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Looking through my weekend papers, I started to feel the urge to cut out adverts that had been placed by the government offering money, grants, welfare, free training…… It was a slightly insane urge. What was I goind to do with all these cuts outs? Cut out individual letters and write a letter to someone? Anyway, there were quite a few of these advertisements. I'm still trying to work out how my business can qualify for the $5K – $15K grant for improving work flexibility for our employees (me and my husband). Perhaps it could go towards a housekeeper a couple of days a week so I can get more work done?
F*cking ridiculous.
Milly,
I'm so very sorry to hear about your husband, and your difficult personal circumstances. Yours is a story that illustrates exactly WHY we DO need welfare.As to why I think my step daughter has an easy life – she tells me herself that she does. She told me that her daughter has so many brand new unworn baby clothes being packed away as she outgrows them. She told me that this is because she just LOVES baby girl clothes and simply "can't help myself". SHE tells me that she puts her daughter in daycare 4 mornings a week so she can go to the gym. SHE told me that she got $5000 cash in one lump sum from the government, and there is nothing of it left. Her home is full of BRAND NEW appliances. I agree she should be working, hanging around with freinds and discovering herself, but SHE rejected working in favour of partying on welfare YEARS ago. The ONLY time she has worked is when we found her a job that she stuck with for a little while, then she took off back to the life she knows only too well. Welfare, parties, sleeping in until 12noon and getting up and having a litre of coke and a smoke for breakfast.
MY HEART BREAKS for her. I am VERY frustrated with the situation. But I know it's not her fault. She is a product of her upbringing (which we were not allowed to participate in until she was 12 and her Mum lost control of her, and by then it was pretty much too late to change her personal ideals). She will NEVER know the satisfaction that comes from having a goal and working hard towards it and achieving it. Her MOTHER has 6 kids and has raised them all on welfare. None of them wear second hand clothes (except hand me downs from each other). Her mother also puts the youngest one in day care and goes to the gym 4 days a week. They live in a lovely chamferboard home, in a provincial QLD city, and they have an almost idyllic lifestyle. Stress? I don't think so. They have nothing to loose. They get everything for free. The smoking comes from her mother, and it is typical of people in this class of society. When my husbands ex wife was hospitalised with a lung disease after smoking for 30 years, I couldn't convice my stepdaughter that it had anything to do with smoking. The mother smoked through all of her pregnancies, and my stepdaughter does the same thing.
I don't know where you live. I don't know much about welfare either, but I believe it is pretty much the same amount of $ wherever you live. This means people on welfare in provincial cities have better cash flow, because their rent is cheaper, and the cost of living in a small town is often less. (depends where you are, but in a fruit and veg growing region, and a small town where you have very little travelling costs, it can be alot less). I can well understand that living on welfare with 4 kids and paying off a mortgage would have been an enormous battle for you. Perhaps you live in a city. Perhaps you were accostomed to a different cash flow before your husband passed away. Can you understand that some people have been brought up with no other goal in life than to live on the dole and pop out kids, live in a renter, with a brand new big plasma tv and brand new clothes and never have a job. Can you understand how FRUSTRATING that can be for someone on the outside, with a different set of priorities. How SAD it is for this girl, that she will probably never own her own home and have that satisfaction. That she will still be wearing teen fashions when she is overweight and in her late 30's. That she will spend thousands and thousands of dollars of tax payer money on smokes. That she will bring up her children to be exactly the same. This is a tragic cycle. Poverty? No. Not unless poverty is living in a brand new beach suburb apartment, with brand new clothes and appliances, a flat screen tv, a computer, microwave, washing machine, and new furniture. Not unless poverty includes being able to afford going to the gym 4 times a week, smoking, using day care facilities, having enough money for food to buy TV dinners or eat out, rather than preparing your own food.
While I respect your own personal struggle, I find your contempt and simplified view of this situation a little insulting. You know nothing of me, my husband or mystepdaughter, and choose, rather than giving me the benefit of the doubt as an intelligent and caring human being, to condemn my views as those of the judgemental and withholding stepmother. You know nothing of the years of heartache and numerous attempts that we have made to help this girl. You know nothing of how shattered her father is about certain aspects of her past. You know nothing of how much I would be prepared to give, to help, if I thought it would help. Get off your soapbox. Not every story is as genuine as yours. There are plenty of people out there just like this girl. Simply, they are products of our society. It is not there fault. The system sucks.
Grant,
I've heard alot of good things about insulating paint but haven't actually used it. A painter told us that good quality external white paint would do the same job, so we painted our (also uninsulated) roof with it, and it wasn't much good really. Wish I'd spent the money on the proper stuff. Hopefully you'll get a more knowledgeable post than this. Good luck,
STownsville: Not yet at the bottom. Recently laid off miners don't seem to be truly hurting yet. While I see some properties moving and promisingly low prices, there is alot of people still adverrtising at last years prices, alot of properties on the market for quite a while, and plenty of FHO's out there exiting rentals (slowing rental demand), and buying houses. The market seems divided. Those who seriously want to sell, are SOMETIMES having to go quite low. Some sellers manage a buyer at a reasonable price. Not enough pain the market to call it the bottom. Rental yield on asking price(standalone freehold housing) is still only 4 – 5.5%, depending upon location (generally). Of course, you can better this, but this seems to be about average. Doesn't signal a buy for me yet.
SThanks IP freely.
Mister,
I think alot of people are working under the idea of little, no or negative capital growth at the moment. Under such an assumption, I haven't yet found anything that fits my criteria performance wise in order to buy. There may be alot of other people like me, just carefully watching and waiting until the maths says an unmistakeable "yes". Until that point, I'm happy to keep my money, and my debt low. While there are some sellers out there now who are ready to meet the market, there are still alot of houses listed at last years prices. Plus, there may be a bit of waiting and seeing about what happens after 30 June re FHOG. I'd love to see the stupid thing abolished completely, but I doubt that will happen. I think most people are in a bit of a wait and see mode, only to be jostled out of it my an uncannily good deal.
SDon't worry, there is a fair difference in handouts to indigenous people here too. I didn't vote the idiots in. Trouble is too many idiots have the right to vote.
Does anyone know where on the net I can access spot price data for not only individual securities, but also things like gold? My client has access to a spot price graph that he can draw trend lines on. The graph can be zoomed in and out to different periods of time, and is in real time for Australian markets. It may be a paid data subscription service. It is the sort of thing a trader would use, short or long term trades as it is so flexible re its time window.
I'd love to have a play.
realestate.com has a section now called realholidays.com. This is what I use when booking self contained holiday accom (as a tourist).
I know no one who made themselves retirement rich through property alone. Re the post with the BRW rich list, I bet if you added all those different business categories together, then business, as a broad banner, would be the number one way to get rich.
But this thread has taken a slightly down in the mouth turn, don't you think? Let's brainstorm ideas about what we can all do now to improve our personal wealth.
I'll start:
1: Education. I need to learn more about this carbon trading thing and what those new laws are going to mean for business and the economy. Is there an opportunity there?2: Keep payng off the debt. Expecting strong cattle prices later in the year = sell most of our herd and pay out part of the investment home loan. (This will also lower our running costs, easing our cashflow, as it costs a bit of money to hold cattle)
3: Community service. I volunteer my time to teach choir at the local school. We are a small outback community and they didn't until I started, have any musical activities at all. It is one of the most rewarding things I do all week.
4: Grow my veges. Fresh fruit and veg is very dear here, and mostly impossible to get good quality. Growing a small vege patch saves me a bucket loat, and, along with collecting the eggs from the chooks, it is a real feel good thing. Out there in the sun, turning over the dirt and planting stuff, then bringing it in and feeding it to my family.
5: Teach my kids about the wonder and beauty of nature. We bought bug collectors the other day. My kids are 4yrs and 2yrs, and they are a real hit.
My point. Echoing what quite a few of the previous posters have said, QUALITY of LIFE. I'll keep learning, and positioning myself to be ready for the next opportunity. But I'm also going to do little things that bring me and my family great QUALITY of life.
devo76 wrote:The military is like insurance. You dont need them until the day you do need them.Couldn't agree more.
I don't know what they need, but I reckon if they need more planes, better planes, subs whatever, they should have it. Not just a state of the art field kit. My brother's descriptions of what air support does, and how skilled those pilots are are pretty hair raising. Can't remember the numbers, but it goes something like this: You've been caught out after dawn, still in enemy territory (normally you try to get out before daylight, but maybe your prisoner is dragging the chain, or you have somone wounded with you), your position is compromised and you, being an elite, fast moving force, don't have the numbers to dig in and fight it out (your armed to the teeth, but there's only about 6 of you and the badies are gathering some pretty big numbers seeing as they've heard there are some caught out white fellas ready for a roasting). You need someone to save your butt, so you get on the radio and ask for air support. Jets come in at, what 800kmph (I don't know how fast, but they're fast), scream over your head at about 100m (again, I don't know how low, but he reckons they're pretty low), and drop a cr*pload of firepower on the badies 100m away. There's now nothing much left of the bad guys, what is left is backing off and you can go back to base now. Now, if you were my brother, I reckon you'd want those pilots in the best machines on earth. Besides, I don't actually think 10M is an awful lot for one of those machines.
Actually, Devo, my brother gives me the impression that Australia manufactures a bit of military equipment, which is sold to the international forces. Apparantly the bushmaster is pretty popular, and kicks some but.
I agree, conscription could never work. But todays youth could really do with some character building somewhere along the line. Of course they're not all drugies. Even on this site we see an encouraging number of ambitious young people. But in terms of turning out well rounded young people, I reckon they need a challenge. I don't know what the answer is.
OK, conscription and the military. I think we gotta get our guys the best stuff, even if it is expensive. And I agree, conscription could be an excellent character building excersise for our youth. Bit hard to lump all of the problems of todays youth on the military though, and I agree, no govt would ever bring it in. Pity. Personally, I think the gap year idea used in the UK should be encouraged here. I went working on stations in the NT when I was 16 – had the time of my life. Got drunk, got into a bit of trouble, learnt alot about life, worked hard and was a million miles from hard drugs or any real danger (unless you counted the bulls and the horses that bucked). Should be more of it. Kids living with Mum and Dad until their late 20's – when do they grow up and get some character?
I digress, the military. Sure, revolutionise the military beauracracy and make the administration of the machine more cost effective, but give our blokes the good gear. My brother is a special forces commando, recently returned from Afghanistan, and I gotta say they are fighting an important fight over there. Those extremists are NASTY and we certainly want to nip that one in the bud over there rather than let them get any more of a start on their whole take over the world, kill all enemies ideas.Yeah, sure I'm a bit outback based. That's what I know. Might as well stick to that, hey. Besides, our new party is going to need a rural policy expert. Sounds good. $200K please (pa plus benefits, travel allowances, private jet (the outback is a big place) and super).
cheers
sOh, lovely, lets all go to Costa Rica…
WJ,
OK, brainstorming. Had to agree with alot that you said. I'll add:
1: Open further university placements, particularly in the sciences so we don't have to import any more half educated, non english speaking doctors. I'm sure we've got plenty of great Australian kids to train, they just can't all achieve the ridiculously high benchmark for entering medicine, and meanwhile we import substandard doctors from overseas. Our aging population is going to require increasing levels of medical care, and I can only imagine that if there were more doctors, medical care mightn't be quite as expensive.
2: As to removing state govt. Nice idea, but even though I hate the QLD govt (my state), I do like the fact that the Federal govt is not the be all and end all. I like the fact that power is distributed. Checks and balances like Howard used to say. I'd support radical reform of the govt structure, to reduce beauracracy and corruption (of which I believe there is a fair amount, particularly at the local govt level). I'd support federal control over health, education etc.
3: Create a seperate country and ship all the labor lovers and dolies over there and leave them to it.
4: Can middle class welfare and replace with tax cuts.
5: CAn the FHOG.
6: Scrap drought interest rebates (Fed govt pays interest for drought stricken farmes) and transport and feedstuff rebates
7: Tax families as a unit (this would be hard to police), rather than as two individuals.
8: Open uranium mining nationally.
9: Develop policy that ensures Australia produces sufficient food to support ourselves.
10. Open additional agricultural land in Northern Australia so that the country may grow ethanol fuels without losing food producing capacity.
11. Somehow remove the insidious influence that the green movement has over Government.
12. Primary industry should be brought into the emissions trading scheme, and carbon farming should be made a real part of that scheme (carbon can be sequestered into the ground by specific farming practices (which also happen to enhance production), but this is not at the moment recognised by the (draft?) legislation.Maybe we should start our own political party… We could have lots of self interested initiatives too, like zero tax on capital gains…
SWJ Hooker wrote:Maybe we should all place our brainstorming up for comments ?OK, you first.
Sorry to be such a cynic, but I hesitate to share the few ideas I have with a bunch of other people looking for their lucky break, and hundreds of guest visitors to the forum. I'd love to share if I could overcome my fear and greed…. sound familiar?
SIt is nice to see someone online who cares about spelling, grammar and punctuation. I had started to feel a little old fashioned, personally, and was wondering if the rest of the world thought so too, because I choose to put a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence, and usually get my choice of where and were, their and there correct. Perhaps the use of correct English is going the way of chivalry, and armour plated battle horses. I hope not. Do they still insist on correct grammar etc at university? They should, because as pointed out, it is difficult for someone to pass themselves off as an educated person when they can't spell.
This is an interesting thread. I've been thinking similar thoughts (minus the shooting myself, thankfully).
When you hear about people who have made alot of money somehow, be it business, property, shares, whatever, they all seem to have a few things in common. They were all in the right place, at the right time, with the right knowledge, and the guts to have a go. There, in alot of cases, was a fair bit of luck. Some were handed small inheritances that they invested wisely and turned into great wealth. Some happened to be living in Perth 15 years ago and happened to buy a property and got swept up in the market, almost unintentionally ( but were smart enough to recognise what was going on and cash in). Some had some brilliant, niche business idea and added to their idea, solid business practices. When you read their stories, it seems to me that there is no single one way of getting rich. Horses for Courses. Different things have worked for different people. We make alot more out of our current business than we do out of our rental. We've made much better returns out of a small herd of cattle than anything else. We are simply better positioned to make money out of cattle than out of real estate. I have a client making good money from trading silver.So where is the next boom? Where is the next massive demand for professional services going to be? What will be the next booming commodity? How will the needs and wants and buying capacity of the population shift over the next 10, 20 years and what opportunities will it create? I have a few ideas, but I don't know how to educate myself fast enough to be competitive in the areas I see emerging.
One thing is clear, the government loves to spend money and government contracts can be lucrative. We are doing well out of one, and I have some friends who have made themselves very wealthy holding contracts related to remote aboriginal communities. Other friends just happened to get into labour hire in the mining industry about 15 years ago. They now call themselves "unemployed" – and it's just the sort of unemployed I'd like to be, touring the world and Australia and having a fat time of it all.
All of the people who I know personally who have made themselves wealthy have done so through business. They have all helped themselves along the way with additional investments in property (maybe one or two negatively geared properties that have had excellent cap gains).
The secret? I don't know. But I reckon, having an enquiring and athletic mind, a taste for pressure, a love of the game, and strong financial goals must all be part of it. Becoming well informed, understanding the basic economics at work and the emerging trends. Having enough equity to do something when something worthwhile comes along. Being prepared to ditch the safety of employment and strike it out on your own. Starting before your have children. Ask me in another 40 years if I am right. We're doing ok for our age.
Someone mentioned to me, in a thread where I was asking for advice, the idea of obtaining DA for a 'dream' project and selling the block with architectural plans for a lovely home / block of units / whatever and DA. Not sure if this fits the location of your block, but I thought it seemed like a good idea.
Twice you have asked about needing to take a risk. The answer is, yes, any investment has risk. But, there is alot you can do to mitigate the risk. Lots of research, planning, research and more research. Property investment is about making very well informed decisions, to minimise risk. Afterall, the figures you are gambling with are pretty big. So don't just accept risk as a part of the job, Your job is to minimise the risk by becoming very very well informed. It is a slow process.
Gosh, it's been a long time since I was last in Humpty Doo. It used to be all acreage housing sites, though. You need to look into the zoning and what you are allowed to build there, before spending too much time costing out various projects. Not sure what it's like there now, but a block of flats would have been decidedly out of place there ten years ago. Check your zoning.
Chatting with my Dad on the phone thismorning, he reckons kruddy is simply buying votes, which is correct. His theory was that the work towards stabilising the economy has been done by the Reserve Bank, but that it takes at least a year to have any real effect. Kruddy is painting himself on a white horse, by handing out a bit of cash, in the hope that when the economy does stabilise, everyone will thank him. And let's face it, most voters are that stupid. That's how labour ended up in power anyway. Perhaps a new law should be passed that anyone on welfare is not allowed to vote.
