In recent weeks The Wiggles announced that the yellow Wiggle was changing. Wiggles management said that the original yellow Wiggle, Greg would be rejoining (unlike the way that Pippa from Home and Away changed where we just had to accept a new person playing the role without a press conference – I’m still getting over one).

If media reports are true, Greg’s return has less to do with wanting to don the skivvy again and more to do with a bad investment. When Greg left the group 6 years ago he received a payout of around $20 million. This in turn was allegedly invested into a property development that went belly up. If this is the case it would seem that Greg broke one of the fundamental rules of investing – don’t put all your eggs in the one basket. This decision led, in part or full, to Sam leaving the group after having been recognised as bringing a new energy to an aging outfit.

There have been the inevitable suggestions from the public regarding whacking Sam in a green top and adding him as a fifth Wiggle, but they’ve been there before.  The original Wiggles album was recorded by five cast members, albeit without their famous colours (and if you have a copy on CD, signed by all five, I reckon it’d be worth a bit.) The fifth Wiggle, Phillip Wilcher, wrote most of the first album, which was re-released years later with all of Wilcher’s work removed.

For a group described as Australia’s richest entertainers, there would seem to be little generosity extended to Sam. He allegedly earned a salary of $200,000 a year for his time as lead singer and was offered just $60,000 when he left. It might seem like a lot of money to you and I, but it’s a tiny fraction of the $27 million they earned last year. In recent days, Wiggles management have released accounting figures to show that despite earning many millions, the outfit made a $2.5 million loss last year and that the five owners are propping the company up with a $7.2 million loan via another Wiggles company. Talk about complicated accounting.

It seems that money, and in this instance big money, changes things. I met The Wiggles 15 odd years ago and was thoroughly impressed with them – they were genuinely nice guys who adored their fans. I don’t know if and to what extent they may have changed since then.

Whether you are on team Sam or team Greg, one thing can’t be denied – Sam’s departure is a blow to the chances of The Wiggles implementing a succession plan to hand over the performance to four new Aussie faces. High Five managed to keep their brand alive after the original cast left but there is concern that The Wiggles won’t pull off the same stunt when the time comes. If they can’t then it’s the kids who will suffer (and their parents who will have to rely on aging DVDs and/or a US based group to see them through every morning).

All this may or may not be accurate. The truth, as they say, might lie somewhere in the middle. But I can’t help thinking that the fresh young face of Sam would still be there if it were not for that investment gone wrong.

Think about that next time someone says you should put all your money into a single asset.

Every Wednesday there is a Money liftout in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers that has a profile of a prominent Australian. Their life stories are condensed into a couple of paragraphs before a section where they are asked a number of questions. Each person gets the same questions including one asking what has been their best investment.

There have been lots of answers involving houses bought in the mid ‘70s or shares in mining companies and even a couple of people who feel they have never really invested money. My favourite answer would have to be from a guy called Clive Hamilton who said his best investment was in the shares of a company that performed really badly. He sold them and used the money to take a woman out on a date. They have been married for many years.

I guess if I was asked this same question my answer would be the money spent on trips to Germany. I have been there four times, including the trip when my German wife, Claudia and I married there, and when we showed off our little chicken to the family just after she was born. They don’t speak much English and my German is scatty at best, but I have developed good relationships with my family despite the language barrier.

More importantly, my wife has been home regularly and our daughter has become a part of her German family’s life.

Yesterday we farewelled Claudia’s parents after a three week stay in Australia. Saying goodbye is always hard. Really, really hard. Especially when you don’t know when the next trip will be and how much our chicken will have grown up and changed in that time. It inevitably involves hugs, tears, an inability to speak from the massive lump in my throat and reciprocation from family members who rarely show such emotions.

The regular visits have meant that we feel quite close to our family, despite the distance.

We are really lucky to live in a time when contact with our European family is quick and easy (and free via email and Skype), and regular travel is do-able. It’s an investment in time, an investment in money and an investment in effort. And although they can’t be measured in percentages, the returns are great and will continue to be for many years to come.

What has been your best investment?

Sheep are dumb animals. When you try to drive through a flock of them on a country road they get scared. They run and jump out of the way, then, just as they are almost all on one side of the road, one will dart back in front of your car and the rest follow.

The only animals dumber than sheep are the ones who wear wool. Humans. (Apologies to all those dogs whose owners put those stupid looking cardigans on them.) It’s human nature (i.e. sheep nature) to follow the crowd. This is fine if you have signed up to Facebook ’cause all your mates have done the same. But when it comes to where you put your money, the investment everyone is talking about is all too often the one about to turn sour.

I read a quote once (sorry, can’t remember from who) that said “In economics, the majority is always wrong.” I guess it could easily have read “Sheep make bad investors.”

It’s natural to see past performance figures for a particular investment and think “I wish I’d invested money in that 7 years ago”. When it comes to investing, people will often look back and regret not making a decision.

It’s much better to look forward 7 years to when you say “I’m glad I did something wise with my money in 2010”. With investment, getting in early is important, but it’s never too late to start.