A woman who blamed the Barefoot Investor and his financial advice for ruining her marriage has been criticized for omitting an important detail.
Charlotte Ree, 32, appeared on SBS Insight on Tuesday in an episode titled “Advice: Take It or Leave It?”
The segment discussed what motivates people to follow or ignore advice and the resulting consequences.
On the programme, Ms Ree explained how her husband took the advice of The Barefoot Investor, aka Scott Pape, to the hilt by insisting that both of their salaries be put into a single account and that they each receive a strict allowance. of $100 after expenses.
She claimed that her husband had become obsessed and financially in control after buying his book and that his newly adopted habits ended up ruining her marriage.
Several viewers pointed out that the show failed to mention an important detail during Ms. Ree’s outburst, which was that she held a high-profile position at a rival publisher.
Charlotte Ree made a guest appearance on the SBS talk show Insight, explaining how her husband’s obsession with the Barefoot Investor’s advice damaged their relationship
Scott Pape’s book The Barefoot Investor: The Only Money Guide You’ll Ever Need is Australia’s best-selling book ever with over two million copies sold
Mr. Pape’s books are published by Harper Collins and Wiley, while Ms. Ree is the head of marketing at Pan MacMillan.
She is also the author of a memoir and cookbook titled Heartbake which explores how she rebuilt her life after the collapse of her marriage through her love of baking.
A viewer accused SBS of not disclosing the details.
“Most of the guests had a gripping story to tell that was both inspiring and humbling, but this excerpt seemed odd,” they wrote on Twitter.
Other viewers agreed that Ms. Ree’s action in “subtly promoting” her own book, published by Allen & Unwin, while criticizing Mr. Pape’s, appeared to be a “conflict of interest” not addressed in the show.
“I had this on in the background while I was having lunch… it seems cookbooks are part of her career now, so it feels a bit like a lie by omission,” said one person.
However, others said they saw no problem as their books were not in direct competition.
“One author criticizing another author is not particularly sinister. If she had pretended not to have a book, that is deceptive, but I fail to see how important her other calling is, the information is hardly hidden,” said one.
Ms Ree explained on the program that her mother had advised her to keep her money separate from her now ex-husband before getting married to avoid any potential quarrels.
But she said she ignored her mom’s wisdom because she was “blindly in love” and just “got into it” by setting up a joint account.
Ms Ree said her now ex-husband insisted that her larger salary be pooled with his into a joint account and that they kept to a strict and frugal budget, causing regular arguments
She and her husband then received a copy of Scott Pape’s book The Barefoot Investor, which holds the record for Australia’s best-selling book with more than two million copies sold.
“My husband took that as gospel,” she said.
“There was no negotiation with him to deviate from that plan. That book has definitely changed lives, but mine for the worse.’
She said they never argued before her husband followed the advice very strictly, but after that there were constant fights about money.
“I had a joint bank account with him where my monthly salary was deposited, his wages were also deposited there, although they were very different amounts,” she explains.
‘It came from all our joint expenses such as rent, food, telephone bills, electricity, internet. And apart from that I got $100 a week as an allowance, which he also got.
“If I wanted to go out to dinner with my girlfriends, if I wanted to take an Uber home, if I wanted to buy a bottle of wine, it all had to come from that $100.”
Mrs. Ree did have access to the money and was able to move it, but decided not to believe it would be any better for their marriage.
SBS viewers pointed out that the program seemed to ignore the fact that Ms Ree works in marketing for a rival publisher of The Barefoot Investor, and that it “appears to be subtly promoting her own book while critiquing his.”
Mrs. Ree’s cookbook and memoirs are published by Allen & Unwin, while Mr. Pape has books published by Pan MacMillan and Wiley
Nevertheless, she explained that for the newlywed couple, the bickering and resentment over money sapped the romance out of their relationship.
“It was inevitable that we argued about sex because that was my way of regaining control,” she said.
The two eventually walked through the doors of a couples therapist, but after 12 months of sessions, they decided they wouldn’t be able to compromise enough to meet halfway and their marriage ended.
“He’s a glorious human being who I still love and always will love… They ended up being two people who wanted very different things,” she said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Ree, Mr Pape, their publishers and SBS for comment.