When Aadil Abbas decided to leave India in his early twenties, he had one question for his parents: “In which countries don’t we know anyone?”

Aadil, the 437th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, knew he had family in many countries; but rather than begin a new life that would have strong ties to his old one, he wanted to go to a place where he would have to fend for himself and be able to forge his own identity.

Aadil spent most of his childhood in India, before finishing his schooling in Switzerland. By the time he returned to India, he felt he no longer belonged – so after completing an accounting degree, he decided to move overseas. Aadil’s parents told him there were two suitable countries where they didn’t have family – Australia and Canada. Australia was looking for immigrants with his qualifications, while Canada was cold. Easy choice.

Aadil’s next step was to apply for MBA programs. He was accepted by universities in Sydney and Melbourne; he chose Sydney because it was the financial capital of Australia.

After finishing his studies, Aadil built a career as a management consultant, in both Sydney and Singapore. Along the way, he used his financial and accounting skills to invest in property and shares. One of the realisations Aadil had was that while it’s important to build wealth for the future, it’s also important to live in the present, by spending money in a meaningful but responsible way.

Like many people, Aadil reassessed his life during the pandemic and decided to change career. In 2022, he became a financial planner; in 2023, he co-founded Own Financial Planning. Their point of difference is that they don’t so much do financial planning as life planning. As Aadil explained, you need to get clear on what you want from life; you then create a financial plan to help you achieve your goals. So it’s values first, money second.

Money is the last taboo, Aadil told me: people generally feel more comfortable discussing sex, politics and religion than money. That’s because we feel (even if it’s just unconsciously) that the amount of money we have and the way we spend it reveal something about our status and values. Often, we’d prefer not to have those things scrutinised.

Aadil is a deep thinker with a warm heart and positive mindset. He’s also unconventional, in a thoughtful rather than ostentatious way, which is probably why I liked him so much.