Today, I saw two sobering news items about personal finance that made me sit up and think.
First is that possibly one in every four Australian retirees will run out of money by basically outliving their savings and superannuation.
Secondly, the younger generation may be in for a standard of living lower than their parents because they may not have the opportunity or funds to invest in such things as property, which was a key wealth driver for many older Australians.
If you don't want to be part of those statistics, what should you do?
Turn your regular saving habit into an investing habit. Save 10% – 15% of your take home pay and every month from now on, buy shares and grow your portfolio. Bank interest won't be enough to make you wealthy.
If you can't afford a house deposit, you can always afford small lots of stocks. Here are some buy and hold stocks that are steady growers. Make them a part of your portfolio… and don't become a statistic.
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) is an investment management company that specialises in helping people set up for retirement with products such as annuities, which pay a certain return over many years for a lump sum payment at the start. The stock pays a healthy 4.5% yield partially franked. Make money off other investors who are preparing for their golden years by owning Challenger shares.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) is still a fast grower because it commands its property search website business market leadership so strongly over the others. Even if a rival company tried to set up a competing website, house sellers would still flock to realestate.com.au to get the best exposure for their property. As it matures as a business, it could very well become a future blue-chip stock. Take advantage of the high growth now and be ready to collect income from this stock for many years to follow.
