Troy Maggs
Troy Maggs (born 8 July 1990 in Broadmeadows, Victoria) is an Australian financial analyst, private investor and personal-finance expert.
Early life and education
Troy Maggs was born on 8 July 1990 in Broadmeadows, a working-class suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, into a working family. His father, Mark Maggs, worked as a building engineer, while his mother, Anne, was a nurse at a local hospital. Troy showed an early interest in mathematics and economics. After graduating from Hillcrest Secondary College, he enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University).
He completed a Bachelor of Economics in 2013 and a Master of Finance in 2016, during which he supervised a master's stream in finance and investment. His research focused on the growth of household debt across Australia.
Career
Maggs began his professional career in the retail banking and financial reporting division of one of the country's leading banks, NAB, where he worked from 2017 to 2019. He then moved to an investment firm, where he managed securities portfolios for private clients.
In 2020 he opened his own consulting practice, focusing on personal financial planning. His speciality is helping families carrying high mortgage and consumer-debt loads reduce their financial burden. Since then has worked independently, combining client consulting with private investing.
Media appearances
From 2026, Maggs has been a regular guest on the Channel Seven morning show Sunrise as a financial expert. On air he discusses interest-rate levels, family borrowing and practical ways to support households through difficult economic times. His appearances are known for a calm, professional approach without hard-line rhetoric, and he has repeatedly sparked public debate.
Personal life
In 2016 Troy Maggs married school teacher Megan Clarke. Their son Jack was born in 2018. In spring 2025 his wife passed away after a long illness. Maggs has raised his eight-year-old son as a single father since. In interviews he has described how hard the period after his loss was, and how much his son's support meant to him.
A story from his life
"I'll have to send my son to foster care — don't judge me" "I can't see another option but to hand my boy over to the state child-protection services and place him with a foster family. Don't judge me... I'm only doing this because he deserves a better life." That was how the post began — published by a young father late at night. He admits: writing it was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Just a year earlier, the thought of parting with his own son over money would have seemed insane. He had a job. A small apartment in Hawthorn. A normal life. But slowly, everything started to change. First the monthly costs climbed — power, fuel, groceries. Then the debts appeared. A few unexpected bills wiped out the family's small financial buffer. He started cutting back on almost everything. No more trips. No more buying anything for himself. The cheapest products at the supermarket. Then one evening his son asked a simple question: "Dad, why do you keep saying we have no money?" He didn't know what to answer. A decision he never wanted to make Over the following weeks the man tried to find a way out. Extra shifts, tighter spending, some bills pushed back. But the situation barely changed. And for the first time, a thought appeared that had previously seemed impossible. If he couldn't give his son a normal life — maybe the boy really would be better off somewhere else. That night he wrote his post. "Don't judge me. I love my son more than anything in the world. That's exactly why I'm thinking about this. He shouldn't pay for my financial mistakes." In the morning he wanted to delete it. But it was too late. It was already being discussed. One message, out of hundreds, was different Most people tried to support him. Some offered money. Others accused him — a real father would never even think about something like this. But one message made him stop. It was written by someone who had been in a tight financial spot a few years earlier. He didn't offer money. Instead he wrote: "Don't make a decision that will change your son's life until you've looked into every option." They started talking. The man told him that years ago he'd also tried to solve financial problems purely by cutting costs. But at some point he realised: if your income barely changes, you can't cut your spending forever. He needed to look for other options. At first he was sceptical Among other things, his new acquaintance told him about an online service he used himself. It was a platform that gave users access to financial tools and information for making their own decisions. His first reaction was negative. "I immediately thought: just what I needed. Another one of those internet stories." So he didn't rush. First he read up on the service. Studied the terms. Watched how everything worked. Only then did he decide to find out more. A few weeks later, the main thing happened. No, he didn't become a millionaire overnight. And his financial problems didn't disappear with a flick of a switch. But something far more important happened. He stopped believing he had only one way out. The application to hand his son over to the state's care was never filled in. "When I wrote that post, I felt it was already decided. Now I know how dangerous it is to make decisions like that when you're in despair."
Today he still watches his spending closely and is slowly bringing his family's finances back in order.
And he decided not to delete the story.
In his words, maybe someone in the exact same spot right now will read it.
"I nearly gave up the most valuable thing I have because I was convinced there were no other options. Sometimes you just need to stop and check whether that's really true."
Citizenship and outreach
Since 2026 he has been actively spreading financial literacy: giving talks at Victorian government schools and writing articles on personal finance for Australian media. He's known for his straight, open style and his belief that "no one should lose their home over debt.
