How to Spend your $900 – think about your future needs first
Thousands of Australians are just receiving or are about to receive a pretty handsome cheque from the Federal Government as part of the economic stimulous package. The question then is ‘what do I spend this on?’ Below I offer a futurist’s view on where certain generational types might consider spending the bonus.
As a Strategic Futurist I am asked to help individuals and organisations of all shapes and sizes consider emerging issues and potential implications as a result of those issues. Below is a ‘generational’ take that might assist you when thinking about your future and how to spend the funds wisely:
Boomers – okay let’s say you’re about to be in receipt of a full $900 – where do you use the cash? Well if I was a Boomer, I’d be looking at two areas in particular – training, and training. First, consider a book-keeping course – it’s a great skill with plenty of ongoing demand, and second then about doing a Cert IV in Training and Assessment – that workplace experience and teaching qualification could be in great demand. Alternatively, think about buying yourself a good bicycle with all the riding accessories you need – helmet, lights etc. You might find you’ll need to stop driving or have more time to spend with the grand kids
For Gen Xers (the ‘forgotten’ generation) – the Cert IV in Training and Assessment is a must do, slightly after paying off Credit Card Debt. If you’re okay in those two areas then I’d certainly think about getting a yearly gym membership – just make sure you pay all in one hit so you don’t get locked into contracts with horrendous and punitive ‘get-out’ clauses. The training qualification will be useful in later years as the upturn kicks in because there will be plenty of people needing to be re-trained in a hurry. The gym because if you find yourself temporarily on the scrap heap, your health can go down hill fast. Committing to staying healthy means your state of mind is sharper, you’ll look better and you just never know who you might meet there. For many, it’ll be a chance to make up for one too many good lunches and long working hours that rarely included sufficient exercise
Gen Y – ah yes, the first shock to the system for many in this bracket. Consider buying camping equipment and an outdoor stove because you might just find that you’ll need somewhere to live once the rental and free accommodation dries up. Also a good bicycle because if your friends lose their job (or you do) running a car will be expensive – same goes for a reliance on parents to drive you around – such an asset may no longer be available and the ol’peddley will turn out to be more than a useful option
There you have it – enjoy the cash, spend wisely
Ernst & Young and GreenBiz have completed a survey of business executives looking at the development of Corporate Sustainability around the world. The report shows that there has been a clear rise in awareness; that employees are a core source driving sustainability actions; that reduction of costs is a core appeal and that return on…
Read More >On the eve of ANZAC day here in Australia ABC Radio Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist Marcus Barber on the future of war – what the future triggers of war might be and how war will be fought Increasing technology or less technology? Haves versus the have nots? On a pretty serious topic…
Read More >In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin, we chat about workplace design and the need to create functional workplaces – something the ‘open-plan’ model fails utterly at delivering. Click on the link below Futurist Marcus Barber on ABC Radio Darwin discussing the future of workplace design and the challenges of dysfunctional workplaces…
Read More >Columbia University’s Earth Institute have just made publicly available their World Happiness Report, joining the expanding list of happiness reports emerging ultimately from Bhutan’s Happiness Index. There’s some interesting results in this one and some that you might expect were more obvious, like the idea that at a certain point, more money won’t make you…
Read More >Whilst the main thrust of Australian economic activity is said to be in the hands of the Federal Government, we should not overlook the significant role that Local Council Government’s can have. As the Federal Government wrestles with falling taxation revenues and an apparent inability to get the message across about distributing the income of…
Read More >Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber chats with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin about the challenges facing the Northern Territory, the farming and mining sectors. In summing up the emerging signs of a clash between agricultural uses of land and land use for resource and mining needs, Marcus uses the phrase ‘Eat or Extract’ as the…
Read More >As most of you know I nominated this year as the 2012 International Year of Resilience because frankly, that’s what I reckon large chunks of the world need right now. The twitter feed is #2012YearofResilience. I sent a few of these tips out at the start of the year and have seen a few of…
Read More >A new city is due to emerge in Darwin over the coming couple of years and the key question is – what sort of attention is being paid to weather related disasters in the design phase? Paul Dale on ABC Radio Darwin chats with futurist Marcus Barber about planning and weather. You can download the…
Read More >Dorothea Mackellar’s poem ‘My Country’ is best known for its second verse – “I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains”. As vast tracts of Australia again face the prospect of massive floods I wonder if our Urban Planners ever consider the significance of…
Read More >Potentially the biggest area of untapped competitive advantage (and arguably one of the biggest areas where costs could be reduced) is within supply chains. Most approaches to Supply Chain Management are linear and isolated with one player trying to squeeze the other with no regard to the overall effect of the full supply chain. It’s…
Read More >