Best Book was one of only two categories in the Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards 2022 to be decided by public vote. MAIA co-founder, Michael Gilmore, explained, “Expert views are going to shape the way we think and teach about money, and we are keen to promote those views. But if I want to know if a book is good, then I want to hear from someone who has read it – and the more people the better!”

Lacey Filipich’s book Money School received by far the largest number of votes from the public, winning it the MAIA for Best Book in 2022.

The Money School project began in 2010 when mother and daughter team Lacey Filipich and the late Fran White started helping people master money and gain control of their time and future.

Filipich explains, “We wanted to help people get out of debt, organise their finances, and achieve the ultimate freedom – having the final say on how they spend their time. We have helped thousands of people to pay off loans, start saving, and become what we call ‘Financially Independent, Time Rich’ or FITR.”

The program used lessons and advice Fran White had passed on to her daughter Lacey Filipich as a child. Filipich loved what she had learned and started saving and investing from a young age. She was so successful that she escaped the rat race and achieved financial independence in her early thirties. She wanted others to be able to do the same.  

However, Filipich hadn’t realised how successful she had been until a major publisher approached her.

“When commissioning editor Izzy Yates of Penguin Random House approached me to write the Money School book, I thought it was spam,” Filipich says. “I honestly hadn’t realised how impactful the story of my journey to financial independence had been until the largest publisher in Australia had come looking for me.”

Money School was published in 2020 and has become the go-to reference book for Australians wanting to become financially literate and independent. It has since grown a global following thanks to its straightforward but engaging approach.

“I decided to use a ‘choose your own adventure’ approach so anyone can get value from it, regardless of their financial starting point and preferred investments. So, for example, rather than telling people to save 20% of their income, I take readers through the simple calculations anyone can use to determine how much equity they’d need to meet their living costs. I then help them work backwards to see how long it will take them to reach financial independence, based on their savings rate and their chosen assumptions.”

Filipich continues, “The book is underpinned by an illustration of how money flows through our lives and sticks to three simple rules to achieve financial independence: save; buy assets; avoid bad debt. People often claim to be ‘time poor’, but they don’t have to be. This is why I coined the phrase ‘Financially Independent, Time Rich’ because that is what most people want and what I can help them achieve through money management, investments, and passive income.”

In addition to the book, the Money School website has several courses and video tutorials for everyone, from beginners to advanced.

Michael Gilmore, the MAIA co-founder, said, “The Money School has clearly reached a very wide audience, and we are delighted that Lacey Filipich submitted it to the MAIAs. In a world with new channels and media for reaching people every day, books are still an important way of communicating deep and life-changing ideas – and Lacey’s book definitely does that!”

If you want to learn more about Money School, the courses, and the book, you can find out more on their website. Or you could email us at michael@maiawards.org.