Money Magazine May 2018

“I don’t care too much for money, and money can’t buy me love.” If you’re a Beatles fan you’ll recognise these words from their 1964 smash hit Can’t Buy Me Love. I read with interest that when Paul McCartney was asked by journalists to explain the song’s meaning in 1966, he said that “all these material possessions are all very well, but they won’t buy me what I really want”. So true, but as Marcus Padley points out in his column some of us require a little hindsight to learn this. With typical Padley humour he says: “As I look back, I have realised that, apart from children, cars are perhaps the worst investments I have ever made.” It appears the 1980s for Marcus was all about fast cars –…

Not all areas are booming I am so tired of reading about the “property price boom”, now the “slowdown” and a possible “price crash”. Rarely in any article is it mentioned that not all of Australia boomed! We in Western Australia have been going backwards for years. It is self-presumptuous of writers to assume all readers are in the eastern states. It alienates us. Although we have come to expect this blind self-involvement from Sydney and Melbourne, it would be lovely if the editor could add a token “although not all areas of Australia have experienced price growth”. Not all of us are sitting back marvelling at our equity; many of us here are counting our losses. Catherine, WA Ed’s note: As Terry Ryder highlighted in our February issue: “If…

On Sunday morning I grabbed my latest copy of Money and took up the offer of the 12-month subscription as a gift for my adult nephews. They are hard-working boys and making great decisions to build their wealth for the long term. I’m so proud of them. My inspiration? I’d literally come from the deathbed of a dear friend. While he fought for every breath his wife said, “I need to sell my car – I don’t know how I’ll pay for the funeral.” I’ve found trusted specialists who will help with the car sale and a broker to negotiate their mortgages. I may not be able to help this family as much as I wish, but I know with the learnings and insights that will come from Money magazine…

PAUL CLITHEROE Paul has been the chairman of Money magazine since its launch. Paul says: “Vicki, my wife, had a special birthday not too long ago. Despite my dislike of jewellery due to huge mark-ups and hopeless resale value, I bought a lovely pair of wholesale diamonds and had them set as earrings. She loves them, which is far more important than money.” NICOLA FIELD Nicola is a former chartered accountant and Money contributor. Nicola says: “Inspired by images of a well-groomed Aussie parliamentarian jogging in London, I splurged on a pair of 2XU running pants. At $95 they cost five times more than my normal jogging shorts. Were they worth it? No. I’m still managing a shuffle at best.” TYRON HYDE Tyron is the CEO of Washington Brown Quantity…

I was watching some clown on TV the other night banging on about earning 15% on your investments. Normally I would fast-forward through the advertisements but given it was about money I thought I’d watch. The salesperson was making a pretty good pitch about simply following in the footsteps of legendary US investor Warren Buffett. Now, I have no problem with this. Thanks to the Money TV show, I spent three days in Omaha some years ago tagging along with and filming the legend. He is known for his common sense. One of his earliest investments was Coca-Cola. He figured the population would grow and they would drink lots of the stuff. He was right. This has been his strategy ever since. He did not invest in the dotcom boom…

The banking royal commission began its second round of public hearings last month and if the first sessions are anything to go by big changes are coming to banking and insurance. The first round focused on consumer lending practices, covering mortgages, car loans, credit cards, junk insurance and account errors. The commission explored the experiences of consumer advocates and real people as well as industry. The first witness was Karen Cox, from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, which provides free assistance to people struggling with debt. Cox detailed how irresponsible lending and crippling debt were putting people at risk of bankruptcy, homelessness and suicide. Four Australians also bravely shared their personal struggles with the impact of pushy sales, irresponsible lending and bad products. They included Nalini Thiruvangadam, a single mother…