So basically if I bid X amount of dollars he will double it, provided his superannuation can cover it. Since they predict a pay out of $260,000, $130,000 would be the maximum bid.http://www.news.com.au/finance/superann ... 6819800986
AN ADELAIDE man has posted a peculiar listing on eBay Australia, auctioning off his future superannuation payout with a lucrative 'double your money' offer.
Daniel King, who uses the eBay username rachybabe302013, lists his product as 'My Superannuation Investment - Double your Money'.
King posted the item at 9pm on Wednesday night and the auction was set to run for nine days. The starting bid is listed at $1.00, with no bids so far, yet it has had 180 views.
The condition of the item is listed as "New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item. See the seller's listing for full details."
The 31-year-old father of three who lives with his partner in Adelaide, says he set up the auction to earn money to provide his children with a better start in life.
"I work full-time in a senior management role with long-term job security," King wrote. "The main motivating reason for me auctioning off part of my super is to provide my children with the start in life that I didn't have as a young man ie. higher education uni etc.
"The other factor is I want myself and my family to be able to enjoy the finest things in life while we are in 'the best times of our life' raising children, providing and giving us all the things we want."
In the description of the Super offer, King has written the following:
"You are bidding on a unique never before seen opportunity to purchase my Super when I retire at 65 years old.
"How it works: what ever the final bid is at the end of this auction is, I will double it and you will be entitled to the money when I retire. For example: If the winning bid is say $10,000 you will get $20,000 when I retire at 65. It's that simple.
"All legal documents will be signed with a solicitor to the winning bidder, the transaction will be strictly private and confidential."
News.com.au spoke exclusively to King, and asked him how he came up with the idea.
"I was looking up ways to invest money in self-managed funds," King said. "I thought of all the weird things that had been sold on eBay, and did a search to see whether anyone had tried to sell part of their Superannuation investment.
No one had, so King decided to be the first, after checking the idea with a friend studying Law, who gave him the all clear. King plans on talking to a qualified solicitor about further legalities before the listing finishes.
"You wait your whole life to get your superannuation and I thought, why wait? It would be nice to have cash to invest now."
King said that his 15-year-old daughter will soon finish school and begin university.
"It would be nice to have money to pay for her fees," he told news.com.au. "A degree costs about $20,000."
On late Thursday afternoon the listing was removed from eBay by eBay officials.
"Listings that don't offer an item for sale are not allowed," said eBay in a statement to news.com.au. "This includes listings that are blank, do not require a purchase, or that were created to promote anything other than the item for sale."
But King immediately relisted his super online, albeit with a few changes to suit eBay's policy.
He isn't the first Adelaidian to attempt to sell a strange item on eBay. Last month another Adelaide man advertised an all-expenses paid, night out on the town with himself, reaching $10,000.
King informs eBay buyers that his current super is at $30,000 and an online calculator predicts he will have $260,000 in his pocket when he retires.
So if one lucky punter bids $130,000 now, they could win everything ... in 32 years. Talk about delayed gratification.
This offering by King follows a series of equally bizarre eBay listings including Scarlett Johansson's used tissue, Niall from One Direction's half eaten Vegemite toast, Ian Usher's life and belongings, Big Brother winner Tim Dormer's wisdom teeth, the identity of street artist Banksy, and a Victorian woman who attempted to sell her children on eBay.
Now I am no financial genius, but this strikes me as a losing proposition because of inflation.
http://www.rateinflation.com/inflation- ... -year=2014
Using Australia's inflation rates, for the last 10 years our average is 2.73%. Now there is no guarantee that our reserve bank will keep things in that range, but generally the lower the inflation rate, the more benefit we will receive. Even assuming this man retires at 65 with no loss of income etc, it simply wouldn't match inflation.
For example compounded annually a rate of 2.7% for 34 years, $10,000 would increase by 2.47 times that by the time he retires. In other words, you would be losing money. In fact putting the money in a bank which surpasses inflation (albeit slightly) would give you more return. Of course if inflation drops really low, then this might be worth it.
In fact, for this to break even, Australia's inflation rate would have to be about 2%.
Working displayed below. Please correct me if my maths is wrong, its been a while.
Spoiler