What constitutes a comfortable retirement?

Much of my time is now consumed with thinking about, planning and preparing for retirement. I'm 49 and we don't have a mandatory retirement age in Australia but you can access your superannuation savings once you turn 60 if you are born after 1964. At age 67 you can access the government paid pension if you don't have sufficient funds to support yourself, one suspects this will probably be raised to age 70 in the next decade so people in my age bracket had better be prepared.

The cost of living is outrageous in Australia and it is my belief that I want to retire as soon as I can so I can enjoy a healthy outdoor lifestyle while my body holds out. I suspect a further 10 years of living will limit my mobility as I spent a large proportion of my working life as a blue collar worker. The fifteen or so years of physical work takes a toll on the body, although by my early 30s I had accepted my fate and taken a desk job to lessen the toll on my body.

So, like many others I have to consider health issues and the required support services. My plan is to live the summer months in Australia and the winter months overseas. This will take some planning as I will have to finance an Australian household all year round as I don't wan to give up my primary residence but with just base electricity and water charges the cost might be achievable. There is council rates, they hurt and telephone and internet would expected to be minimal as I wouldn't be seeking large data plans.

Perth is a great place to live in summer but there is so much of the world I want to visit. The northern hemisphere just happens to be in summer whilst Perth is suffering through another dreary winter so an endless summer is possible. Fortunately Australia has reciprocal health agreements with eleven countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium and Italy - my future is pretty much planned.

Pewsey Vale Riesling

I love Pewsey Vale Riesling, I was introduced to it by my old man when we sit out in the back garden on a Friday night. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Eden Valley reds, but their dry whites are high on my list as a pretty good example of warm climate wines.

On Friday, instead of driving my car to work I catch two trains and a bus from my place to work and two buses to my parents house after work. Whilst I could be hitting the city on a Friday, I enjoy the time with my family and wouldn't swap it for anything. I know I will be having a few drinks and this is the responsible way to prevent drink driving by planning ahead.

So what I do now is send cartons of wine from my supplier straight to my parents house as my father has been retired for over twenty years and I am still pulling a salary - simple economics really. But in typical old man style, he likes to pick up the bill all the time so I have to make sure I am paying my way. So when I go to the wine rack or refrigerator I try to select something that I purchased so I don't drain his stocks.

However, if I find a bottle of Pewsey Vale Riesling in the refrigerator - all bets are off. When I was researching this riesling I logged onto the Pewsey Vale website and was surprised to find they had four rieslings in their range. Now I had the embarrassing task of finding the one I liked, not such an easy task I found out. I like dry white wine and Pewsey Vale sits well on the dryness factor, yet still exhibits fruit and character.

So, to the tasting notes; according to Pewsey Vale this riesling exhibits dried herbs, white flowers with lemon and lime overtures. Ok, I get the zesty citrus flavours but would never have described white flowers as a taste and seemed to miss the dried herbs. However, I feel this is more complex than pure citrus flavours so what would replace the dried herb aroma?

I'm struggling now to describe the aroma and instead move on to the palate with tropical fruit, astringent acidity keeping the flavours in check with a fine balance of the pale straw coloured white wine with twinges of green hues. They recommend enjoying with salt and pepper squid, natural oysters, seared scallops or a Thai beef salad or like me just enjoy this wine on a warm summer Friday night with good company.

Disposable coffee cup madness

I believe in the virtues of capitalism and the benefits that the private sector brings to the masses through free choice and efficiency; however, what I don't support is serving coffee in cardboard cups. Capitalism has a social and environmental aspect; we all understand the need to create profits but these shouldn't come at the expense of society and the environment.

As both consumers and shareholders, we have the ability to dictate corporate decision-making through our purchasing power and habits. The major issue with disposable coffee cups is that they are mostly not recyclable and end up in landfill - this is a terrible outcome for everybody. This is not only inefficiency, this wastage is detrimental to the environment with the plastic caps and cardboard insulators adding to the waste. Single use plastic bags are being phased out in Western Australia and one hopes the policy may be extended to disposable coffee cups to protect the environment.

Strategies may include a levy on disposable coffee cups to change consumer behaviour as a deterrent although I would prefer to raise awareness through a shared ideals. As I believe in free choice, we as consumers can exercise our free choice and choose to not purchase our coffee in disposable cups instead selecting our coffee served in real cups and not rely on government intervention. As a collective group, we have the ability to change corporate behaviour through consumer behaviour.

So what is fake news?

I was reading a BBC news article on how fake news plagued the news scene in 2017, there has been cases of news organisations and departments requesting such articles to not be reposted or passed on. For most of us the term fake news is a Trumpism that may lead to an even more diminished status as he seems impervious to any news published criticising himself or his administration.

So based on the BBC definition, what is fake news?

1. Completely false information, photos or videos purposefully created and spread to confuse or misinform.
2. Information, photos or videos manipulated to deceive - or old photographs shared as new.
3. Satire or parody which means no harm but can fool people.

Ok, completely false information, photographs or videos is a given, so too is manipulated photographs or video footage; however, satire and parody is the interesting definition. The BBC along with many other broadcasting services all engage in satire, comedy and parody much to the humour of it's viewers and subscribers. Are people that uninformed or unsophisticated that they are confused by satire and parody?   

Certainly social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp have to do more to prevent fake news spreading. I have always been told to check the news site, is it a reputable news site bound by journalistic integrity? The same commentators also claim that the reputable news companies are feeding the masses misinformation so we have an issue here. I certainly don't believe all these conspiracy theories kicking around but do believe news broadcasters need to improve their reporting with more facts based reports and less sensationalism but opinion pieces are the staple of news networks and should be viewed as opinion pieces. 

From boom to bust - what happened to Western Australia?

Technically, Australia hasn't had a recession in over 26 years although we have had a number of slowdowns. In Western Australia, we saw mining boom one and mining boom two; the two booms were interrupted by the GFC in 2008. The financial data we have been presented is that the Western Australian economy isn't in recession although the average person wouldn't know it, this feels exactly like a recession.

We didn't really have a mining boom per se, we had a construction boom related to mining driving the economy of Western Australia. This distorted investment, employment and prices in Western Australia with a distinct mining focus and no plan B. So what happened? As the boom was related to mining construction, we know this has a finite life as construction is project based so. Mining production was already under way; this was mostly related to expansion of existing projects although some new projects were also initiated.

The Chinese demand waned, this has had a dramatic effect on commodity prices with the Western Australian Treasury Department generating revenue forward estimates on commodity prices that were inflated. They were conservative based on the actual prices at time of calculation, such has been the free fall in prices. The state government imposes a royalty on mineral extraction based on price and not volume, this is basically a tax. However, Australia now has a goods and services tax (GST) since the mid 1990s with federal collection distributing revenues to the states.

Due to the distribution model, Western Australia only receives approximately 30% of the tax it generates. As a result, state government services have been reduced, infrastructure projects cancelled, jobs lost and investment curtailed. The state now has a debt equal to the tax shortfall, the other states who have benefited from the GST revenue are unwilling to give up their windfall. Finally, there was the spending spree of the government and infrastructure projects initiated within an eight year reign, the issue with governments is they want to make short-term decisions so they gain the credit for infrastructure development.  

The Adelaide Convention Centre

My father and myself headed down to Adelaide for my graduation ceremony and at age 48, I had never been to one before so I was actually kind of interested. Normally I just get a certificate sent out in the mail as I'm not really into the whole formal award ceremony - this time was different.

However, as I had only briefly driven through Adelaide on route from a Melbourne to Perth in the early 1990s, it was time to properly visit Adelaide. That drive that took thirty four hours so I really relished the opportunity to explore the capital of South Australia. Spending the first afternoon wandering around the Torrens River that cuts through Adelaide, we made our way over to the convention centre for a look around. While we knew we would be here on the Wednesday, the time spent to aquaint ourselves with the facility was time well spent.

This was ideally located on the Torrens River with sweeping views of the riverbanks. I also found out the Adelaide Convention Centre was the first purpose built convention centre of its type in the country and I think they did a fantastic job. Whilst the graduation ceremony was a little drab as everyone required equal time to receive their certificate and pose for the obligatory photograph, the views from riverbank suite after it was all done was perfect. Upon leaving we were right in the CBD and we wandered up North Terrace and onto King William Street to grab a celebratory drink and meal.

The retirement standard

Despite the enormous pool of retirement savings in Australia, the average person falls well short of what would be considered an ideal retirement income. 

Naturally, retirees aspire to the standard of living they have grown accustomed to with $750,000 widely viewed as a comfortable retirement sum to fund a reasonable standard of living higher than the ASFA recommendation of $640,000 that is still a pretty tidy sum. Whilst it is better to have a $110,000 buffer - few can afford that.

In order to achieve achieve retirement goals, an annual pension of $44,000 is considered adequate for single person, the ASFA figure is $35,000 but I prefer to be a little more conservative. About $60,000 is required for a couple as shared bills tends to reduce the cost of living. 

For the average worker, in order to achieve such goals may need them to take greater investment risks, increase contributions during the accumulation phase, pay lower fees, remain in the workforce longer or alternately they could learn to live on less.

Why work all your life and then budget to live on less, better to start saving a percentage of your income and still enjoy a reasonable life along the journey? There is an argument to enjoy your money now and just rely on the age pension instead taking a lump sum superannuation and squander your retirement benefits. 

This is a difficult decision as the government keeps changing superannuation rules mostly due to their fiscal incompetence with the onus and risk returned to the taxpayer. I still believe forgoing a degree of your salary to fund a retirement despite the risks as the future of the aged pension is rising and the benefits likely to decline.

In memory of Ron Moore

I first met Ron Moore down in Albany during the summer of either late 1999 or early 2000 when I was undertaking some trimix dives through his old shop in Sanford Road with Neil Hackett. Ron came across as a pretty knowledgeable guy and easy to approach, we became friends not long after that.

I became a full-time dive instructor in late 2001 after becoming fed up working in my trade and I needed a new lease on life. So I went to work in a number of Perth-based dive centres on a contract basis until I was offered a manager's position at a small but entrepreneurial business.

After some restructuring we dived all year round running tours through Perth and Dunsborough during the summer months. I reserved the Albany tours through Ron's dive shop during the winter months as whilst the water was cold, conditions were best. We ran the odd summer tour to cater for our clients who had dived every other tour.

As the proprietor of Albany Scuba Diving Academy in a large regional centre in Western Australia, Ron was doing it tough as competition was tight. Even though Ron was instrumental in organising the scuttling of the former Charles F Adams class guided missile destroyer the HMAS Perth, the upkick in business didn't come. Perth based divers thought it was too far to travel to dive at a tad of just over 500 kilometres.

Our short tours run through West Australia Dive Centre were very popular with overseas tour groups with a special emphasis on Japanese tours. Ron organised great accommodation and great atmosphere  for our tours.

We had a great party on Saturday night with a barbecue, dancing and drinks - for some, the Saturday night eclipsed the diving. It was my view that this was our best tour that we had on our books.

Eventually I moved on from full-time dive employment into a government job, I still remained a part-time instructor and then business owner for a number of years afterwards.

I still kept in touch with Ron and would come down to dive in Albany occasionally. Unfortunately Ron got pretty sick and his struggling dive operation went under, we would catch up and discuss the dive business and business conditions in general over a few drinks.

Upon his return to health, Ron took a job in the agricultural sector before picking up a job as a safety representative in the booming mining industry. Owing to his extensive life experiences, self-confidence garnered as a dive instructor, small business background and general outgoing demeanor, Ron picked up a very good overseas position in the oil and gas industry.

Ron went from struggling for money ever since I knew him to being a guy flush with money - I was really happy for him. We corresponded regularly via social media as I was up late every evening with study and he was on the other side of the world.

We discussed plenty of issues and he was pretty quick to tell me if he thought I was heading down the wrong path - I was more than happy to listen to his opinion.

Ron was getting ready to return to his job in Africa when he felt some pain in his left flank. He went to the doctor and was passed as fit for work and able to head off back to Africa.

He had some reservations and pushed his personal friend who was also his doctor to look deeper when late stage pancreatic cancer was discovered. Ron never returned to work as his full-time job was now cancer treatment.

During his extensive time in hospital battling cancer treatments and associated side-effects, I was able to correspond once again through social media. The last time I saw Ron was in St John of God Hospital in Subiaco when I dropped in after a football game.

Ron was recognisable but had lost plenty of muscle and size, I knew then that this wasn't great and I was very concerned for him. At least we were able to laugh about the size I had expanded owing to my lack of meaningful exercise due to study commitments over the previous five years.

I hadn't seen Ron online for a while when I sent him a concerned message via social media asking how he was. A couple of days later his wife Kate messaged me through LinkedIn informing me Ron had passed away at home. I chatted with her for a while and I guess it was uncomfortable for both of us because our exchange was polite but stilted.

I searched through his Facebook profile for a picture of him, I haven't asked his wife for permission which is wrong on some accounts but I don't really want to contact her to remind her of Ron's death and I'm sure she will be ok with this. Ron departed well before he should have and a year on I still miss this guy.

The School of the Air

Outback Australia is remote, the people living on cattle and sheep stations have an unbelievable childhood in terms of fun and adventure. There is however the important business of educating these kids and this is the role of school of the air where kids logged onto a radio set to undertake their education as their only other option was boarding school.

The teacher would reside in the largest town in the district and every day eager kids would take their lessons via radio set. Every now and again they would all venture into town and meet their teacher and school friends for a school outing. Heading into town could consist of a eight hour car ride, sometimes the trip could be longer.

In the information age, a computer connected to the world wide web dramatically reduces the isolation these kids face. Needless to say, technology enhanced education allows more interactive lessons and webcam although the isolation hasn't changed. Generally, when the kids get older they head off to boarding school but this isn't always the case.

We had a terrible situation where the McGowan government is cutting funding to the School of the Air leaving country kids without great options; fortunately public pressure forced the government to reverse its decision and the School of the Air will continue in Western Australia.

The cost of an Australian MBA

The average cost of an MBA in Australia increased 6% in 2017 to $47,500 AUD; the Melbourne Business School tops the list at $85,000 AUD as the most expensive Australian MBA program. With the one year Melbourne Business School MBA setting you back closer to $100,000 AUD once $30,000 living costs are taken into account, you want to make sure you are getting a reasonable return on investment - one hopes the network opportunities are sufficient.

So the average price of MBA tuition in Australia has risen causing the return on investment time frame to extend with costs skyrocketing for the majority of graduates. This is somewhat hampered by the soft employment market, poor financial fundamentals and opportunity cost that most business school graduates currently face. We are expecting similar increases once again in 2018 and one is hoping the employment market is improving to make the investment worthwhile.

Without taking into account the loss of salary during this period, this is becoming an expensive endeavor. With the average full-time Australian male salary now $81,947 AUD, the loss of income along with tuition fees gets close to $159,447 AUD. With the average Australian female salary now 70,392 AUD, total outlay is $147,892 AUD - these costs are now staggering. But when you start looking at post MBA salaries, you start to think - maybe it was worth the cost after all.

Whilst not willing to disclose my full MBA cost, I can state through my scholarship and choice of university that I paid below less than half the cost of average Australian MBA tuition fees. This will improve my return on investment but somewhat subdued by my advancing middle age. At 49, my return on investment is very different to an average graduate in a top business school in the coveted 28 to 32 age group so I have a different return on investment schedule than younger graduates.

Retiring young

How young is too young to retire? I meet people in their 20s living a travelling life of part time work throughout the year. That is full time work for 3, 6 or 9 months of the year and then spending the remaining time travelling to an overseas destination.

This is normally a developing country where the currency conversion is good and the cost of living is cheap. The plan is usually work in a country with a strong currency and a high cost of living coupled with high salaries to compensate for the cost of living.

Is this really retiring? No, not at all because to retire is to give up work completely. However, there is always a caveat because a retiree can engage in a little part time work to keep themselves busy and to supplement their retirement income. The next group is in their 30s, they have had a decade or so of employment and have either been extremely well paid, developed a successful business or come into money through a lottery win, inheritance or marriage.

They could have a successful travel blog, Instagram page, YouTube channel or some other electronic business to generate an income whilst travelling the world. There is always family money, that can come at any age but who really wants to live off their parent's money? I was lucky enough to be able to work half a year and travel half a year in my late 20s right up to my mid 30s before rejoining the workforce full time again at age 37. I still get to travel overseas on a regular basis anywhere from three to five trips a year, but it is short term travel of two weeks duration these days.

That decade was the greatest period of my life in terms of lifestyle but a real career killer - not that I'm complaining. I had to re-enter the workforce to ensure my retirement was looked after. I needed to pull my head in and get serious about contributing to my superannuation fund. I was lucky enough to join the state government at the right time and still be able to join the state government retirement fund before they clamped down on the conditions.

The majority of people I have come across who have retired early are in their 40s, they have had enough time in the workforce to save for an early retirement, they could sell a business, derive an income from investments or received an inheritance. These people have sold businesses, have investment accounts and own property and I have seen people rent out their house to travel.

Living in low cost of living countries and owning properties allows them to live a relaxed lifestyle and their property usually appreciates in value. I have come across a number of people living in the Philippines in their 40s and 50s who owned their property that is rented out. This is a great strategy, owning just a single property allows a retired lifestyle of relaxation.

Most of the guys I have met through scuba diving so these guys have a job in a dive centre but there isn't much work involved. In the low cost wage world of developing countries where locals are hired to wash the equipment, fill cylinders, carry equipment, boat crew and equipment repair; all they have to do is step on the boat and hang around the dive centre chatting to people before and after dives.

The last group I come across in the Philippines directly after the global financial crisis was a bunch of London stockbrokers, finance guys and IT people. They were displaced, they lost all their benefits, their income and their lifestyle. They were hanging out in a developing country where the living was cheap and the diving is good, some of them were still working remotely via virtual teams.

After diving they would have to go back home and log on and work; every now and again they would have to fly to Hong Kong for a series of face-to-face meetings. I never discussed income with them so I don't know how good their deal is, I'm guessing their cost of living and their lifestyle more than adequately compensates them. Maybe semi-retirement can be achieved through a lifestyle change and low-cost living, the people I meet seem to be enjoying their new status and lifestyle.     

No promotions from this one

I always try to be positive when commenting on the Western Australian Police; they do a fantastic job under trying and difficult conditions. They have a strong social media presence; their posts are lively and funny and they have strong community support. I haven't heard too much chatter from the police communications unit on this one though - we are all laughing nonetheless.

The police were tipped off about a cannabis crop cultivation at a semi-rural property in Perth's southern suburbs so the decision was made to intervene. The police raided the property finding a hydroponic system growing plants in structures around the property.

As a result of the raid, the police arrested a 61 year old male and 41 year old female; a crime scene was established and two uniformed officers were posted to guard duties of the property overnight. Apparently, removing the drugs at night would have required overtime so this is the most probable reason for leaving the crop at the scene.

In the morning after a warrant had been issued, the main police detective contingent returned to the property finding the crime scene had been breached with 100 cannabis plants now on the run. Yep - all the cannabis plants had been stolen whilst under police guard and they didn't know until the detectives arrived in the morning. It's hard to believe, but I kid you not - the Western Australian police had the whole crop stolen from right under them.

So now the Internal Affairs Unit are involved along with the Organised Crime Squad, what a disaster this raid turned out to be - they are now the laughing stock of the country. The police have been busy raiding multiple properties in the aftermath seizing plants and cash, as far as we know detectives have taken all confiscated property with them.