Investopoly

How many properties do you think you need to own to generate enough wealth to fund a comfortable retirement? Most people think they need more than 3 properties to become independently wealth.Of course, the answer will be different for everyone because it depends on your income, existing assets, time until you retire, goals and other factors. However, having been involved in developing hundreds of investment strategies (possibly more than a thousand), I can tell you that 90 per cent of people need to hold somewhere between one or two investment-grade properties. It is unusual for an average person to need to invest in three or more properties.Quality is the keyIndeed, the number of properties is not really the most relevant measure. In fact, its meaningless. More important is the quality of the assets that you own and the amount of equity you have in them. I would prefer to own only one sensational investment property compared to three average ones.Maybe it’s a sales pitchSome books and property promoters suggest that investors should aim for acquiring a portfolio of more than three investment properties. However, I fail to see how this could work and think this is a high-risk approach.You either have to acquire several low-value properties (and are therefore you are likely to compromise the asset quality, meaning they aren’t investment-grade) or, if you are buying investment-grade property, you must borrow a significant amount of money. I have seen profiles of investors (in property magazines) who have $2 million to $3 million in loans when their family income is between $100,000 and $150,000 p.a. in total. This is a very high-risk approach and a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Given the immense amount of credit tightening over the past 1 to 2 years, it would be difficult to access this level of financing anymore (which is a good thing).Think about debtDebt is a great servant but a very bad master. You must control it, not the other way around. Therefore, when borrowing to invest in property you must conservatively assess your capacity to be able to service the debt and sleep at night regardless of the variability in interest rates and repayments.Also, you need to have a debt exit strategy. That is, how will you repay the debt when you retire? I typically like my clients to have little to no debt when they enter retirement because, at this stage of life, they will be veMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

The two certainties: death and taxesThere are two unfortunate certainties in life; death and taxes. And, unfortunately, tax cannot be avoided (legitimately) even by dying.Australia is one of the very few countries in the world that has no death taxes. However, although there is no tax levied on the property of a deceased person, there may be tax consequences flowing from the dealings with the deceased assets.This blog outlines some of the key considerations you must address.The deceased estateWhen a person dies, an executor or administrator takes control of their assets. The executor named under the (valid) Will is known as the legal representative. An administrator is appointed by the probate court when a will does not exist.A deceased estate is not a separate legal entity but a relationship between the executor/administrator and the beneficiaries – much like a trust. The deceased estate would comprise of all assets owned by the deceased as at the date of death – except for any assets owned as joint tenants, superannuation and any assets held in a discretionary trust.A Will covers matters such as how the assets should be shared amongst family members and other beneficiaries, trusts to be established subsequent to death, bequests to charities and institutions and funeral instructions.A Will is a legal document and therefore should be drafted by a lawyer preferably one who practices in the area of Wills and Probate and has tax knowledge – or at least a lawyer who would work in conjunction with an accountant who is familiar with the tax treatment of such estates.What if you don’t have a will?If you die intestate, the Supreme Court will decide who will be your administered and who will benefit from your estate. Dying intestate creates a lot more work, cost and stress for the people you leave behind. It also might result in people benefiting from your estate who you don’t want to benefit. Therefore, for the sake of a relatively small cost and to ease some of the stress on your family, it is always best to have a valid and up-to-date will.If you’re a single and have little assets and no special beneficiaries, a cheap will kit will probably sufficive. However, if you have any significant assets or liability, children, a spouse and so on, you really need personalised legal advice.Taxation of assets received from a deceasedMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

The last thing you want to happen is that you work hard throughout your whole career, invest successfully and then lose a large amount of your wealth due to an unexpected event. Therefore, asset protection is just as important as asset accumulation. Asset protection is a subject that most investors fail to consider, don’t get good advice on and/or take the wrong advice. The goal of this blog is to give you an overview of the key risks people typically need to consider and what to do about them.Be careful who you ask for adviceOver the past few months I have come across a few people that have paid a lot of money (over $5,000) to lawyer or accountant for asset protection advice. In every case, they ended up with a complex and convoluted structure which they arguably didn’t need.My advice is simple. Get independent advice before paying anyone a lot of money for asset protection advice. Someone is independent when they have no asset protection services to offer you other than their advice. Independent financial advisors are typically the best source of advice as they rarely set up structures (such as companies and trusts) or provide legal services. That is, they have no vested interest in the advice given.Asset protection risk: Self employedIf you are self-employed, you might be exposed to additional risks. There are two important points to consider:§ Firstly, your risk is that you get sued. You must ensure that you have the correct business insurances in place including, product liability, warranty and indemnity, business interruption, WorkCover insurance, professional indemnity, public liability and so on. Also, you must ensure that your business is structured correctly so that your liability is limited (e.g. trading company with the shares owned by a discretionary trust). Make sure that you don’t leave any retained profits in the trading company – the company must have as fewer assets as possible.§ Secondly, typically, there are only two risks that directors of companies can be held personally liable for being; trading whilst insolvent and not maintaining a safe workplace. Therefore, if you are a director of a trading company make sure you receive up-to-date financial reMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Paying minimal tax probably appeals to most people. And as tax is often our biggest lifetime cash outflow, it might seem logical that minimising it is a great way to build wealth. However, I’m going to suggest that perhaps you need to pay more tax to build wealth. A higher tax bill typically means you have a higher income and therefore a higher borrowing capacity.I have seen lots of people cut their nose off to spite their face by focusing on the wrong things at the wrong times. Sometimes tax minimisation is more important than borrowing capacity maximisation. However, the reverse can also be true too. You must understand when to focus on one and not the other – particularly in this very tight credit environment.The wealth impact of minimising your taxesEven a modest increase in your income can translate to a significant increase in your borrowing capacity. For example, if your taxable income increased by $37,000 from $150,000 to $187,000 it would increase the amount of tax you pay by approximately $15,000. However, I estimate that this higher income will increase your borrowing capacity by approximately $300,000. This additional borrowing capacity might be the difference between affording an entry-level investment-grade property at say $500,000 versus a higher-grade property for say $800,000. A higher-grade property should, in the long-run, result in a higher capital growth rate. The difference between the value of these two properties in 10 years’ time could easily be more than $500,000 in today’s dollars[1].I am sure that the investor that buys the better-quality asset (at $800,000) won’t even think about the higher tax bill he had to pay 10 years earlier. This is why it’s important to take a long-term view when making financial decisions.Minimal tax = minimal borrowing = big disadvantages?Every now and then we receive enquiries from people that operate their own businesses and report very little taxable income (BTW, I’m not certain their tax minimisation strategies are always legal). These people then complain that the banks won’t lend them any money. I have no sympathy for people in this situation as you can’t have it both ways.Putting aside the moral and ethical obligation to pay our fair share of taxes, we also must realise the opportunity cost resulting from self-sabotaging your own borrowing capacity. Doing so retards youMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Significantly tighter credit, the potential abolition of negative gearing and increase in the capital gains tax rate, falling property prices, new apartment supply… these are some of the head winds facing property investors today.Given these challenges should you give up and not invest in property? I don’t think so. In fact, good investment opportunities tend to reveal themselves during times where there is negative sentiment and/or uncertainly.I would like to share with you four tactics that you can employ to mitigate many of the above risks and ultimately enjoy quality long-term returns.Tactic 1: Invest with owner-occupiersIt is prudent to invest in a location and type of property that suits owner-occupiers equally as well (if not better) than investors. By doing so you increase your pool of prospective purchasers which will help drive property price appreciation. Also, if future changes in tax legislation negatively impact investor demand, the owner-occupier market will still underpin demand for your investment property.The chart below from CoreLogic (from 2016) sets out the percentage of units and houses owned by investors. Most inner-city high-rise residential towers are often marketed to investors and due to the sheer quantity of these apartment towers, they are probably responsible for skewing the percentages somewhat. However, this sector is a good example of one that you must avoid like the plague – for lots of reasons including that fact that this it is dominated by investors.Chart: https://www.prosolution.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Corelogic-units-v-houses.pngTactic 2: Invest before 2020The Shorten government has stated that its ban on negative gearing and higher capital gains tax rate will only apply to properties that are purchased after a yet to be determined date. That is, these new rules will not apply retrospectively to property you already own. Assuming the election occurs in May 2019, I expect that it will take at least one year to draft and pass legislation. As such, perhaps the earliest practical start date for these new tax rules would be 1 July 2020. Therefore, if you purchase an investment property before this date you will still enjoy the current negative gearing benefits and My new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

According to the ATO, over 70% of people engage the services of a tax agent/accountant. However, according to Blackrock, only 15% of Australians have a relationship with a financial advisor.I believe that many people would benefit from having both. In fact, to crystallise the most value it is imperative that they have a close working relationship. To make my point, I would like to share some real-life stories about how integrated financial advice and tax advice can be and the value created when the approach is seamless.I believe that lots of people are missing a lot of financial opportunities simply because they don’t have the right advisors. This is such an easy problem to solve. The key point of this blog is that tax and financial planning are so heavily interrelated and if not looked after properly, many opportunities could be missed.Real-life storiesI could list all the pros and cons of having an advisory team that can provide both financial and tax advice, but I think that is both boring and relatively unconvincing. Instead, I have shared some stories below about some clients we have worked with recently. Whilst their financial circumstances are all different, I think they do demonstrate how interlinked tax and financial advice can be.Use of tax lossesI was working on a plan for a new client. He has made some investment in the past that didn’t work out how he had hoped, and as a result had a lot of carried forward tax losses in a unique type of trust (hybrid discretionary trust and not a type we would typically recommend using). Part of the client’s financial plan included investing in shares and I wanted to investigate whether we could somehow utilise these carried forward tax losses.The manager of our tax business was able to quickly review the trust deed, arrange a lawyer to draft documents to change the structure of the trust and confirm we can use the losses. This helped me finalise the plan (share investments will be owned by the trust) and has resulted in a great saving for the client and far less tax compliance risk for the client.Start super pension to save taxWhilst preparing SMSF financial statements for some clients, our accountant noticed that one of the members just had a birthday and as such reached her preservation age. He came and spoke to me and asked if we should therefore convert her acMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Over the past few weeks I have seen a couple of financial plans produced by firms that have experience in providing advice on investing in residential property (i.e. not the traditional managed fund/shares type advisors).Unfortunately, the quality of the advice was very poor and not worth the fees paid in my opinion. It upsets me to see people pay several thousands of dollars for financial advice and receive virtually nil value. Therefore, I wanted to write this blog to tell people what questions to ask before paying for any financial advice.Before I get to the questions, there are usually two failings with poor quality financial advice:Potential problem # 1: Limited in scopeIn most situations, limited financial advice is risky. Advice can be limited to a specific asset class (e.g. only consider shares or property but not both) or be limited to a specific investment such as superannuation.A useful analogy is going to the doctors but telling your GP that they can only examine the left side of your body. No doctor could ever be confident with their diagnosis as they wouldn’t know what they may have found if they could have examined your whole body. That’s why when it comes to quality financial advice, you really need to consider if limited advice will be worth paying for. Often, it is what you don’t know that can hurt you the most.Potential problem # 2: Just a guise to sell you a productContinuing with my medical analogy above, would you feel comfortable going to a doctor that could only prescribe one type of medication?If a financial advisor can only recommend one type of investment (be it shares or property or something else), then there should be no surprises when they recommend that you should invest in that asset too. As Warren Buffett says, “you never ask your barber if you need a haircut”.However, what if you have already decided to invest in a particular asset class? Even then I think it’s prudent to seek advice from a financial planner that can consider all types of investments. The reason being is that if you have missed something (i.e. if you were not aware of an issue that might compromise your investment success). Surely you would want to learn about it before jumping into an investment and costing yourself in lost time or money?I am very careful to not let my clients self-diagnose. That is, a new client might come to me and say; “we have decided to invest iMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

All the clowning around in Canberra last week is likely to have increased Shorten’s chances of winning the next election. Given the ALP’s proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, will these policies spell the end for property investor?Why the change?According to the ATO[1], approximately 2 million Australians invest in property and 61% of them claim negative gearing benefits. Negative gearing occurs when you borrow to invest in a property and the income from that property isn’t enough to cover the expenses and interest related to that property investment. That loss helps reduce your total taxable income resulting in a lower income tax liability.According to the ALP, higher income earners benefit the most from negative gearing. The ALP report that The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling estimate that the top 20% of income earners enjoy around half of the negative gearing benefits.What is the ALP proposing?Labor is proposing to scrap negative gearing on any investments in established property that are made after a yet-to-be-determined date. Existing property investments will be grandfathered. Negative gearing on new-build properties will still be permitted. If you do invest in established property after the yet-to-be-determined date, you will be able to carry forward the income losses and offset them against future property income or capital gain.The ALP is also proposing to increase the rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Currently, if you own an investment for more than 12 months and make a capital gain on sale, you only pay tax (at marginal rates) on 50% of the net gain. The ALP is proposing to reduce the discount such that the CGT liability will be on 75% of the net capital gain. Again, existing investments will be grandfathered.What is the impact on the after-tax return?The impact of these taxation changes on the internal rate of return will be material. Internal rate of return is an estimate of the profitability of a potential investment. The internal rate of return under the current tax laws on a $750,000 investment in property is 12.6% p.a.[2] Adjusting for the proposed ALP changes reduces the internal rate of return to 9.3% p.a. That is, the proposed tax changes wipe out 26% of the after-tax investment return! The reason is that the carrying cost is higher (because there’s no negative gearing benefit) and the investor pays a higher rate of CGT when they sell.My new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

I typically strongly recommend to property investors to never contribute any cash into an investment property acquisition. I’m not suggesting that you should blindly borrow more and therefore pay more interest. What I am suggesting is that if you have cash to contribute towards an investment that you do so indirectly using an offset account.Contribute cash into the offset insteadInstead of contributing your cash and only borrowing the difference (i.e. what you need), I suggest that you borrow 100% of the property’s cost and deposit any cash savings in a linked offset account. Let me explain using a simple example.Peter buys an investment property for $600k and has $275k of cash to contribute towards this investment. The total cost of Peter’s property (including stamps, etc.) is $635k so Peter needs to borrow $360k. However, I would recommend that Peter borrow $635k and then deposit his cash ($275k) in an offset account. This means that he would only pay interest on the net difference (i.e. $360k) but he has crystallised the maximum tax-deductible loan.Peter should be able to borrow $635k if he has equity in other property – whilst being careful to avoid cross-securitisation.Here’s why it makes senseThere are a number of benefits associated with borrowing the maximum and depositing cash into the offset – some of which are discussed below:1. It reduces your risk because it means that you have ready access to a large amount of cash savings in case of emergencies such as a change in personal circumstances, unexpected large property expenses and so on. Peter can withdraw the $275k of cash from the offset without any restrictions. Maintaining access to your cash is critical to ensuring you have a safe financial buffer.2. Your circumstances might change in the future (employment, illness/accident, etc.) and/or the banks rules might tighten (reduce the amount they will lend you) which might negatively impact your borrowing capacity. I have always recommended that the best time to borrow is when you don’t need it. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to lock in a higher loan now, take it. This maximises your current and future options and costs you nothing.3. As noted above, it crystallises the maximum tax-deductible loaMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Whilst historically ATO audits were targeted at big business and the wealthy, this has changed. Now more than ever, individuals, business and self-managed superannuation funds are at risk of being selected for an audit, investigation or review. The Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordan has confirmed the ATO has been instructed to undertake random audits targeting over claiming of business expenditure and work-related deductions.The ATO is using real-time data to compare taxpayers with others in similar occupations and income brackets, to identify higher-than-expected claims related to expenses including vehicle, travel, internet and mobile phone, and self-education.Innocent until proven guilty tends to be the ATO’s presumption. So, even if your books are squeaky clean, this won’t stop a random ATO enquiry! These audits don’t only involve emotional stress but can disrupt your business or work and can cost a significant amount for extra accountancy, bookkeeping and if necessary, legal fees.The ATO’s Golden RulesThe ATO has provided three rules in determining whether the deduction your claiming is eligible:1. The taxpayer must have incurred the expense themselves – and not have been reimbursed.2. The expense must be incurred in gaining or producing assessable income.3. The claim must comply with the substantiation rules – i.e. all records must be kept.Remember, the onus of proof is on the taxpayer. It is important to know what you’re eligible to claim before lodging your tax return and to make sure you don’t claim more than what you’re entitled to. For example, it’s a myth that you can claim the standard $150 laundry expense for having a work uniform, or the $300 work related expense without having incurred the expense or the 5,000-kilometer motor vehicle claim.While the ATO will certainly be looking at unusually high claims for work-related expenses of all types, car expenses and clothing and laundry expenses are the two categories which will receive the most scrutiny.Having a uniform doesn’t automatically mean you’re eligible for a deductionExpenditure on conventional clothing is generally not deductible. For clothing to be deductible, there must be sufficient nexus to the income earning activity. This means the clothing must distinctively identify the wearer as a person associated with a particular profession, trade, vocation, occupation or calling.There is no standard My new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.