| Having
sufficient life insurance or income protection is very important to
you and your dependents. While we do not advise you on your required
levels of cover, the following information may be helpful to you.
COST OF
LIVING STATISTICS
Whichever
way you look at it, inflation is eating away at our spending power.
 A
REAL LIFE COMPARISON
Today, $10 certainly won't put much in our trolley at
the supermarket. In 1985 the load would have looked significantly
healthier. Let's get specific.
Back then, 2kg of sugar would have cost $1.33. Today it's
$2.33. Yesterday's cereal average cost was $1.46; today $2.29.
And the more you add up, the more worrying it all gets. $100
from 1985 has actually lost 40% of its purchasing value in 1996. The
chart gives us an interesting cross reference going right back to
1970.
THE STORY GROWS SCARIER
The longer the period we look at (and the bigger the
items we compare) the more striking the comparison becomes.
In 1960, you could drive a Rolls Royce for $25,000.
Today the car you'll drive for that amount is considerably less
impressive.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE
SHRINKING DOLLAR
Having learned those disturbing facts from the past,
we must put them to good use in planning for the future. As we've
seen, the money we try to save by putting it under the bed simply
disappears.
Your money has to work to maintain its purchasing value.
When it's put to work effectively it can even increase its
purchasing value for you. |
