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Check your face

Check your face

12/04/2012 11:12:33 AM

This article was first published inThe Northern Daily Leader under the heading, 'Check your face' on the 31st of March 2012.

Financial advisers don’t follow a ‘face code’ (I hope!) – exclusivity should not be a barrier to receiving financial advice. Some advisers may charge more than others, but you shouldn’t be discriminated against based on the balance of your bank account. This is related to a question I am often asked: how much money do you need to have before you see a financial adviser? Many people think that there’s no use getting financial advice unless they have a spare couple hundred thousand dollars lying around. The truth is that you don’t need to have money to justify seeking out financial advice; you just need to be interested in making the most of your financial situation.

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Just Google It

Just Google It

12/04/2012 11:01:44 AM

This article was first published inThe Northern Daily Leader under the heading, 'Just Google It' on the 17th of March 2012.

How great is the internet? Want to know how many ping pong balls fit in a jumbo? Just google it (around 28 million). Want to know Tony Abbott’s date of birth? Just google it (4 November 1957). Want to know how much the world’s most expensive watch costs? Just google it ($4.7 million). Want to know where the….ok you probably get it by now. It’s almost hard to imagine life without access to all of this amazing information. Though of course much of what you find on the internet is of dubious quality – have a look for when the world will end and you’ll see what I mean (21st of December apparently, so go easy on the Christmas presents this year).

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The Music Did It

The Music Did It

12/04/2012 10:56:11 AM

This article was first published inThe Northern Daily Leader under the heading, 'The Music Did It' on the 03rd of March 2012.

It’s remarkable how sights, sounds and smells can jog our memories, instantly reminding us of places or events long past. Music in particular is very effective at transporting you back to a certain time or place. When I hear Ennio Morricone’s classic theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, it immediately takes me back to the late 70’s, sitting on the shagpile rug on the lounge floor while my parents listened to the soundtrack on their vinyl record player, eating Swedish meatballs and a cheese fondue. On the other hand, a power love ballad from Whitney Houston reminds me of teenage parties where we hung out with our acid wash jeans, leather jackets and big hair, furtively sneaking sips from a can of beer we’d stolen from Dad’s fridge.

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Shopping is not a movie

Shopping is not a movie

27/02/2012 10:17:44 AM

This article was first published in The Northern Daily Leader under the title 'Shopping is not a movie' on 04 February 2012.

It struck me then that choosing a movie was not unlike investing in the stock market – I had a choice between very different alternatives, just as you do when you select any investment. One of the choices, The Hangover, was clearly high-risk (my wife was not going to be happy when I showed her my selection) but also high-reward (I was going to be much happier watching it than the movie about shopping). Sex in the City however, was the complete opposite – low-risk (my wife was going to be thrilled with my choice) but also low-reward (I would have to try and keep awake for two hours watching Carrie and her friends go shopping and talk about their feelings).

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The 'toilet tip'

The 'toilet tip'

23/02/2012 8:56:05 AM

This article was first published inThe Northern Daily Leader under the heading, 'The Toilet Tip' on the 18th of February 2012.

People often lump gambling and the stock market together, believing that the risks or chances of success in both are of equal magnitude. In fact researchers have found that there is a difference: gambling in casinos or on pokies means you will only ever lose in the long run, due to the nature of the odds against you. The stock market however, is more like the racetrack, where the more informed investor (or punter) can succeed at the expense of less well informed players. The message is that successful investing, like picking winners at the track, means talking to somebody who knows what they’re doing. It’s just that good investment advisers are hopefully easier to find than hanging around the toilets at the racetrack.

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