Uncategorized Archives - Page 48 of 53 - Raiz Invest

By Clayton Daniel

Do
you know what I like most about technology? It’s that I can do less boring
things, and focus more on the things I like. I’m not the only one, this has
been happening for thousands of years.

Years
ago as hunter-gatherers, one of the more lazy villagers looked at everyone else
and said ‘why don’t we have the plants and animals we want to eat here instead
of looking for them every day?’ And just like that, farming was born.

Then
we started riding the animals rather than simply eating them. This turned into
the horse and cart. A bit more tinkering created the steam engine, and finally
the car. Technology solved the problem of transportation.

Daily
annoyances to keep a tidy house have taken the same journey. Electricity and
plumbing have solved many of the smaller day to day requirements we need to
keep our homes clean.

As
you can see, the roll of technology has been to remove us from performing grunt
work. Free our time and resources up. Allow us to get more out of less.

But
the interesting thing about technology these days is that it’s focus is no
longer about solving physical menial work. It’s actually starting to solve
cognitive problems. Being helpful in ways to help us maximise what we want to
do with the free time we now have.

For
example, I can simply say the words ‘hey Siri’ and my phone lights up, waiting
to answer my questions. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting better. Raiz in
a similar way have been helping us invest simply by rounding up purchases and
investing the spare change. As you can see, technology is solving more than
simply physical exertion.

And
now, Raiz is stepping it up a notch. The suite of financial services is
extending to help you get the most out of your day to day cash flow. This new
update more closely resembles your own financial concierge, all from the inside
of your phone.

So
what does it do? Well to put simply, it takes the cognitive grunt work out of
getting the best result from your day to day cash flow. And how does technology
do this? Well it uses machine learning to understand your usual spending
patterns. From there, it can tell you a lot.

It
can tell you if your overspending compared to your normal spending patterns. It
can tell you if you are overspending compared to other people your age and on
your salary. If you miss a regular bill it will remind you, and it can give you
insights such as where you are spending most of your money, and what days you
spend the most.

It
gives you useful information in the moments you need the information. It
removes you from having to know everything, and outsources it to automation. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

As
a finance guy, my main message over the last few years has been to outsource to
automation. And I’ve seen remarkable results from everyday people who reduced
the amount of things they monitor and measure, and simply focused on what they
want out of life instead.

Technology
in the past has helped us reduce grunt work so we have more time. Technology of
the future on the other hand will help us make the most of our new found time.
The Raiz financial concierge is one of the first apps to help you do just that.

Clayton Daniel, author of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Craig Joslin, the founder of The Australian Expat Investor

When
travelling abroad, one of your key considerations will likely be costs and
budgets. The smart traveler knows the best way to limit cash risks, make the
most of money-saving opportunities, and most importantly how to make the right
decisions on spending. Many “old hands” will offer country-specific advice, but
there are some simple tips to save money when travelling abroad.

You
can divide your “battle-plan” into three sections; long range planning,
before you go, and hitting the ground running. In this article we’ll look
at the key tips to making your travel a success.

1.
Purchasing Your Tickets

There
are certain times of the year when it is cheaper to travel, and there are
figures available to give you a guide on exactly how far in advance you should
be purchasing. Both Cheapair and CNtraveler provide great information. As a rough
range, anywhere between 21 days and 50 days in advance is optimal, but don’t
book from Friday through Sunday. Studies suggest that if you follow this,
you’re likely to save up to 30% on average.

2.
Sorting Out Accommodation

The
days of staying in a run-down hotel near the airport just to save money are
long gone.   The sheer range of options available to the consummate
traveler is now huge, and if you have the time you can compare options such as
hotel rooms, AirBnB, or short-term apartment rentals.   Set a realistic
accommodation budget and start looking on sites like booking.com or  Airbnb.com for a great comparative search engine.

Figure
out your length of stay, estimated budget and most importantly, how far you’re
willing to travel on a daily basis. Add the data set to the search function and
see how many good options are available.

3.
Travel Light

Depending
on your choice of carrier and destination, you’re likely to have between 20 and
40 kg of luggage allowance. Try to prioritise your luggage into “must haves”
and “nice to haves”.  Consider what you will need when you land and what
things you can either do without entirely or can do without for a few weeks.

Should
you be planning on taking heavier items such as a golf bag, surfboard, or a
musical instrument, it can not only be cumbersome, but you are likely to be
charged per kilo over your luggage allowance. Evaluate sending them separately
as unaccompanied air freight instead, and you might save a considerable amount
of money.

4.
Travel Insurance

Although
the cost of travel insurance can be high, it is guaranteed to give you peace of
mind and work out cheaper than running into any out-of-pocket expenses.
Insurance will in many cases also entitle you to a higher standard of care if
you are not going to a less developed country.

One
of the key considerations with insurance is to “get only what you need”. Many
companies that offer travel insurance begin consultations with a global package
which will include the United States. Because of the high medical costs in the
US, if you also include America on your insurance, you’ll pay a much higher
premium. Be specific about where you are going and what you’re likely to be
doing, this will get you a better quote. And don’t be afraid to shop around,
either.

5.
How Do You Intend To Spend?

Undoubtedly,
the easiest option for spending money overseas is to use your credit or debit
card; you can do big purchases on the card, or get cash from a range of ATMs.
But just because it is the easiest way, this doesn’t mean it’s the cheapest.
Bank charges (in particular foreign currency transaction fees) can be
extremely high. There are several alternatives worth considering:

Travel
Cards: They work almost exactly like credit/debit cards but are set-up for
international use. They have the added advantage of not ruining your life if it
becomes lost or stolen. Check out the reviews at choice.com.au.

Get
Currency in advance: When most people land, the first thing they do is go to
the airport ATM or Money Exchange desk. The rates are based on the idea of a
captive crowd that needs local currency before they can catch a taxi or a bus,
so the exchange rate is not as good as you could otherwise receive. Having
local cash already in your hand will save time, effort and money. Try buying
your currency in advance. Places like Travelex.com or Travel Money Oz can get
you better rates as they are seeking out customers as opposed to relying on
desperate need. For more information on advance currency buying, check
out this article.

If
you’ve ever gotten off a plane and seen other people “floating around” the
airport, it’s because they don’t have a plan. And those that don’t have a plan
are likely to end up spending a lot of money for no good reason. If you know
exactly what you’re going to do and where you’re heading, you can ensure that
the cheapest/best options are available to you. Here’re a couple of tips to be
the “best-prepared on arrival”.

6.
Get a Local SIM

Most
phones today come with International capabilities; which is great, but
expensive. Ask around the airport for a place to buy a local SIM card. It
doesn’t have to be your main/permanent SIM, but it will cut costs on calls and
especially internet usage whilst you are travelling abroad.

If
you don’t buy a local SIM card and just want to rely on free local wifi
networks, at least don’t forget to switch off mobile data on your smart phone.
You don’t want to return home to get the nasty surprise of the high cost
of international data downloads whilst you have been on holiday.

7.
Immediate Transport

There
will be several counters in the arrival hall offering various modes of
transport either into the city or to your hotel. There will also be a lot of
people offering taxi services. Don’t feel pressured into choosing one straight
away. “Informal taxis” or “private cars” can end up costing you a lot more (and
may be a lot less safe) than what you need to spend (depending on the location)

Wherever
you’re going and whatever you intend to do when you get there, being prepared
is never a bad idea. Proper research will allow you to set a realistic budget
and stick to your spending goals. The more cash you save on unnecessary
expenditure, the more money you’ll have for fun.

By Craig Joslin, the founder of The Australian Expat Investor

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Clayton Daniel.

I’m
sure you heard the news. Snapchat listed on the US stock exchange this month.

This
was a pretty big deal. A company which built itself on a scandalous premise has
just turned it’s founder and CEO Evan Spiegel into the world’s youngest
self-made billionaire.

This
nineties kid has shown the world that eyes are what matters the most. Not early
sales, not the barriers to entry – but simply attention. And if you can pull it
off, riches and super model fiancés await.

Things
couldn’t be better for Evan. But what about the investors since Snapchat listed?

Well
we’ve seen a lot of volatility. In March alone the stock price has bounced
around between $19 and $30. This isn’t completely out of the ordinary for such
a high profile IPO, but I’m sure the market is still deciding on whether
Snapchat is the next Myspace or the next Facebook.

But
imagine all those people who waited patiently for this stock to list, bought at
the top, freaked out and sold when it bottomed out, and sat there looking at
their bank account with 30% in it only a few days later.

I
promise you this happened.

Do
you know why? Because unless you are an investment expert, unless
investments are your day to day job, investing is controlled by emotion. The
old Wallstreet adage is still true “financial markets are driven by two
powerful emotions – greed and fear.”

And
I’m not slamming those who did it. More than likely it was those hoping to
learn more about investing, were aware of Snapchat, so took the plunge.
Emotions would have completely driven the entire experience.

I’ve
been there. All investors have. Controlling your emotions while investing is
one of the hardest – yet most pivotal things to master. The problem is, unless
you want to spend many hours trading for either yourself or a large
institution, you’re always going to be emotionally involved.

Another
option is an investment strategy that has been outrageously popular since the
GFC, outsourcing your investment decisions to an algorithm. This
trading algorithm doesn’t suffer from emotional involvement, isn’t swept up in
the latest craze, or sell at the worst time possible.

It
is simply designed to follow investment instructions. It’s called an ETF. There
are many different types, but the most popular simply hold a tiny piece of the
biggest companies in the world. For example, if you had owned an S&P500
ETF, you would have automatically invested around 0.2% of your portfolio in
Snapchat regardless.

No
effort. No research. No getting swept up in the emotion of the trade.
However now Snapchat will play a roll in your overall performance. Not a
massive roll, but an appropriate sized roll. It would sit relatively equally
among 500 other large and profitable businesses.

And
this is the beauty of ETF investing. It is emotionless investing, the best
kind of investing. And unless you become a full time investor, it will be the
best way to unemotionally invest over many years. So unless you are a
professional investor, any head-space you put towards investing is simply going
to create decision fatigue. And the best way to
invest without emotion, without the effort, and without the need to become an
investment expert – invest in ETFs. Luckily for you, that’s all Raiz
uses. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

By Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Clayton Daniel Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

I
hate working out.

I
still do it.

Sometimes.

But
mostly I hate it.

The
reason I hate it, is I have to do it repeatedly. If I go to the gym four times
a week for six months – great. Things are getting ahead. But if I drop down to
once a week for six months. It’s all gone again.

I’m
sure you know my frustration. Health is a constant battle.

There
is yet to be a piece of technology to take care of this for us. At the moment,
we all still have to use self control, self discipline and sweat to reach our
health plans. None of this is automatic. Every push, pull, grunt, squat, sit up
– it’s all based on us. There is zero work around.

But
the awesome thing about technology, is the basics of money management can now
be taken care of for us. Without us doing anything.

It’s
like having a personal trainer that does the working out for us. Every single
day.

What
I like about automated investments is that I don’t have to rely on my self
control and self discipline to succeed. I don’t even need to learn how to
invest any longer.

That
massive change has only come about in the last decade. Over ten years ago when
I started getting into investing, I had to learn about everything. From
clearing days, to stock brokers, to investment philosophies. I can go on and
on.

But
you don’t have to. While you still have to learn how to do a pull up correctly,
you don’t need to learn about ‘speculative mining stocks’. And in order to
avoid getting hurt you should learn how to warm up correctly, but you don’t
have to learn about ‘active fund management’.

These
days, technology and automation can take of most of the hassle with investing.
I don’t need to worry about what my investments are, or even how regularly I am
investing. All I know is that this is now being taken care of for me.

With
the world changing so rapidly, it’s not worth waiting for it to change back
again. Instead, leverage technology where possible to create shortcuts for
yourself. Money management is a rabbit hole you can explore for many years. But
is it the best use of your time? Probably not. So while I’m all for learning,
I’m not a big fan of inefficiency.

These
days you need to be selective on where you spend your time and attention.

As
such, an app like Raiz can’t replicate an entire career in the personal finance
space, but it can take care of the basics extremely well. And unless you plan
to head down the path of becoming a personal finance expert, the basics are
more than enough.

Outsource
your investments to automation.

Get
results without the sweat.

Check out the exclusive Acorns offer for Clayton Daniel’s new book Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

As
Raiz ticks over the first twelve months of a successful campaign to engage
Australian’s with their money, I wanted to circle back around to see if you
benefited. To see if you were in the market, or out of the market.

See
Raiz simply holds your investments for you. And I say ‘simply’ on purpose. As a
former financial adviser who built a career around investing millions of
dollars, I can tell you – how the money is invested is usually
the hard part. But thankfully it’s all now at the tip of your fingers.

So
over the last twelve months – the market went UP. Great result for everyone
invested. But were you invested, or were you ‘trying to get a better return’
someplace else?

A
big misconception with Raiz is that they are an investment – which they aren’t.
The investments that sit within the Raiz investment structure (the app on your
phone) hold investments called ETFs. In a nutshell, these ETFs go up if the market
goes up, and down if the market goes down.

Really
simple stuff.

So
again I ask – did you invest, or did you miss out?

Do
the markets go up all the time? Of course not. But do they go up more than the
go down? Yes – that’s because our economy keeps growing, and companies like
Commonwealth bank and Woolworths keep making a profit. And as long as our
economy keeps growing, and our companies keep making profits, the market will
continue to go up.

I’ve
had my account for around nine months now. And I’m happy with how the market
went. Again, the result wasn’t created by Raiz – but they gave me the
opportunity to access growth over the last nine months. Check out the screen
capture below:

Did
I make life changing money?

No.

But
would I make life changing money in any retail investment in less than twelve
months?

No.

So
why am I such a big fan of this non-life changing money?

Because
I didn’t think about this investment at all. Not at all. I invest without
thinking about it, and the market does what it does, and the majority of the
time I’ll make more money. Some weeks it goes down, and even some years it will
go down, but none of that matters. Assuming our economy has many years in it –
the investments will ultimately go up. And I won’t think about any of it.

Compare
that to the Melbourne property I own with a couple of mates inside of a Self
Managed Super Fund. We have to have annual meetings with each other, with the
accountant, with the rental manager, with the banks, think about tenants, think
about bills, think about vacancy – think about everything! There’s a lot of
thinking going on!

If
you’ve read any of my previous articles on decision fatigue you’ll know I’m not a big fan of
thinking about investing and cash flow. Turns out you get better results when
things are set up on automatic.

Which
is why I ask – did you miss out?

Raiz
shouldn’t be your entire investment strategy – that wouldn’t be prudent. No one
should have all their eggs in one basket when it comes to investments. But
should it be an additional little regular investment you have on the side which
you spend zero head space on?

Yeah.

Use
it for Christmas presents every year, use it for an annual getaway, use it for
an emergency account (probably the best idea) or use it to simply ‘go hard on
the money’ and learn about investing in the simplest way possible. Whichever way
you choose to use your Raiz account is up to you – just don’t miss out. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Check out the exclusive Acorns offer for Clayton Daniel’s new book Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

I
remember over a decade ago when I didn’t know anything about investing. It’s a
really good frame of reference to have, and one that I hope I never lose.

Because
investing can seem ten million times more complex than it really is. Why? Well,
money is an emotional topic, and the first time you do anything it seems hard.

So
with that in mind, I wanted to explain all the financy pants terms that get
thrown around, and give some explanation as to where all the pieces of the
puzzle fit in. I think the more you understand about where you are investing,
and what you are investing in, the more control you will feel, and ultimately
the more comfort.

So
here we go.

Starting
right at the top we have the ever-ethereal word ‘market’. This word gets
thrown around a fair bit. It basically means the same as it always has. A place
where people gather to buy and sell. But instead of buying and selling fish or
bread, they are buying and selling assets like property or equities.

So
when something is traded on the market, it really means it is traded in a place
where there are buyers and sellers. If an asset has a market price, it simply
means the price is at a point between where buyers want to buy and sellers want
to sell.

Now
let’s talk about the most common type of asset traded on the market – an equity.
An equity is called as such as when you own it, you own equity in a company.
You own a part of the company. Equities have the remarkable distinction of
being able to interchange their name at any given moment. Have you ever heard
the terms ‘shares’ or ‘stocks’. Yeah, same thing.

At
this stage, now you know that equities are traded on the equity market (or
shares/stocks are traded on the share/stock market). This is where you can buy
and sell blue chip shares like the big four banks, or speculative mining
shares. There are thousands of different stocks to trade on the stock market.
The only limits are your limits to research and what equities you are
comfortable in buying.

Okay,
so that’s great right? You can go out right now and start investing. Fantastic.
What are you going to buy? If you are an investment professional, you will have
an investment philosophy that works for you. If you are not an investment
professional, you probably don’t have an investment philosophy.

Therefore
you can either spend a lot of time researching to become an investment
professional, you can hire an investment professional for you, or you can buy
what’s called an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). An ETF is simply
a computer algorithm that invests your money into equities. The benefit is, for
every change to the portfolio you aren’t charged a fee. Instead, you pay an
ongoing percentage fee to cover the management of your portfolio. This reduces
the conflict of ‘churning’ investments which is the natural result of a
business model where revenue is made through the amount of buy/sells that are
made.

As
you can see above, the amount of global money invested in ETF’s has grown
significantly since the start of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2007. So
why has the ETF market grown by 400% in less than a decade? Well for a few
reasons.

Firstly,
investors were burned so bad during the GFC that they got sick of paying for
stockbrokers, financial advisers, and fund managers to invest their money. The
argument that people were better at picking equities than computers were
largely proven wrong.

This
in turn created the rise in Modern Portfolio Theory. Put basically, you get 80%
of your gains and losses simply by being in the market. There are easily
refutable points to this theory, but put simply, it provided a framework to
build a portfolio without human involvement.

Which
brings me to technology. The technology to build these trading algorithms have
improved like all other tech has improved over the decades. These days there
are many different types of ETF’s, though most the money is still in the easy
to understand simple ones.

As
always, price is very important. Some ETF’s are so unbelievably cheap that it’s
hard to see where the revenue is being made by the product issuer. Some ETF’s
are so cost effective that on a million-dollar portfolio you can pay as little
as $300 a year.

And
with all these benefits it drew in many investors, which in turn created more
awareness, and more education. To the point where now ETF’s are essentially the
most popular way to invest. And considering the points above, it’s not hard to
see why.

Now
you know how to invest in the market, by purchasing equities through an ETF.
Brilliant. You’re nearly there. So how do you do all this? How do you pick
which broker to use, and which ETF’s to invest in. Well again, you can either
learn to do it yourself, hire someone to do it for you, or use technology.

This
brings me to the last piece of financy pants education today. The technology to
make all this happen – Raiz. Raiz is simply an app which takes the small amount
of round ups on purchases you make in everyday life, and invests them for you
into ETFs.

Raiz
themselves don’t have anything to do with the ups and downs of the market. They
simply make easy what has typically been hard to do – open an account and start
investing. They take the manual work out of starting a brokerage account, and
choosing which ETF’s to invest into.

They
take all the complexities out of investing, and make it as easy as buying your
daily coffee. And that to me is brilliant. As a personal finance expert, the
ease in which they make investing is unbelievable. Raiz are the packaging to
make investing easy for the every day person.

So
to recap: You invest in the market, by purchasing shares, with an ETF, through
the Raiz app. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Look
at you – all financy pants…..

By
Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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By Leveraged 

With
the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching 20,000 and the ASX All Ordinaries
Index reaching its 12-month high, many investors are wondering what they should
do from here. Some are wondering if they have missed the run, others are asking
if they should take profits at these levels.

The
short answer to these questions is that investors should do little different as
a result of this milestone level. This is a timely moment to remind investors
of a basic but often forgotten quality of investing. Investors should continue
to invest with a longer term outlook rather than trying to time the market.

Whether
investors enter the market here or if they should take profits here has nothing
to do with these milestone numbers. Instead investors should keep in mind
things such as the timeframe of their financial goals and their tolerance to
investment volatility.

Those
saving for a distant goal, such as saving for retirement or their children’s
education should look to start investing right away. For those who are aiming
to retire soon, they could consider decreasing exposure to growth assets if a
short term shock could be detrimental to their retirement goals. Investors
could also consider rebalancing portfolios from asset classes that have
appreciated into other asset classes to ensure the mix is still in line with
their risk profile.

Too
many investors are tempted to buy the market during bull markets but flee the
market during a correction. This results in buying high and selling low.
Instead, investors should keep in mind things such as their investment time
horizon and the tolerance to ride market ups and downs. It is better to have a
rule based investment approach than to make investment decisions based on
emotion.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

As
one from the older end of the Millennial generation (1982 – 2000), I can say
without a doubt the world is changing rapidly.

It’s
crazy to think my first games console was the Atari 2600. Then Nintendo and Sega came along, which
were ultimately supplanted by Xbox and Playstation. VR it seems will likely
take both their scalps.

I
use video games as an illustration of progression. Sometimes I forget I’ve
actually aged thirty three years, but then seeing is believing.

But
this article isn’t about lamenting how my metabolism has slowed down, or how
young everyone looks in bars these days – it’s about what I would say to my 21
year old self about money.

At
21 I didn’t know anything. I could punch out a nasally punk rock lyric to a
room full of rowdy teenagers, but not much more than that. To say I didn’t know
anything about money was an understatement.

Then
at a pivotal time in my life I met an entrepreneur who was travelling around
the world having a grand old time. He bought me the book ‘rich dad poor dad’
and it set my on a path I now find myself over a decade later. That book taught
me my first lessons in personal finance, and I became obsessed.

Absolutely
obsessed. I realized by understanding the language of money, the rest of life’s
problems can get in line. Money is simply transportable power. The more you
control, the more control you have over your own world.

And
my thought process was this – ‘more money equals better, therefore more time
spent learning about money equals better’. Fast forward another twelve years
and I have a degree in accounting, worked as an accountant, then financial
adviser, and ultimately grew and sold a financial planning business.

And
even though I ‘get it’ now, I’ve dedicated my life to understanding it. Again,
I’m obsessed with it so I’m lucky. But what about the 99.99% of people who
don’t dedicate their lives to understanding personal finance? What about
everyone else who knows a little, but not enough? What about my 21 year old
self?

Well,
this is what I would tell my 21 year old self about money before I ever
dedicated my life to understanding it. ‘Get 80% of the results with 20% of the
effort’.

While
we all have heard of the Pareto Principle, have you ever considered using this
principle with money? Everyone thinks they need a PHD in personal finance to do
well – but you don’t. Everyone thinks they must think about their money a lot
in order to get the most out of it – but you don’t. So I’m talking to those
people who want to do better with their money, but can’t be bothered to do so.
And I know, there are a lot of you out there.

So
let’s get to it. How do you 80/20 your personal finance? Easy, use technology.
Outsource your self-discipline to automation. I promise you, money more so than
anything else in life, if you use an automatic system to perform a task rather
than rely on yourself to do it personally, your chances of success go from 10%
to 100%.

So
get your own outcome, and outsource to automation.

Tip
1 – Your salary account should not be your spending account. For
example, if you had two accounts, you get paid into account (a) and
AUTOMATICALLY transfer across to yourself an amount you’re happy to spend guilt
free each week into account (b). Account (b) has a bank card attached, account
(a) does not.

Social
psychologist Roy Baumeister showed unfulfilled desire causes
us decision fatigue. Reduce your desire to spend money in
your account by putting one level of separation between you and your
savings/salary. Less distractions, better outcomes.

Tip
2 – If you want to invest, do it automatically, don’t rely on being
interested enough each week to follow up. Raiz can AUTOMATICALLY receive
regular contributions from your account. How hard is that to set up? Five
minutes? Five minutes ‘work’ upfront equals long term investing with zero
ongoing effort.

Sure
you can get more fancy than that, but start simple. By doing these two things
you are taking care of your money today (cash-flow) and tomorrow (capital
assets). And if you have an automated investment system to think about your
tomorrow, your only focus is guilt-free spending today .

By Clayton Daniel of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post

By

Clayton Daniel

Have you ever woken up one day
and said to yourself ‘wow, I really have to get my act together…’. The next day
it’s all green smoothies, two hours at the gym, open the credit card
statements, and of course – calling your mother.

“While we forgot what it meant to build something
slowly and quietly in the background, believe it or not, I think we are starting
to remember again.”

It’s a knee jerk reaction. As
such, you and I both know it won’t last. We over-estimate what we want to
achieve in a week. But in a similar fashion, we can also under-estimate what we
can achieve in a year.

I recently wrote an article on
how a five year plan changed my life. It did quite well off the back of
Linkedin (I’ll never understand Linkedin), but I think I know why. While we
forgot what it meant to build something slowly and quietly in the background,
believe it or not, I think we are starting to remember again.

What was once a long way to the
top if you want to rock and roll was replaced with reality TV singing
competitions. Napster came along in the nineties, the whole music industry went
digital. And as Sanity and the Virgin mega-stores shut down, we called it a day
on hard copy music . But then this happened… ‘Vinyl albums just
outsold digital for the first time ever’

“Money it seems, is returning to its roots also.”

Instant gratification is rather
gratifying, but so is something else. Anticipation. The buildup. The ability to
appreciate what you’re holding in your hands. The process of buying an album
was a part of the journey. Music is more than just listening, it’s experiencing
the whole package.

Money it seems, is returning to
its roots also.

Credit cards are instant cash.
Savings take a little bit of time. But I can guarantee which one feels better
to spend. I can guarantee which one is guilt free spending and which one isn’t.
I can guarantee which one will keep you from reaching all your other goals, and
which one simply plays it’s roll in being a part of your financial life.

“Even if you are disciplined enough to put money
aside in an account – the fact that it is sitting there and you aren’t spending
it is a mental drain.”

So how do you build up a treasure
trove of cash?

Well with my work around
understanding decision fatigue in regards to money, savings make for a strange
situation. See, even if you are disciplined enough to put money aside in an
account – the fact that it is sitting there and you aren’t spending it is
a mental drain.

What a pain.

This comes from the research
performed by American social psychologist Roy Baumeister. Basically unfulfilled
satisfaction distracts you from your task and hand. This in turn reduces your
performance in all areas of life. Put simply – if you save money in an account
you have access to, it’s simple existence will demand you spend it. If you
don’t, your brain will be distracted until you do.

Again, what a pain.

So how do we achieve two things:

Build up a guilt free amount of
money to spend once a year on something big

Do so in a way in which we aren’t
reminded of every time we look at our bank accounts.

Luckily, you’ve come to the right
person – I do this for a living. You build up a savings accounts with regular
deposits in a side account that you can’t spend with a card.

“Build regular deposits in an account you don’t
have instant access to. By accumulating savings in account you don’t think
about everyday, you avoid the decision fatigue associated with the constant
desire to spend it.”

See my journey from sojourn
savant to lifestyle finance expert took over five years of small regular
improvements (plus another five years previously in accounting – but who’s
counting). When I woke up on a beach in Southern France five years ago and
decided I needed to get my act together, I didn’t make a large knee jerk
reaction. I built success with little steps over a period of time.

From my professional experience
of handling the cash flow of many young professionals over the years, I can say
this applies to the personal finance space more than anything else.

And so like everything else, how
do we reduce the barrier to entry? How do we make this easy on you? Simple –
build regular deposits in an account you don’t have instant access to. By
accumulating savings in account you don’t think about everyday, you avoid the
decision fatigue associated with the constant desire to spend it.

“If you were to set in motion today a $10 a week
regular deposit arrangement, next year for Christmas there will be around $500
waiting for you to spend.”

Great, so where can you find
these types of accounts? Well, what about opening a new bank account with a new
bank? That would work right? Why of course! I’m sure you’re a massive fan of
the banks and can’t wait to open another account with another institution….

To save that hassle you could
always open another bank account with your current provider. But then, we both
know a simple transfer is 0.2 seconds away from spending. That’s going to
defeat the whole purpose of cognitive minimalism. We want the money far enough
away from you so you don’t have to think about it, but close enough to spend
when the time is right. So what are you to do?

While Raiz is a financial
literacy tool to help you engage with your money, it has a lesser known
function called regular deposits. All this does is automatically move a set
amount across each month into your account. If you were to set in motion today
a $10 a week regular deposit arrangement, next year for Christmas there will be
around $500 waiting for you to spend.

And in the meantime you’ll see
the market go though it’s classic roller-coaster up and down. It will go up, it
will go down. And withstanding any kind of cataclysmic wild events – it will
only ever mean a couple of dollars up or down as investment amount is
comfortably low. The benefit however is your
investor intelligence will increase while simultaneously building a small
portfolio in the background that doesn’t create decision fatigue. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Big plans succeed with little
steps.

Clayton Daniel

In this example, $10 a week
put aside over 52 weeks would equal $520 if there were no movements in the
market. Obviously this is a theoretical case study with the end result being
above or below this amount. The case study mentioned above is not a suitable
long term investment strategy as anything less than five years in the market is
considered too short of a time frame to benefit from returns. Instead the case
study above is simply to provide education around the benefit of consistently
making small regular deposits into an investment account – the withdrawal after
52 weeks is not mandatory. Raiz cannot provide any certainty around how much
money an investor would be able to withdraw in the event they followed the
above case study as investment returns are unpredictable, and past performance
does not provide insight into future performance.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

 

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

Read Post