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
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