How Sydney postie went from no savings to $1.7m portfolio

An Australian postie went from “feeling stuck” and unable to save any money to now being worth more than $1.7 million.

Rodney Ung, a Sydney dad, worked as a chef then as a postie for years and felt like he’d worked hard his whole life but had nothing to show for it. He was earning about $60,000-$70,000 in both jobs and had no property, little savings or investments and felt like he was living week to week.

“When I was young, I was taught that the only way to succeed in life was to just work hard,” Mr Ung said.

“I’d been working hard for 16 years and yet despite putting aside some savings and a few shares, my wife and I had next to no assets and felt stuck in our jobs.

“I wanted to improve my financial situation but I didn’t know what to do.

“I was stuck in the cycle of always having to worry about the bills.”

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Wanting to get ahead, Mr Ung engaged financial strategist Todd Polke and by making a few adjustments, he helped him put $15,000 in his savings in just eight months.

He began by culling subscriptions and finding better deals on internet and bills, he added.

“Now about five years later, after the debt, I have about $1.7 million (in my portfolio),” Mr Ung said.

Mr Ung has now purchased two investment properties while still renting, also known as “rentvesting”.

The two properties he went on to purchase appreciated significantly, with one increasing from $606,000 to $945,000 and the other from $750,000 to $1.02 million, adding over $600,000 in equity, he claims.

As well as the properties, he’s diversified his portfolio to include ETFs, cryptocurrency, shares and venture capital.

Mr Polke, author of Escape the Middle: Switch on Your Millionaire Mindset, said it was important to start from what you want, not what you don’t want.

“We set four individual targets with dollar figures and what kind of portfolio and income generation you need,” Mr Polke said.

“Identify the gap of where you need to be and some of the biggest changes to bridge that rather than sitting in this idea of we’ll be right mate.

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“One of the biggest things, and Rodney was really good at this, is know your money map,” Mr Polke added.

“Every time a dollar comes into your account, each dollar has a plan and it has a purpose.

“It’s also not taking for granted how much things cost, go through every area of you life. Every few months, he would be negotiating better deals.”

Mr Ung said he changed internet and bill providers regularly, he got cashbacks and credits, and hadn’t paid an energy bill in eight months through this method.

“It takes effort but it’s worth it. It helped me build a good amount in savings,” he said.

He was also determined to look for ways to increase his salary and is now training to be a Sydney train driver to increase his annual salary.

Mr Polke said his philosophy was that wealth creation is possible for everyone, regardless of what your income is. He said a lot of it was a mindset shift, as well as habit building and that it was important to put a plan in place.

“Wealth creation is a system, it’s about building a better system,” he said.

“He (Rodney) didn’t come in earning six figures, he was an average income earner, an and he got a plan and took action.

“If someone is willing to commit to the journey and the long term vision, it is absolutely possible.”

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