Cruising For a Bruising - Or Time For a Financial Management Course

Perhaps you're starting to feel comfortable again. The markets have been steadily recovering. The Dow has risen over 50% since its lows back in March 2009. The ASX has also performed in a similar fashion. Who needs a financial management course when you're cruising? But is it going to last? There seems to be conflicting views about the recovery. People are still losing their jobs. Banks are still writing off bad debts or making provisions for new ones and governments around the world are still printing money to meet interest repayments or keep their economies afloat. Many 'experts' believe this could just be the calm before the storm and that the Dow could retreat to new lows. Scary stuff.

Does that make you nervous about your investment portfolio or retirement savings? It should do. If you have retired or nearing retirement, the last thing you want now is to take another hit, which you may never recover from. And what about your financial adviser - have they reviewed or changed your portfolio since it went south?

Chances are your financial adviser has left it untouched because the thought of crystallising losses on some of those managed or mutual funds you hold would be too unpalatable to consider. It's likely too that you have funds locked up in a frozen property fund, which still resembles a losing boxer on fight night.

If you want to sleep better at night, the time has come to take control of your finances through a financial management course. Given you don't have the skill and experience of your financial adviser about investments, risks, asset allocation and all those other financial terms they throw at you , then the only way you can take control is to educate yourself through a proper financial management course.

Financial Advisers follow traditional asset allocation models and use traditional and popular managed or mutual funds. Many of these traditional global funds still invest in US or European companies. Is this really the path you should be going down? The global financial world is heading down a new track and you need to get onboard if you want to avoid another bruising.

How many international managed or mutual funds do you have in your investment portfolio? What percentage of them still invests in US or European companies? Where do you think the growth is going to be over the next 5, 10 or 20 years? US or China? UK or India?

This is the reason you need a financial management course. Your financial adviser is stuck with recommending to you the traditional investments and managed funds that follow traditional asset allocations. To survive you need to keep ahead of the times, and understand where the growth economies of the future are going to be. You need a financial management course that teaches you the foundations of financial education and gives you the power and confidence to sack your adviser and take control of your own future and finances. You need expert, independent, unbiased and up to date information and education about the economic times ahead, opportunities to look for and what markets to invest in.