Whatever is our world coming to?
Right now some of the most talked about ‘news’ stories include:
The removal of a picture of an AFLW player from the Channel Seven website because of troll comments…
A Queensland senator punching a kid in the face twice after being egged by said kid…
The British government refusing to uphold a democratic vote…
A mass slaying in New Zealand thanks to right-wing extremists…
Trump’s ongoing ‘hard line’ stance with China in (still ongoing) trade talks…
The list goes on.
Where are all the good news stories? Where are all the firemen rescuing kitties from trees? Oh and we should also probably add that apparently Fireman Sam is offensive to women and sexist because they call them firemen and not, erm, firepeople? This in turn is making it harder (apparently) to recruit women firefighters.
This is what our world has come to. There’s nothing to give you hope or faith that perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
Even a few nights ago, on the evening news (in my local region) was a featurette on the ‘Worries of Millennials and Generation Z’.
Nothing about their aspirations or successful young people excelling in their respective fields. Nothing about ways that younger generations can make positive steps forward to securing their financial future.
Is it troubled times ahead?
It’s just all dour, worrying, troubled times ahead. And there’s no apparent respite anytime soon. It’s enough to turn anyone away from any kind of hope, let alone younger generations.
Of course if you’re a bit older then you’ve seen through periods like this before. Actually if you’re old enough you’ve seen through far worse and happily come out the other end of it all.
The truth is there are a number of things happening in the world now to be worried about. It’s perfectly reasonable to look at the social, economic and cultural issues that face us and get a little down.
But you can’t let it get you too down. What’s easy to forget is the wonderful opportunities that still exist for people. That comes in the way of quality of life, employment opportunities, access to education and knowledge, and the opportunities that come with a smart, well-thought-out investment plan and strategy.
You could ask any 20 year old, ‘What’s your investment strategy?’ And the most likely outcome is, ‘I dunno, bitcoin?’
That would be a great investment strategy…when paired with a few more avenues for growth and mitigation of risk.
But the only thing that society is failing at right now has nothing to do with being politically correct, nothing to do with any ‘hashtag’ movement, nothing to do with any kind of climate/gender/trade/government/union/economic protest.
Where we fail as a society is to pass on investment and finance knowledge to younger generations…until it’s too late. And what that does is push them more and more down riskier avenues as they try to recoup lost time and foregone opportunity.
You want to know why so much FOMO (fear of missing out) was generated by the mania of cryptocurrency in late 2017 and early 2018? Do you think there’s any coincidence this was predominately spurred on by young people looking to make fast money?
Of course not.
That’s why every personal trainer, taxi driver, butcher, baker, and candlestick maker had a crypto recommendation and ‘hot tip’ for you in 2017.
It wasn’t all that different from the mid-2000s in Australia when everyone had a junior miner recommendation for you. It was basically shooting fish in a barrel. These kinds of flash opportunities come and go and will happen again throughout the coming years.
That’s not to say that investing in junior miners, or crypto or any high-risk asset is a bad idea. In fact, quite the opposite. Investing in high-risk, high-reward opportunities in a solid investment strategy can be life-changing. But you need to know how to apply those opportunities into the right strategy.
What stocks to buy in a supposedly ‘crashing’ market
And that’s where we fall down. People complain that property is too expensive. Maybe it is…actually, it definitely is. And we’ve said for two years that young people looking to get into it should wait, as prices were set to fall.
Well, we were right, and we still think they should be sitting it out for a little longer still. But that doesn’t mean they should be completely inactive. They should be drip feeding money into markets, a mix of stocks, cash (interest bearing) and crypto while managing their cash flow and spending less than they make.
Pretty straight forward stuff — but most people never put it into practice.
Maybe you’re one of the younger generations? Maybe you’re a bit older and have a child that’s about to join or just joined the ranks of the real world? Or maybe you’ve got grandkids that are in that Generation Z or Millennial slot?
It doesn’t matter. You’ve got a responsibility, because no one else will do it for them, to guide them to the right approach to investment over the long-term, and to understand how to manage risk and reward. The responsibility on how to guide them to think for themselves, research, build a view, have conviction and to filter the everyday fearmongering that permeates through the world.
There’s plenty to get excited about. Plenty of stocks to buy that are delivering returns in a supposedly ‘crashing’ market. Plenty of long-term, high-risk plays that don’t require you ‘bet the house’, but are worth having an exposure to.
Building a plan, learning about finance and markets isn’t natural to everyone. It’s also not easy. But with the right approach, the right mindset and the right access to advice, knowledge and insight, everyone has a chance to build themselves a financial future that gives them the best life they could hope for.
Regards,
Sam Volkering