1
Shares & Index Investing
Own part of the world's greatest businesses. Let time do the work.
Explore this island
Two inheritances. Money, and wisdom.
Build Wealth.
Preserve Wisdom.
Every finance book teaches investing. Only one teaches how you learned it - a premium hardcover your child keeps for life, completed in your own handwriting.
- · Around fifteen minutes a story, about two hours in total
- · The financial education is already inside
- · Premium heirloom hardcover, printed in Australia
$130 + GST. Reading the first island is free, and a free account saves your progress.
The book teaches finance. Your stories teach judgment. Together, they become a gift your child can't get anywhere else.
Our Story
It started with one book.
I wrote Six Islands™ for my son because I realised school taught him little about building financial freedom. I wanted to pass on not just what I'd learned from books, but what I'd learned through mistakes, businesses, investments and life.
When other parents asked if they could create one for their own children, Six Islands™ became something bigger.
Today, every book is personalised in the parent's own words and printed as a keepsake that families can pass down for generations.
"I wasn't trying to write a book.
I was trying to make sure my son didn't have to learn everything the hard way."
Created by Tom Richardson - qualified Accountant, former Bain & Company consultant, Partner at Deloitte, CEO of an ASX-listed company, Company Director, and most importantly a loving dad.
Premium hardcover·Printed in Australia·Ships in 5 business days · Delivered in ~10·Includes digital companion
Why Six Islands exists
No library holds the story of how you learned it.
Parents spend decades teaching their children values, resilience and kindness. Yet most never capture the financial lessons they learned over thirty or forty years - the mistakes, the beliefs that turned out to be wrong, the risks that paid off, the ones that didn't.
Those lessons disappear unless someone writes them down. Six Islands is the only book that combines financial education with the one thing no library can hold:
- ✓Practical financial education
- ✓Your personal stories
- ✓The mistakes you learned from
- ✓The beliefs you now hold
- ✓The risks worth taking
- ✓Your hopes for your child
Every child can learn investing online. Only one person can teach them how your family learned about money.
Six islands. Six paths to financial freedom.
Island one is free to explore right now. Each island covers why it matters, what to learn, the mistakes to avoid, and the first step to take this week. The book opens the rest.
2
Your Own Business
Build a system that earns whether you show up or not.
Explore this island
3
Residential Investment Property
Use the bank's money to buy an asset that grows in value.
Explore this island
4
Commercial Property
Own the buildings and spaces that businesses pay to use.
Explore this island
5
Retirement Investing
Let compound growth and tax advantages build wealth quietly in the background.
Explore this island
6
IP & Digital Income
Package your knowledge. Help others. Create income that scales.
Explore this island
Learn free. Preserve for good.
The Archipelago teaches. The book remembers.
Island one is free for everyone: curated resources, behavioural rocks to avoid, first steps to commit to, and questions to bring back to your family. The remaining islands open once a parent or grandparent begins their Six Islands book, so the rest of the journey happens together.
- · 30+ curated books, podcasts & videos
- · 30+ behavioural rocks across six islands
- · 30+ first steps to commit to
- · 25+ Campfire Conversation questions
- · Tom's Tip on every island
- · Your Journey - a private action log
Island 1 · Shares
PreviewOwn part of the world's greatest businesses.
Beginner-friendlyLong-termStart from ~$50
▲ Rock #3 - Watching your portfolio every day.
✓ First Step - Open an account with a reputable broker.
💬 Ask: Was there a time the market scared you?
"I wish I'd started at 20 instead of 30. Ten years of compounding is worth more than any hot tip." - Tom
How it works
Five simple steps. One irreplaceable object.
- 1
Order
A premium hardcover, printed in Australia with the education already inside.
- 2
Draft
Jot your notes in the completion guide online, at your own pace.
- 3
Write
Handwrite your stories, mistakes and lessons into the Our Journey pages.
- 4
Gift
Give it to your child on a date that matters - a birthday, graduation, a first home.
- 5
Keep talking
Use The Archipelago to keep the conversation going for years afterwards.
Handwritten Edition
$130 + GST · One copy
Begin Your Book →Printed in Australia. Ships in 5 business days. Delivered in ~10 business days.
Your part in this
Writing honestly is the hardest part.
Sitting down to tell your child what you actually think about money, in your own handwriting, is harder than it sounds. That's why every book comes with a completion guide - a quiet, private tool that helps you think through each question before you put pen to paper.
The Our Journey section contains eight questions for you to answer in your own handwriting:
- 1.Your financial wake-up moment
- 2.A belief you held that turned out to be wrong
- 3.Your hardest financial year
- 4.The islands you've built
- 5.A risk you took
- 6.What you know now
- 7.Where you stand today
- 8.The one thing you hope your child never forgets
8 stories. About 15 minutes each. Most parents finish in a few evenings - a couple of hours in total, spread across a week or two. There are no right answers. The only instruction is to be honest - a parent who writes honestly gives their child something worth returning to at 30, at 40, at 50.
See inside the Handwritten Edition
Before it becomes a treasured gift, every Six Islands™ book begins here. A beautifully printed hardcover ready for a parent's own handwriting, stories and life lessons.
The conversations it started.
Parents don't tell us the book is good. They tell us what changed at their kitchen table.
"This is an amazing concept and hopefully a great conversation/thought starter for the kids... I am really passionate about ensuring the girls get the financial literacy that in the past has skipped them."
"I'd thought about writing my kids a letter about money for years and never did. This gave me the prompts and the format. Took a couple of evenings. The hardcover makes it feel like something they'll actually keep."
"My parents never spoke about money, so I had to learn the hard way. Writing it down for my daughter - in my own words, not a textbook's - was the part I didn't know I needed."
"Bought it as a 21st birthday present for my granddaughter. The personalised section is what makes it. Generic financial books get shelved. This one sits on her desk."
Simple pricing. One extraordinary gift.
Handwritten Edition
$130 + GST
One copy · Premium blank hardcover
Our promise: 30-day print guarantee. Free reprint on any fault. Ships in 5 business days. Delivered in ~10 business days.
Print-fault reprint · 30 days
Printed in Australia
Ships in 5 · Delivered in ~10
Digital Edition · Coming soon
An interactive version with the same education, completed on a tablet. Be the first to know when it launches.
Financial adviser or accountant? See bulk pricing →
The outcome
Two futures. One choice.
Without Six Islands
- · The conversations never quite happen.
- · Family stories slowly disappear.
- · Hard-won lessons are learned again from scratch.
With Six Islands
- ✓ Your child understands how you think.
- ✓ They inherit your financial wisdom, not just your assets.
- ✓ The conversation continues for years.
Common questions
Who is it for?+
Designed for parents and grandparents to give to teenagers and adult children, particularly from around age 16 onwards.
When will you give this to them?+
A named date makes it real. A birthday, Christmas, their 18th, the day they leave home. Common moments parents choose include a 16th, 18th or 21st birthday, graduation, a first job, a first home, an engagement or marriage, a business succession, or a parent's retirement. Any of these turns the book into a marker of a real transition.
How long does shipping take?+
Books are printed in Australia, ship in 5 business days and are delivered in ~10 business days.
What if I'm not a writer?+
The book is structured around eight prompts, with a separate completion guide to help you think them through. There are no right answers - honest beats polished, every time.
Is it religious or political?+
No. The book is about financial thinking across the six islands: Shares & Index Investing, Your Own Business, Residential Investment Property, Commercial Investment Property, Retirement Investing, and IP & Digital Income.
What if I make a mistake while writing?+
Many parents leave the marks in, they're part of what makes it real. If you'd prefer a clean restart, order a second copy at any time.
What if my book arrives damaged?+
If your book arrives with a print fault, contact us within 30 days with photos and we'll reprint at no cost.
One day your child will inherit your assets.
Give them the wisdom to use them well.
The book is the object. Your handwriting is the inheritance. $130 + GST, printed in Australia.
Join the Captain's Log
One short note each week - a fresh resource, a story from another family, and the next small step you can take on the islands. Free, private, unsubscribe anytime.
Six Islands™ · $130 + GST
Hardcover · printed in Australia