The Dispatch
No XLVIII · Separation · 5 min
The first 30 days after she says it's over
A blunt field guide to the first month after the conversation. Sleep, paperwork, the kids, and the part nobody warns you about.
No · · HEALTH
The belly fat explanation
Same weight, new shape. The belly that arrived in your forties is a different animal. Here is what it actually is and what shifts it.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · HEALTH
Men over 50 and the lift floor
Strength is not a vanity number after fifty. It is the floor under your independence. Three lifts, twice a week, thirty minutes.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · HEALTH
Skin cancer checks as a routine
Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world. A skin doctor, once a year, two hundred dollars. Most men still do not go.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · HEALTH
When you stop being able to run
A week, a month, sometimes for good. The grief of losing a sport. The rebalance toward lifts, walks, and water.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
The 50-by-50 mortgage payoff
Most Australian men my age are still paying off the house at 65. There is a better target, and the maths is less scary than the bank wants you to believe.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
Super and the balance cap, explained
Most blokes treat super like a magic box where money disappears for 30 years. Then they hit a cap they did not know existed and lose tens of thousands in tax they did not need to pay.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · FINANCE
The emergency fund after 40
Three months of expenses is the right answer for a 25-year-old in a share house. After 40 with a mortgage and kids, the right answer is closer to nine.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min
No · · FINANCE
Insurances you actually need as a dad
Six categories of insurance get sold to Australian men. Three of them matter, two are situational, and one is a confidence trick. Here is the honest breakdown.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · FINANCE
The tax return mistakes that cost you
The average Australian man overpays the ATO by about $1,200 a year through honest ignorance. Here are the mistakes I keep seeing, and the fixes are worth more than a good accountant costs.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
Estate planning, the blokes' version
Will, EPA, advance care directive, super nominations, life insurance. Most men have none of these. What it costs to fix and what happens if you don't.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · FINANCE
The family trust question
Discretionary trusts get sold to ordinary households who don't need them. When they make sense, when they don't, and the Section 100A trap nobody mentions at the BBQ.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · FINANCE
Redundancy payout, what to do
Tax-free thresholds, the temptation to spend, the mortgage offset versus investing question, and the runway calculation that decides everything.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
One-income household finances
The household drops to one income and everything has to change at once. The new budget, the mental load, and how to do this without resentment quietly compounding.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
The ten-thousand rule of investing
Below $10k a year going in, fees eat any alpha. Above it, it depends. The simpler-is-better argument, the four ETFs that cover most of it, and the DCA habit that makes the rest of it work.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · FINANCE
Net worth tracking without the spreadsheet trap
Monthly tracking helps. Daily tracking ruins your life. The simple structure, what to include, what to leave off, and the only chart that matters.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min
No · · CAREER
The mid-career pivot decision
Forty-five, fifteen years deep in a career you no longer recognise, and the question won't sit still. Pivot, or stay and bank the super? Here is the framework I use when a friend asks.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · CAREER
The six-month runway after redundancy
Six months sounds like plenty until you start spending it. Here is how the runway actually behaves in Australia, what burns it, and the month-four moment where the market starts reading your gap differently.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · CAREER
The first week after the call
Seven days. Don't sign anything. Don't email everyone. Don't tell the kids yet. Here is what to do, what to avoid, and how to let your body come down off the shock before you make a single decision.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min
No · · CAREER
The two weeks after the call: what to do
Days eight to fourteen. Read the offer properly. Engage a lawyer for $300. Update the CV. Map the network quietly. No public announcements. Here is the order that actually works.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · CAREER
The CV rewrite for men over 45
Most CVs at 45-plus are bad in the same predictable ways. Too many words, too much history, too little outcome. Here is the rewrite, the structure, and what to leave off.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · CAREER
The first interview after five years
Five years in the same job and the interview muscle has gone slack. The "tell me about yourself" question lands like a punch you forgot to slip. Here is how to dust it off without humiliating yourself.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No · · CAREER
When the recruiter ghosts you
Roughly four in five recruiter conversations end in silence. Here is why, what to do about it, and the frame that stops it bruising your ego more than it should.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min
No · · CAREER
Starting your own thing after being let go
The urge to start your own thing after redundancy is half real signal, half grief in disguise. The six-month test, the AU setup mechanics, and the mortgage broker conversation nobody warns you about.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No · · CAREER
The second redundancy
The first redundancy is a shock. The second one is a question. Less crying, more staring at the ceiling at 4am. How to read it honestly when you are now fifty.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min