Investopoly

With property and share markets trading at all-time highs, it’s reasonable and perhaps prudent to consider whether we are in a (asset price) bubble. Bubbles cannot grow indefinitely and at some point, all bubbles burst. Is the share market about to crash? Share markets around the world have been incredibly resilient throughout the pandemic and almost all markets are trading above pre-pandemic leve...

A financial advisor’s job is to develop a plan and help you implement that plan over many years, so that you achieve your financial and lifestyle goals. This includes navigating the inevitable changes in your circumstances, markets, investments and so forth – knowing when to stick to the plan and when to alter it. Achieving your financial and lifestyle goals is an incredibly valuable outcome. Ther...

It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy an investment-grade house for under $1 million in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. This begs the question; if your investment property budget is less than $1 million, where and how do you invest it? Brisbane is becoming more difficult In early August 2021, I presented an investment case for buying an investment-grade home in Brisbane. My wife and I subse...

The topic of rising inflation and its potential impact on interest rates has been dominating the financial press over the past few weeks. The bond markets expect that higher inflation readings will force central banks to raise interest rates. It’s my opinion that higher inflation is likely to be temporary. And it’s also useful to remember that “markets” (and popular opinion) are not always right....

Will the property market ever crash? I started ProSolution almost 20 years ago and if there’s been one common theme over that time, it is how “expensive” property is. This theme can be expressed in many ways such as predictions of property market crashes, housing affordability “crisis”, comparison of Australian property prices to other parts of the world and so forth. This noise is often unhelpful...

I wrote a blog in February 2020 highlighting the first phase of government mandated changes to income protection insurance products. The second phase of changes were implemented at the beginning of this month, and they are very significant. This blog discusses these important changes and how they may affect you. Background In December 2019, the insurance industry’s regulator (APRA), released a rep...

I have noticed that more people are attracted to seeking out work that they have a personal connection with, particularly since the beginning of Covid. That is, for a growing number of people, the emotional rewards (satisfaction) that their work offers is becoming more important than the financial rewards. This might include working in the not-for-profit sector, working for a socially conscious or...

Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg has asked the Council of Financial Regulators to investigate the fact that credit growth is materially outpacing growth in household income and to advise on any policy responses. In lay terms, the Treasurer is worried that people are borrowing too much money compared to their incomes and that could be risky for the economy. Increase in home lending is pronounced...

Personal insurance is becoming more difficult to obtain and increasingly costly to maintain. This blog outlines the approach we take when formulating how much insurance our clients need and strategies to manage its cost. What is personal insurance? This blog refers to personal insurance only. That typically includes up to four products: § Income protection insurance – which pays a monthly benefit...

How to value stocks – an introduction to valuation concepts Two years ago I wrote a popular blog that explained some simple share market concepts and jargon (see here ). Building on this introductory information, I thought it was timely to discuss basic share market valuation principles to help investors assess whether a stock is over or under valued. To be clear, I’m not advocating investing in d...

Over the past 20 years, the US share market has risen 5-fold, the Australian share market 5.4-fold and Australian property 4.2-fold. That means if you invested half a million dollars 20 years ago, in either shares or property, it should be worth between $2 and $2.5 million today. You’d have even more money if you added some gearing . This observation raises an interesting question. That is, why ar...

Borrowing to invest in property is a popular and highly effective wealth accumulation strategy if it’s implemented correctly. However, loan structuring can often be an afterthought. The reality is that loan structuring and maximising your borrowing capacity is almost just as important as buying the right property. This blog sets out how to structure your loans to build a property portfolio. A step...

Investing in the share market is a relatively easy, simple and a low-cost investment strategy to implement, if you know the right way to do it, of course. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to mess it up. In this blog, I set out how to implement a highly successful (over the long run) share market investment strategy using a low-cost, evidence-based approach. Of course, the in...

Approximately half of Australia’s population is currently in a lockdown, and this may continue for another few months until vaccine target levels are reached. I wanted to discuss what impact this may have on the property market and the broader economy. Of course, there are wide ranging impacts The impact of Covid lockdowns can be wide-ranging. Dealing with the challenges of home schooling, not see...

Land tax is levied on the value of an investor’s landholdings on 31 December each year. It is an insidious tax as any land tax is relatively small when you initially purchase an investment property but typically increases each year. As such, the problem is that it can become quite costly by the time you reach retirement – a time when it’s preferrable to pay less tax, not more. There may be several...

As a completely independent advisor, I have no vested interest in how my clients invest. Whether they invest in property, shares or any other asset class makes no difference to my life. Of course, I want them to invest in (1) assets that are most appropriate for them and (2) assets that provide the highest returns without taking unacceptably high risk. I know that if I help my clients invest succe...

I hosted a seminar in August 2018 where I presented an investment case for (investment-grade) houses in Brisbane in the $800,000 to $1m price range. It was my thesis that they represented excellent value and had a high probability of delivering above-average returns in the medium term. An investment grade house that sold for circa $800,000 in late 2018 would be worth well over $1 million today. De...

It is not unrealistic to expect your super returns to be over 20% for the financial year ended June 2021. Of course, this is a great outcome in what has been a tumultuous year. However, I would like to highlight some important observations and considerations. And the 2021 winner is… The table below sets out investment returns for the largest 8 industry funds based on a Balanced investment option (...

One of the challenges that many investors face is deciding what to invest in, how much and when. There are three methodologies that you can employ to help make this decision, but only two are supported by evidence. What is mean reversion? Mean reversion is a financial theory that suggests a period of above average returns is often followed by a period of below average returns, such that the averag...

There are a number of factors that I consider when contemplating an investment on behalf of my clients or for me, personally. I think it’s very important to consider a vast array of investment opportunities (or appoint an advisor to do it on your behalf). But it is even more important to discount most of them. Being diligent, setting a high bar and having the discipline to stick to sound fundament...

Last week a prospective client asked me a very good question. They asked whether I have data that shows what investment returns my clients have generated. Whilst this sounds like a logical question, my response was that not only did I not have this data [1] , but it also wouldn’t necessarily be that useful. The reason is that investment returns are highly dependent on a client’s stage of life, the...

Some buyers’ agents promote investing in more affordable locations. I can understand why some investors might be attracted to follow their advice. But it’s not until you delve into the theory and evidence that it becomes blatantly obvious that such investments have a high probability of under-performing. Here’s an example I saw on social media I noticed a buyers’ agent advertise that he bought thi...

Twenty-three-year-old, Ashleigh Petrie nominated her mother as the sole beneficiary of her super. However, Ashleigh’s 63-year-old fiancé was successful in claiming her full super balance after she died in a car accident. Ashleigh was in a relationship with her fiancé, Rodney Higgins for only 7 months (living together for four of them). This story highlights the pitfalls and limitations to super fu...

It is true that buying a property in any market will generate a lot of wealth as long as you (1) buy the right property and (2) hold it for a few decades. But it is also true that you do not need to rush into the market at the risk of substantially overpaying. My wife and I planned to buy an investment property this year so we have been monitoring the property market a bit closer than usual this y...

The Corporations Act makes a distinction between wholesale and retail clients. It is assumed that wholesale clients have a sufficient level of financial literacy to self-assess the appropriateness and risks of various investment products and to protect this own interests. As such, there are fewer disclosure obligations (and lower compliance costs) for financial services businesses working with who...