THE WEEK
Six mornings in a row I have published something about money that I would once have kept to myself. The replies are the part I planned for least. Every one of them has been generous, and generosity is the hardest thing to build a second week on.
What people wrote about surprised me more than the fact that they wrote at all. I spent Tuesday on superannuation and Thursday on the accounts I keep, and almost everything that came back was about the magazine and the house.
Linda congratulated me on the home, which I have mentioned once and have yet to write about properly. Vanessa wrote about the trials of starting and running a business. So far, people want the story the mechanics came out of.
Then Sharon wrote to me. On Monday I said I was looking for the number a person can ring in Papua New Guinea to have a trained stranger sit down with to go over what they owe and what they earn and build them a plan.
Sharon does financial counselling here. Her words: “I just read your article on Wild Money. And you know what's wild? I do Financial Counselling.” I had said twice that the service was missing. What I had actually established was the limit of my own search.
So, the next weeks get a new job. I am going to ask Sharon what she does, who can reach her, what it costs and whether somebody in Lae or Goroka can get the same hour somebody in Port Moresby can. Then I will publish the answer.
Rio thinks I should send this to some bankers. I would rather send it to the people the bankers lend to, though I notice we may both be right.
Anyone who has run a week of anything knows the first one tells you what the next fourteen will cost. Mine told me that the questions travel further than the answers do, and that one of you was holding an answer I had given up finding. If any of it strikes you as wrong, that is the reply I want most.
And as always, get in touch with a topic you would like Wild Money to cover.
TOMORROW
Port Moresby, 2012, and the magazine that the year needed.
Best
Amanda
P.S. What’s your view on today’s newsletter? Did I miss something out that you’d like to share? Write to me, [email protected]. I may not get back to you, but I will try to read what you send in.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Wild Money is general information only, drawn from my own experience and research. It isn't financial advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or manage money in any particular way. What worked for me won't necessarily suit you. Please seek advice from a licensed financial adviser before making decisions about your own money.