Hi Snider and all,Many thanks for your comments, IMHO if 2008...

Hi Snider and all,

Many thanks for your comments, IMHO if 2008 and the GFC had not taken place we would still be facing problems enough due to demographics.

Also remember with negative gearing and other incentives Australians have had a love affair with real estate for a couple of generations now. In my own business several of my trades people fitters, boiler-makers and my PA of twenty years own several rental properties , one boiler-maker I know of in Brisbane owns six such properties. At least like me when Swiftie called to our business with his 2 and 20% plans and his A-4 print out projections showing fabulous super fund returns on 20% PA multiples through to age 65 we thought it looked too good to be true.

I wonder just how many people in Australia still have those plans and profit projections tucked away in their sideboards assuming their old age spending needs are catered for? Another demographic shock due any day now!

I guess one can dream about winning the lottery and it’s a kind of harmless delusion the other delusion that all is Hunky Dory in our current financial world and we all live happily ever after may prove in time to be a great deal more dangerous.

I am busy now cleaning leaves from the pool and around the house generally; however, other than the canal at the back of my place looking like The Mississippi Bayou it appears we got off quite lightly here at the Gold Coast. I sincerely hope that my fellow Queenslanders and others affected by the recent storms manage to get things back to normal quickly.

In a country like Australia with weather and conditions as diverse as ours, one end of the country burning the other flooded it will be natural enough to find similar extremes in lines of thought. Then again it would be boring if we all thought the same and it would be a great deal harder for me to buy more physical Gold as I intend to later today in the January sales!

Cheers and very best regards: Andy