Although you've reached the end of the book, it's only the start of your strategy stacking journey — a new beginning. You might have even started making some proactive and positive changes as you worked your way through the book — if you have, that's great. Keep going!

Before you start your journey, it's worth reflecting once more on the five truths about money (Chapter 1). The reality is very few of us will have had the perfect start to our financial lives — or have a perfect relationship with money. But with some focus and thought, we can explore our own attitudes to money and our relationship to money — both the good and bad aspects — to re-evaluate what we're doing with our financial lives and make changes.

If you decide to make changes in your financial life, they should be changes that reflect your own ‘why’. So much of what we do in life has a financial consequence — but do we take the time to set goals? Your short-, medium- and long-term goals should drive the strategy stacks that you decide to build for yourself. It's easy to get caught up with trying to keep up with others, but when we do so we don't put ourselves first. Setting goals requires you to focus upon what's most important to you, so your financial strategy should be about you and what matters to you.

The stronger your financial foundations, the sturdier your strategy stack. My strategy stacking philosophy helps you to put together different financial planning strategies in a way that works for your ‘why’. The strategies you choose to stack (or don't stack) will have an impact on your financial life.

Sound budget management (the Basic Stack in Chapter 4, where earnings meet spending) is essential if you want to genuinely stack the odds in your favour. Having the ability to save something each week, fortnight or month affords you the opportunity to achieve your goals. And of course, this thing called life is going to happen to you along the way, which might include getting made redundant from a job, getting married or divorced, receiving an unexpected windfall … or all manner of other significant events.

When you're ready to get started, you would be wise to assess your starting position so you know what you already have in place and you understand what your outgoings are. Much like driving a car, it's easier to plan a journey to a destination if you know where you're starting from. The Strategy Stacker's Starting Position exercise in Chapter 6 provides you with an overview of your financial life and allows you to reflect on what's actually happening within it so you can take practical steps forward.

Any strategy stack you build should consider the Framing Strategies in Chapter 9, which cover budgeting, cash flow management, debt reduction and your appetite for risk. Combined, these strategies frame your stack, in much the same way that the frame of a house structures its walls and rooms.

The core of this book (Part 3) explores an array of additional strategies that financial planners use with their clients, covering investment, superannuation, retirement, wealth protection and estate planning. It's these strategies that you may find you need to revisit again and again. Remember — your strategy stack should change as your life and goals change.

If you're still wondering how strategy stacking works in practice, you may find it helpful to review the example strategy stacking scenarios in Chapter 8. Of course, the strategy stacks you build for yourself, perhaps with advice from a financial planner, should reflect your goals — but these examples are a great starting point for understanding how strategy stacking can support you and your family throughout your lives. And if you feel ready to seek personal financial advice, chapters 15 and 16 give you a place to start to understand how financial advice works. I hope they help take the mystery out of what's involved in the financial planning process.

Thank you for reading Smart Money Strategy. I hope it's been an educational experience, and I hope it motivates and inspires you to take real action so you can achieve more confident outcomes in your own financial life.

I wish you all the best on your strategy stacking journey as you start your new beginning, and I wish you well if you decide to seek personal financial advice. If you have enjoyed the book, please do recommend it to your family and friends. I'd love to see more people taking control of their financial lives and stacking the odds in their favour!

I sincerely hope this book has provided you with many insights and perhaps even some revelations about money. For additional resources, including how to access my podcast, please join me at thestrategystacker.com.au.