How may overseas trips will you have?


Yes we read of a recent survey of 1200 which outlined future goals of Australians.

Key findings included:

§  The top three items people didn’t want to give up were:

      • Internet or mobile phone (62%)
      • Domestic holidays (55%)
      • International holidays (41%)
  • §  Nearly half (48%) of over 65s had intended to be retired by now

§  §  Around half the people in the survey started planning for retirement before they reached 55 (49%) and a further 13% (each) said they started this process between 55-59 and 60-64.

We are at the age where we play tennis with ‘old fossils’.

 Each of them annually take an overseas trip of various lengths. This year they have had canal trips to Europe, cruises to Alaska, visited friends in Germany & in the USA or stayed in the South of France for two months. They all have cruised  & tripped around New Zealand.

Why can they afford to do so now? It is no secret that they have planned.  They have also saved for it.

 As David our IT man discussed yesterday ‘time is currency’ & making the use of the magic compound Interest & using appropriate ‘taxx havens’ means they have been ‘smart’ with their money.

Geraldine also yesterday discussed Napoleon’s four types of general & his preferred General  was the ‘Smart & lazy one’. I.e. they used their smarts & weren’t just ‘busy’ for the sake of it.

This week we saw a couple on ‘Hot Property’ selling their house. They at action achieved 80,000 less than their reserve on the house. That is a serious ‘wack’.

 One of my observations was the amount of stuff that they had in the house. Yes we certainly understand the need for some stuff but this was excessive &  when they do have the garage sales to assist their move the family wont collect what they paid for the stuff. We also comment that the RE agent could have suggested the Selling Houses Australia approach.

 He was either lazy or they didn’t listen.

 If they had put $10 per day aside into a not easily accessible portfolio then some of that 80,000 may have been there. It wouldn’t be cash or super. Their new house won’t be up to their existing home as they have LOST  80,000 of equity.

Let’s suppose we want [a word we don’t like but used in the above survey] to cycle around Oxford in three years time. It means we need

6000 for flights + 1000 p.w. for accommodation + 1000p.w. for sights seeing.

Say 12,000 in total or 4000p.a. or 333p.m. that is $10 per day.

That is doable & we must send this to our Young travel agent.

It is  less that smokers spend per day. Which would you prefer?  We ask.

The survey revealed that two thirds of Australians had not sought financial advice regarding retirement, and a third felt completely unprepared.

“While some see no need, or handle their own affairs, many actually consider financial advice to be too expensive or not trustworthy,”

How are they going then?

Lets answer the trust issue by meeting here for lunch first. Our clients for 29 years have made this first step. What else can we do to resolve this issue?

§  That might explain ‘Nearly half (48%) of over 65s had intended to be retired by now’.

§   §  And the survey  concluded

§  A main concern from the survey was that respondents were underestimating how much they would need for a comfortable retirement.

§  The average amount nominated for a comfortable retirement was well below the $56,236 ‘comfortable lifestyle’ for a couple and $41,090 budget for single people, estimated by the ASFA Retirement Standard in 2012.

§  Around 60% of respondents thought they needed less than $49,999, with 20% selecting ‘$30,000-$39,999’ and 17% choosing even less.

The survey also said

less than half had a good grasp of how much they had saved in super, and a quarter were “closing their eyes and hoping for the best”.

Hill said, “Despite the fact that many baby boomers are worried they won’t have enough money to fund their retirement and that they are not prepared, it is surprising that so few are starting the planning process early and seem to be in no rush to get any formal advice to help them on their journey.”

As Michael from Hot Property & The Castle famously says ‘They gotta be dreaming’

How much capital do you need to achieve that. Simply @ 5% you need a million.

If interest rates drop to say 4% you need 1.250,000 or you are  struggling on less.

As we pen this, the Red Queen is warning the Press Club that government entitlements will be less. Her reason is ‘labour values’ & dreams of education where we all have degrees & where after you ‘define the colour of your underwear ‘you might collect a nominal government subsidy to your needs.  The Red Queen has just said ‘bring it on’ September 12th.

Tony just replied ‘it’s all about trust’ . It is about not ‘paying more Taxx’  as that means you are paying someone else’s lifestyle. Why should you?

A reason why we are all cynical on super due to legislative RISK. All governments are socialist.

Many of us have been watching the Australian Open over the last two weeks & are in awe of the standards set.  We have also been hammered by the same advertisements.

·         One is that all these players have coaches & teams behind them.

 o   Andy recruited Ivan who has 9 grand slams & 90 ATP titles.  Ivan the coach had been coached by the master coach Tony.

     o   Queen Victoria collected 2.43m for winning & Li Na also recruited  a top coach.


·         Another is some fund which never mentioned its long term balanced performance.

Well we checked it & it is a flat line = 0.98% =less that 1% since inception.

 They didn’t advertise that. Look it up your self.

Flat lining is economic Death as it is below inflation.  

We also checked the Adviser service fee & as always what you need to know requires some perseverance.

This fee is automatically set at zero but can be negotiated between you and your adviser up to the following limits:

Initial advice: $4,659.10
Once-off advice: $2,329.55

This is deducted after you authorise payment to an eligible adviser for the advice you receive about your investment with the fund. They didn’t advertise that.

We are not joking as we are not Novak.

How many overseas trips do you want?

It won’t be what the big egos & boys charge even though we have been financial coaching for 29 years which is longer that they have.

We said to Paul who has known us for 15 years whilst coaching him our services are too cheap for what we offer him. He does & must trust us if he has his super elsewhere & spoke to a major bank adviser first & then agreed with our concept which had several new benefits.

Are you listening & as David said ‘time is currency’ .

Isn’t it time to call us today  on 07 3848 1088 or email us or contact us through our websites.

 John McAuliffe.

 

 

What does it mean with ‘Accident’ upside down?


 
We were asked that question on the school drop off run.

As Dads do we expanded on it & we hope they understood.

It means when you have an accident then your life is turned upside down.

You wonder if you will meet your bills.

You wonder if the mortgage will be paid.

You wonder if you have enough credit on your credit card.

You wonder what the hospital bill will be & how much extra costs will be.

You wonder if you will get back to work ever.

You wonder if your family can survive.

You wonder who can help you.

You wonder if you ever will recover & will the pain go away.

Can your family & friends help you. If they are like most they are only $1000 from trouble anyway.

 Hence the bill board from you friendly national solicitor soliciting for your custom. Some call it ambulance chasing.

Of course it included workplace as you have to blame someone & it must be your employer.

We have Chris &Liza who had an accident on the roads some years ago. It took eight years to finalise & then out of the 120,000 the solicitors charged or were paid first 30% or 36,000.

How do you survive those eight years in the meantime when you have two young daughters to bring up.

Denver  who had injuries whilst at work only had to pay 11% to his union solicitor. He only took two plus years & was awarded 140,000 due to loss of earning & pain & suffering over that time.

Do you want your world turned upside down?

Of course the solicitors only chase accidents.

 
What if you have a stroke as many do?

We have Joseph who had such 4 years ago & is unable to work even now. A stroke is not an accident & the mortgage & meals & bills need to be paid. Joseph has been helped by his workplace sick leave, his salary continuance on his super but only for two years & a small 66,000 Total & Permanent lump sum pay out. Even that is not enough as life goes on.

We have had recent enquires from two women around 40 each with cancer 2 years ago. The first has debts of 1.5million & two young boys. Unfortunately she has had a reoccurrence of the cancer in spite of radiation & chemo treatments.

The most recent case is a lady who ‘I unfortunately went through breast cancer in 2011’ with a large 400,000 mortgage & three youngsters 6,9, 10 to bring up. She tells us her employer, ‘the government do not include income protection insurance’.

 
Unfortunately these stories happen to individuals & families every day.

If you don’t want you world turn upside down then there is an alternative.

Yep ,you could chase the TV advertisers & yes you might get life insurance.

However what you need if you survive are your debts paid off & your income to continue to help meet your commitments.  You cost more when you survive.

You want it faster than the courts & the solicitors offer as they play a long game.

It is a researched fact that you recover quicker from accident or cancer or stroke or other traumas if you have fewer worries & fewer debts & bills are manageable.

Many say it won’t happen to me’ & we trust they are right.

As we read yesterday ‘insurance is like a seatbelt, you put it on & hope you never need it.’

Our Young travel agent says ‘if you can’t afford the insurance you can’t afford the trip.’

As we say ’insurance is like jocks & socks [or lingerie] as you put it on first’.

                Or ‘a good financial plan protects the downside’.

If you believe that you can access your super then there are impossible conditions before you can.

 If you believe the government will help you then as Hilda said ‘ they want to know the colour of my underwear.’

It is your choice but don’t say we haven’t suggested it to you. You can check out estimates on our free estimator but they are your numbers & not necessarily what we would advise.

A better solution is to meet over lunch here & ‘do it right’ & within your budget.

You are welcome to call us on 07 3848 1088  or email or via our websites.

 
John McAuliffe