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
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will be kicking off proceedings at the 2008 Regional Produce Summit in Wangaratta on the 20th of October where he’ll detail some of the emerging issues likely to impact upon the tourism and food sector in the foreseeable future and suggest ways that businesses in the sector might be able to…
Read More >Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will both key note and act as Master of Ceremonies at the Lockhart Industrial symposium on the 9th of October, in Lockhart NSW. Marcus will discuss the clear business advantages that Eco Industrial parks provide to businesses, the way that symbiotic supply chains work to improve business resilience and the way…
Read More >Marcus Barber joined host Tim Cox and co-host, author and writer Andrew Peglar on the Conversation hour to muse about the types of futures one might expect to see in coming years. After Tim asked for clarification between a General, Theoretical and Strategic Futurist, Andrew kicked off with a question over the singularity. The…
Read More >Members of the Futures Foundation and the AFFA will be congregating in Pearl Beach in the coming weeks to consider the state of play in the Australian Futures community. Given the emerging challenges in Australia and around the world, the futures community requires just as much serious contemplation and forethought as does any one …
Read More >One of our many Nordic watchers, Are Thorsteinsson, has posted the Future Matters segment looking at the future of robotics, along with marking up full language captions in Danish. Although a couple of years old now, the early signs listed in this segment are only now coming into more mainstream focus Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber…
Read More >Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber has contributed a chapter to Volume Five of the ‘Death and Anti-Death’ Anthology which has just been published by Ria University. With contributors including Aubrey de Grey and Kevin Kelly and edited by Dr. Charles Tandy, Volume Five in the series is dedicated to the memory of Loren Eiseley, the renowned…
Read More >One of the challenges for one aspect of the world is fuel and the price of fuel used for private transportation. I use the word ‘aspect’ quite deliberately because the ‘aspect of the world’ that seems to be making the most noise about rising fuel prices is by and large the ‘westernised’ world – that’s…
Read More >With the theme ‘Moving Forward, Supply Chains of the Future’, Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will open the Australian Supply Chain and Logistics Conference in Brisbane in July on behalf of the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia. Details for the conference can be found below. The focus on the future of supply chains…
Read More >When it comes to quality strategic futures work as part of making the pragmatic decisions that shifts beyond theoretical futures work, I encourage my clients to question the assumptions they make about the information they have available to them. Which is why I am recommending the book ‘Gang Leader for a day – a rougue…
Read More >Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber was well and truly forced to justify the existence of his profession when venturing along to Jon Faine’s Conversation Hour last week. Co-hosted by Cath Pope the discussion looked at the role of Futurists, the Australia 2020 Futurists Summit and Jon’s scepticism around the role of futurists.. Along with Janoel Liddy,…
Read More >