Wagga retirees are reeling from the latest Coronavirus-inspired stock market crash, with Australian super funds being hit by the biggest one-day losses since the global financial crisis.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Retired health administrator Daphne Carswell was shocked when she checked her superannuation fund over the weekend and saw it had shrunk "considerably".
However the 76-year-old said she would not be panic-withdrawing her super, saying she remained optimistic that the economy would make a recovery.
As someone who survived the GFC, Mrs Carswell said she was confident Australia had weathered worse and would bounce back in no time.
"It's too late to do anything; you just need to sit tight and weather the storm," Mrs Calwell said.
"What goes down normally comes back up. I'm optimistic and hoping the virus concerns subside and the markets can adjust. Hopefully whatever stimulus the government is planning does help the economy."
In other news
Her optimism is shared by Wagga Navigate financial planner Gavin Lamb, who said the short-term market shock would lead to long-term investment opportunities when Australia made its eventual recovery.
"It's a good opportunity to buy some quality assets at a lower price than you could normally get them," Mr Lamb said.
"No one knows how the spread of the disease will play out, but I don't think it's as dire as some people fear and I do think the media has a pretty big part to play on bolstering confidence rather than eroding it."
Interest rates have been slashed to record lows in response to Coronavirus fears, but Mr Lamb said borrowers should still be "cautious" about taking out big loans.
He said many young people would do well to learn the lesson of their parents, who in the late 80s and early 90s had to pay off farms on the back of interest rates as high as 24 per cent.
"You've got to be reasonable and sustainable with your decisions - in good times and bad, it's a little bit like marriage: in sickness and health," Mr Lamb said.
He said the Australian economy was currently "not in as good a place as it could be", but said he was fully bullish on Wagga's local economic outlook.
"Locally I think our economy is quite strong; there's a lot of funding investments going in terms of infrastructure," Mr Lamb said.
"Wagga's always been a really good place but there's a nice focus at the moment on thinking big, and that creates opportunities."
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
