Join Kochie’s campaign for optimism!

Join our Campaign For Optimism. We’ve had enough of the whingeing, the whining, the glass half empty rhetoric. We’re drawing a line in the sand. No more.

We meet lots of visiting global business leaders and financial experts from around the world. The most common comment we get from them is “gee I can’t believe how much people complain here when the rest of the world sees you as an economic miracle. You don’t seem to know how good you’ve got it.”

They are right. Compared with the rest of the world we have never had it so good. That’s the facts, not subjective claptrap or putting on the rose coloured glasses. It’s fact.

Look, we’re not perfect as a country and there is a lot we can do better… reduce government debt, bring the Federal Budget back to surplus sooner, introduce meaningful tax reform… to name just a couple of the things we need to focus on.

But overall, we are doing a lot of things right.

What’s this got to do with investing and finances?

Economies and investment markets are driven on psychology. The happier we are, the more confident we are, the more we’ll spend and invest, producing better profits for business, who will create more jobs leading to better wages, producing better tax revenues, to spent on more services and projects, which create more jobs… you get the picture.

We call it the Circle Of Optimism. Everyone is potentially a winner.

That’s why we need to encourage optimism. Don’t get sucked into the negativity and whining of friends, family and colleagues which is dragging us down. Stand up to it and try and stop the pessimism.

That’s what the Campaign For Optimism is all about. Turning around the psychology of grumpy Australians so we can enjoy a better and more profitable Australia.

So here are 4 quick facts to hit a whinger with;

  • Australia holds the world record for the longest single period of positive economic growth. Yep, the world record. 26 consecutive years. During that time the rest of the world endure an Asian Financial collapse and a Global Financial Crisis which produced double digit unemployment, crashes in property prices and bank collapses. We had none of that. In fact, no Australian under the age of 44 has endured an economic recession as a responsible adult.
  • The average Australian is the second richest in the world. That’s from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook… in case you don’t believe us. The richest are the Swiss, then Australia, US, Norway and New Zealand. We understand that many Australians may feel asset rich and cash poor at the moment because wage growth has been subdued (but still positive), however your superannuation fund most house prices have been making terrific gains
  • There are plenty of jobs… We’re almost at full employment. Unemployment nationally is at 5.5 per cent and an extra 124,000 full time jobs have been created since last September. Structural full employment is generally defined as being around 5 per cent unemployment rate so we’re heading towards that level and NSW, ACT and Northern Territory are already there. The recent rise in job advertisement numbers, and the fall in job vacancy rates, indicate job creation continues at a solid pace because of the strong rise in business confidence. When bosses get happier, they are more confident in hiring new people or lifting the hours worked of casuals and part timers.
  • Money has never been cheaper. This doesn’t mean you should go and borrow up the eyeballs and over extend yourself… or pay extortionate interest rates on outstanding credit card balances. But with official interest rates at a record low of 1.5 per cent, the cost of borrowing to use productively and wisely on good investments has never been lower. Remember there is always good and bad debt. Good debt is borrowing to invest in an asset which will grow in value. Bad debt is borrowing to invest on a consumable or something which depreciates in value. It is a great time for “good” debt.

We think you’ll agree these 4 quick facts are enough for people to stop, think about their whingeing, and maybe change their tune.