Investor Alerts
With the aging population and shrinking government support for retirees, securing your own financial futures is fundamental to achieving the retirement you deserve. Unfortunately within the world of investing there are questionable strategies, inefficient investments, commission driven sales and misleading perceptions in the market. We believe you have a right to know…

Investment debt is not good, its just tax deductible
Have you ever been told “its ok to be in debt, because its good debt” (debt used for investment purposes). While we recongnise leveraging and using other peoples money is a valuable tool to develop wealth, we believe once you have acquired the asset, the debt is not good, its just tax deductible. The suggestion that debt is good is inappropriate, and many investors ruined during the market crash late 2008, would agree.

Don't let this happen to you, debt reduction should always play a vital role in your investment activities.

What about taxation advantages? There is no question with any investment activity you should always seek advise from an accountant, to maximise your tax deductibility. However the notion of maintaining high levels of debt, or purchasing assets purely for good tax deductibility, has limitations.

Sustainable downward pressure on debt (after eliminating all personal debt), brings life to your portfolio on a number of levels.

  • It build's equity
  • Reduces risks from market fluctuations
  • Provides a balanced approach to investing
  • Helps create an income for life in retirement
  • Reduces the need to sell assets
  • Frees up taxable income (to help acquire new assets)
  • Provides an impressive substantial return on investment in its own right

To find out more, visit our Investors page or simply click here.

Investment Seminars
Property is a very powerful investment vehicle that is worth serious consideration in any investment portfolio. However you should be aware that many investment clubs and seminars get paid for the sale of the properties they promote. Often (not always) the strategies being discussed are sound, however that has nothing to do whether the properties being promoted, is an ideal investment for you. You should always do your own research, and ensure some of the following fundamentals...

Purchasing at the right price.
Now this might seem too basic, if you sign a contract surely that is market price right? It is easy to get caught up in the emotion of creating wealth and not even check whether you are paying a fair price for a property. Alternatively you may just trust or automatically think that you are. This is not an area you can afford to get wrong, so always do your own research.

There was a time where two-tiered marketing was a specific strategy used by developers to increase their profits. They would develop property that would sell for $X in their local market, and would travel to a foreign market (usually interstate) to sell the same property for $X + additional margin. This was called two-tiered marketing, and although it is not widespread as it used to be, paying too much for property still happens in the market today. During a growth cycle this would not be as obvious, because it took less time for the additional margin to be absorbed, but that does not mean it didn't still happen.

If you pay too much for a property, it can set you back years in your development. Most property today is negative cash flow, meaning it costs cash each week to hold rights to the property. Excluding costs to purchase the property, if you pay $40,000 over market value and your cash flow position (after tax) is minus $150 per week. You are effectively paying $150 per week to throw away $40,000. If you cannot sell the property for more than what you owe the bank, then you could get stuck, and it happens. Even worse if you get stuck in a falling market; it could be years before you recover.

Don't be put off investing, if you want the retirement you deserve you will need to invest, but this is not something you want to get wrong. There are good organisations with sound investments available, and then there are others. We provide our members with completely independent support when investing in property, and give you information often not received through many seminars and investment clubs. We do not sell or promote any specific investments, nor receive any financial benefit from the advice we offer, except from your membership fees.

Creative Strategies
There are many creative ways to make money. Using the example above of purchasing at the right price, if you can locate motivated sellers and purchase under market value, then you can make money from the purchase of a property. There are books written detailing strategies on how to locate motivated sellers.

In order to obtain finances, developers often require X% of their project to be sold off-plan, as security for the funds. This has led to one creative strategy that is worth discussion.

Property over time has demonstrated solid capital appreciation. However some developers have used this information to support selling a property off the plan, in large quantity. The theory is, you sign an off-plan contract today for $X and when nearing completion, some time away, you can the resell that contract to a buyer for an intended gain. This may sound reasonable, however there are market factors working against a favorable outcome. Please note we do not advise to buy or not to buy any specific investment, however we aim to provide information that may be relevant to your own research, such as…

Property prices are heavily influenced by supply and demand. If you have a unique property that is in demand, price goes up. If considering this strategy it may be relevant to know for sure, how many investors are implementing the same strategy. How many properties will go to market around the same time, with a requirement to sell on or before a particular date, similar to yours. What influence is this likely to have on prices?

As we detailed under our general consumer alerts, lack of information creates risk. We provide our members with information that maybe missing from your research. Would this service be a benefit for you?

Retirement Strategies
When it comes to retirement Clear Financial Solutions believes in building an income for life. Let's look at one retirement strategy promoted by some groups who suggest borrowing money to facilitate retirement lifestyle.

The theory is if you want to live on $50,000 pa, you can borrow these funds against your portfolio, and provided you have enough property, your asset base will continue to grow and exceed the funds required. While this might be great justification to buy more of their property, we suggest formalising some calculations.

In financial circles compounding interest is know as the eighth wonder of the world, and is not something you want working against you. If you wish to retire on $50,000 per annum and are planning to draw these funds year on year, lets look at the impact compounding interest will have on this strategy. Assuming you start with $0 debt and an average interest rate 8.0% of during your retirement years, let's review the findings…

If you retired at the age of 60, by the time you were 70 you would have draw over $815,000 to maintain your $50,000 lifestyle. By the age of 80 you would be up to $2.854 million dollars, at 90 you would be up to $7.635 million. If somehow you managed the stress levels and made it to 100, you would be a staggering $18.546 million dollars in debt to maintain a $50,000 lifestyle. What would happen if the property market was to fall sharply at any time? What it there were issues in obtaining the finance? What if you were forced to sell and did not have enough left to pay the required tax?

Retirement is about creating an income for life. An income that maintains pace with inflation and gives you the retirement and peace of mind you deserve. A consistent approach to reducing investment debt (after all personal debt and home loans were cleared), among other advantages, help prepare your portfolio to create an income for life in retirement. You can find more from the Investors page or simply click here.

 
Investor Alert Links
Investment debt is not good, its just tax deductible
Investment seminars
Creative strategies
Retirement strategies
Consumer Alert Quick Links
Debt consolidation
Debt reduction
Consumer debt
 
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