By Amanda Morrall
1) Savings, what savings?
The Globe and Mail, reporting on a survey of youth (18-34 olds) savings, reveals that about one-third of young Canadians have no retirement savings. That's despite a desire for "early" retirement. Savings reports on New Zealanders indicate similarly low savings achievements. Tina Di Vito, head of the BMO Retirement Institute and author of a book on how to rescue your retirement, said the findings highlighted a dichotomy "between what young people think about retirement and what they are actually doing to prepare for it.”
How much do you need in retirement? You can get a rough idea how much your KiwiSavings will grow over time using this calculator. See also this calculator on Sorted.org.nz's website to help estimate required retirement savings.
2) Understanding risk
Across the Tasman, default superannuations funds are among the riskiest. That's because in stark contrast to default funds here in NZ which are conservative (meaning they have a low proportion of equities and a high weighting of fixed income and cash assets), Aussie default funds are growth funds. As a result, through the global financial crisis default superannuation funds in Australia have been among the worst performing in the world. New Zealand default funds in KiwiSaver by comparison (while immature) have done remarkably well.
The Age newspaper reports today that regulators in Australia are now pushing fund managers and super scheme providers to do a better job of educating investors about risk and reward, so they know what they're getting into.
Do you know the level of risk in your KiwiSaver fund? The more growth assets you have in your fund, the higher the risk. To see a breakdown of asset allocation, Find your Fund, and also check out what you're invested in specifically.
3) Get over it
Fear is a major impediment to success however you want to define success. Geoffrey James, writing for Inc.com, talks about his personal leap into the unknown, how it paid off and 4 mental tricks he learned to help overcome fear. Great article but if you don't read it they are as follows: 1) Value courage over security; 2) Differentiate between fear and prudence; 3) Treat fear as a call to action and 4) reframe fear into excitement.
Whether it's going into business for yourself or asking out the office hottie, it's all sound advice I think. James includes some inspirational video to watch as well.
4) Forget the critics
Further to the get-over-fear bit, I would also suggest that the path to success requires a steely commitment to the pursuit of goals and a filtering process for ignoring nay sayers. Constructive criticism is never a bad thing but the toxic unsolicited feedback won't do you any good. In our business, particularly in the new media, we are easy prey for critics in the form of venomous, anonymous and bitter drive-by commentators.
Anyone who operates in this on-line environment or who has to fend off unwarranted criticism will enjoy this piece from The Salon, which looks at the psychology of "internet trolls" who just can't seem to help themselves.
5) Passion and purpose
Renown creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson is a critique of the conventional education system. He believes we stifle the best and brightest by subscribing to an outdated mode of classroom structure, teaching and testing. In this article published on Good Is, Sir Robinson speaks at length about the importance of finding purpose in passion and guiding children in the direction of their dreams. If you don't have time to listen the 50 minute video, watch the one below instead.
To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamorrall
1 Comments
Re 5: New Zealand could take a leaf out of this book. The model for schools is basically the same as in Victorian times.
In a similar vein an interesting item from New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/is-algebra-necessary.html?
NZ is not quite as bad as the US in insisting on higher maths but tying national standards to NCEA Level 2 maths (which is the algebra gatekeeper in NZ) is a step in that direction.
As the writer says:
"This debate matters. Making mathematics mandatory prevents us from discovering and developing young talent. In the interest of maintaining rigor, we’re actually depleting our pool of brainpower. I say this as a writer and social scientist whose work relies heavily on the use of numbers. My aim is not to spare students from a difficult subject, but to call attention to the real problems we are causing by misdirecting precious resources."
And:
"Instead of investing so much of our academic energy in a subject that blocks further attainment for much of our population, I propose that we start thinking about alternatives. Thus mathematics teachers at every level could create exciting courses in what I call “citizen statistics.” This would not be a backdoor version of algebra, as in the Advanced Placement syllabus. Nor would it focus on equations used by scholars when they write for one another. Instead, it would familiarize students with the kinds of numbers that describe and delineate our personal and public lives."
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