Investopoly

I have written about cash flow management a couple of times previously ( here and here ) because it is the most important thing to master in order to build wealth. It is also the reason that most people fail to build wealth. In fact, I have never met a wealthy person that doesn’t have good cash flow management. That is not to say they don’t spend money on luxury items. They only spend on luxury it...

To watch the full presentation, go to https://www.prosolution.com.au/recovering-property-market/ My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email...

Two weeks ago, APRA told the banks that it no longer expects them to use a benchmark interest rate of 7.25% when testing an applicant’s borrowing capacity. Instead, they must add a buffer of at least 2.50% onto the loan’s interest rate. Given most home loan interest rates are in the 3’s, that could substantially improve your borrowing capacity. The banks are starting to push back on regulators Unt...

The Australian and US share markets reached all-time highs at the end of last week. This is great news for superannuation returns and existing share investors. However, where will the markets go from here? When valuations are high, future returns will be low There is a strong negative correlation between the starting valuation multiple (e.g. price-earnings ratio) and an investor’s subsequent 10-ye...

I say “no” more often than I say “yes”. That is, I decline or defer the opportunity to work with more people than I agree to work with because, ultimately, I think it’s in their best interest. Not everyone is ready for tailored financial advice for lots of reasons as I discuss below. Products are easy to sell, tailored advice is not It’s very easy to buy a financial advice ‘product’ such as a prop...

Every few years The Economist magazine writes a story about how property in Australia is overvalued compared to other countries – or something to that effect. Comparing Australia with other countries is like comparing apples and oranges. Australia is just so different. But this difference creates opportunities for investors that play the long game. Let me explain. Big country and not enough taxpay...

Over the past two years, I have highlighted how tight the credit (mortgage) market has become a couple of times. In the past, borrowing was simple. The bank would always offer you more than you wanted to borrow. You only had to provide a few documents and the money was yours! Things have changed dramatically . These days, banks spend most of their time trying to look for reasons to decline a loan...

Last week Jarrod McCabe and I recorded a presentation about the ALP's proposed changes to tax laws that impact investors. You can watch it here: https://www.prosolution.com.au/webinar-negative-gearing-replay/ In this week's podcast, I summaries answers to 5 questions we addresses: What is the impact on investors (in dollar terms)? What impact will these changes have on the property marke...

The ALP’s proposed ban on negative gearing has been well publicised and debated. However, its proposed changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) have received far less attention. I suspect that this is because investors tend to overestimate short-term consequences and underestimate more significant long-term outcomes. But, since most of us are long-term investors, I’d suggest that we should adopt a more...

Different professionals are able to give advice about a specific field – but who’s taking responsibility for looking at the big picture? How do you know if opportunities are slipping between the gaps? What if you have an issue/problem/question that bleeds over a few different fields? Firstly, it is important to understand the what different professionals can and cannot talk about (by law). Mortgag...

An investment property should be selected based on the likelihood of it generating strong capital growth rather than secondary benefits such as rental yield or negative gearing. However, saying that, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t maximise the gearing benefits of your current or future investment property to save on tax! So, if you’re looking to purchase an investment property or currently have on...

Understanding how property growth behaves is critical when making buy, hold or sell investment decisions. Unfortunately, I have seen lots of people make terrible decisions based on misinformation or misunderstanding. Therefore, if you are a property investor, you must understand this concept. And if you are an investor with a low asset base, you can use this knowledge to your advantage. History al...

“First rule of business is never get emotional about stock, clouds the judgment.” Gordon Gekko, from the movie Wall Street The quote above is from the fictional character, Gordon Gekko from the legendary 1987 movie, Wall Street . The challenge he was alluding to is the fact that it’s impossible to have a completely impartial lens when making financial decisions. There are many reasons for this. Fi...

The ALP announced on Friday (29/3/19) that it will ban negative gearing from 1 January 2020 if it wins the election next month. I wrote an article for The Australian newspaper over the weekend which addresses the steps property investors can take to fortify their investments (which I list below). A number of people have asked me whether they should invest in property prior to 1 January 2020. I dis...

I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin’s work. He’s a presenter, author and entrepreneur and if you have any interest in marketing or business, you must subscribe to his daily blog . Anyway, his recent blog about the difference between an amateur and professional got me thinking. I think many of us could benefit from approaching our finances more professionally. The different between a professional and amat...

For many Australian’s, their home loan is their largest expense. And property investors should seek to minimise their borrowing costs (interest) as it’s one of the top three factors that directly impacts investment success as outlined in this blog . With this in mind, I thought it was timely to look at the current opportunities in the mortgage/interest rate market. What the “market” is expecting A...

A client was telling me a story about how the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a business he used to own passed away unexpectantly. Of course, it was a very sad event both personally and professionally. But an unexpected additional consequence was that the business was locked out of internet banking. The CFO had many important passwords committed to memory (for security). The business had to pay s...

How to get more control over how your super is invested and the fees you pay (and lower fees) Accountants often recommend establishing a Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) as the best way to gain full control over how your super is invested. But most people don’t want the responsibility and compliance headaches that a SMSF can create. A wrap platform is an excellent alternative to a SMSF. In fact, th...

What is the best way to manage cash flow? Do you need a monthly budget to track every single cent? Or is high-level budgeting ok? And, how much is too much to spend i.e. how do you know if you are over-spending compared to your peers? This blog will answer these questions and many more. You cannot earn your way to improved cash flow Have you heard the saying; “it’s not what you earn, it’s what you...

Perhaps a softer property market will allow you to buy a future home now for below intrinsic value – especially if you plan to upsize or downsize in the next few years. Purchasers are in a stronger position in a softer market – especially with a backdrop of lower median property prices and lower auction clearance rates. This blog considers the financial merits of this strategy and what to look out...

If you are contemplating investing in property, should you buy now or wait? What if prices fall further this year? Maybe you would be better off waiting? As my analysis below reveals, buying for less than market value or at the bottom of the market (i.e. buying well ), has very little impact. The price we pay for a property has little impact on success as investors. So, the desire to buy below mar...

It was reported over the weekend that private school fees have increased by 3.6% over the past year. However, the longer-term trend is closer to 5% p.a. Private school fees are tipped to soon exceed $40,000! That is a big hit to after-tax cash flow. This blog compares three financial strategies you can use to fund future school fees. What is the future cost? There are two things to keep in mind wi...

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is deciding to invest in a few assets/investments and then, after that, figure out what their strategy looks like. Worse still, many financial services and property businesses do this too. They market investments that initially appear attractive but ultimately won’t help you achieve your goals. I outline why this is a very bad approach and what to do in...

If the ALP wins the election in May and ban negative gearing on established property (as proposed), does that mean property is no longer a good asset class to invest in? The answer is no, if you do it right. In an environment of no negative gearing, capital growth becomes even more important. The razzle dazzle of tax savings is too tempting for some people to ignore Too many people have been seduc...

When working out a retirement strategy, often people try to work out the value of investments they will need by multiplying the amount of annual retirement income they will need by a nominal interest rate. For example, if you want $100,000 p.a. in retirement and you think you can earn an income rate of say 3% p.a., you’ll need $3.4 million of net investment assets. The more aggressive you are with...