Planning for Long Term Wealth Creation - Essay Example

Before borrowing to invest in the stock market, Albert and Nancy should first build an investment plan that clearly documents their retirement goals of savings and income. After identifying the level of income and savings that they require for their retirement goals, the couple can then develop several investment strategies that are potentially adequate in achieving these goals over time, using the principles of risk management to differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.

In summary, the couple should schedule meetings with a number of financial professionals and discuss the investment options available for achieving their retirement goals to compare advice and strategies in different stocks, bonds, and commodity investments. Once this information has been gathered, they should study each recommendation given by the financial advisors and make a final decision on an investment plan they are comfortable with dedicating their income to over the next 20 years. One serious concern that the couple must consider when contemplating taking a home equity loan for investment in a retirement fund is the rate of interest that they will pay on the initial sum and how that rate compares to expected stock market returns.

For example, HSBC and UBank are both offering home equity loans at a 6.79% interest rate in Australia currently. (InfoChoice, 2011) The consumer inflation rate has average between 3.33% and 3.6% in Australia in 2011. (RateInflation, 2011) Therefore, Albert and Nancy would have to average over 10% returns in the stock market every year just to cover the costs of the loan repayment plus inflation. While $125,000 is a strong deposit into an initial self-managed superfund account, the couple will need to understand that upon investment in a single company or diversified portfolio of stock holdings, there is no guarantee that future returns will match or exceed the rate of interest plus inflation.

Nevertheless, the home equity investment can be seen as beneficial for the couple if they can easily afford the home payment over time without significant stress in the household budget. Since the couple is paying a higher rate of interest on the car, personal loan, and credit cards than on the home equity loan, at a comparison of 15.5% to 17% vs. 6.79%, the best initial use of the home equity loan would be to clear the personal debt. Then, the income that was previously being dedicated to loan and credit card payments can be set aside for investment each month in equities, bonds, and precious metals.

Thus, the couple would do best by first retiring the personal debt at a sum of $32,000, and then keeping the credit card purchases at a minimal level. In this manner, the couple should be able to free up $900 to $1000 each month to invest into their self-managed super-annuity fund. In dedicating $32,000 of the $125,000 home equity loan to clearing the personal debt, the couple established a means to dedicate an extra $900 to $1000 every month to their retirement fund. However, when compared to their retirement goals of achieving self-sufficient income in old age, even an initial investment of $93,000 in the self-managed super-annuity fund plus the monthly contributions at the rate of $900 to $1000 per month would not be sufficient to meet their goals.

Part of the reason for this is inflation, which operates in the manner of compounded interest. Considering the couple has a $100,000