Our Story
I built the first copy for my son.
That was the beginning of Six Islands™.
From the founder
Where there is a will now there is a way.
Tom Richardson on why he built Six Islands for his son, and what he hopes every parent who picks up the pen will pass on.
A background built across the islands.
I have spent 30 years building across most of the six islands. I started my career at Bain & Company, completed an MBA and became a Certified Practising Accountant before going on to become a Partner at Deloitte. I then served as CEO of Janison Education Group, an ASX-listed company.
I have built businesses, acquired and integrated others, and exited at the right moments. I have invested in property and shares across multiple cycles, and thought carefully about retirement investing and intellectual property throughout my career.
What runs through all of it is not a single strategy, it is the habit of thinking across islands at the same time.
Some people flip houses. I flip businesses. But the principle is the same. Buy well, add value, and let time compound.
Why I wrote the book.
When my son Jake reached adulthood, I realised we had never found a way to share what I had learned. Not the theory, Jake could find that anywhere. The specific thinking behind the decisions. The mistakes. The principles that held across every island.
The conversation never happened naturally, so I created the format for it.
The book gave me a structure for a conversation I had been meaning to have for twenty years.
The principles that guide the product.
- 1
The book is the product.
The website and digital companion increase its value, they never replace it.
- 2
The financial education is the map.
The parent's answers are the guide who has already walked the territory.
- 3
The gift is permanent.
It should feel like something a family keeps, revisits and passes down for generations.
- 4
The book starts conversations.
Its purpose is not simply to teach money, it is to create conversations that might never otherwise happen.
- 5
Personalisation creates meaning.
Every family is different. The personalised stories, advice and reflections are what transform a finance book into their book.
- 6
Technology should disappear.
AI, the website and digital tools should make the experience richer, but they should never become the centre of it. The family should remember the conversations, not the technology.
- 7
The goal is freedom, not wealth.
Money is simply the vehicle. The destination is a life of choices, contribution, security and time with the people you love.