Reading Time: 2 Minutes I think everyone knows by now that we have a pandemic on our hands in the form of the Coronavirus. So as a responsible member of the community, I am doing my bit to make sure the message gets out there and is heard. This afternoon, the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison announced mandatory 14-day self-quarantine measures for ALL travellers coming into Australia, in the latest government initiative to contain the virus. Unfortunately my opinion is that it is too late for containment. This is because the R0 (“R-naught” is a reproductive measure of infectivity) of the virus sits around 2.2 – meaning that one infected…
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A Conversation Between Two Punters About Coronavirus
Reading Time: 2 Minutes What’s up people! Of course, the word on everyone’s mind is “Coronavirus”. Boy, has the market been smashed!!! Yours truly is staring down the barrel of some whooper losses. Oh dear, oh dear. So what to do? Should we sell? Should we buy? WHAT? Well, I was talking about this with my e-penpal and thought it would be interesting for everyone if I shared our conversation. I haven’t told my penpal, but I’m pretty sure he won’t mind. TFS: Thoughts on the latest? Penpal: This seems like the biggie I’ve been waiting for. My mental model on this is based around: Back in early Jan I…
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Coronavirus – Time to Panic?
Reading Time: 3 Minutes “Hey let’s have pasta tonight?” “Sure”. And so off I went, like any good husband. In search of pasta. Lo and behold the sight that befell me at the shops: CLEANED OUT. Goodness, what is going on you ask? It’s because we are in PANIC MODE people. Coronavirus fever has well and truly hit. Now, I posted a couple of weeks ago on it (read here, and here) and it’s time to do an update. Because times have significantly changed since then. I’ll preface the below with the statement that it is my opinion only. You can agree, you can disagree but I hope you get…
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Exchange Traded Funds
Reading Time: 3 Minutes Howdy all! There is one area of personal finance which yours truly hasn’t really touched on, but has a disproportionate representation in many a FIRE portfolio. I’m talking of course, about ETF’s or Exchange Traded Funds. What is it? An ETF is a type of investment fund which can be bought and sold on an exchange, similar to stocks. They are split between “active”, which is managed by a fund manager looking to outperform the underlying index or market, and “passive” which track the underlying index or market i.e. achieve market returns. They were made famous by Mr Buffet who, in 2007 bet $1m that an…
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How Does Sentiment Affect Real Estate Prices?
Reading Time: 3 Minutes ARGH!!! “Shakes head vigorously” Brrr, bloody real estate. Really doing my head in. You see guys, I’ve got too much choice available at the moment. After our latest hunting trip back from the West Coast, I’ve drawn up about a dozen or so properties which I aim to make offers on. Mind you, not to acquire a dozen, I reckon one, hopefully two max. The problem at the moment is that with choice, I don’t really know where to begin. It doesn’t help that the bargain hunter in me is wanting to low ball the Baby Jeebers out of any deal… In fact, I’ve already blown…
