Starting anew..

If you were tasked to set up a financial plan, from scratch, for an Australian resident about to turn 18, in the current environment, what would be an optimized set up?

I'm thinking along the lines of putting all savings into a Vanguard ETF while a student at uni, pay cash only for a personal vehicle. In the future, set up a trust to buy a PPOR.

Invest every spare dollar earned from part time job, start side business, educate about finances now, caution about consumer debt.

What do you wish your (hypothetical) long lost wise old aunt could have advised you, back when you were a nipper? Apart from the obvious, avoid alcohol and toxic mates!

 

WOW !! ( not the stock ) what a tough question

18 ( and it isn't your life you are planning for ) so much potential ahead

now what my real Aunt did ( but probably didn't plan it for me ) was to do her own investment thing for as long as she could ( she passed away in 2010 after a long illness ) she ( unwittingly or knowingly ) left me big lessons among the estate i had to unravel , along with the inheritance ,

i could have done the modern thing , , called in the cleaners and auctioneers and liquidated everything , but that would have missed the 100% upside ( so far ), and all the lessons , that could be learned

for a young investor ( not just 18 ) i am a very big fan of financial education so they can adapt the future to work for them , but how do you inspire them to learn about the financial world ( certainly not force them )

one of the ( Australian ) high profile managers had a plan that started in childhood ( for the recipients ) for each child he bought a major bank share ( the one they had an account in already ) AND a food retailer share ( i think it was WOW but the best one for the student is best )

the strategy was the divs ( 2 from each stock ) arrived 3 monthly so they could get used to regular growth AND get to watch 'their company ' every time they did business there .

i am sure a veteran member will know the video clip and maybe even link it to here

but an ETF instead of a LIC ( there are some rock solid LICs out there and some fees can be very reasonable ) ( each has it's flaws and merits )

if you can inspire the teenager to learn i think that would be a mighty good start( and might help other decisions in life as well

 

Why do you want your house in a trust?