Eight Rules Revisited is a companion series to Stuart Wemyss's updated book, Wealth by Design, working through each of the original eight golden rules from his 2018 book, Investopoly, one episode at a time. In each episode, Stuart tests his 2018 thinking against eight more years of evidence and client experience, and is upfront about what has changed, what has simply sharpened, and what has held firm all along. In this final episode of the series, Stuart takes on risk management, the rule underneath all the others, because a strategy that ignores the other seven rules can still survive a bad year, but a strategy with no defence against a foreseeable setback usually cannot. He starts by revisiting what Investopoly actually said in 2018: a four-step process of avoiding, insuring, adjusting or accepting risk, built mostly around personal insurance, income protection, life, total and permanent disability and trauma cover, plus practical detail on cost, quality and how much cover is enough. He then walks through what has genuinely changed in Wealth by Design, and it's more than a rewording. The insurance-led checklist has been replaced with a structured process that starts by naming the handful of assumptions any plan actually depends on, then sorts everything that can go wrong into four categories: liquidity risk, leverage risk, regulatory and rule-change risk, and behavioural risk. Stuart explains why each category earned its place, including why refinancing and borrowing capacity deserve far more scrutiny than they got in 2018, why regulatory change has become a risk in its own right after nearly a decade of shifting lending rules and tax settings, and why behavioural failure, panic, mistimed decisions, one partner shouldering everything alone, now gets treated as seriously as any product risk. He's candid about where insurance still matters and where its role in the plan has shifted, including one specific change in priority order between total and permanent disability cover and life insurance. The episode closes with a practical, twenty-minute stress test listeners can run on their own plan this week, four direct questions covering income, interest rates, insurance and household knowledge, designed to surface what would actually break first if life didn't cooperate. As the last instalment in the series, this episode also closes the loop on all eight rules, a short, honest look at which parts of Stuart's thinking held, which sharpened, and which genuinely changed shape between the two books. Wealth by Design is available now, wherever books are sold. Our most popular free guides: Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes. Download them here My new book, Wealth by Design, is out now: Buy online or in bookstores. The ebook is available now, audiobook coming soon. Got a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au Interested in working with our team? Discover how we can work together Subscribe to my weekly blog: Stay connected here Important This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
