Investopoly

Tax is most people’s largest lifetime expense! Therefore, it is not difficult to understand how taking proactive steps to minimise your taxes can produce significant financial benefits. Different taxes will impact you at different stages of life depending on the wealth you have accumulated i.e. types of investments, amounts and ownership structures used. The common mistake that people make is that...

Financial stress is a terrible thing. I’m sure everyone reading this blog has stressed out about money at some point in their life. But the thing is, stressing about money doesn’t change the outcomes. Instead, it just ruins your day. So, am I suggesting that you should never worry about money? Not really. I believe that if you are doing all the  right things  then it will all work out well in the...

Over the past couple of years there have been many changes that have dramatically reduced your borrowing capacity. The Financial Services Royal Commission, government has put pressure on the banks to reduce investment lending and a directive to tighten lending standards just to name a few. If you are unable to borrow then your only alternative is to invest your after-tax income/savings… and that i...

Over the last few weeks we have been working closely with our advisory clients assisting them with end of financial year tactics. I provide a list below of some of the tactics that we have been implementing. It is worth taking a couple of minutes now to see if you can benefit from any of these. Additional tax-deductible super contributions If you are under 65 and generate some taxable income (i.e....

The Productivity Commission released its  draft report  this week into the efficiency of the Australian superannuation system. Its findings are concerning, and all Australians must take an active role in choosing the most appropriate superannuation fund for them. If you don’t, the Productivity Commission suggests it could cost you between $61k and $407k, depending on your age. What the productivit...

The ultimate aim of investing is to build wealth. Current and future tax liabilities can have a significant impact on your ability to build wealth. Simply put, the less tax you pay, the more money you keep for yourself. Therefore, taxation is a major consideration. That said, tax consequences should never drive investment decisions alone. Tax is one of many considerations so its important to not b...

In this episode I discuss some of the financial life hacks that my blog subscribers have shared with me. A list of these life hacks and related links are contained on this page: https://www.prosolution.com.au/financial-life-hacks-list/ 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 -...

I know. You have probably seen lots of news about the Royal Commission and the financial advice horror stories. I don’t plan to rehash anything that’s already been said. The only thing I will say is that the publication of these horror stories is a very positive thing. At a minimum, it encourages people to educate themselves about their advice options and maintain a healthy level of scepticism (no...

A few clients this week have asked me if it’s a good idea to invest a large sum in the share market at the moment (for a variety of reasons e.g. as super contributions, a gearing strategy and so on). I told these clients that I have some real concerns with it – not because I don’t have faith in the stock market – but because of the difference between actual versus compound returns. As these charts...

You loan structure can have a big impact on your success as an investor. How you structure your loans can influence on your interest rates, borrowing capacity, cash flow, taxation liabilities and so on. Four years ago I wrote this blog which included 7 loan structuring tips and I wanted to update you on a few matters. In this podcast I discussed: Funding a property owned in one spouses name only L...

I am a big believer in having balance when it comes to managing money. That is, it makes no sense saving ever dollar and always “going without”. After all, none of us know how much longer was have on this planet so we must make the most of every day. However, by the same token, it’s equally silly to spend all our income without any thought towards saving for tomorrow. We need to do both. It’s abou...

In this episode I discuss how do you get better value for money from your income protection insurance? I discuss: the importance of cover the key features of a contract why agreed value is better than indemnity value why I don’t recommend getting cover inside super (be warned) How to select a provider Why “quality” is so important and what quality refers to Some tips to reduce the cost of cover. I...

We have all read the horror stories in the newspapers or seen them on television: Mum and Dad put their trust in a financial advisor. The advisor ‘sells’ them an investment that paid him a substantial commission. The investment was poor quality. Mum and Dad subsequently lose their life savings and the advisor goes unpunished. A new story like this comes up every few months. It’s frightening and ve...

Evinced-based investing (EBI) is an approach that you can use to invest in either property or shares (and other asset classes). This process makes investing feel a whole lot more secure because its more transparent, you aren't making guesses and you have a lot more confidence that your investments are going to work! Evidenced-based investing refers to the process of adopting a set of rules to...

It stands to reason that not everyone needs a financial plan or relationship with a financial planner. There might be various reasons for this. However, perhaps the best way to answer this question, i.e. “who doesn’t need a financial plan” is to discuss what’s involved in a plan and then you can draw your own conclusions. In this podcast I discuss: •    what’s involved in the financial planning pr...

If you sell a dud investment property, you may have to pay capital gain tax (CGT), selling costs and then stamp duty again when you reinvest… it can be a very expensive exercise! And if you have owned the property for a while, it is probably putting money in your pocket each month (i.e. more than covering its expenses – not costing you anything) and the CGT could be significant – even more reason...

Mistake # 1: The absence of a methodology – most investors make ad hoc investment decisions. How can you expect to win the game if you have no game-plan? Mistake # 2: Belief that they can make quick profits – too many people thing too short term. Mistake # 3: No patience – invest in quality assets with a quality (proven) methodology and then have the discipline to ride through the volatility. Mist...

How you structure your loans can have a large impact on the tax you pay, your risk, your ability to build wealth, your cash flow and your general financial strength. Efficient loan structuring is a commonly overlooked and rarely understood topic but that’s not to say it’s overly complex. Like anything, you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. Many people tend to carry a reasonable amo...

How you structure your loans can have a large impact on the tax you pay, your risk, your ability to build wealth, your cash flow and your general financial strength. Efficient loan structuring is a commonly overlooked and rarely understood topic but that’s not to say it’s overly complex. Like anything, you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. Many people tend to carry a reasonable amo...

In my experience, novice investors can talk themselves into believing that an investment exhibits less risk than what it actually does. They think they are investing but in reality, they are closer to speculating than investing. The solution is to understand what evidenced-based investing is and how to use it effectively. This podcast discusses the difference between investing, speculation and bus...

Parents always want their children to have the best education. For some people, that means sending their kids to a private school. Of course, private schooling can be expensive and can have a big impact on your cash flow. But I’d like to suggest that the ‘cost’ is a lot more than the initial cash flow impact which parents should take into account - it can be more than 5 times the actual cash flow...

In Melbourne, investment-grade apartments have not appreciated in value very much in the past three to five years when compared to houses – as illustrated in this chart https://www.prosolution.com.au/time-to-buy-apartments/ I would like to explore why this might have been the case and share my opinion of whether this performance differential will persist. My new book is available for pre-order now...

When it comes to almost anything you buy, you have to weigh up three considerations: price, service and quality/features. Almost always, you can't have all three - choose the most important two . When it comes to financial advice, I believe that 'quality' is the most important consideration. There are 6 factors that you need to consider that will impact on the 'quality' of...

Investment-grade properties should double in value every 7 to 12 years on a perpetual basis. This equates to a 7% to 10% annual compounding growth rate – assuming inflation is in the RBA’s 2% and 3% band. https://www.prosolution.com.au/makes-proprty-investment-grade/ 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 - pl...

What is more important to do first? Contribute into super or buy an investment property? How will investing in property help you fund retirement? What can you do (invest in) to minimise the risk of running out of money in retirement? These questions all relate to your investment strategy. Most of these questions can be answered by acquiring an understanding of a typical investment strategy life cy...