People will find it impossible to find a job in the current climate. I have enough money to live on so getting the redundancy package is a bonus. You should never leave your job in the current circumstances as this recession is predicted to last at least a few years. Luckily the last 2 weeks, i have been reducing my risk exposure although i still have 30% highly exposed and i am very comfortable with a 30% risk exposure - even if markets takes another 35% dive (this will cause a depression), i can still weather the storm. Main thing is i have no gearing so that is very important (i don't even have a home loan!).

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 13 2020, 10:23 AM

Aussie dollar hits another low US61.5

When i retire, i will roll over all my super accounts into one super acct and start drawing on it whenever i need money. You can choose the risk level of the superfund (from cash to extremely aggressive or a combination). As you get older, you lower your risk exposure so in your 70s, you may go off international shares altogether. The only thing about Aust superfunds is it is based in Aussie dollar so when there is a worldwide selloff (like what is happening now!), your assets will suffer because the Aussie is a risky currency where it can come down hard when markets are crashing.

You can set up your self-managed superfund and park your funds all in US dollar by buying etfs (on the ASX, you can buy an etf called USD and basically, you are buying US dollar - you don't get any interest though). Self-managed superfund has a lot of regulation behind it (ASIC and ATO) and you have to lodge a yearly tax-return so there is quite a lot of work involved - to make it worthwhile you should have at least A$400k-500k inside the fund otherwise the costs outweigh the benefits.

From SMH:

PM introduces strict travel restrictions for all arrivals

All visitors to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days from midnight, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced in a move that effectively stops international tourism.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/pm-introduc...315-p54a8q.html

--------------------------------------------

No more overseas holidays for me.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 15 2020, 12:07 PM

Lockdown is a real possibility now but i suspect it will be only very short term (like a few days). The real casualties will be those who are on welfare and has no savings. Everything has gone up in price (Chinese groceries shops) - i bought a 20kg rice bag for A$69 and it normally sells for A$55. No choice. My wife and i stored more than 1 month's food just in case - we have not eaten out at all for the past 6 weeks.

There are many levels of lockdowns - Italy has gone with one of the highest where only pharmacies and essential services are opened.

Since Aust is still not that serious yet, they may only close down schools and offices (where mass people gather) but shops will still be allowed to open.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 16 2020, 08:42 AM

Lockdown is up to each individual country. A lot of countries don't want to go this way because this is very destructive for the economy long term.

I usually keep a few weeks supply of meat in the fridge (even in normal times) so it doesn't really affect me much. I always keep spares (for other stuff) at home (so i don't need to buy that often). I always walk to Coles/Woolies from home (morning walk) and always keep extras at home so a lockdown may not really affect me much. Only thing is my retirement savings has gone down by A$155k to date because of the market crash (luckily i moved to a more conservative position 2 weeks ago).

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 17 2020, 06:06 AM

You may find somes shelves empty - people are really panicking!

Asian stores also are running low on supply. I don't know whether you can still get rice as i had to buy a 20kg pack as there were no more smaller packs.

Expect the panic to be around for a while.

Aust will have a very hard landing this time because of the high household debt. Aussie is now trading at US0.60c and will fall further. right now A$1 =SGD.856 I suspect a lot of workers will lose their jobs and it will be on-going for at least a couple of years.

Plenty of negative news around.

Even meat are all gone from the butcher today! People really panicking more and more.

When panic sets in, people do crazy things!

There is a saying - There is enough for everyone's needs but never enough for one man's greed.

Aussie in free fall.

1 AUD = 2.45277 MYR

Announced about 20 mins ago.

The Reserve Bank has indicated that 0.25% is the lowest it would go so the only direction for rates now is up. The cost of funding (in Aust) is going up because of the lack of confidence in the Aussie dollar which is why the govt is now providing liquidity by buying bonds (injecting cash into the economy) rather than relying on money from overseas. The govt has never done this before and this is what they call quantitative easing. Not a very good sign because it means that companies will start cutting down staff and not expand for a long while.

I was talking with my cousin who has a lot of properties in Sydney - he says he is worried as some of his tenants are asking him for rent deferment. He is very wealthy but a lot of his properties are bought with negative gearing. Rich people also have worries of their own in this pandemic.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 21 2020, 09:19 AM

In Aust, due to the tax system, it is extremely difficult to be extremely wealthy. Most times people get richer because of existing wealth (due usually to inheritance) and building on that wealth. I know a lot of wealthy people in Sydney (more than A$30mil) and all of them had very rich parents. My rich cousin also has rich parents and this has enabled him to acquire a lot of rental properties (heavily geared though because of the tax advantages through negative gearing).

I personally believe that the goal in life is to be happy (and contented). If we are able to build more wealth, that is a blessing and we should be grateful for that. We don't really need a lot of money to be happy.

I am quite a frugal person and i think my money will be mostly used to help relatives (in KL) when i retire.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 22 2020, 03:35 AM

All supermarkets and butchers will still open so you don't need to be too worried.

The Aussie dollar and Aussie stockmarket will be one of the worse performers in the world as this country has a lot of personal debt (mainly residential loans) and if residential property prices drop, this will affect a lot of people - landlords now are afraid their tenants cannot afford to pay their rents. Ringgit has dropped quite a lot against the USD but Aussie is a lot worse!

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Mar 23 2020, 07:13 AM

On the stock market, banks are being smashed as they expect a lot of bad loans coming in later months. A lot of workers have now lost their jobs (esp in the hospitality industry) and they will not be able to service their loans so banks will end up with bad loans. The economy is looking very shaky now.

Could be short term and may start dropping again - hopefully not.