It all comes down to you

Bruce Brammall, The West Australian, 17 October, 2022

Power is something, in general, we want more of. It gives us more control over our lives. Power makes it easier to achieve goals and aims.

Life would usually be better with more power in our work, over our finances, of what food we consume (maybe the last is, more accurately, “will-power”).

Power and control also need balance. (Take Vladimir Putin.) Some want better balance of power in a household. Yin and yang, equilibrium, symmetry.

But here’s a truth. Most people fail to exercise most powers they do have. Power that would make their lives better. Lack of interest? Laziness? Lack of knowledge?

Possibly all three. But when it comes to your personal finances, you are in control. Don’t tell me you’re not.

Maybe less so on earnings, but spending is certainly something over which most people fail to exercise their power.

The power to invest is something you have. If you’re not an investor, it’s only because you’ve failed to exercise that control.

Already an investor

You don’t have money to invest? If you’re working, then that’s not true. You are already an investor.

Via superannuation. You have control over your super. And how it’s invested.

That you haven’t exercised any control over your super does not mean you don’t control aspects of it. You could call your super fund tomorrow and tell them you want your investments changed, switched to cash, or sent to another fund, because you’re panicked about recession, inflation, interest rates and Russia’s invastion of Ukraine … anything.

Or the opposite. All the turmoil in the world has got you thinking that opportunities exist and you want your super to take more risk.

You haven’t? Why not?

Because most (generally) take no interest in their super. Or possibly, they just trust the superannuation system will turn out all right.

Or the opposite. You don’t trust them.

But most haven’t done anything regarding their super. (Not saying you need to or should.)

I’m just giving myself some rope to play with.

I want to invest!

Many desperately want to become investors. And have for a long time.

But the thought of doing it now, with the media telling us we’re hurtling face first into a huge, warm, cow pat, is too scary.

The world is noisy right now. But … do you listen to the noise when it comes to you super?

Have you panicked and liquidated your super to cash? Got your super out of shares, property and fixed interest?

No, you haven’t. Largely, for whatever reason, you have left your super alone. To do it’s thing. Which it will. Markets, always, eventually recover.

Make it automatic

Almost everyone would be benefit from ignoring the economic noise – good or bad – and exerting control over their future.

Take a leap of faith. That investment markets – the same sorts your super invests in – will do their thing well, and recover over time.

Simply invest.

It doesn’t have to be complex.

Do a risk profile. Pick an index fund (Vanguard is a good low-cost option) that invests across a range of assets that matches that risk profile and … commit.

Add to it, every month, whether markets are going up or down. Get a direct debit in place. This is exactly how most people’s super funds operate – money is invested as soon as it hits their account.

What better time than right now? Sure, markets are down. But look at it this way … you’re picking up the same quality assets at a discount to what they were two years ago.

And invest regularly.

And if you started a year ago and invested more money every month since, most assets you have picked up this year have been cheaper than what you initially invested at. The average price you’ve paid is falling.

Investing (like your super) should be a life-long, automatic, habit.

Investing is exerting power over your future. Creating a better life for “Future You”. Your super grows for two main reasons. Contributions are made over a working lifetime. And the quality assets they are invested in grow during that period.

Don’t say markets have been rocky this year and you think investing would be a bad idea. (Again, have you panicked and moved your super to cash?)

Perhaps your opportunity is to START investing while markets are down.

Investing is you exercising postive power over your future. But, hey, keep finding excuses if you want …

Bruce Brammall is the author of Mortgages Made Easy and is both a financial adviser and mortgage broker. E: bruce@brucebrammallfinancial.com.au.