Linda Kathleen Schmidt's Page

Good to see. I can't stress enough how important it is to educate yourself about investing before you plunge in. It's one of those things that if you get wrong, you're out of the game for good, so you need to take it slowly. If you do it the right way, you'll be investing - and making money from it - the rest of your life. Read, and read some more!

Hi Linda, have been away for a while so I only just got your message. I hope all is going well.

If you're looking to invest in the market nothing beats learning about things slowly using books (Investing for Dummies by James Dunn is a GREAT book, don't be put off by the title), websites (CompareShares is great) and finding your own comfort level with the amount of risk you're willing to take (how much you're prepared to lose) and the amount you're comfortable investing (e.g. $10k, $50k, $100k), including borrowings.

If you buy that book and subscribe to the free CompareShares newsletter you'll be well on your way to learning about investing. Just don't get conned by seminar spruikers and people selling the "secret" to investing success. If they had the secret why would they be wasting their time selling it to others?

Hi Linda,
I better get back to work.
Until later,
Regards
Keith

Hi Linda,
Nice to have you as a "friend".
I think it is interesting that there seems to be a real "force" operating around the world at the moment (has been growing since the 60's) that seems to be pushing humanity into making far more morally responsible decisions. We currently live in a society that is totally money focused. We are designing shopping centres to maximise our desire to spend, companies are totally focused on profit at almost any cost and individually we are demanding our rights as individual to participate in activities that put our own health & well being at risk. It is quite clear that our dear little planet earth is struggling to cope with our waste and yet the powerbrokers who can make the decisions to change our course of destruction will not jeaperdise the financial outcome to fix the problem. I personally believe it is time that our governments started making the decisions that will change the way we "think". It seems rediculous to me that we produce alchohol in such a manner that it can render a human useless in the space of half a dozen drinks. It seems absurd to me that we produce cigarettes that clearly put our health at risk. Some 80% of people in our health system are there because of smoking related issues. I bet that if the Federal Government outlawed the manufacture and supply of cigarettes, about 90% of smokers would jump for joy, as they don't have the will power to stop themselves. As for alchohol, a very high percentage of crime and especially domestic violence, is alchohol feuled. Instead of taxing it, why not reduce the alchohol content of "ALL" alchoholic beverages to less than 2%. I luv a beer, but I don't drink it because I want to get drunk. Our world is suffering and it is past time that the decision makers started to do something that will FIX the problem not just slow it down. It might not happen within the next 5 years but we might not recognize the landscape in 50 years time. There may well be a great deal of food shortage and starvation if our climate becomes more volatile. We may be living in summers that start in September and finish in May with 40 or 50 days in that period with temperatures over 40 degrees and 10 to 20 days with temps over 50. Might I add that this attitude DOES have to start with us and it is up to us to start lobbying our local members to get things done.
I could go on for ages
CYA
Keith

Hello Linda. Thank you for offering your friendship. We in Perth have a few options to help us learn more about investing. I am a CBA customer and they offer free seminars periodically. CBA is also encouraging me to start an investors club.

Let's keep in touch. Let me know what kind of educational opportunities your finding.

Cheers- Christine

Hi Linda
I used to be able to make that claim 10 years ago but not now. It depends where you are at with commitments saying that 'it's easy if you are willing to go without other things' is not really valid in my case. Try having a mortgage, being disabled having high cost health issues for both adults of the couple, living regionally so you have to travel to hospitals and specialists therefore having to go without heaps of things to provide just fuel for the car can be a hard one, let alone starting at the supermarket that's another story completely. Scrimping and saving and working out each dollar down to the last cent is common place for us now and I am sure from what I read on other forums for a huge part of Australia now. We by no means are part of a small sect. One learns quick to become vegetarian and eat pasta and become a recipe collector for quick saving meals that are hopefully still full of nutrition. Very difficult with the price of veges lately I don't know how WA prices are but near $6.00 for a cauliflower - man that's like eating gold!

I comb the internet daily for any way of saving and I have found it does pay to consolidate debts to one main card or one main institution, that way if you are on disability or any pension you can put it all on the card and live off it, sure it will go over sometimes for things like rego, rates, medical expenses but you have to balance it with other things.

Just my 2 cents worth!

Cheers