Money Magazine October 2020

Future looks bleak for younger generations I’ll be honest, I’m struggling to see much of a future for my generation. We will be crippled working to pay off the debt currently being incurred. We face no or low wage growth. The federal government even wants to remove our superannuation increase of 0.5%. This is against an already stressful background of unstable income, meagre super funds, high unemployment, the rising cost of living and the impossible dream of owning a home. We’re tired and we haven’t even started. I’m tired. As a teacher, employed full time and in demand, I thought I’d be fine. Even if I need to support my ageing parents (soon possibly made redundant), I could probably manage ... that is, until I found out about the NSW…

I thought I would share some wisdom that was once given to me and that I still pass on to people today regardless of their age. I jump up and down in the one spot and tell them they must, must pass this on to their kids and grandkids. So what is it? It’s from a book, The Richest Man in Babylon, published by the American George Clason nearly 100 years ago. He writes about laws of wealth building that go back more than 2000 years and still apply today. Save 10% of what you earn and live off the rest – no matter what. If a kid starts their first part-time job at, say, 15 and gets into the habit of saving $5 out of every $50, and does the same…

Economists are debating what shape the economic recovery is going to be post-pandemic. The most optimistic is a “V” shape bounce while others believe we are in for a “W” down-up-down-then-up-again market. But there are rumblings on Wall Street that we might be heading for a K-shape recovery, where fortunes diverge for the haves and the have-nots. It’s a scenario where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When I think of my family and friends, I doubt that they think of the shape of the economy at all. We all just want the situation to turn a corner. If I were to measure the temperature of the room based on our readers’ letters in the past three months, especially for the “Ask Paul” section (see pages 24-27), it’s comforting to…

I thought I would share some wisdom that was once given to me and that I still pass on to people today regardless of their age. I jump up and down in the one spot and tell them they must, must pass this on to their kids and grandkids. So what is it? It’s from a book, The Richest Man in Babylon, published by the American George Clason nearly 100 years ago. He writes about laws of wealth building that go back more than 2000 years and still apply today. Save 10% of what you earn and live off the rest – no matter what. If a kid starts their first part-time job at, say, 15 and gets into the habit of saving $5 out of every $50, and does…

Future looks bleak for younger generations I’ll be honest, I’m struggling to see much of a future for my generation. We will be crippled working to pay off the debt currently being incurred. We face no or low wage growth. The federal government even wants to remove our superannuation increase of 0.5%. This is against an already stressful background of unstable income, meagre super funds, high unemployment, the rising cost of living and the impossible dream of owning a home. We’re tired and we haven’t even started. I’m tired. As a teacher, employed full time and in demand, I thought I’d be fine. Even if I need to support my ageing parents (soon possibly made redundant), I could probably manage ... that is, until I found out about the NSW freeze on the…

Economists are debating what shape the economic recovery is going to be post-pandemic. The most optimistic is a “V” shape bounce while others believe we are in for a “W” down-up-down-then-up-again market. But there are rumblings on Wall Street that we might be heading for a K-shape recovery, where fortunes diverge for the haves and the have-nots. It’s a scenario where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When I think of my family and friends, I doubt that they think of the shape of the economy at all. We all just want the situation to turn a corner. If I were to measure the temperature of the room based on our readers’ letters in the past three months, especially for the “Ask Paul” section (see pages 24-27),…