For people experiencing financial difficulty due to the coronavirus, these resources may help:
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Hi Brendan,
With AFR predicting a recession Choice should be looking beyond the immediate crisis: https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/deflation-spiral-risks-depression-repeat-20200325-p54dvw. One of the issues that Choice should now be leading in advocacy to protect consumers is this Choice Community Discussion and it should be revisited: Negative Equity in Housing and Homeowners Protection>
Another issue that Choice could be picking up is the need for Mutual Aid Circles like this one for the Freelancers Union in the United States :https://blog.freelancersunion.org/2020/04/10/join-the-freelance-mutual-aid-circle/?fbclid=IwAR0ekd7TURZ0eYdtWj-cWnrG6yakr_7j8028fFIB2JVicsIs6ekXKnjwB54. It is because this also relates to Financial Help and Advice during the Health/Financial crisis and beyond. It is going to be a tough time for many consumers who are freelancers and casual workers as it is now becoming evident in the press and media generally as they are not well supported in the packages announced by the government.
The impact of the health/financial crisis on account based pensions and retirement income of retirees and pre-retirees needs to be discussed in relation to the longevity risk of their savings (superannuation and otherwise). It is going to have a major global impact. The United States AARP (previously the American Retired Persons Association) has already been advocating and helping people 50+ prepare to retire part-time. There has been considerable investment in their development of the program Work for Yourself @50+, see here: https://workforyourself.aarpfoundation.org/. This requires substantial investment from Foundations/Government to achieve this degree of help. I am aware that the www.freelance-work-guide has produced an Ultimate Freelancing Library which has been privately funded, see here: https://www.freelance-work-guide.com/infographic-ultimate-freelancing-library.html. This needs to be a government initiative to match the sophistication and co-ordination of the resources required like AARP has with over 38 million members. I strongly recommend that Choice advocate for this change in the support for retirees and pre-retirees to help them over the difficult years ahead.
I am aware that the Financial Planning Standards Board does not include a risk assessment of the ability of a retiree to change their longevity risk in their risk planning business process related to further skills training and retiring part-time (the position advocated by AARP). This also applies to not having housing loans included as a financial product (not a position specifically advocated by AARP, but a consequence of retiring part-time) in their financial planning standards.
The position of the abovementioned reforms
appear to be advocated by Christine Legarde, the former Managing Director of the IMF, at their Forum on The New Economy: The Future of Work which can be seen here: https://www.imf.org/external/POS_Meetings/SeminarDetails.aspx?SeminarId=263.
Does other members of the Choice Community Forum consider that Choice should be advocating for these changes and support for Australian consumers?
Keep up the good work.
Regards
John Cosstick
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Thanks for the thoughts @JohnCosstick, much appreciated. I’ll be sure to share this with my colleagues.
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Hi Brendan,
Thank you for the response. Although I am a retired Banker, Accountant and Certified Financial Planner I still take an active interest in the discussion forums with the FPA. There is considerable misunderstanding and lack of co-operative dialogue between consumers and the professional associations. This is not in the best interest of either Choice, the FPA or consumers. It is now clear that the IMF expects a very significant recession, see here: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/04/14/tr041420-transcript-of-april-2020-world-economic-outlook-press-briefing. This will require the best ideas to help consumers and advisory professionals cope with this crisis.
Brendan, it is my intention to invite FPA forum members to join this discussion because silos in thinking of solutions should not be allowed to exist. If you do not wish me to do this please let me know by next week.
This is an important initiative that you have started that can have positive outcomes for consumers over what looks like very challenging years ahead.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
John Cosstick
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