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Christmas Present Tips for Guys

Christmas Shopping Tips for Guys

giftgreen1Most of us guys are useless at Christmas shopping. Here's a few tips I've picked up over the years.

Ladies, you might want to share this with the men in your family to avoid getting an undesirable and badly wrapped present this Christmas.

  1. Buying your Christmas presents at a petrol station or dairy on Christmas morning really isn't the done thing - apparently not everyone wants a funnel, box of biscuits or a car care kit. Don't do it.
  2. Get started early, no not on Christmas Eve, yesterday was already too late.
  3. First thing in the morning is the best time to Christmas shop, and I mean first thing, teenagers are still in bed.
  4. It's not the thought that counts, it's how MUCH thought that counts.
  5. Cash is a GREAT present for teenagers - and me.
  6. If you must give gift vouchers make sure they are from a shop the recipient actually shops in and try and avoid those with an expiry date.
  7. Wrapping and cards are important, you and I know it's just paper but for some reason they are important.
  8. Before you start browsing in a shop check that it does gift wrapping and accept the service - wait if necessary. If the shop doesn't do gift wrapping move on to the next. Unless you are an expert present wrapper - Yeah Right!
  9. Even if every present you buy is gift wrapped, buy plenty of wrapping paper and sellotape. You are going to need it because dairy's and petrol stations don't gift wrap and being a bloke you'll probably ignore number 1.

Guys ignore the above at your peril and have a wonderful Christmas.

Posted in Commentary on the Investment Environment.

Be Careful What You Ask For

question chromeDo You Really Know What That Managed Fund Is Trying To Achieve?

If you invest $1,000 in a managed fund whose aim is to beat an index, that is what you can expect it's managers to try and achieve. That means that when the index goes up you should expect the value of your fund to go up by more, and when the index goes down the value should go down by less.

  • If the index goes up one year by 10% and the fund goes up by 11% - to $1,110 - the manager will have outperformed the index and achieved the funds objective.
  • If the index then goes down the next year by 20% but the fund only goes down by 18% - to $910 - the manager has again outperfomed the index and achieved the funds objective.
  • The value of your funds is nearly 9% less than what you started with but the manager has achieved the funds objectives, you are better off than if you'd invested in the index by about $30

You cannot complain that the manager hasn't done its job because it has done exactly what it said it would do. It is weird when you see a fund manager claiming great fund performance when they've lost a whole lot of money but as they've beaten their index they can.

Be sure that you understand what the fund you are invested in is designed to do and that is indeed what you require. There are a whole range of Managed Funds with different investment approaches. Be sure that the one you are in is doing what you want it to do.

There are funds whose objective is to increase the value of your investment - no matter what, but perhaps surprisingly not all do.

If your unsure of exactly what the fund you are in is designed to do and would like to discuss please call Andrew or Jonathan at Bay Financial Partners on 07 578 3863.

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