How Australia Beats Alan Greenspan through Future Fund, and You Can Too

They care for the environment, love sports, and have sent troops to Iraq. You may not be impressed with the apology to their native citizens, unless you are an Aleutian, but Australians are clearly near the top of our pile of allies.

Now Alan Greenspan may have done great things for his past and present Presidents and for his evergreen Wall Street clients as well, but we coach-class types sure missed the flight from sub-prime land! Alan Greenspan is an authority on housing, saw the gathering storm of foreclosures, but many of us are none the better for his vision.

What has Australia done for its future economy? It has started a hybrid of a hedge fund and a sovereign wealth cache. It is called the Future Fund, and will help meet tomorrow’s pension and social security commitments. The government provides a seed fund from budgetary surpluses, and independent experts invest this capital to generate wealth for all. Now why does Bernanke not think of something like that, even if it escaped Alan Greenspan?

Anyway, let us focus on the possible. You can start a hedge fund to ensure that future needs of your loved ones and your own are all met, regardless of where the economy and the dollar are headed. You may not be able to buy a bank like the Sovereign Wealth Funds of Middle East Sheikhs, but your savings can grow substantially over time. Read our earlier publication entitled ‘The Small Business Route to Better Financial Planning’ for ideas.