What is it you are after?

[allmine]

For me, two Goals
1. Get to a point in a few years from now where I can go home and stay home and be a "Stay at home Dad", and my better half can go back to the work force. Then I can give up sweating on what last minuet plane ticket I got with which airline and what CRAP seat I'll end up with for the 36 hours it takes to get to work. I want to lose the ambition of reaching Platinum membership and the knowledge of how to save 15 seconds walking time in each airport.

2. In 15 years from now, have a at least 10 properties which happily take care of them selves $ wise, and leave me with a reasonable amount at the end of the day to live of, then have them gaining value staedily and retering more as the cost of living goes up as well. We have simple needs and hope to keep it this way.

But most importantly, be there for the 3 little people in my life, and of course, my better half to.

 

[WillG]

What is it you are after?
4 green houses and a red hotel - gotta love monopoly

I have been investing for a little over ten years and my investing goals have continued to change. Although I am not "financially free", I don't feel trapped in the "rat race". The fact that I could get by for several years gives me a "sense of freedom''. I suspect this "sense of freedom" would be harder to get if I was living paycheck to paycheck.

I would like to reach a point where I am confident to become a fulll time investor. This may involve buying & selling realestate, shares and business's.

 

[Oscar]

WillG, very wise words indeed.

At a point in time you get to this "transition" phase where although you work full time, you know you could last a long while without any paid work whatsoever if you were to lose your job. I'm in this phase now and while I still work very hard I have a lot of freedom where I can say what I want to say and speak up on most issues without fear. It's actually a very good place to be and makes the work place a lot of fun. I'd dare to say I am even more productive employee as I just get on with things as I see fit.

chers,

 

[pudestcon]

Choices!

With out a doubt its choices for me and my family that I am after. Choices to occupy my time as I want, choices to have my health (medical procedures) taken care of when and where I want as I get older (no public health for me), choices to travel where and when I want within reasonable limits, and choices to give to my kids as their needs and mine change. How much do I need to do that? How long is a piece of string but in the meantime I'll work towards this goal and when the time is right.... pull the pin on full time employment. I'm one of the lucky ones because I absolutely love my work and don't want to give it up any time soon. At the end of the day the transition for me will be gradual, over a couple of years or more until full freedom of choice is achieved. Trouble is I'm 56

Pud

 

[Dazz]

.....and if full freedom isn't achieved pudestcon, you can always fall back on those lovely TIC support member fees. Just keep rolling in and signing up those new investors for Kevin.

 

[gg1965]

freedom

I guess i am also one of the rare ones that likes my work (for what it is). Having said that, i would still prefer to not go to work. However, my work is giving me 100k per year which is a good amount and that amount allows me to quickly get deposits together for more investment properties.

My goal is to be out of the office by the time i am 55. But i would also like to drop back to part time and get about 50-60k per year when i turn 50. That is only 6 years away.

I did an analysis of my super and saw what i would get when i retire. It isn't much and i am sure as he11 don't want to be a wage slave all the way up to 67 and i also don't want to see the autumn years of life living in poverty.

So that is why i am investing. I'd like to have about 10 properties paid off (including PPOR) by the time i am 55 and that will then give me a nice little rental income. Also, and more importantly, give me time and freedom to enjoy life and family. That is what i want.

I think many people are unaware, or even ignorant of how much their super really is worth. I also think that many people will be in for a very rude shock when they retire and this worries me. I don't want to be living for my next pension check and fighting for the newspaper in the library or forced to buy the out of date goods in the supermarket. I want to enjoy life and i see property investing as my way of doing it.

Thanks


g

 

[topcropper]

Im just curious as to what you all actually want to get out of this game?!

I'm a bit different to most here. I don't own a resi property yet, but I'm interested in getting involved, as I can see it's the safest asset class and I can see how well some have done.

But I'm not a 'true believer' like most are here. There's plenty of other ways to invest.

Resi property to me is just a way of investing when the time is right into property, that will one day be flogged off to increase my agricultural land holdings. I'm a true believer in farm land, not resi property. I see no shortage of land to build houses on, but I see population growth increasing and agricultural production growth slowing, and I see a shortage of land to grow food.

See ya's.

 

[our obsession]

We are just building our way to financial independence, we love our lives and lifestyle, but the investing in property is about taking control of our financial life/wellness.

I like that we can use property as our vehicle for this, it's a vehicle that we are enjoying immensely, and for us, it brings with it a means to keep doing it, now that we have our foot in the door.

For us, there is no rat race to escape, we aren't escaping anything, we are building, assembling, creating and most of all having fun with it, I personally never dreamt I would be kinda handy and okay at being a little capitalist...it's a pleasing realisation. I'm sure Mr OO feels the same way.

Once we have completed accumulation phase, (mixture of established houses and building newies), it is likely we will diversify into a bit of commercial property and business.

The key point, (or rather one of the key issues) for us is that leverage has been magical, low income as we are to try and save our way to financial independence, I seriously doubt would have been as effective..with the property thingy we get leverage, growth, good rental returns..IRR.

Plus for me, it is relatively simple, it isn't rocket science, I can train myself on the weaker areas or get help, (eg figures/structuring), and go for my life on the stuff I am good at (naturally), gut instinct-intuition, research, networking, deal making, negotiating, adding value..etc all that fuzzy stuff.

Property investing has been life changing for us, just the fun to be had, the achievements (on a finacial scale)....you just wanna jump out of bed and go WAHOO!!!

 

[Perp]

I feel like OO does about property; I love it. It's a passion, and I think I'd "do" it even if I didn't have to.

I'm loving life, but we're still reliant on Mr ozperp's income to keep our portfolio ticking along at the moment, so my 3-year goal is to develop at least $200K in positive cashflow so that he can quit his job and find something he's passionate about, too. Obviously this is nigh-on impossible with Aussie residential property unless you have tens of millions of equity - which I obviously don't have or I wouldn't be still working towards freeing hubby from his job.

This is the primary motivator for my USA adventure... the yields over there make this kind of passive income much more achievable. And then I can use the spare cashflow from the USA to pay for some growth assets in Australia.

Ultimately - perhaps in 10 years or so - I'd like to split my time between property and philanthropy. I'd aim to put all family income beyond a certain (admittedly generous) figure - say $300K pa, indexed - towards worthy grassroots projects that have a lasting impact on quality and length of life, such as putting wells in third world villages, water purification technologies, malaria research, etc. Hopefully I'd spend about half my time maintaining and expanding the property portfolio, and the other half travelling the world looking for worthy ways to spend the profits.

 

[Nathan]

Unlimited cashflow.

which grows with inflation.

Also the thrill of the deals make me feel alive.

 

[fokas]

I always think what I would do tomorrow if I was already set and was where I wanted to be financially wise...
I'd sign up to any and every random course that took my fancy and would study whatever I felt like.
And spend more quality time with my family and friends...as apposed to needing to timetable people to fit in with my life...

That's why I'm doing all of this in a nutshell... Freedom to choose.

 

[Jayro]

Great reading all your replies, thanks. I was chatting to my wife about about this topic last night. Her answer was similar to Pud. For her its options (or choices) Not feeling trapped anywhere or in a situation. We are only 29/30 yrs old and have now started setting firmer goals. Setting some time frames to achieve a few things. Gives us something to work towards and some nice things to look forward to. Its not easy investing (as ou all know) and is does take up your funds at the moment but seeing the light is good.


What I REALLY want is a few acres somewhere on the coast in a not too busy town, few nice cafes (preferably one owned by us), a couple of restaraunts, great fishing and niiiiiiiiice & quiet

cheers Jas!

 

[jingo]

Its not easy investing (as ou all know) and is does take up your funds at the moment but seeing the light is good.!

Hi Jayro,

I'd agree, investing is not always easy. Keep going though. Set your goals and you will achieve them.

My wife's and my own immediate goal is to have our portfolio turn neutral and gradually wind back our work to part time. We have accumulated a number of IP's over 8 years and have benefited from the capital growth during this time. Next step after that will be to invest for income - ie shares and higher yielding investments.

Regards Jason.

 

[JamesGG]

What I REALLY want is a few acres somewhere on the coast in a not too busy town, few nice cafes (preferably one owned by us), a couple of restaraunts, great fishing and niiiiiiiiice & quiet

This may be something of a silly question Jas, and I apologise if it is, but...

What's stopping you from achieving this goal now?

 

[Propertunity]

What I REALLY want is a few acres somewhere on the coast in a not too busy town, few nice cafes (preferably one owned by us), a couple of restaraunts, great fishing and niiiiiiiiice & quiet cheers Jas!

OK so like James just alluded to: Where's the committment to this goal? Written down? Steps to get there? Pics of the place. Firmly visualised - embedded in your sub-conscious? You can articulate what it feels like being there? Smell the salt water and the fish. Feel the serenity (to quote a line from The Castle) Wife in agreement. All-for-one and one-for-all kinda stuff.

Or is it, Pigs all feed ....and ready for take off?

 

[JamesGG]

OK so like James just alluded to

Sorry mate, I was actually looking at this in a slightly different way...

Like, to get a couple of acres and start / buy a cafe in a small coastal town may not, depending on location, really cost too much. So what I was getting at was, casting aside any superficial excuses and looking at available cash and equity; how close in dollar terms is this to being a reality?

In a similar manner to how you opened the thread, Jas, I don't believe this game is about how many properties one owns or even the amount of cashflow or equity that one can generate. All of that is simply a means to an end - so, what does your endgame require of you?

 

[RumpledElf]

We have quite clear things holding up our short-term goal of a paid-off PPoR.

1. Need to tile old bathroom. Held up by lack of walls to stick tiles to, currently working on fixing this one *swears loudly at previous owners who hid bottomless holes in walls by GLUING raw slate over the holes*
2. When 1. is finished, need to sell old house.
3. When 2. is finished, need to get a plumber to move a septic tank. We'd do this now but need the money from 2 to pay the plumber.
4. When 3. is done, need to lodge subdivision forms. Subdivision is approved subject to moving septic tank. Subdivision forms also cost a small fortune to lodge - refer money from 2.
5. Want to build a house next door. Can choose a plan/builder/do site prep etc now, but can't get finance without a 40% deposit. Refer money from 2. Alternatively, need the block of land, which provides 40% deposit without money. Can't get block of land without subdivision being finalised. Refer points 1 through 4.
6. Selling this house would give us all of the money we need to buy a PPoR outright even if we sold it tomorrow (would get more for it after the landscaping is finished, but I'm delaying landscaping as someone needs to dig a big hole in the yard - refer point 3), but there's no point selling it with an incomplete subdivision as we'd lose effectively $100k from the deal from opportunity lost on building a house next door. Refer points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

This is why I am, as I type, trying to convince my partner to hurry up and go to the old house and finish preparing the walls for tiling

Its nice when problems are so simple, isn't it

 

[daniellee]

Investing, especially in RE, is about broadening our revenue base (as the politicians like to say). We enjoy working, keeping ourselves busy and the social contact, and would love it even more to be able to work part-time. I can imagine how sweet it would be to get into work little later than everyone else, and leave work a little earlier too.

Our aim is for the both wife and I to be able to downshift to part-time work in 15 yrs time; she's 27 and I'm 31 currently. We want to have the certainty of knowing that we work because we want to, not because we need to.

Personally, I look forward to going to 'work' until I am at least 75 yrs old. Retirement is not an acceptable concept for me. To do so would be like one foot in the grave.

Regards
Daniel Lee

 

[RumpledElf]

Depends what you do when you're retired. I want that income stream so I can do exactly what I want, when I want. And I know what I want to do. It might even make me money too

 

[lisag]

confused

I read everyones plan, business adventures with investments etc,
well iam just about to start with pre approval granted and refinanced the PPOR with a better package then previous, changing my job to spend more time at home with kids etc....
so my mid life crisises is (36yr old) how can I use these strageties???? No I donot want to be on shift work,& wiping dirty bums till iam 67yrs.
My goals are similar pay off PPOR which in its self is really all I desire to do, as this will free me and family to have a better quality of life.
So How do I use the IP as a vehicle to achieve this, who do I talk 2?? tax account? is there a finacial advisor in IP rather then shares??
I have read alot over the months and I guess I just want to make the right choices from the start.

Maybe I should just sell the house and kids and buy some big shinny red car and get a toyboy!!! for my MLCrisis.