THE Journal of Financial Planning in the United States recently published some statistics that made for interesting reading. It would be also a worthwhile exercise to examine these statistics for us here in Australia if they were available.
- Only 24 per cent of high net worth individuals have financial plans.
- 21 per cent of investors check their net worth more than once a day.
- The average person takes 27 days to plan their next holiday but takes only nine days to plan their financial future.
- The average holding period during 1999 for investors in Amazon.com and Yahoo was eight days.
- In 1990, 26 per cent of all millionaires were under 55 years old. By 2000 this figure had increased to over 45 per cent.
- 80 per cent of households expect to have dual careers by early in the 21st century.
Anecdotally, if I were asked to estimate the position in Australia, based upon the clients that I have seen over 14 years of financial planning I would estimate the following:
- Only 5 per cent of Australians have a financial plan of any kind.
- Most investors in Australia check their net worth around once a year.
- Australians spend five times as much time planning their holidays and trips than they do on their financial position.
