I was once very taken with a story (hopelessly embellished for effect) that Warren Buffett's "people" had once been so pestered by a wealthy Pom wanting an audience for "just one hour" that they eventually appealed to Buffett himself to get rid of the man. His reply was simple enough. "I have worked out that I have 42,515 hours left to live, if you don't mind, I don't want to waste any of them."
Since we heard this in the office, we started what we called "the Death Sheet". It is an Excel spreadsheet that slaves off the actuarial life expectancy tables. The average life expectancy of a newly born Australian female is now 85.3 years. The average Australian male life expectancy is 81.2 and, if you are now 65, that extends to 88 for the girls and 85.3 for the boys.
Enter your birth date into the Death Sheet and it instantly tells you the date of your death, including how many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and weekends you have left to live. I was particularly impressed with one colleague in the office who should already be dead.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Money Magazine Australia.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Money Magazine Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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An outrageous, beautiful monopoly
Telstra's mobile business is a cash machine with few competitors, giving it the highest returns in the world.
Drop the anchor to judge value
Buying and selling decisions should be based on where a stock price is going, not where it has been.
Powering the AI boom
Beyond the software and chipmakers, where will the energy come from?
Get into life
Tucked inside super are products that can protect you from life's inevitable uncertainties.
Paths to home ownership
Taking the road less travelled can sometimes deliver unexpected benefits.
Sold! Quick ways to add value
Small, strategic changes can have a big impact on the look and feel of your home. And get you a better price on auction day.
Money lessons the kids need to know
Your children can learn a lot from your past money mishaps. Here are eight financial conversations I have had with mine.
Property-investing rules: are they likely to change?
The pressure for the government to curb the tax benefits of tax concessions, such as negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, is unrelenting. Most recently, independent senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie proposed five options for paring back investment property tax concessions, with savings to the Federal budget of up to $60 billion over the next decade.
What's love got to do with it?
A rollercoaster of emotions could be driving poor crypto behaviour.
Are we ready to be cash-free?
Saying goodbye to our piggy banks too soon could leave small businesses in the dark when problems arise.
