If your Grandma/Aunt/Uncle/Cousin/Sister/Brother/Mother/Father/Friend in the USA sent you US$1,000 on December 31, 2013 and said that’s my gift to you, no strings attached, what would you have done with it? Here’s a small list of some things you could have done and what the money would be worth in US$ as of January 2, 2015:
- Converted to Jamaican Dollars and spent it – Now Worth $0
- Converted to Jamaican Dollars and put it under your mattress – Now Worth US$927.60
- Converted to Jamaican Dollars and put it in a Jamaican Dollar Savings Account – Now Worth US$940.78
- Put it in a US Dollar Savings Account – Now Worth US$1,090.00
- Invested in a fund that tracks the Jamaica Stock Exchange Index – Now Worth US$878.54
- Invested in a fund that tracks the Jamaica Junior Stock Exchange Index – Now Worth US$842.21
- Invested in a fund that tracks the JSE US Equities Index – Now Worth – US$1,457.57
Of course these are all approximations, as there are broker fees, commissions, taxes, etc which would reduce the value of numbers 4-7. If you can think of anymore, please feel free to share.
