.

“It’s about considering everyone and having that universal approach in multiple different platforms that you can engage with them on.”

While praising his friend’s ability to self-advocate, Rolls preached for others to do the same.

“You get what you put in and you’ve got to really fight hard and self-advocate for what you need to have, it’s not just going to fall into your lap and I think that applies to everything in life,” he said.

When it comes to financial guidance, Pettingill explained that finding the right person for your specific circumstances is key.

“With guidance in the financial space, if you don’t feel like that person is understanding where you’re at or that organisation isn’t giving you exactly what you need … it’s about continuing to not just advocate but explore and try a new one until you find that right fit for you,” he said.

“For me I’ve definitely gone down that path where you’ve got guidance that was really good at the time before I was married and had kids, then that changes, so you change when and as your needs change.”