Uni education a requirement for successful investing?

[Mike86]

Hi, i'm new here (just signed up yesterday) and don't really know where to post this, but here goes...

I have recently (and i think it was overdue) realised that the road to financial freedom is not through a wage, but either owning a business or investing (or both)... And was also inspired by an article in the latest API magazine about a 24 year old with 25 properties! It got me thinking, "time to get off my ***!"

I am 23 and have found the subject of property investing to be quite interesting and addictive! So much so that i've already subscribed to API for 2 years and have ordered books about Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki etc.. But it seems to get very technical in some aspects (law/accounting), which leads me to my main question(s):

I was wondering if one should improve their financial literacy through tertiary education, or can it be sought from books/real world experience? What are your individual experiences? Did you go to uni? did you not need to go to uni? Should i take some TAFE courses in accounting/finance without a view to a qualification? Should i visit seminars? There seems to be a plethora of info to digest

If i've posted this in the wrong section, i apologise. But i look forward to your replies!

 

[Bargain Hunter]

You have now joined the university, a thirst for knowledge and hard work is all that is required.

 

[Sunfish]

I can't see a link, no matter how tenuous, between education and life skills/investment nous. I would be very surprised if the educated among us have a better track record in marriage. Prolly the reverse.

If your education gets you a higher wage it is clearly easier, ie small mistakes can be overcome quicker.

So get your education if it will convert to income, or get your education and go for lifestyle. If the latter you will need to be even smarter in investing.

 

[Bigtone]

Yes a tertiary degree is a necessity.

I suggest you enroll at University Of Western Sydney. Make sure Pro. Steven Keen is the lecture for all subjects.

He has a complete mastery of the Australian financial and property markets, just ask him he will tell you all about it, might even give u a t-shirt telling you as well.
Please ignore all evidence to the contrary as he was definitively right, just not yet though.

After this course you will be on the way to complete financial freedom and will end up owning as many properties as he does!

 

[Bargain Hunter]

Yes a tertiary degree is a necessity.

I suggest you enroll at University Of Western Sydney. Make sure Pro. Steven Keen is the lecture for all subjects.

He has a complete mastery of the Australian financial and property markets, just ask him he will tell you all about it, might even give u a t-shirt telling you as well.
Please ignore all evidence to the contrary as he was definitively right, just not yet though.

After this course you will be on the way to complete financial freedom and will end up owning as many properties as he does!

Bigtone,

Being new he might no recognise the sarcasm.

 

[skater]

Hi, i'm new here (just signed up yesterday) and don't really know where to post this, but here goes...

I have recently (and i think it was overdue) realised that the road to financial freedom is not through a wage, but either owning a business or investing (or both)... And was also inspired by an article in the latest API magazine about a 24 year old with 25 properties! It got me thinking, "time to get off my ***!"

That would be our own Nathan. Do a search.

I am 23 and have found the subject of property investing to be quite interesting and addictive! So much so that i've already subscribed to API for 2 years and have ordered books about Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki etc.. But it seems to get very technical in some aspects (law/accounting), which leads me to my main question(s):

I was wondering if one should improve their financial literacy through tertiary education, or can it be sought from books/real world experience? What are your individual experiences? Did you go to uni? did you not need to go to uni? Should i take some TAFE courses in accounting/finance without a view to a qualification? Should i visit seminars? There seems to be a plethora of info to digest

If i've posted this in the wrong section, i apologise. But i look forward to your replies!

Tertiary education won't get you real life financial education. Hang around here and you will earn the equalivant to a degree, but it won't cost you a cent. Books are good too, there are plenty of good ones. Maybe start with some of Jan's, Robert Kiyosaki is good for a beginner, but he tends to repeat himself. Some basic ones like The Richest Man in Babylon are good too, and easy to read.

Don't worry about any special qualifications like accounting/finance etc, unless you have an interest in this field. Expensive seminars will only relieve you of the deposit for your first property, so I would also stay away from them, however there are usually some smaller ones that are very cheap, so you could go to those, but don't sign up for anything while you are there.

You will find the investors here are just the same as the rest of the society. We all have different backgrounds, different education levels and different ways of investing. Some of us start with nothing and others start with an already healthy net worth. You certainly do not need a Uni degree to make good money from investing.

Good luck.

 

[skater]

Yes a tertiary degree is a necessity.

I suggest you enroll at University Of Western Sydney. Make sure Pro. Steven Keen is the lecture for all subjects.

He has a complete mastery of the Australian financial and property markets, just ask him he will tell you all about it, might even give u a t-shirt telling you as well.
Please ignore all evidence to the contrary as he was definitively right, just not yet though.

After this course you will be on the way to complete financial freedom and will end up owning as many properties as he does!

I think I better clarify this as Bigtone was talking tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Mike86]

Bigtone,

Being new he might no recognise the sarcasm.

lol, sarcasm was recognised at "t-shirts"

Thanks for your responses all, i look forward to educating myself financially. This site seems like the holy grail for such info!

p.s. can any of you reference some good texts for a beginner (or maybe there is a thread somewhere)? thanks in advance

 

[sfulop]

I was in a similar position to you 4-5 months ago. My advice:

(a) Network. Network. Network. Find people who have achieved what you want to eventually achieve and start building your networks / relationships with them. There are numerous people on this forum who have been kind enough to give up their time to assist me in fine tuning my strategy and discussing property in general. It's good to keep a look out for Property Investor Meetings in your respective state.
(b) Surround yourself with a strong team of professionals and don't be afraid to eventually pay for their advice. For me, I've got a mentor, buyers agent, solicitor, mortgage broker and accountant. ALL of these people are successful property investors themselves (for me, this is a major criteria).
(c) Don't be afraid to ask questions. The only dumb question is the one you never ask. The people here will call a spade a spade, and that's the only way you'll continue improving and learning. If you want to be surrounded by 'yes men', then you've come to the wrong place.
(d) Be careful who you discuss your investing with. I'm only still very new to this myself, but already I've had some interesting responses from people in regards to my investing. 'Two properties when you turn 22 in 2 years time? Plunging into debt so young is the last thing you should be worrying about at your age'. It's a simple case of tall poppy syndrome, if people see you have a passion, they'll do whatever they can to cut you down.
(e) Plan. How much money do you need before you can invest? What are the holding costs going to be? Are you prepared? Do your due dilligence and never stop fine tuning your strategy.

Anyway, there's just a few bits of advice, hope it helps.

Cheers,
Steve

PS: If you don't mind me asking, how old are you???

 

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

I would have thought the place to start was with a job to earn income and the ability to save some of that income. Once you have mastered this the world is your oyster.

The investing part comes next.

bye

 

[Mike86]

I was in a similar position to you 4-5 months ago. My advice:

(a) Network. Network. Network. Find people who have achieved what you want to eventually achieve and start building your networks / relationships with them. There are numerous people on this forum who have been kind enough to give up their time to assist me in fine tuning my strategy and discussing property in general. It's good to keep a look out for Property Investor Meetings in your respective state.
(b) Surround yourself with a strong team of professionals and don't be afraid to eventually pay for their advice. For me, I've got a mentor, buyers agent, solicitor, mortgage broker and accountant. ALL of these people are successful property investors themselves (for me, this is a major criteria).
(c) Don't be afraid to ask questions. The only dumb question is the one you never ask. The people here will call a spade a spade, and that's the only way you'll continue improving and learning. If you want to be surrounded by 'yes men', then you've come to the wrong place.
(d) Be careful who you discuss your investing with. I'm only still very new to this myself, but already I've had some interesting responses from people in regards to my investing. 'Two properties when you turn 22 in 2 years time? Plunging into debt so young is the last thing you should be worrying about at your age'. It's a simple case of tall poppy syndrome, if people see you have a passion, they'll do whatever they can to cut you down.
(e) Plan. How much money do you need before you can invest? What are the holding costs going to be? Are you prepared? Do your due dilligence and never stop fine tuning your strategy.

Anyway, there's just a few bits of advice, hope it helps.

Cheers,
Steve

PS: If you don't mind me asking, how old are you???

Hi, thanks for the response!

I'm 23 at the moment. Networking shouldn't really be a problem for me, i am a draftsman in land development... most of the directors and employees of firms i work for i have stayed in contact with, most have investment properties and answer my questions if need be.

im thinking of going to this workshop in october where you simulate real-world buying/selling of property with mock real estate agents etc. Do you think i'm too green for this, or should i just take the plunge and try to digest everything i can?

i'm wanting to seek information in the most rigorous and methodical way possible, but most of the info out there uses acronyms and industry terms which i suppose i'm going to have to find for myself!. The learning curve in itself is interesting, the pool of information runs so deep!

 

[skater]

i'm wanting to seek information in the most rigorous and methodical way possible, but most of the info out there uses acronyms and industry terms which i suppose i'm going to have to find for myself!. The learning curve in itself is interesting, the pool of information runs so deep!

Send the acronyms this way. I'm sure many of us could help you learn what they mean.

 

[Sunfish]

This site seems like the holy grail for such info!

It isn't. It is a group of like minded people reinforcing each others' biases. That should not be mistaken for true knowledge.

As an example of bad pack behaviour goto
http://forums.silverstackers.com/index.php
where you will find a group who are equally convinced that they are in possession of true wisdom who are totally convinced property investment is the tool of the devil. In fact they are really just a rabble who, conceptually, pack-rape dissenters.

Accept Somersoft for what it is, but do not make major investment decisions based on what they will tell you here.

 

[Mike86]

Hi all,

I would have thought the place to start was with a job to earn income and the ability to save some of that income. Once you have mastered this the world is your oyster.

The investing part comes next.

bye

Saving isn't really a problem for me, i'm on a fairly decent wage for my age, and am still with the folks. I'm thinking i can save 30,000 for a deposit within a year... depending on what i buy. At the moment it looks like 1x1's near the perth CBD. Again, the more research i do, the more likely this may change

I just returned from melbourne, and man is perth overpriced! sucks being a first home buyer in this market. guess i will have to look for the right deal!

 

[mary&mat]

Hi Mike86,

There is nothing I got from uni that I couldn't have learned from just reading / watching someone who knows what they're doing & then jumping in & doing it myself.

The philosophy of wealth creation is what 'Richest Man in Babylon' is about; a book Skater already mentioned. It gets a bit tough to plough through at times, but is well worth it.

I think courses are mostly a waste of time (personal view) & I would rather back myself by putting the thousands of dollars towards an IP.

Plan, plan, plan. Set a goal now, that say, by Aug 20th 2011, you want to own your first IP. If you have a timeline, you're more inclined to work towards it steadily in small steps.

As another poster on here says, define what you want from property before you purchase. This will pretty much dictate the area, the type of dwelling etc. that you want to look for (ie capital growth versus cash flow; ideally you want both).

Good luck, you're on an exciting road.....

Regards,
M&M

 

[skater]

It isn't. It is a group of like minded people reinforcing each others' biases. That should not be mistaken for true knowledge.

Accept Somersoft for what it is, but do not make major investment decisions based on what they will tell you here.

LOL! Sunfish, you are, as always, a ray of sunshine.

I agree, don't make major decisions of any sort based soley on what you hear here, or any other place unless you do your due dilligence first. This site has a wealth of information, however you have to also realise that you have investors of all kinds here too. You have newbies as well as many seasoned investors.

What works well for some, might not work for you. Know your strengths and weeknesses. Listen to everything and filter out what is appropriate for you and what is not. Over a period of time you will find that there are certain posters that you admire, while there are others that you will ignore.

 

[battler]

guess i will have to look for the right deal!

Congratulations young fella, that's a good place to start.

 

[Thesnowyforest]

do your homework

spend money on reports like RPdata or use onthehouse to get an idea of past performance and recent sales.

pay people when you need to. but honestly, it aint rocket science.

understand what is going in your chosen city, read read read, drive around, hang out in the local area, speak to agents and other property types etc etc

most importantly, DO IT once you feel comfortable.

then set and forget and look for the next one.

 

[Paul Do]

When you compare two things, make sure you do it on the same basis, otherwise it's meaningless. For example, comparing one successful non-university educated investor with university educated employees in general is meaningless.

You might want to compare the average non-university educated investor with the average university educated employee, or the most wealthy in each category.

Remember there are many investors and business owners that fail, while few employees fail as such. Counteracting that there are some very rich investors and business owners. There are also some rich employees (e.g. CEOs with a swag of options, etc.), but not as rich as the richest investors and business owners. This is consistent with the investing principle: The higher the risk, the higher the expected return.

Note that nothing prevents you from getting a university education, and then getting a job to provide the capital to invest.

 

[AlmostBob]

im thinking of going to this workshop in october where you simulate real-world buying/selling of property with mock real estate agents etc. Do you think i'm too green for this, or should i just take the plunge and try to digest everything i can?

mock
simulated

if they make money out of investing, they would be investing,
if they make money out of seminars, they would be selling seminars

bovine excreta