Three portfolios for different stages of life with Effie Zahos & Ron Hodge | FinFest 2026

Welcome to FinFest Week 2026, proudly brought to you by Betashares. Over the coming week we’re releasing 10 of our favourite sessions, recorded live at FinFest, Australia’s largest finance festival.

Today we’re sharing Build Me a Portfolio with Effie Zahos, Money Editor at 9News, and Ron Hodge, founder and CEO of InvestSMART. If you were starting from scratch, what would actually go in your portfolio, and why? Effie and Ron share how they’d build one.

Missed a session on the day? We’re getting all 43 FinFest sessions ready to release on our YouTube channel by 30 November.

Want to be there next year? Join the FinFest 2027 waitlist here (x40s1z0ymjt.typeform.com/to/l84UhoSZ).

A big thank you to all of our FinFest partners, including this session’s stage sponsor, Sustainable Life.

Chapters:
00:00 Finfest Welcome
01:34 Building Three Portfolios
04:33 Starting With ETFs
06:09 ETF Overlap and Diversification
08:29 Core and Satellite Investing
11:08 Fees and Regular Investing
14:17 Investing While Saving for Property
18:05 Portfolio Choices and Rebalancing
20:42 Managing Market Fear
23:28 Investing With a Mortgage
27:03 Portfolio Lessons and Wrap-Up

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This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
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