Award-winning financial planner answers your most pressing post-lockdown financial wealth questions

‘WHAT DO I DO NOW?’

Award-winning financial planner answers your most pressing post-lockdown financial wealth questions…

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

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Dear Reader,

Strange times, right?

No one knows exactly what happens from here.

But what is fairly certain is that we’re entering a recessionary world (at the very least).

Less spending. Less travelling. Less credit. Higher unemployment. Record bankruptcies. Lower wages.

So what does it all mean for your wealth? Not just your stocks and superannuation. Your home and rental properties…your spending and saving patterns…the cash you have in the bank…other assets like gold, cars, cryptos, fine art…your business equity…your estate and family wealth?

With the right knowledge, you can arm yourself against the harsh economic realities you now face.

Which brings me to the unique project we’d like to introduce you to over the coming week.

It’s a project that draws on expertise from financial experts and wealthy businesspeople from a range of different fields to give you the advice and guidance you’re simply not getting from the mainstream financial planning industry.

We’re financial publishers, but as you know our wheelhouse is mainly the stock market.

However…

Going on emails we’ve been receiving, you’ve a whole bunch of questions right now that extend beyond what stocks to buy…or whether you should be in or out of the stock market at all.

So…

We’re launching a new project to answer some of those questions.

I think it’s the most important thing we’ll produce this year.

But is it for you?

To find out, type your email address in the box below, and I’ll send you more details. If you do, you’ll receive a four-part video series called ‘WHAT NOW? Your post-COVID personal finance questions answered’.

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

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Essentially, we are gathering a network of our best and brightest minds to tackle some of the most pressing wealth and personal finance questions facing Australians right now.

Not just in the stock market.

But regarding your financial setup. Your bank savings. Your income. Your retirement plans. Your children and grandchildren — their situation right now, their prospects over the next few years, and how you might assist them.

For example…

If things go from bad to worse, and our banks get in trouble, HOW SAFE IS YOUR CASH?

In 1929, some 650 banks failed in the US alone. That number rose to 1,300 the following year.

Many people think the Great Depression came about from a stock market crash. But it actually came from people losing their savings…and then not spending as a result.

The Great Depression actually came about from a loss of savings…and then a loss of spending power.

Is that about to happen again? If people lose the capacity to spend, how will this affect banks? Will there be APRA interventions to rescue one of our banks?

More importantly: If you’ve got a large sum of money in the bank, how do you go about protecting it (given the government deposit guarantee is $250k per tax-paying entity)?

We’re going to dig into these thorny issues. As well as questions like:

How do you get INCOME…and
AVOID INCOME-PROMISING TRAPS?

Chances are that over the coming months, you’re going to see a big rise in products like annuities and reverse mortgages.

We’re going to put our sceptical glasses on and give these products an unbiased assessment.

Before we even get started: You should be very cautious

The higher income-promising Mayfair 101 fund recently suspended redemptions. The fund’s pitch appeared to be aimed at frustrated retirees.

According to The Guardian in early April:

Mayfair 101 is directly targeting investors who are frustrated with the low returns offered by bank term deposits by offering 6.45% a year on investments made in September.

The asset backing behind the offered 6.45% should have been a clear warning sign to NOT invest in the fund.

If those frustrated retirees had only asked for an independent opinion on the fund BEFORE investing, they could now have been spared a great deal of angst.

We think this could become even more prevalent in the trying times ahead.

In boom times, you get ‘greed’ products offering the promise of higher returns, attracting investor attention.

Conversely, in the fear environment we’re headed into, the industry will manufacture products designed to play on the anxiety within society.

‘Capital secure’. ‘Capital guaranteed’. ‘Portfolio protected’.

Invariably, these will be the wrong products for the wrong time.

Knowing the perils and pitfalls in these ‘yet to be created’ offerings is going to be crucial to coming out the other side of this crisis in a sound financial position.

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

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We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
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Should you make adjustments to your
ESTATE AND FAMILY WEALTH PLANNING
for a post-COVID world?

There are likely to be unintended consequences — good and bad — for your family wealth from the recessionary times we are entering.

On 2 May 2020, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) published the results of a poll it commissioned:

60% of 18-24-year-olds have either lost their job, had their hours cut, or had their pay cut. Among 25-34-year-old Australians, the number is even higher: 63% have been seriously impacted by the economic shutdown.

Are you or your children in that age bracket? Odds are they’re affected by what’s happening and what’s going to happen. Will they need to improve their skillsets?

If burdened by credit card debt, do they need to consider going bankrupt?

Do they require financing for a business opportunity? If so, what will be the terms and conditions? Will it affect their mental health?

Managing your family and your wealth is going to be a real balancing act. While there are threats, there are also going to be opportunities.

We’re going to look at both…

What are the best SELF-MANAGED SUPER strategies for a post-COVID world?

A huge amount of questions have been coming in on this.

Is it a good idea to get that $20,000 ‘early access’ to your super?

What are the SPECIFIC benefits of self-managing your super in times like this?

As far as the stocks you have in your investment portfolio or super go, what’s the best strategy?

Do you sit and wait, and see where things go from here? Go bargain hunting? Or is it the smartest move to take advantage of the 20% rebound since the end of March…and go to cash before the next big crash? Is it too late to switch your super funds from the balanced (or unbalanced) option into cash?

The mood appears to be one of ‘the worst is behind us. And even if it isn’t, and there’s another crash, the Fed will save us.’

Is that true? Will the market continue its post-lockdown recovery? Or should you be preparing for an even bigger correction?

Vern Gowdie, helped by a few wise friends
from his contacts book, is going to
give you some answers…

Vern is leading this new, rather unorthodox, company-wide project.

As I say, it’s territory we’ve never ventured into before. But I think it’s something you could find enormously useful for the uncertain times ahead.

And Vern Gowdie is a fantastic anchor for it.

He’s been involved in financial planning since 1986. In 1999, Personal Investor magazine ranked Vern as one of Australia’s top 50 financial planners.

His previous firm, Gowdie Financial Planning, was recognised in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) magazine as one of the top five financial planning firms in Australia.

Vern’s written two wildly popular books, The End of Australia and How Much Bull Can Investors Bear? He’s written multiple ‘big picture’ investment columns for Australian regional newspapers since 2005 and has been a commentator on financial matters for Prime Radio talkback.

As you’ve probably gathered, Vern’s contrarian views on finance and the market often place him at odds with his former colleagues in the financial planning profession.

That makes him perfect for this project.

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

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We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
You can cancel your subscription at any time.

The advice provided, and solutions and tactics covered, will be general in nature — meaning Vern and his team won’t be taking into account your specific circumstances. But this general advice will be centred around the unique problems faced by our readers at this current time.

There will be...

  • No agenda — except to help you make the smartest possible decisions with your wealth.
  • No hidden fees. No referral back-handers. No trailing commissions. No hourly consultation charges.
  • No quotas to meet. No ‘percentages of monies handled’.
  • No allegiance to any bank, brokerage, fund or institution.
  • No advertising (so no advertisers to keep happy).

This will be general financial advice — unvarnished, untarnished.

Vern will ALSO be enlisting the help of some powerful friends and contacts who are experts in: Tax law, SMSFs and superannuation, estate planning, insurances and mortgage broking.

On the topic of family wealth, Vern’s own daughters have agreed to appear to talk about the challenges and opportunities confronting the Millennial generation.

Your children and grandchildren may find it beneficial to chat with someone who understands the issues the younger generation is dealing with.

Vern has also reached out to an old pal you may have heard of…family wealth expert, financial publishing magnate and professional mischief-maker Bill Bonner.

Bill is currently holed up in his estate in Argentina, but he’s promised to assist Vern with this new project via Zoom.

They recorded their first ‘Zoom-storming’ session this Saturday just gone.

It’s a cracker.

When these guys get going together, it’s always worth a listen, no matter what the topic. But when they talk SPECIFICS about managing your wealth and emotions through this period, you’d best open your ears!

What Vern’s Gowdie Letter
readers are saying…

I read your writings with a sense of familiar trust and agreement, having never met you. I do feel that the decisions I will, or in some cases will not, make in the future have a fusion of the knowledge I have gained from your writings.’ KN

I sincerely hope more and more people out there are listening to people like you Vern, because quite frankly if they aren’t making moves now to reduce their debt, they may suffer a lot more than they need to.’ Ian M, Sunshine Coast, Qld

I am so glad to have your wisdom arrive in my browser each week – it makes me understand that I am not the only one that is super conservative but always looking for an opportunity.’ BS

I have read your letters and books for many years now and agree that everything that you say makes absolute sense.’ JF, Sydney, NSW

Consistency is lacking elsewhere, but you have it in spades. Even if I follow some other stock tips, I always can check whether they match the bigger picture, which is what I get from your letters.’ JK (Aussie expat in China)

It’s yours FREE if you sign up (also for free) today…

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

Enter your best email address here
 

We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
You can cancel your subscription at any time.

In this first session, Vern and Bill try and resist their temptation to talk about the failings of global economic policymakers…

…and instead focus on the family wealth/‘what to do’ issues that will form the core of this new project.

That includes the family dynamics of this new post-lockdown world.

But Bill also focuses on what HE’S doing now his family business revenue…like businesses all over the world…has taken a substantial hit.

Also, both Vern AND Bill give their one single answer to a vital question:

‘If you’re in the position to deploy some cash right now, what’s the ONE THING you would deploy it into?’

You can get their answers by listening to this strategy session for free, straightaway, as soon as you fill out your details below.

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

Enter your best email address here
 

We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
You can cancel your subscription at any time.

This new project is for you if you sometimes think: I like stock market commentary and recommendations. But what’s the wider plan? What can I do to tailor my financial setup to this “new normal?”

I don’t believe anyone in Australian financial publishing is doing this right now.

Which is crazy, because there’s never been a more important time for such a project.

As Bill Bonner says:

Hardly a day goes by that some jackass-du-jour doesn’t recommend something really stupid.

Knowing how to spot the industry’s bull and bias is going to be critical to your financial wellbeing going through this post-COVID cataclysm.

This new project will be your guide — equipping you with the knowledge, feedback and strategies to help you manage your money smartly…and independently.

It’s FREE to sign up to the video introduction series. I urge you to do so right now by filling out your details in the box below.

‘WHAT NOW?’ Your post-COVID
finance questions answered

Enter your best email address here
 

We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
You can cancel your subscription at any time.