The Future of Money
Are the current, mainstream, and orthodox ways of building wealth, fit for purpose in the new world?
Will the new world be simply more of what we’ve seen already, or fundamentally different? If we think it’s the latter, shouldn’t we be open to new strategies around building wealth and more importantly, storing wealth?
So on to today’s episode, what are we discussing?
The future of money
Libra is a new cryptocurrency brought to you by Facebook. Yes, that portal that gives your folks way more insight into your life than you’re comfortable with is teaching your parents how to use digital currency. Heck, I still get calls to fix my mum’s wifi so yeah, thank you Facebook! Libra – a digital currency that uses blockchain technology to protect and to verify transactions. In theory, Facebook will launch Libra next year, but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then. People who use Facebook’s Messenger service, WhatsApp, or who download a stand-alone app will be able to Libra through a digital wallet.
Bitcoin is likely the best-known cryptocurrency at the moment, but in terms of wide-scale adoption, it’s still not mainstream. The recent price action on Bitcoin has garnered some attention again (not always the good kind), but now with Facebooks version, perhaps now there’s a new onramp that will assist in mass adoption. Libra could bring a huge amount of interest into the cryptocurrency space. What impact will this have on the incumbent financial systems: Banks, governments, tax departments, stock exchanges and other financial service providers to name a few?
To read one of the best articles around Libra, check out https://medium.com/swlh/libra-a-balanced-view-i-89c985c57aa8
Or
See https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/
Some facts:
- Facebook has 2.7 billion users worldwide.
- About half of the population of the world, or 3.75 billion people, don’t have a bank account (https://qz.com/1299292/financial-inclusion-nearly-half-of-the-worlds-population-still-doesnt-use-a-bank-account/
- 30 to 40 % of 24 to 35-year-olds are active on Facebook.
- There are more than 25 eMoney systems in the world currently, with transactions exceeding $18.7 trillion (this is more than Visa and Mastercard combined).
This space is HUGE!
In this episode, I sat in on the NZ Tech Podcast with Paul Spain, tech guru with Gorilla Technologies and Andy Higgs, GM of a company called Centrality.
A couple other points to leave you with…
You may have picked up that in these podcasts, you don’t get topics that are always mainstream – today was a good example. I think it’s essential that more Kiwi’s get their head around this sort of thing though, and waiting for the mainstream media to cover it is far too late.
I sense the early stages of a sea change coming with respect to our current monetary system. The pace of change scares me a little.
A question you should really ponder around this:
Do you think Libra, or cryptocurrencies in general, will one day replace our fiat currency?
This is what money should do…
- A unit of account
- A medium of exchange
- A store of wealth
If Libra can do these jobs well, then maybe there’s something in this.
One more thing: I’m happy to go down on the record here as the guy who said that at some stage, possibly sooner than we’re comfortable with, faith will increase in forms of money that are not backed by central banks. If you believe this as well, would it be wise to rely on an investment portfolio exclusively denominated in fiat currency?
Did I mention none of this is financial advice?
Rules? What Rules? – On The Tee Golf New Zealand Podcast 7
The R&A in partnership with the USGA spent five years discussing rule changes to the game of golf. Those changes were introduced in January this year and while NZ golf club members have no doubt heard of them and know some of them, to be sure, and to find out the thinking behind the changes, Tom Hyde and Brendan Telfer speak with Dave Mangan, the New Zealand Golf General Manager for championships and golf operations and an International Advisory member to the R&A Rules of Golf Committee.
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The plastic bag ban and taxpayer handouts for Amazon
This week, Ruwan, David and Beth discuss the Government’s ban on plastic bags. What will the unintended consequences be? What is ACT’s alternative? And Amazon, run by the richest man in the world, is set to film the Lord of the Rings TV show in New Zealand. But taxpayers may need to fork out about $375 million Jeff Bezos’ company to make it happen. Is it worth it? Or should that money be put to better uses?
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
ACT’s Campaign for Freedom of Expression: https://freespeech.act.org.nz/
ACT New Zealand: https://www.act.org.nz/
End of Life Choice, Israel Folau, free speech and the gun buyback
This week, on ‘Politics in Full Sentences‘ the Israel Folau saga is discussed. Is his right to free speech being denied or is this the marketplace of ideas at work? Also, the Government’s gun buyback scheme is going from bad to worse. Why is it rushing the process, ignoring the experts, and failing to pay gun owners what their firearms are worth? And what risks does this approach carry?
Hosted by Ruwan Premathilaka with regular guests ACT Leader David Seymour and Deputy Leader Beth Houlbrooke.
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
ACT’s Campaign for Freedom of Expression: https://freespeech.act.org.nz/
ACT New Zealand: https://www.act.org.nz/
ACTion and ReACTion to the big relaunch
This week we take a break from our usual schedule to introduce ACT’s newly elected President Tim Jago and sum up the party’s relaunch. We’re talking about a flat tax of 17.5 per cent, the free speech debate, and putting parents in charge of the nation’s education budget. How do these polices work, why are they important, and how have people reacted? We point our media commentators whose brains have exploded in the face of a policy discussion, and update the rankings of ACT’s external fundraising team with a new entrant in the form of Labour’s Chris Hipkins.
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Lee Winston: Untitled – NZ Wine Podcast 54
Lee Winston is an Auckland based winemaker and founder of the Untitled brand. Red, white and rose blends are in the portfolio sourced from a variety of regions and years.
Listen to the Podcast Here:
Music Track featured on this podcast: ‘Kuaz’ – courtesy of Brent Page.
NZ Budget 2019 and Improving Education
The inaugural episode of ‘Politics in Full Sentences‘, the ACT Party’s weekly podcast for those who love free markets and free minds. Each episode covers off the week in politics and one big idea for a better tomorrow. This week discusses the coalition Government’s 2019 Budget and thoughts on improving education in New Zealand.
Hosted by Ruwan Premathilaka with regular guests ACT Leader David Seymour and Deputy Leader Beth Houlbrooke.
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
Turning Japanese – On The Tee Golf NZ Podcast 6
Our hosts talk with New Zealand professional golfer Michael Hendry who is back in New Zealand from playing on the Japanese Tour. Hendry grew up in Auckland playing out of the Pupuke Golf Club on the North Shore (same club as LPGA star, Lydia Ko) and at one time it looked as if he would become a professional cricketer after representing NZ at a world U-19 tournament in South Africa. But a shoulder injury put an end to his hopes to be a world class medium pace bowler and instead he’s become a world class professional golfer, winner of five tournament world wide including the Indonesian Open, the NZ PGA Championship and the NZ Open. What’s it like playing in Japan? Tune in and find out.
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Golf and Tourism in New Zealand – On The Tee Golf NZ Podcast 5
Hosts, Tom Hyde and Brendan Telfer, chat with John Griffin (General Manager of golf at Jack’s Point Golf Club) about the importance of golf in the world of tourism, and how golf contributes to one of New Zealand’s major revenue earners.
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Jack Point’s Golf Club: https://www.jackspoint.com
Kiwisaver and private equity had a baby!
There’s romance in the air! Kiwisaver, slightly immature but showing a lot of promise, has been keen on a relationship for a while: Good looking returns, and ideally not a long distance love affair would be ideal. Private equity has been living at home for a while now wondering if she’ll ever move out and attract decent levels of interest without having to move abroad. It all started at an office work party and the rest is history!
Sam Stubbs, CEO of Simplicity Kiwisaver joins us along with Robbie Paul, who heads up Icehouse Ventures to discuss these topics and more.
‘Icehouse Ventures will be co-owned between The Icehouse start-up accelerator, Sir Stephen Tindall’s investment company K1W1, Simplicity and investment banking firm FNZC.’ See article here
Kiwisaver is now approaching $50b in funds under management – this is on track to grow closer to $200b FUM by 2030 – in just 11 years time. Where’s that money currently invested? Well, about 36-37% is invested in NZ markets but unfortunately, this proportion is shrinking. Is it ‘good enough’ to have such a narrow focus on the objectives of investing as to increase returns whilst minimising risks? What about the spill-over effects associated with home-grown startups?
Meanwhile, startups in NZ struggle when they approach ‘the gap’, the period of time where capital requirements range from $1m-$10m – the funding just isn’t there to the extent that it needs to be. The result is that many startups end up going offshore and whilst NZ still benefits to some extent, it’s not to the fullest extent.
We’ve had Simeon Burnett (episode 23) from Snowball Effect and Tim Preston (episode 32) from CM Partners on the show to discuss the gap in a bit more detail if you want to check those episodes out.
From the perspective of the NZ Everyday Investor, there’s a theme running through this episode: Quantitative easing and demographic shifts are causing persistent and low-interest rates. More investment flows through to equities and property markets as a result. Technology and the speed of innovation are democratising investing options – the financial market place is transforming. Blink and you’ll miss it – NZ, we’re at the crossroads right now. As investors, the end result is that the appetite for risk MUST increase in order to get a meaningful return. The only way to mitigate risk is to increase the investment time horizon.
NZ Everyday Investor Podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/NZ-Everyday-Investor-338969376637717/
We’re keeping it real on NZ Everyday investor – we’re not journalists and this isn’t an interview – it’s a discussion, hosted by someone who’s genuinely into this sort of thing. If you like what we do, remember to subscribe to our show and share it with others – we’d really appreciate it! Do you know what else would make us rather pleased with ourselves? Write a review on facebook too!
Where to find Darcy Ungaro:
Ungaro &Co (registered) financial advisers https://www.ungaro.co.nz
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ungaro.co.nz/
Help support the mission of our show on Patreon by contributing here: NZ Everyday Investor is on a mission to increase financial literacy and make investing more accessible for the everyday person!
Shirley Links is Back in Business! – On The Tee Golf New Zealand Podcast 4
No other golf club in Canterbury suffered more damage from the two Christchurch earthquakes than the venerable Christchurch Golf Club, commonly known as Shirley Links. In this instalment of On The Tee, we talk with the club’s General Manager, Mike Hadley, about the impact of that disaster on the course and what’s been done since to recover.
http://www.christchurchgolf.co.nz/
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The Greatest Comeback in Golf – On the Tee Golf New Zealand Podcast 3
Personal issues and back surgeries left even Tiger Woods himself thinking he was done. But eleven years after his last major victory, Woods is back. His recent Master’s victory must be the greatest comeback in the history of the sport. Brendan Telfer and Tom Hyde recap this sensational story with former NZ professional, John Lister, who twice played in The Masters.
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