2024 Review and 2025 Predictions

Jason · 00:00Welcome to episode 217 of The Numbers Game. I'm Jase. I'm here with Nick and Marty. How are we, fellas?

Marty · 00:07Going well, Jase. Another big year coming to an end. Can you believe it? 2024 heading into 2025. I was thinking in 2000, jeez, 28 years of age. How time's moving on. Now I'm just thinking, yeah, it's okay if it doesn't move on so quickly.

Marty · 00:24But feeling good. Nick, how are you? I'm good.

Nick · 00:26It's interesting, you reflect on the 2000s, that's crazy isn't

Marty · 00:30it? That's the old days now.

Nick · 00:31You know, when the Y2K bug was around, bloke like, with your tech now would have been all over

Marty · 00:38it. People spent millions on trying to sort that out, and then the sun come up the next morning, the clocks were ticking, the telly turned on, and on we went to 2024 and 25, so

Nick · 00:49yeah.

Nick · 00:50Um, feeling good, Jase, how are you, mate?

Jason · 00:52Mate, really good. Really, I love this time of year. I mean, it's just balancing, balancing all the Christmas parties and, you know, the functions and

Jason · 01:00the too many beers or the too much food, had some oysters on the weekend, you know, just life's good. It's just, I'm,

Marty · 01:06I noticed you're up and about.

Marty · 01:07Yeah, that's extra, extra

Jason · 01:09oyster consumption. It's just, yeah, it's got,

Nick · 01:12got me feeling good. Can I ask you a question? Cause yeah, you're a man about town and, um, I used to be, but I'm not anymore. Do you still go to Christmas parties, outside of the ones you must go to? So, for me, there's two or three musts.

Nick · 01:29Actually, no, there's probably only one must, and it's our business. Other than that, I pretty much say no to everything now.

Jason · 01:36Yeah, well, no, I'm not. I'm wondering, are you there yet? Well, I'm not. You're probably going to spoil one of my predictions, uh, early, but, um, this is a fake prediction. I'm getting, we are here to talk about our predictions from last, uh, end of last year and then what we've got in store for 2025.

Jason · 01:50But one of the things that I haven't nailed, um, that I did personally want to get better at in the 2024 year calendar year was the ability to say no. Um, so great

Jason · 02:00question. Have I said no to any Christmas party invite? No, I haven't. So the, the, the calendar is full. It's been jam packed. Um, one day I had. Uh, like a founder's lunch for the business center that I'm one of the business places that we work out of into a cub Christmas party into another dinner into a Spotify rooftop party.

Jason · 02:22So like, and I said yes to all of it and just had to figure out a way to do four parties back to back. And yeah, I don't, I don't recommend it, which is why the ability to say no and be a little bit more selective is a 2025. Prediction for Jace,

Marty · 02:35I think that would be a good one, but that's, uh, that's, that's a lot of body.

Marty · 02:39My wife

Jason · 02:40would like him to start saying no to marathons. Um, so, you know, that's, that's one of the things that she'd probably like to see me do, given that, you know, I've got plans for Tokyo marathon, Ballarat marathon, Sydney, Melbourne, and maybe Berlin in the 2025 calendar year. So she's not overly thrilled at, at all that.

Jason · 02:56Um, You know, potentially jammed into our calendars. So, I

Jason · 03:00don't know, I haven't nailed it yet. The ability to say no, but here we are.

Marty · 03:04And we'll play hard, run hard. Enjoy it. Keep doing it.

Jason · 03:07Yeah. Yeah. Good. Good on you, Nick Casey. If you're listening, Nick's given me his blessings to, uh, continue on with my crazy schedule.

Jason · 03:13So thank you, Nick. We, we are here to recap on some of the, uh, More out there predictions that we made, uh, this time a year ago. Who wants to go first? Who do we want to uncover and unravel whether they're right or wrong?

Marty · 03:28I think we're going to go into you first, uh, Jase, with, uh, AI. You predicted artificial intelligence will become more integrated into daily life and business operations in 24.

Marty · 03:40Um, Uh, I think you, I think you actually got that one right. It's, uh, it's certainly been a big part of what's been going on, whether it's integrated at the level that I thought it might be, or you thought it might be, not sure, but it's certainly much more a part of everything and big time in 2025, I think.

Marty · 03:58Yeah, I

Jason · 03:58think, I think the momentum

Jason · 04:00that happened in 2024 continues to ramp up, but only exponentially grows. Um, I know from, from our point of view, the accounting, the, Industry accounting profession, like AI is a big buzzword. If it doesn't have AI coming in and you know why you're using it kind of thing, but it's more the bit that I meant was more around just the quiet integrations, the things that you didn't really notice that weren't there before that are there now, like some of the predictive text that we have on our phones or emails, you know, you'll start typing an email and it might give you a prediction or a suggestion of what to write back, depending on the, you know, whether you're Gmail or Outlook.

Jason · 04:33Um, those kind of little integrations that have just worked their way into the system.

Marty · 04:38Chase, what amazes me is the, um, all the Facebook and social media ads that aren't even the people who own the business are doing. They're getting AI models that you can't tell the difference and they're selling to you.

Marty · 04:52It's incredible. Like you go, that has just filtered in big time over the last couple of months. I've noticed some kind of, Oh, that sounds

Marty · 05:00interesting. I wonder who this bloke is. It's an AI, uh, bot. It's weird. I mean, it's.

Jason · 05:06And it took longer, but I mean, for me, like some of the proof in the pudding is seeing people that had never really used AI before start to now integrate it.

Jason · 05:14Like Casey was doing a new profile picture for work and she really liked, she had a profile photo taken of her spin instructor. So she's in active wear. You know, she's, she did her makeup and her hair nice for the profile. And then she had to do one for, for, um, her new workplace. Um, they've done a, done a, you know, launch of a new law firm cases promoted to senior associate.

Jason · 05:33She needs to be, you know, put on, on the website and the socials. She asked AI to take the picture of her. You know, active wear and make her look like, you know, a lawyer and look professional. So it's put on a, you know, a collared shirt, looks all, and like, you wouldn't know the difference. If you go to new chapter legal and find the profile picture of Casey, that she's not really wearing that top.

Jason · 05:54So I'll tell you there, but so it's little things like that. Casey would never have thought about that in the past to use AI to put a shirt

Jason · 06:00on a photo and then she doesn't have to go into a brand new photo shoot. But like, what, what a time saver, what a quick solution that easy. So yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to take the AI prediction that, you know, becomes part of our daily lives as a.

Jason · 06:12As a, as a yes, I think I got that right, but I think 2025, I'm not going to make it another prediction, but just watch out. I mean, it's just going to continue to work its way into our lives. There'll be AI buttons, you know, our, our accounting software will start to do more than it's ever done before. You know?

Jason · 06:27So if you're a business owner and you're on, you know, tool like zero, things are just going to start happening in the background that you never experienced before and likewise for, you know, however you're running your business from a CRM point of view, I've got a spot. A Spotify DJ that's AI driven, that knows me and it plays me music based on, you

Marty · 06:43know, things like that.

Marty · 06:44Yeah, it's,

Jason · 06:45it's, you know, and even today I was driving in the car between the two offices and, you know, I had chat GPT on voice mode and I was talking back and forth about some of the things that are going on, some things I'm planning for, some notes that I needed to take and

Jason · 07:00having a full voice conversation.

Jason · 07:01Yeah. One before we make this whole episode, my last bit I'll get onto is I just watched, um, ChatGPT is releasing the ability to do a voice, a video call with ChatGPT and it can see you. And there's a little demo video. So ChatGPT looks at you through your microphone and you know, the guy, the guy who's doing the demo video, I watched holds up a book and he goes, what book am I holding up?

Jason · 07:24And it was a Charlie Munger book. Um, you know, at a particular 400 page, super detailed. And ChatGPT says, Oh, that's this book by blah, blah. And this is what it's about. And he goes, pick a number between one and 400 and it says 176. So he opens to page 176, holds the book up just for a couple of seconds in front of the camera, pulls it back down and says, give me a summary of what was on that page.

Jason · 07:47Bang! It had read the whole page instantly and then gave him a summary of that page. That's like, come on, every little advance this thing does just opens up the possibilities of what AI is gonna be able to do. So,

Jason · 08:00yeah, I sat there mind blown just looking at that video going, I don't even know really the use case that that's gonna be for just off the top of my head.

Jason · 08:07But I know someone will put that to use, whether it's, you know, security cameras and, and being able to identify someone coming into a building or whatever it is. But yeah, watch that space. Thank you, Marty. I'll take the win.

Marty · 08:19He loves IA, AI, EI, he's all over it. I'm all over it mate, don't worry. One, one thing apart from my stuff ups, uh, one thing that, uh, you did get very wrong, Essendon, uh, will break the finals drought.

Marty · 08:36So. I guess we just move on. What a shit show that was. Um, the other thing you had, which was interesting, was reduction in overseas travel. So you predict the global decline of overseas travel. Uh, given you were overseas about 28 times, I find that interesting prediction. But rising interest rates, economic struggles in countries like China.

Marty · 08:59Yeah.

Marty · 09:00So what's, yeah, that was Disneyland it, it was Disneyland with reduced tourism. Yeah. I think people have traveled more. You do you think?

Jason · 09:07Yeah. I'm not gonna chalk that up as a win. I think with inflation, economic pressures, um, you know, post covid, I thought the boom had been kind of done. But yeah, ma, I reckon.

Jason · 09:19I can scratch that one. Jase didn't get the, didn't get the W on the reduced overseas travel. That's for sure. And probably the numbers were propped up by myself rather than anyone else. So

Marty · 09:28one, one out of three is pretty good.

Jason · 09:30Yeah, actually, I mean, look, I'm going to try harder for next year, but, uh, yeah, we'll, we'll take that for now.

Jason · 09:35But, uh, who, who do you want me to pick on next? Do you want to go through Nick's ones, Jase? Yeah, Nick, Nick. I mean, Nico, Nico, the first one. Nico, Nico, the first, I mean, it's just the first time just made, you know, you had the prediction that Elon Musk would serve jail time.

Nick · 09:54Yeah.

Jason · 09:54And I don't know if it could be any further gone the opposite direction.

Jason · 09:57That guy, I don't think could be any safer than what he

Jason · 10:00is right now, tucked under Donald Trump's wing.

Nick · 10:02Correct. No, I think you're right. Um, but, I will say I think he's closer to doing something crazy because of that. But yeah, I agree. I think, um, yeah, that little, uh, that little posse they got going on at the moment, it's quite funny to watch.

Nick · 10:20I don't know if you've watched the latest UFC. Um, anyway, it's not long after he got elected and he turned up and, Yeah, he obviously had Elon with him and they're like kids in the candy store at the UFC and, uh, Kid Rock was in that posse as well, hanging around with Trump. So, the whole thing is, uh, interesting to watch, but, um, yeah, Elon's not going to jail anytime soon, considering, you know, the things that Trump was convicted for and next thing you know, he's president, so.

Nick · 10:51Wow. He's Trump president.

Jason · 10:52Yep.

Nick · 10:53Oh, he's president. There

Jason · 10:54you go. I like the little head wobble there, Nick. Uh, for those, for those who aren't playing on the YouTube channel, uh,

Jason · 11:00Nick's other prediction, so he's got a 50 percent strike rate here, was that Donald Trump would return to office in 2024 as the US president.

Jason · 11:08And, uh, but that was a pretty, pretty bold prediction over a year ago. I think I'd give you some pretty, pretty good credit there, Nick. You've done well. That's a

Nick · 11:17great effort. Thanks. Just, uh, How much is in the sports bet account?

Jason · 11:21How much did you put on that then? No, no, no,

Nick · 11:23no, I didn't put any money on that.

Nick · 11:25I don't, uh, bet on stuff like that, unfortunately. But, um, I wish I did, but I don't know. I just, you know, and this is, we won't go into 2025 predictions yet, but, um, I think change needed to happen, you know, and that's pretty much what's happened. Whether it's right or wrong, and we won't go into the, you know, the, the, the Donald Trump argument on this podcast, but, um, change was needed.

Nick · 11:49And that was the change, you know, so.

Marty · 11:53Can I, can I ask you boys, can I ask you boys, not that he would want to do it, but could Ella Musk be the next president?

Nick · 12:01Well, I think anything's possible now because they're, they're changing depending on who you listen to over there. This is, uh, this is the change, you know?

Nick · 12:11And, um. I've obviously listened to Joe Rogan a lot, and I can't remember who he had on the other day. Um, actually, you know, it was Elon Musk. It was actually Elon Musk. So Elon Musk is obviously biased towards Trump. Um, but he was stating that this was their last chance. Uh, this election was their last chance to change, uh, the direction of that country.

Nick · 12:34So I think, yeah, it's going to be interesting from here on in, um, to see where politics goes. Peace. And I guess what I'm saying is, yeah, there's every possibility now, mate, for sure. Um, whereas, you know, 10 years ago, you just would have laughed, but what's your space? Very nicely done. Marty, I'll go through yours.

Nick · 12:57Ah, there's probably something in there about the

Nick · 13:00bombers, was there? No? Ah, yeah. You just, you just hoped for the chasers would come. I don't like

Marty · 13:05sport anymore. He was

Jason · 13:06riding my coattail on that one.

Marty · 13:08Stupid game.

Nick · 13:10Well, look, uh, we're on the, we're on the Elon, uh, topic, so one of your predictions was Bob Iger made by Tesla.

Nick · 13:18Tesla. Tesla. Um, Oh, only if Elon goes to jail. What was your theory behind that? I think I was

Marty · 13:26just I was just combating your, uh, going to jail business with Elon. I thought Bob Iger might step in because he's come back into Walt Disney at the time. I haven't looked at what Walt Disney is doing actually, whether they're going alright or not.

Marty · 13:38But, uh He definitely hasn't bought Disney yet. Tesla. So there's, uh, yeah, I think I can be stronger on my predictions. Well, Jase is,

Nick · 13:45uh, quick on the buttons. He's like, uh, Joe Rogan's Jamie for us. He, uh, when we need information, uh, what's the, what's the, um, what's the Disney company doing since I got to come back in Jase, stock price wise?

Marty · 13:59Oh,

Marty · 14:00let's have a look.

Jason · 14:01Yeah. I'll get on the button so you guys can keep, keep working.

Marty · 14:03Uh,

Nick · 14:05and then your, uh, Well, this was, this was pretty spot on. I'm not sure about the numbers, but you probably know this, but, um, a destructive economic climate. So 2024 will be one of the most destructive economic climates since the GFC recession.

Nick · 14:21Inflation will drive grocery costs up eight to nine, eight to nine percent. You're probably unders there. I don't know what the actual number is, but that seems low. Uh, there may be one more interest rate rise. So when was this? No, it was late last year. Yeah. I think it

Marty · 14:36was, I think it's held steady.

Nick · 14:38But rates will likely hold steady without a reduction and business failures will increase due to economic struggles.

Nick · 14:43So bang, bang, bang. Mate, as a whole, you were pretty spot on there.

Marty · 14:46Yeah, I think, I, I remember at the time I thought that um, you It's a lot difficult. It's hard to turn inflation around. I thought it was going to take a longer period before we'd get rate cuts. So,

Marty · 15:00um, I didn't think it was a given like most people were talking about.

Marty · 15:02And it has been very challenging for people and business owners alike. Uh, people certainly worked harder for their money, uh, than ever before. And we'll continue to do so into early next year. But again, Queensland, you talk to the Queensland brokers, uh, there's FOMO all over the place, people buying anything they can get.

Marty · 15:21So it feels like a tale of two cities sometimes. I know that's a generalist statement, but there's definitely different, different degrees in different States, uh, going on. But yeah, overall, I'm happy with that one. Happy with that one.

Nick · 15:33Well done.

Marty · 15:34Disney was

Jason · 15:34about 90, 90 USD when Bob Iger came back in and just jumped up to 115 USD two years later.

Jason · 15:43So he's been in, been there for another two years since 2022 to end of 2024 at the moment. So hovering, staying steady. Not enough to buy a

Marty · 15:50Tesla though.

Jason · 15:54Mark

Nick · 15:54was down around that time, 2022 as well, but surely he's had an impact, Bob. Oh yeah. Mate. Good

Nick · 16:00fella.

Jason · 16:00Love that book. One of the best books you've given me, Nick.

Jason · 16:02I do have to return your copy of, uh, The Ride of a Lifetime. Does have your name on it, so

Nick · 16:09I'll get that back for you. Yeah. No problems, mate. Um, so what are we going to 2025 let's,

Marty · 16:17let's go to 2025,

Jason · 16:182025. Let's do it. Who who's, who's got their predictions. Uh,

Marty · 16:22Jace, I want to hear, I want to hear yours first.

Marty · 16:24Cause you always, uh, Have something left to field. So I'm thinking if you're going a bit more vanilla this year, play it safe, or you're going to astound us with something revolutionary. What do you got?

Jason · 16:36Uh, I don't know about revolutionary, but I'm, I'm, I'm going out on a limb here because like, it's been wrong for years, but I just starting to see more and more that I can't ignore anymore.

Jason · 16:46So augmented and virtual reality. So, The, you know, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, all these big companies that are in like the, there's a name for the top seven or whatever it is in, in the NASDAQ.

Jason · 17:00And they have just put such a considerable sum of money into augmented and virtual reality. So, you know, they're talking about the ability to have a meeting, you know, where it'll feel like Jace, Nick and Marty are sitting in a room with each other around a board table, but really we're just sitting at home in our pajamas with our virtual reality.

Jason · 17:19Now, I'm not saying it's a, it's a future that I'm looking forward to, or that I like the idea of, but I think the push for, you know, Google glasses, Apple virtual reality, the meta thing, all this stuff. It's going to grow. And I think in 2025, it'll just be in your face, the idea of the augmented and virtual reality worlds and what you can do in that space.

Jason · 17:41Um, again, don't, not saying it's great, but you know, there's an example that I saw, I love the Formula One and it showed, you know, how to watch Formula One normal on a TV versus what the experience of watching Formula One is like on like an Apple Vision. It's got the track down in front of you. You can see the track and see where all the cars are around the

Jason · 18:00track.

Jason · 18:00You got multiple screens where you can track multiple drivers. And all you got to do is sit there and kind of move your head around and see all the different vision of the Formula One right in front of your eyes in your living room. So if you are watching TV normally versus. This type of vision, if you, let's say you're a fan of a particular sport, like Formula One, that is a viewing experience beyond what you've ever been able to do before.

Jason · 18:23And that's going to be possible with, you know, those investments that have been done into that augmented and virtual reality worlds. And they're becoming more affordable. That is prediction one.

Nick · 18:32So what's the prediction?

Jason · 18:34That, that, that's 2025.

Nick · 18:38Marty can, Marty can sit on his couch. With, uh, I do that anyway.

Nick · 18:43Yeah, so

Jason · 18:44augmented and virtual reality will be in the homes of more people than it's ever been in before. It's going to be that, that'll be a big growth area that it'll be talked about and where it's going to be in your faces. So,

Marty · 18:55so I could, I could literally be on the couch, but have an

Marty · 19:00augmented reality of being at the gym.

Marty · 19:01This is how bad

Nick · 19:05life has got. I want Jace, I want you to predict something that Marty's going to be able to do in 2025 that he couldn't do. Do my shoelaces? Can you

Jason · 19:16get that organized? I'll have to, I'll, I'll come back to it, but you know, I'll give you a Marty specific example, um, of, of what's going to happen when Marty gets his hands on, you know, the, the metal, the meta Oculus goggles and what Marty will be doing.

Jason · 19:31You'll never

Marty · 19:31see me again. I'll just be in all these different worlds. And, and look, I think like partly I'm excited by it. And then partly I go. How, how crap is life that we've just got to go into false boardrooms. And there's so much upside and there's almost, there's so much challenge with the whole concept, but I'm always open to seeing what presents and where it is of value.

Marty · 19:54So I'm interested to see what, you know, what comes of it.

Jason · 19:57I'll spend less time on my final two.

Jason · 20:00Um, not that they're interrelated or whatnot, but the other one will be the, By end of 2025, most people, or like, it'll be common. To have your own AI agent installed on your devices. And like this, the, the best example that's common that you'd be able to think of is your own Jarvis.

Jason · 20:18So when Iron Man's talking to Jarvis about, you know, what's my heart rate right now? You know, what have I got on for the day? Um, this type of thing. So the, the AI agent or your own personal Jarvis will be embedded into your devices and you'll be able to talk to it about, you know, your plans, your day, what emails do you have?

Jason · 20:35What's it doing at the moment? It'll be replying to your emails on your behalf. And it'll be things that you're not even really thinking about right now. By the end of 2025, it'll just seem normal for you to tell Jarvis, your personal assistant, to do that on your behalf. Jeez. That's the second one. AI agents.

Jason · 20:50So if you haven't looked up AI agents and you're curious as to why Jason keeps banging on about this shit, look up an AI agent or, you know, a version of Jarvis. Final one, unless

Jason · 21:00you've got any challenges on the Jarvis idea of having a personal assistant.

Nick · 21:04No, cool.

Jason · 21:05And it's the voice control. The voice control personal assistant will be just that, you know, rather, because you don't have to type the crap in that you want.

Jason · 21:11You just tell it what you want. The last one, and if you've looked at the price of Bitcoin, and I'm not a cryptocurrency Guru, but it's the underlying technology for many, many, many years. People have talked about blockchain and the power of like what blockchain can do. I think the, the general public's understanding of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Jason · 21:34Next year will be the biggest, you know, uh, increase in the understanding of how and why blockchain works and then how businesses can use blockchain for certain transactions that, that, you know, they wouldn't have even considered before.

Marty · 21:48Yeah. I think you got to have a little bit of exposure to it now that all the institutes, there's ETFs now being created.

Marty · 21:55Institutional money's going into it. So it's sort of becoming much more mainstream as well.

Marty · 22:00So yeah, there'll be huge volatility as there usually is, but it's certainly something that, uh, people are very bullish on. It's

Jason · 22:08all over the shop. Probably wasn't specific enough for Nick, but we're just gonna have to go with that.

Jason · 22:11I'll refine it more later, but that's mine. What have you got? Uh, Marty, we'll go to you.

Marty · 22:15Uh, I think interest rates will come down next year. I think, uh, my prediction of February is in trouble though. talking about potentially May. Um, I'm hoping it's still February. I think, uh, people need it to be February and business owners do as well, but, uh, just the employment's holding steady at 4.

Marty · 22:351%. Inflation's not quite down to where they want it. So there's still going on with this wait and see approach. So I feel like there will be, One in May, but then if it's going to be May, I think there'll be some quick rate reductions because we'll be in a bit of pain. So I think there'll be at least three next year I'm going with, which is not very, not a very ballsy prediction, but I feel like, uh, three

Marty · 23:00rate cuts next year, but I'm hoping it starts earlier than May.

Marty · 23:04So that's my first one. Um, S& M won't win a flag. God, I'm just so over it. What is this tale? I've given 53 years of my life to this rabble. Step up! God's sake, wasted so much money and time. Anyway. 2026, baby. Let's, uh, go with that. I think the property market, the Melbourne property market, will surge off the back of those rate cuts.

Marty · 23:34Uh, I think, uh, we can't have the average, uh, medium house price in Melbourne be lower than virtually everywhere else other than Tasmania. So, I think, um, I think we'll see, I'm gonna say, Uh, 14 to 15 percent increase in value once the FOMO kicks in and people get excited and their borrowing capacity goes up.

Marty · 23:56We're seeing a hell of a lot of listings come on. Um, but

Marty · 24:00I'm also starting to see new prices, um, interestingly enough with the listings coming on and price reductions are starting to happen. Haven't seen that for ages, just starting to see it in the last month or so. So maybe vendors expectations are changing.

Marty · 24:16Buyer's expectations are holding to what they can afford. So it's um, so that, that's interesting in itself, but I think the Melbourne property market might bounce off that once we get some capacity and um, have a better second half of the year. Uh, the, a longer term, a longer term play, this is a, this is a 2034 and sort of going into what you're talking about, Jason.

Marty · 24:42I was talking about in a previous podcast how I thought people's experiences were like Go up like entertainment sports and people want to have more and more travel experiences run marathons So they can go and explore a country But after what you just suggested

Marty · 25:00Jason what's going on? I think there could be a robot Olympics in 2034 We're similar to Formula One.

Marty · 25:08I think people will have specific robots, you know, doing certain things and jacked up to all this modern age technology. And they will want to see those robots competing against each other in some format, long term prediction. But I was just thinking about it the other day. I'm going. People are very strange.

Marty · 25:27We want to be in virtual boardrooms. Um, and if we can't do it ourselves, if we can't go to the Olympics ourselves, and we're just not good enough, here's a chance for us to be good enough utilizing AI and technology and robotics. And I just think that longer term prediction might just come. What do you think about that?

Marty · 25:47I mean, it's a big call and it's not next year. It's 2034. Do you think I'm off track here or have I got some merit? No, you're on track. I think

Jason · 25:55there's, I think there's merit. Have you seen the robots running half marathons and marathons?

Marty · 25:59No.

Marty · 26:00So,

Jason · 26:00so in China recently, a robot, there's articles as recent as six days ago, a robot on one charge.

Jason · 26:08So that's the whole point. They've got to be able to do it without charging the battery nonstop, start to finish. A robot ran a sub three half marathon. I think it was two and a half hours, give or take. And there's all these videos of this robot, like running along next to people. And it's, you know, trying to avoid people when it gets into the drink stations.

Jason · 26:25And there's a bit of crowds, like it's got, it's getting a little bit like skittish as it's kind of going through and not trying to bump into people, but they've got robots running half marathons and marathons at the moment. Um, I'm pretty sure one's done a full marathon as well. Um, in a, in a relatively pretty decent time.

Jason · 26:42So Marty, I'm, I'm not against your, uh, your prediction. That's for sure.

Marty · 26:46Yeah. And it worries me. But, uh, I think it'll happen.

Nick · 26:49Well, no, I think you're on the right path, Marty. Have you heard of the, um, the enhanced games that they're holding, uh, next year? No. James Magnuson is competing, but basically they

Nick · 27:00won't be subject to drug testing the athletes.

Nick · 27:02So that's all about, okay, if everyone's on the same drugs, what, what is. The absolute, um, what is actually achievable, um, by the human body. Yeah, there are no rules. So that's going to be cool. That's going to be next year. I don't know the exact rules around the drug testing and what you can and can't take, but basically a lot of things that were previously banned are no longer banned and it's how fast can you go or how strong can you get?

Nick · 27:30Um, and it's all, I believe it's all based around the. You know, the idea that we want longevity and, you know, everyone wants to live to a hundred and Mark Boris has got that project 100 now. So there's all these things now around, okay, well, how do we actually make sure that we're getting the most of ourselves out of.

Nick · 27:49You know, as, as humans, whether that is lean, living as long as we can, or, you know, performing to our, um, our optimal levels and the enhanced games

Nick · 28:00will allow people to do that, to find out who really is the fastest or the strongest. So that's going to be cool. So it's kind of in line with what you're, Thinking, or saying.

Marty · 28:09Yeah, think it could be a reality and the last thing I want to bring up is I think people start to wake up to the dangers and opportunities of tech as well, like even the policy coming in, keeping kids off social media, um, until they're 16 years of age and I had a mentor say this back to me in 2007. I might have said it on the podcast before, but they said, It's a dangerous world we live in when kids feel like they've had the experience before actually having the experience, because what more is there to do?

Marty · 28:42So if you aren't going out there and living in the real world, engaging with people, having these brilliant experiences that, you know, in our generations we all understood and loved, um, what is the consequence to children thinking That I've already seen Disneyland on a virtual, you know,

Marty · 29:00tour and interacted with that rather than actually having a real experience and what that does for kids minds as well as adults to a degree as well.

Marty · 29:10So I think, uh, You know, technology is here to enhance our life, not to replace it. And I feel people are starting to wake up to that, to go, how do we utilize tech in a way that makes our living experience better? Not going off into all these different worlds and thinking that is life. And, um, I think there's some huge mental health consequences with that.

Marty · 29:33And I think people are starting to open up those conversations. And I think there'll be some more movement in that next year where. Um, you know, people will want to get back to living and making sure we have the hierarchy right as opposed to us just going off into these augmented worlds and, uh, potentially not coming back out of it.

Marty · 29:54Um, we, we don't want to see, you know, problems beyond problems for human

Marty · 30:00beings that, um, that shouldn't be there. So that's my one big thing that, and I hope that happens to a degree to people waking up about that.

Jason · 30:07Well said, Marty. Couldn't agree more.

Nick · 30:10It's definitely a movement, isn't there? You know, it's not, I think so.

Nick · 30:13Well, it is pretty loud, but you just continue to hear little things. Um, yeah, so there's definitely something happening there for sure.

Marty · 30:22And I think people will engage together again, like at another level, I think people will get onto that at a whole different level. That's, that's my hope. So Nick, enough about my woo woo.

Marty · 30:33Yeah. Uh, What, uh, what have you got for 2025? Mine are very boring, but, um, That's alright, boring's good. You know, you guys bring in

Nick · 30:42the spice, I'll just try and keep it. We'll spice it up. Yeah, um, so I'll stay with politics, I think Liberal will be in next year. Um, I think for no other reason. Then the fact that similar to Trump, people want a change.

Nick · 31:00Um, I think particularly in this country, I'm skipping to my second prediction here, but I think it's going to be really tough in this country next year. Um, Yeah, GDP this year, I think is at 1%. Um, ideally they want that far more than that. So I don't think our growth, this is prediction two. I don't think our, our growth in this country economically will, will get above 2 percent I think unemployment.

Nick · 31:26Um, excuse me, unemployment will continue to rise. It's being masked at the moment by government and, and, and, and government jobs. I think if you, you know, Jason would have a better rate on this than we would, but if you speak to most businesses, they're talking about retent, um, retrenchment, um, how to get leaner.

Nick · 31:44Like we're doing it in our business, not retention, uh, retrenchment here, but. You know, we've, we've halved the size of our offshore business through AI and tech. So that's not going to stop. Um, and I think our share market will suffer because of it

Nick · 32:00as in the Aussie share market will suffer because of it.

Nick · 32:03And. I think people, I think they're saying the election is going to be in May or something. Um, I think as long as there's enough time for people to think, you know what, we're on the wrong track here, we need a change. And we all know that a change doesn't mean a lot these days, like they're pretty much in line with a lot of their policies, but people just want to change.

Nick · 32:23And I think some of the stuff that's happening at the moment in politics is just laughable. Um, CFMEU stuff. There's so much stuff that's been exposed that people, whether they understand the differences or not, they will want to make a change. So I think Libra will be in, and I think, um, the Aussie economy is really going to struggle next year.

Nick · 32:40US will, will be pumping because of Trump, right or wrong. Um, there's going to be a sugar hit there. Absolutely. No doubt. Um, whether it's sustained, who knows, but, um, I think the, the US share market will do well, and I think, I think we've got some issues in this country next year.

Jason · 32:57I'm going to throw a sub, uh,

Jason · 33:00prediction in with your Liberal, um, to be elected one.

Jason · 33:03And I'm going to say that by the end of 2025, you'll start to hear noise and it'll be made well known that there needs to be GST reform, that we can't be the only established economy in the world that has never moved GST. Um, and I think they'll talk about moving GST from 10 percent to 12 and a half percent.

Jason · 33:24And they'll also look to potentially add GST to the things that GST has never been on before. So, you know, water, childcare, health, education, and particular food items. Um, and you know, it's a measure that needs to happen in a sense from an economic recovery after COVID. Like they blew billions and billions of dollars post COVID.

Jason · 33:43And we're not recovering from that. We're not, we're not recouping those funds back as needed. So the GST reform is something that they're going to start to really ramp up the comms on about how it's necessary for us to keep up with the rest of the developed world and how GST

Jason · 34:00reform can actually reduce an inefficient, um, the inefficient tax system that we currently have.

Nick · 34:06Which we all know about and have spoken about. Um, so that's it pretty, pretty simple, really hard year for Australia anyway. Um, good year for the U S and, um, because of that, Labor gone, Liberal in, I'm not saying that will be any better, but, um, needs to be changed, Marnie. We need a Trump. Well, not, not in those.

Nick · 34:27We don't need Trump, but we need

Marty · 34:29no taxes for anyone. That's it. That's, but what are you looking forward to in 2025, Jase? What are you, what are you, what are you excited about? And let's, let's take it from a business aspect. Like it is going to be a challenge. So let's end the year well with some, uh, productivity and positivity.

Marty · 34:49What, what, what are you looking forward to?

Jason · 34:51Uh, on the spot, uh, I think heading into next year, one of the biggest. Areas that I'm excited by. And one of the products

Jason · 35:00or services that we're ramping up is our business, uh, business strategy sessions, uh, business workshops. Um, we've got some tools that can do a free business assessment now.

Jason · 35:08So I'll chuck that live on the website in the coming weeks, but I might provide Tommy as well to put in the show notes. Um, so you do this free business assessment. It'll give you a bit of a score and a rating shoots through to us. We'll share with you. And then what happens is if, if there's enough in it to go, there's some serious value from getting you in a room for a couple of hours and unpacking what's going on, you know, how to make your business more efficient where they need to hire increased sales, all the different kinds of tools you can pull leadership management, cut costs, profit efficiency, margins.

Jason · 35:38All the different things that you can discuss this free business assessment kind of hones in with some areas that you can potentially focus on so that, that for me, like I'm, I'm super excited to, to advance into more of that advisory stuff. And as you guys said, you know, the more efficient we get on AI, um, you know, the more tools that we're using to streamline the day to day stuff like taxes, basses, financials, it means there's

Jason · 36:00more advisory and more value add we can do for our clients.

Jason · 36:02So I think that's a big thing in 2025, adding value. And like people, businesses are going to need this. They're going to need the value add to keep them energized and motivated and knowing that they're on the right path and that they can get through what could be a pretty tough year.

Marty · 36:16Fantastic. That's great, Chase.

Marty · 36:19Nick, what about yourself?

Nick · 36:20So are you asking this question, um, about our business or this? Yeah,

Marty · 36:24just, yeah, in, in general about our business. What are you excited about?

Nick · 36:29Yeah. So it's really. It's really just what Jay said, to be honest. There's been a significant shift in our business industries, business in the last couple of years, um, it's, it's extremely difficult historically to get things done.

Nick · 36:46Um, in whether we're talking finance or financial planning. And what I mean by that is when a client comes and sees us, there's so much work to get that from A to B and then through to Z, um, as far

Nick · 37:00as implementation, uh, the hands that need to touch someone's file. So a bit like Jace, uh, we are so much more efficient than we were 12 months ago.

Nick · 37:12And we're light years in comparison to 36 months ago. So what that means for us is, uh, our, our advisors or sales people can do more, um, with less people. Which means everything goes up from a volume point of view. So from a business, we get to do more with less people. Um, and from a client's point of view, we get to focus on what we really like to do, as Jason mentioned, which is advice.

Nick · 37:40And, um, if I look at our business. Historically for what, for, for the money that you earn, 90 percent of that probably goes to, you know, implementation and actually getting things implemented versus what's the real value add, which is the 10%, which is the time allocated to

Nick · 38:00giving advice. So yeah, we can focus more on, um, giving advice.

Nick · 38:04Uh, we can create a lot of efficiencies in our business, which means we can grow. And it also means that, um, we can serve. More people, but also acquire more people as well. So some of the things that we've done in our business to be more efficient, um, businesses that are older than us haven't done, uh, and are finding it difficult.

Nick · 38:26So, you know, that for us provides a, an opportunity to either acquire or if we don't acquire businesses, at least acquire clients or, or organically. So, yeah. Really excited. It's all around efficiency and, you know, AI, I guess. It is to a degree. There's a lot of stuff that we're doing that's driven by AI. Um, what about you, mate?

Marty · 38:49I'm excited for, I mean, we're solving more problems than ever just in the market as the market is. And, uh, but I'm, I'm, I think the sales people have

Marty · 39:00worked really, really hard in, uh, doing, doing a really good job over the last couple of years in, in challenging circumstances. Like there's no doubt the market's been tougher than ever before.

Marty · 39:11And, and they've done very well considering that in my, my perspective, but I'm really excited to see the market coming into an alignment and also getting a bit of buoyancy back off the, it might be the second half of the year, but I And to see the people that have worked so hard, just get this kick up in natural momentum.

Marty · 39:31And like you said, Nick, with the tech efficiencies that come in, I feel like we've got this great foundation piece of, you know, logistical efficiency, but then to see the market actually to see what we can do in a really great market. Um, I, I think it's really exciting and to see people get this next leap of reward for effort that they haven't seen before, you know, I haven't seen it for four or five years.

Marty · 39:56I think that to me is, um, that's pretty exciting. I

Marty · 40:00still think the first six months are going to be, you know, Challenging and we're going to have to solve more problems than ever before. And that's what we're here for. Um, but I just, I'm, I'm excited to see that flow into people getting excited about buying property, maybe for 10 percent cheaper than they expected getting back in.

Marty · 40:17And then, um, And, and really making it a great year on the back end of it. But I think a lot of grit and determination as, as there always is in business, but just to see that, uh, on flow, good effect from that would be really exciting. So that's what I'm bullish about

Jason · 40:33guys. Been another epic year here at the numbers game.

Jason · 40:36It's been an absolute pleasure to host this show with you both. And I'm excited for what 2025 has to bring. Even if it is challenging, we'll be in it together. We are here for you, the audience out there who is listening. If you ever need to talk to Nick, Marty, or myself, please reach out. Obviously check out futureadvisory.

Jason · 40:53com. au. Uh, I wouldn't be here without the support of my team and everything else that happens there, as well as innovate.

Jason · 41:00com. au fantastic team there Obviously our business as well and all of our listeners, if you need your financial planning, mortgage broking, asset finance, there's a whole bunch of things that the team at Innovate do, just to call out to say, we're here to support you guys.

Jason · 41:14Um, thank you for your support. Thank you for listening. And until next time,

Marty · 41:18uh, Merry Christmas to all, happy holidays, whatever you want to call it, wherever you are and, uh, all the best for 2025 and you boys have a fantastic break. And uh, yep. We'll do it all again. Take care. Game over.

Jason · 41:34This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only.

Jason · 41:37The conversations are of a general nature and do not qualify as financial or tax advice. We recommend before you make any financial decisions, you consult a licensed professional. Individuals on the podcast may hold positions in the companies discussed. ---