Daniel Petre

by Daniel Petre on Monday, August 10th, 2009

Have we really learned anything from the GFC?

Many Australians have lost thir jobs during this latest financial crisis which makes for tense times as they try to recast their careers and futures. Also nearly every Australia suffered significant losses in their superannuation nest eggs in the rapid unwinding of the global equity markets.. This has definitely put a significant dent in the financial plans for many late 50 year olds and 60 yar olds…However the point of this post is not to list those hurt by the GFC but ask whether we have learned anything from what has transpired.

We all became greedy. We all assumed that equity markets will just continue to rise. We all bought too much stuff that we could not really afford and some of us bought houses we also could not afford. In simple terms we binged on debt to provide for a lifestyle that we thought would make us both happy and accepted…And so now what?? It seems that if you are still standing and employed you are fortunate and you should reflect back on what we missed…What we missed was that we had enough stuff and that probably our houses were OK and not in need of a major upgrade and that really what we have lost is not so much this stuff but the time with our children and families…Here we are with our net wealth back to 2004 levels so what did the last 5 years provide…alot of long hours at work to allow ourselves the material upgrades  in the hope that we would be fine if we just got the next car/house/plsma etc….and yet what also happend over the 5 years is that while we were focused on getting more stuff our children grew 5 years older..While we may get back to 2007 net worth levels as can NEVER getbck those lots yars with our kids…These times are gone forever and we are worse for the loss…..So the lesson surelyu through all of this is that stuff will come and go but what really matter is our family and friends. We need to resist the temptation to get back on the rat wheel and stay focused on not missing the next five years…Good things can come from bad times..A renewed focus on those we love could be a good outcome from the pain and loss from the GFC

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