Plan 2 Prosper

Every day, you come into contact with companies that are creating wealth for their shareholders. Are you getting your share?

Think about the last time you did your grocery shopping or filled the car up with fuel. You probably went to Stockland Shopping Centre - Rockhampton .. oops … Shopping Fair … the name its always going to be to most Rocky locals …. (Stockland Group) and filled a shopping trolley at the supermarket (Woolworths). Perhaps you bought some toothpaste, cleaning products, deodorant (Colgate-Palmolive), some softdrink and jam (Coca Cola-Amatil).

At the checkout, you probably flicked through some magazines (News Corp, Publishing & Broadcasting) and ended up buying a “Worst/Best Dressed” against your better judgement. Then you used your credit card (NAB, ANZ, CBA) to pay for it all.

On the way home you stopped off at an electrical store (Harvey Norman) and looked at a new fridge. Finally, you picked up a user friendly bottle of red (Lion Nathan) and then headed home for a quiet night in front of the telly (Seven).

From my own recent shopping expedition I personally gained some reassurance that life will go on … and while life keeps moving along, companies will be required to be in business and visible in many ways to you and I, the Mums and Dads of our community.

Why you need to invest in Shares:

• Share in Wealth. Over the long term, quality companies create wealth for their shareholders. If you’re not investing in companies whose products you use every day, you’re just not getting your share.
• Generate Tax Effective Income. Through dividend imputation, investing in shares offers tax advantages you just can’t get from any other investments.
• Achieve your financial goals. Share prices can be volatile, but investing in less volatile investments - like cash and term deposits - could mean putting your long term financial goals at risk.

Risk. Theres always risk in anything we do. Are shares safer than cash? In the short term definitely not … over the longer term, the are many arguements that can be made to support the statement.

Stockmarket Crash! Global Recovery! Asian Crisis! Bull Market! Credit Crunch! The media loves to run with these headlines and fear inspiring other ones (think end of the world as we know it … worst drop since great depression etc). But all they’re really saying is that sharemarket are volatile in the short term … nothing new there!!

However, the story is very different if you take a longer term view. In fact, over the longer term, investing in shares might actually be safer than having your money in the bank. It all depends on just how you look at risk. Visit our the Understanding Series of documents on our website and click on the Understanding Investment Concepts link. With some investments like shares, a major concern is that your investment could subtantially fall in value in the short term (as has happened in the last year). With others. like cash, the lesser known risk is that your investment might not earn enough or grow enough in value over the long term. This potentially means you are putting  at risk the achievement of your long term financial goals. Which way do you look at Risk?

Where to from here?

• Contact us
• Get more information about an Educational Forum for you and your friends
• Register and receive regular email updates

Believe it or not, sudden wealth can create a huge headache. So before you collect the pot of gold from the end of the rainbow or win the lottery, read this …

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 A midlife career change that extends the life of that career, can substantially improve a persons future wealth, thus providing greater income, more security and flexibility during the transition from wealth creation to wealth consumption.

We are currently facing the greatest crisis that has faced the world economy and financial system since the 1930’s. It followed an extended period where too many investors were prepared to take too many risks that they often poorly understood - and all with too much borrowed money. We have no way of knowing when the turmoil in the world’s financial markets will come to an end, just as it well-nigh impossible to identify when such crises are likely to start. Rememember, diversification may not work all the time, but it will work over the course of time. The only certainty (and greatest opportunity) for investors is uncertainty itself.

When I ask people to think of and list their financial assets, typically the items that come to mind are cash, shares, bonds, superannuation and property. Not too many mention their career.

What if you thought about your career as a financial asset - not just a job? What if you sought to manage your career just like you can manage your other financial assets?

Consider your career asset as the sum total of your time, talent and potential. When you do, it makes sense to want to maximise its (your career’s) long term return, in exactly the same way as you want to maximise the return of any other long term investment. 

Your career asset return, is made up of not only the current income you receive from active participation in the workforce, but also the satisfaction you receive by doing what really energises you. This satisfaction is much harder to quantify, but no less important in managing your career asset.

By not balancing your work and life objectives you run the risk of suffering job burnout - some byproducts of which are reduced productivity, stress related health issues, and a lessening number of work years before retirement leading to the acceleration of wealth consumption.

In addition to traditional number crunching, I regularly call upon my own previous career in human resource management to help clients consider the financial and non-financial aspects of a career change. For many its walking through the discussion of whats important to them, for others its providing reassurance … for all its about ensuring they are comfortable that the mid life career change decision will not set them back from achieving the goals identified.

Heres five suggestions:

• Think about new possibilities; its not just work or retire
• Don’t assume you can’t afford not to retire
• Negotiate honestly with your employer for a few small changes which could make a great difference
• Learn new skills
• Find employment that matches your lifestyle needs (think project based employment)

Instead of fitting your life in to your job, find ways to extend the longevity of your career by fitting your job into your life. 

Where to from here?

• Contact us
• Get more information about an Educational Forum for you and your friends
• Register and receive regular email updates