As we see the Eurozone all but collapsing before our eyes, Greece and Ireland are rummoured to already be undertaking the printing of there own new currencies in anticipation for being kicked out of the Euro.

The Aussie Dollar has fallen over the past week and has dropped well below parity, and is likely to stay there, a far fall from $1.08USD in only Feb this year.

We are constantly told by governments and other bodies that Australia will be fine, as we have the mining boom. This has been true in the past and certainly we have the mining boom to thank for preventing us feeling the same economic fall out over the past few years as most of the Euro zone and the US.

However the important thing to note is that this ‘great’ mining boom was dependant almost entirley on the consistant growth of our Asian friends in particular China. China is already starting to feel some pressure in regard to there own growth prospects and has seen their competitive edge being eroded by their own success. We will feel the brunt of this cooling of the fire, that was the hot Chinese economy, and although it will still burn brightly into the future they are going to pick and choose the products and prices they pay for these products very carefully.

How does this effect you? Well it is my belief that Australia will now start to feel the global meltdown in a much more servere way. To make this worse is that when we thought we were going into a financial crisis back in 2008 we had almost no national debt and a $40bil surplus. Now we as a nation has over $166bil debt and a $1.5bil surplus if we are lucky!

So as a nation we are worse off.

I still here you asking how does this affect me?

• As our economy slows we will see unemployment rise
• we will see confidence drop
• we will see international funds dry up as ultimately the RBA will be forced to drop interest rates
• We will see a dip in the short term property market, demand will still be there however at a lower price
• Commodity prices will fall delivering another deficit for this government, not the promised and much hyped surplus
• Investors will want higher yields to compensate for low growth figures
• bankruptcies will go up by 10-20% pa.
• Banks wont pass on rate cuts to mortgage holders.
• Power prices and other utilities will increase – pushing up cost of living

This affects you because you are living, working, paying a mortgage inside of this great big thing we call an ‘economy’. Everything that happens within that economy effects you in some way. It may be that you get a slight reduction on your interest rate, but because your confidence is low you dont want to spend it, so you either save it or decide to pay off debt. This is a good strategy for you, but if we all do this the economy will be starved of funds and we will see further slowing. Any savings that you may have been planning on making may also be eroded by the higher living costs we will all see. This is not only due to a slowing economy but a lack of natural resource supply, increased demand for it and a large point that not many people bring up is a severe lack of competition!

The banking sector is the industry that most demonstrates what a low competition environment can do to our personal situation. The banks are basically the only true credit providers left after the global economic shakedown of 2008. This has made it a safer/lower risk market place, but this has come at a great cost to the everyday mortgage holder. No longer are we able, or confident to take our loans away from a tier one lender and place that same loan with another provider. Instead we simply leave the loan where it is and watch as the banks, who wait for these corrections every ten years or so, restock the kitty by increasing there lending margin(difference between what they buy money in for and the price at which they lend it out). These very margins were squeezed over the past ten years as they had to constantly reduce there margin to retain and regain market share.

Remember that we control our own destiny, if we take action in our own lives we can determine the greatness we can achieve.

How to take advantage of the current economic conditions and set yourself up for life?

We need to know that the world is going through some very tough times and with tough times there always comes opportunity. What can we do about our own situation, knowing what’s happening in the world?
Well there are a number of things we could be doing.

1. Get busy looking at opportunity – as Barron Rothschilds said ‘When there’s blood in the streets, there is money to be made’. With every downturn there is immense opportunity. You have to have your eyes open to see it, you have to want to see it, but it is always there for us if we choose to see it.
2. Get busy learning. Now is the time to watch the markets, watch for business opportunities, watch for sales that may not have been there earlier (i.e. mortgage stressed housing sales in real estate). Know these markets, know who to talk too, how to capitalise on this opportunity.
3. Get back to business basics – understand your business and where it is situated – I am constantly blown away by how many business people have no idea how their business is travelling.
4. Think like Buffett – Worry about the long term. Do not be too worried about the current value of your assets. If you buy good stocks, good property, good business on sound financial grounds with solid figures and demonstrating good value – trust that in the long term it will be a great investment(see below).
5. We can look to build on our foundations, but we need to make sure the foundations are strong. No bad debt. Good cash flow, strong financial position = ready to exploit opportunities
6. Look at job security as there will be fewer alternatives if you do lose your job or business gets tough in the short term.
7. Reduce any ‘bad’ debt such as credit cards, store cards, even personal loans.
8. If you were ever thinking about getting into other investments or your own business there may not be a better time then over the next few years. Houses will be cheaper, Stocks and property will sell on high yields, Business’ will sell cheap – good business’ that have just got themselves into financial trouble but fundamentals are good.

So I’m sure you and your family will be fine in this changing and unpredictable economic environment and if you constantly look to  ’turning adversity into advantage’ then this could be the few years that determine the success you will enjoy for the rest of your life in accordance with your dreams and your aspirations.

The global economic conditions are unlikely to change irrespective of the action you take, however by taking action and turning adversity into advantage the changes you may see in your own situation could be dramatic and fantastic.

Get excited, get enthusiastic, take action!

Here is a great example of turning adversity into advantage!
The 1973-74 bear market gave Warren Buffett the opportunity to purchase a stake in the Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO) – an investment that has subsequently increased by more than 100-times the purchase price – that’s before dividends are included. At the time, Buffett said he was buying shares in the company at a deep discount, as evidenced by the fact that the company could have “… sold the (Post’s) assets to any one of 10 buyers for not less than $400 million, probably appreciably more.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post Company had only an $80 million market cap at the time.
Reference investopedia

Nick Cleary - Adrenaline Coach and Auctioneer