Latest news with #Bouris
Sky News AU
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'It was a wake up call': Mark Bouris, 68, opens up about his secret health scare and the costly mistake he made by ignoring the warning signs
Australian entrepreneur and media personality Mark Bouris has opened up for the first time about a serious health scare he faced in 2009. The 68-year-old shared the personal revelation in a candid new blog post, reflecting on the experience and what it taught him about valuing his health. "I didn't slow down. I thought I didn't have a choice," Bouris wrote. "I worked myself into the ground, and it landed me in hospital with a serious illness." The experience, he said, "was a wake-up call". "I'm sure you've also heard stories of people suffering serious physical and mental consequences from burnout. I became one of them." Born and raised in Punchbowl, Sydney, to a Greek father and Irish-Australian mother, Bouris credits his father- a factory worker- for instilling in him a strong work ethic. In 1996, he founded Wizard Home Loans, which became one of the country's largest non-bank lenders. Three years later, he launched Yellow Brick Road, a financial services company aimed at supporting suburban Australians. Just two years into building his second company, Bouris found himself seriously ill in hospital, worn out from overwork. "I often tell business owners that prioritising your health is non-negotiable," he reflected, now nearly two decades later. "We're so worried about charging our phones but forget to recharge ourselves. "Rest doesn't mean heading to the pub or replying to emails after hours. It means giving your body and mind real time to unwind." In September, the father-of-two launched Project 100, a podcast dedicated to exploring the science and secrets behind living a longer, healthier life. He also hosts Straight Talk and The Mentor, interviewing leading entrepreneurs, business figures, and politicians. Despite advocating for balance, Bouris remains a prolific figure in the business and media worlds. He's authored two books, fronted The Apprentice Australia and The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, and regularly weighs in on key financial issues. Recently, he urged Australians to rethink their retirement expectations amid the rising cost of living and increasing life expectancy. "If you're 20 now, you won't be retiring until you're 80, maybe 90," he said on his Mentored podcast. "If you think you're going to retire at 65 or if you think you're going to have enough money to retire at 65, you've got another thing coming." As of 2025, Bouris' net worth is estimated to exceed $200 million.
Sydney Morning Herald
29-04-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Borderline racism': Embattled Bennelong Liberal candidate cries foul
For the Liberals to have a hope on Saturday, they need to reclaim Bennelong, John Howard's old stomping ground now held by Labor on a wafer-thin margin. So it is far from ideal for the blue team that the party's candidate, Scott Yung, has spent much of the election campaign trying to outrun the dreaded 'embattled' tag. Several reports in this masthead have outlined Yung's questionable campaign finance issues during his 2019 state election run, and his ties to a Chinese Communist Party-linked casino high roller. He also copped heat for handing out Easter eggs to primary school students while campaigning, an election sweetener gone awry. Yung has been relatively evasive when confronted with questions from this masthead, even fleeing his own campaign launch at Ryde-Eastwood RSL. But he found a softer landing across the mic from his former boss Mark Bouris, founder of mortgage lender Yellow Brick Road, who is carving out a niche as Australia's Aldi-brand Joe Rogan thanks to his lengthy podcast interviews with various politicians. The hour-long discussion on the business bro's Straight Talk podcast delves into the far reaches of the rich Yung lore, including the story of how a teenage Scott approached Bouris and asked for a job, eventually getting his foot in the door after former Yellow Brick Road director turned Liberal frontbencher David Coleman pulled a few strings to help his ace doorknocker. They're not the party of opportunity for nothing! Loading An hour in, Bouris finally, sorta, got into some of the reports that have rocked Yung's campaign. 'I just want to clarify for the sake of this conversation: you're not a communist are you?' he asked. 'Mark, seriously, I find it an absolute joke, and you know I used to get offended by it … I think it's borderline racism,' Yung said. 'Just because I've got an Asian face, my parents have come from China and Hong Kong, they call me a communist.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Multi-millionaire's blunt retirement message for Aussies: 'Work until 90'
Australian businessman Mark Bouris has a blunt warning for the nation's youngest workers: "You won't be retiring until you're 80, maybe 90." The reason? "Because you won't have enough money," the Yellow Brick Road chairman and Yahoo Finance contributor said on his Mentored podcast. Traditionally, most Australians stop work between the age of 60 and 65. But the "straight talking" entrepreneur said as the cost-of-living continues to rise, and Australians live for longer, the calculations young workers would've watched their parents hinge the end of their career on will no longer be relevant. "You might be putting super away, but the super you're putting away today will never be enough by the time you're 65 years of age," Bouris said. Retirees facing 'profoundly worrying' superannuation reality as Aussies' inheritance threatened 6am lines for Costco warehouse opening in $118 million move to compete with Coles, Woolworths Centrelink closures and payment changes to hit millions from next week "Everything's gonna be so expensive, it's just gonna keep going up, and up, and up. We've seen house prices and what they've done. "If you think that you're gonna retire at 65 or you're gonna have enough money to retire at 65, you've got another thing coming." The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) found couples aged 65 now need $73,077 per year combined to achieve a comfortable retirement, while singles need $51,805. This assumes the retiree owns their own home outright. The budgets for a modest retirement were $47,470 for couples and $32,897 for singles. The average age of retirement for men is 66.2 years and 64.8 years for women, according to a KPMG analysis. Meanwhile, the average life expectancy for Australian men and women is 81.1 and 85.1 years, respectively. The majority of Aussies think they will have enough savings to last them 15-20 years after retiring, Bouris said he was worried the youngest working generation would not have that same luxury. "If you're going to die when you're 100, and you retire at 65, but the assumption has been made that you're going to die at 80, you're going to have 20 years where you've got no money," he said. "So I can tell you now. you will be working till you're 80."In addition to the rising cost of living, it's feared that many young workers now won't be hitting retirement with their mortgages fully paid off. Griffith University senior business lecturer Di Johnson said we have to "start being Zen" with that concept because it isn't going away. Data provided to the ABC showed the number of Aussies aged 55 to 64 who owned their homes outright had nearly halved from 64 per cent to 36 per cent from 2000 to 2020. Digital Finance Analytics also found that close to three-quarters of retirees with a mortgage owe more to the bank than they have in super. 'This is why it's so important that a robust superannuation balance is part of a 'whole of wealth' retirement plan, so Australians can have confidence and security in retirement," Vanguard Australia managing director Daniel Shrimski said. 'We've all heard about FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out – now, there's FORO – Fear Of Running Out." The Super Members Council of Australia forecasted that 40 per cent of singles and 33 per cent of couples will end up using their entire superannuation fund to pay off their debt - leaving them with little to nothing to survive retirement. If house prices continue to outpace wage growth and inflation, this will only become a bigger problem for young workers. The Grattan Institute is predicting the proportion of Aussies aged 65 and over who own a property will fall from 76 per cent to 57 per cent by 2056. 'In about 30 years, when millennials start retiring, they're going to have much lower rates of home ownership … if housing remains expensive, it means a big chunk of your diminished [retirement] income from super goes into housing', demographer Simon Kuestenmacher said. Bouris, an alumni of the Australian School of Business who works with the university to mentor business leaders and entrepreneurs, had some frank advice for those gearing themselves up for a longer career — "accept it now" but find passion in what you do. "I'm going to enjoy working - that's what I'm going to be doing, with all my mates," he said. He recommended surrounding yourself with similarly motivated people and warned against "getting pushed and pulled by different sort of points of view". "It's going to get harder and harder and harder, and therefore you've got to make it more fun ... and more competitive," he said. "Enjoy the moment, every single moment, every day. "Enjoy that competition. Otherwise, you're getting left behind."Sign in to access your portfolio
