LOL at you @zero2a$mill :) Despite knowing better, I have been...

LOL at you @zero2a$mill

Despite knowing better, I have been reading some of the stock threads this weekend. Not sure why - usually reads like an imminent train wreck to me. I'm trying to work out why I get angry at all the dreamers/delusional people on them. Nothing to do with me - why should I care? Remains an unanswered question for now.
Been noticing that you haunt some of the other threads around the place - always fun to read.

Can't say that I have much to complain about when it comes to financial matters, even though the last 11 years or so have been pretty challenging for me and my family.

I have had the good fortune to live through an extraordinary period of debt-fueled asset growth (otherwise known as owning a home) - I doubt my kids will have that luxury. Seems increasingly likely that they might have to wait until we kick the bucket and get the inheritance. An unfolding story - one which I've seen with one of my clients and a story which we will hear a lot more about in years to come - is the increasing amount of financial abuse which is coming from the kids of elderly parents who are fraudulently getting access to their parent's assets (kind of like fast-tracking your inheritance before the oldies have died, if you know what I mean).

My wife and I are seeing an independent financial adviser for a free 2 hour chat on Thursday. It is possible to find one that is independent, although according to this website, there are only about 80 in the entire country - http://www.superguide.com.au/the-so...-australia#IFAAA_members_independent_advisers

We'll go through a few scenarios and start making some plans for the short and medium-term. This will probably involve, at some stage, in our selling our house in Sydney. The thing which strikes me about this is: we will make a huge profit when the sale occurs and really we have done bugger-all work to "earn" it. We just bought a good place, kept up the mortgage payments, and seen the price go through the roof in the 14 years we've been here. There's nothing clever about this at all. No FA or TA skills involved.

We will probably consider setting up an SMSF or something similar. Do a bit of trading. I wonder how many retirees have wiped out a lifetime's worth of Super by "investing" their money in the stock markets. Maybe they are using CFDs or trading Forex on their smart phones 24 hours a day? I'm sure they all read the Terms and Conditions.

In the end, for most of us, this is just a First World Problem anyway. I noticed in the Superannuation thread the concerns expressed by peeps who have millions in Super about how to minimize their tax. Yep, that must be very important I guess.

I hope you and Dooley are well. I'm rambling a bit tonight - must be in one of my reflective moods. Take care