FIRE Conference 2026 - Sydney

The FAT FIRE Conference is a full day of open, practical and thought-provoking conversations with people who have already achieved Financial Independence, many of them at least a decade ahead of the traditional retirement age. Rather than listening to polished keynote speeches or financial gurus, you’ll spend the day hearing directly from a diverse panel of ordinary people who have taken different paths to financial freedom through business, property, shares and other investments.

They’ll share what actually worked, what didn’t, the mistakes they made, the opportunities they took and the mindset shifts that helped them along the way. Most importantly, this is an interactive conference. Throughout the day, panelists will be challenged with questions, real-life scenarios and controversial topics. You’ll also have plenty of opportunities to ask your own questions and hear different perspectives from people who may completely disagree with one another. There is rarely one 'right' way to FIRE, and that is exactly what makes the discussions interesting.

 

Follow their FIRE Journey

The day broadly follows the different stages many people experience on their journey towards and beyond financial independence:

• Mindset & Skills Building - Developing the knowledge, skills, habits and mindset that create the foundation for FIRE.
• Saving & Grinding - Building your first meaningful pool of capital, increasing income, controlling lifestyle inflation and learning to live intentionally.
• Amplifying & Growing - Moving beyond simply saving money and using investments, business, leverage and other strategies to accelerate wealth creation.
• Protecting & Diversifying - Building resilience into your financial position so that FIRE can survive market crashes, inflation, changing circumstances and unexpected events.
• Living & Enjoying - Perhaps the most overlooked stage of FIRE which is deciding when enough is enough and figuring out what you actually want to do with your money, freedom and time.

The conversations go well beyond investment returns and FIRE numbers. Expect discussions around abundance versus scarcity, purpose after FIRE, raising children, inheritance, relationships, health, personal development, generosity and how to make the most of the time financial independence gives you.

 

Ask the Questions You Actually Want Answered

There will be dedicated participant Q&A throughout the conference. Instead of only hearing generic advice, you can ask panelists about their experiences, challenge their assumptions or dig deeper into something particularly relevant to your own FIRE journey. Some discussions may have clear answers. Others may result in five panelists giving five completely different answers. That’s part of the point.

 

Meet People on the Same Journey

The conference is also deliberately designed to give you time to talk with other attendees. Morning tea, lunch, breaks and networking sessions give you the opportunity to meet people at completely different stages of FIRE, from those just starting out to people who have already been financially independent for years.

Some of the most valuable conversations may happen away from the panel. You may leave with a new investment idea, a different perspective, an accountability partner, mentor, business connection or simply a group of people who think about life and financial independence in a similar way. The event is fully catered, including lunch, snacks, tea, coffee and non-alcoholic drinks.

 

VIP Experience

For those who want to engage deeper with the panelists, a limited number of VIP tickets are available. VIP attendees will receive front row seats, prioritised Q&A preferences and join the organisers & panelists for dinner afterwards in a roundtable format so you can ask more specific/intimate questions, explore topics in greater depth and hear insights that are difficult to cover in a larger conference environment. 

 

Giving Back

FAT FIRE is built around the idea that financial independence should eventually create abundance not just for ourselves, but also for the people around us. For that reason, all profits from the conference will be donated to charity. The charity is selected by the panelists and organisers and will be announced during the conference.

Details:
Venue - Dooleys Regent St Pavilion
Address - 67 Regent St, Regents Park NSW 2143
Date - Saturday, 24th October
Time - 9am ~ 5pm
VIP Dinner - 6pm onwards
Cost:
- $149/person (Early Bird $109) - Includes drinks, snacks & lunch
- $379/person (Early Bird $319) - VIP seating, priority Q&A + dinner & roundtable
- $60/teenager (12yo+ teens must be accompanied by an adult with ticket)
- $10/child (6-11yo child must be accompanied by an adult with ticket)

 

The exact conversations will vary depending on the panelists and audience, but topics typically include:

Welcome & Introductions

• Why we created the FAT FIRE Conference
• Meet the panelists
• What does FIRE actually mean?
• Lean FIRE, FIRE, FAT FIRE and everything in between

1. Mindset & Skills Building

• The books, mentors and experiences that shaped our panelists
• Mental barriers they had to overcome
• Building valuable skills
• Personal development and continuous learning
• Getting outside your comfort zone
• Scarcity versus abundance

2. Saving & Grinding

• First jobs and early career decisions
• Building the first $100,000
• Increasing income versus cutting expenses
• Habits that made the biggest difference
• Lifestyle inflation
• Enjoying life while still pursuing FIRE
• Family assistance, privilege and starting advantages
• When frugality becomes counterproductive

3. Amplifying & Growing

• How our panelists started investing
• Property, shares, business and other asset classes
• Using leverage responsibly
• Building multiple income streams
• Common wealth-building myths
• Mistakes and investments that went wrong
• Moving from scarcity to abundance
• Knowing when you have “enough”

4. Protecting & Diversifying

• Portfolio construction
• Diversification across asset classes
• Asset protection and financial structures
• Emergency funds and opportunity funds
• Preparing for market crashes and recessions
• Inflation and economic uncertainty
• How much passive income is really enough?

5. Living & Enjoying

• What made our panelists finally pull the trigger on FIRE?
• Life after financial independence
• Finding purpose after FIRE
• Working because you want to rather than because you have to
• Family, marriage and children
• Raising financially capable kids
• Inheritance and giving while you are still alive
• Health and longevity
• Bucket lists and life experiences
• Big Hairy Audacious Goals
• Using money, resources and time to help others

 

 Jun

Jun migrated to Australia at age of 15, adapting to a new country and culture while pursuing her studies. She built a meaningful 30-year career in pharmacy. 

Starting from humble beginnings after marriage, Jun and her husband committed to building financial security through property investment, leveraging equity to create long-term wealth. After 15 years, she expanded into the U.S. equity markets, where she discovered the FIRE movement in an options trading community. Since then, she has focused on Financial Independence, Retire Optional (FIRO) as a pathway to greater freedom and purpose.

A strong advocate for financial literacy, Jun is particularly passionate about raising the next generation to be money-wise. Her proudest achievement is seeing both her children already on their own FIRE journeys, actively investing in equities, ETFs, and private credit funds.

Since January 2026, Jun has FIRE’d, embracing the freedom to travel, focus on fitness and health, and pursue a life of purpose, meaning and fulfilment. She brings her personal story of resilience and growth, along with her commitment to empowering others to pursue financial freedom.

 

Wally Chiang

Made in Taiwan and assembled in Australia, Wally fell into the classic Asian misconception that good grades equal success, resulting in more degrees than he cares to count. After a career in corporate IT, he took the entrepreneurial path and founded his own digital marketing agency in 2012.

Through disciplined saving, property investing and building a business that could run without him, Wally achieved FIRE at age 41 in 2021. His focus has since expanded from building wealth to preserving it and becoming more self-sufficient. This included acquiring a 600+ acre hobby farm to learn practical skills such as hunting, bushcraft and permaculture.

More recently, Wally became a Christian, adding Faith to what he calls his Four Fs: Family, Farm, FIRE & Faith. These are now where he chooses to invest most of his time and energy.

 

 

Dr Ray Marshall

Ray is a former academic and high school teacher and his wife a primary school teacher. While raising their sons, one with a disability, they realised they had to plan not just for their future but his also. The investment journey went through real estate, shares, forex trading, ETF’s and even some crypto, all while adding extra to super along the way. While becoming FI around 40 they decided the work end date would be when the youngest finished school plus 1 year to ensure they were settled.

Ray volunteered for many years in the disability sector and established several finance clubs at schools believing in financial education. He is an active member of the Brisbane FIRE group and still shares his chemistry expertise with teachers in several chemistry Facebook groups.

Today, Ray and his wife are enjoying the freedom that come with FI, exploring Australia in their motorhome and planning overseas adventures. For Ray, FIRE is not just having enough money to stop working it’s about having choice, security and spending time doing what matters most.

 

 

Julia Ridout

Julia was born and raised in England, the youngest of five children, and learned the fundamentals of saving money by receiving 20 pence a week from her parents to spend on chocolate. Any other “pocket money” had to be earned by doing chores.

Keen for cash, Julia started part-time work at 14 years old and, encouraged by her parents, also volunteered and raised money for charity. Not an academic, Julia focused on the social side of school life and at 18 years old started a full time career in retail. Low pay, long hours, but a lot of fun.

Thanks to a New Zealand passport from her mum’s side, she moved to Australia in 1997 and, after an unsuccessful start in retail, changed careers training people to use basic IT software. A change she truly believes wouldn’t have been possible without moving countries. After a corporate career, she started her own business in 2012, transitioning to part-time work in 2024.

Julia is particularly passionate about building communities and wanting to see people succeed. Alongside her corporate roles, she has been a mentor and coach for over 25 years, and a Lifeline Counsellor for 6 years. She achieved her psychology degree in 2018.

By most definitions of financial independence, she FIRE’d in 2025.