What is the greatest property lesson your relatives have taught you?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
Kerry Packers is quoted as saying:
"Never complain , never explain" when he is accused of being a greedy mega rich type in the media.
However all he got was an 1/5 page article middle paper when he donated $4M last week to the Victor Chang Foundation. The article mostly went on about the fact he was the star invite and couldn't make it.
Still sent his cheque though.
Peter 147
"Never complain , never explain" when he is accused of being a greedy mega rich type in the media.
However all he got was an 1/5 page article middle paper when he donated $4M last week to the Victor Chang Foundation. The article mostly went on about the fact he was the star invite and couldn't make it.
Still sent his cheque though.
Peter 147
Hi Everyone,
What I have learnt from my relatives....
Father
1. Never lend money to friends, you will loose their friendship.
2. Invest in properties that give you joy, life style properties that have something unique about them eg beach frontage, land with access to water etc.
3. Keep a tab on your money...dont waste it on things you dont need.
4. Try not to go into a business partnership with other people.
Mother
1. Shares
2. Tresure life and be generous to others.
3. How to be a successful business woman in every way.
Multi millionaire/ developer relative
1. Nothing, but thats ok
Friend
1. Friend and mentor for our property interest. Started us of in the right direction and continually guides and motivates us.Very successful property investor himself.
Mrs Bird
What I have learnt from my relatives....
Father
1. Never lend money to friends, you will loose their friendship.
2. Invest in properties that give you joy, life style properties that have something unique about them eg beach frontage, land with access to water etc.
3. Keep a tab on your money...dont waste it on things you dont need.
4. Try not to go into a business partnership with other people.
Mother
1. Shares
2. Tresure life and be generous to others.
3. How to be a successful business woman in every way.
Multi millionaire/ developer relative
1. Nothing, but thats ok
Friend
1. Friend and mentor for our property interest. Started us of in the right direction and continually guides and motivates us.Very successful property investor himself.
Mrs Bird
Congrats
Peter, Congrats mate, you've pretty well summed it all up with regards to why we do what we do, not to have a big bucketful of cash at the end of it but to bring joy to those close to us and live life fully and be able to make the choices we want. Good on you, you get my legend of the day award. (yes, I know it was posted last week but I only read it today).
JIM
Peter, Congrats mate, you've pretty well summed it all up with regards to why we do what we do, not to have a big bucketful of cash at the end of it but to bring joy to those close to us and live life fully and be able to make the choices we want. Good on you, you get my legend of the day award. (yes, I know it was posted last week but I only read it today).
JIM
Peter 147 said:Now we can, this is how we replay their love.
My Mum we bought her a house near my sister’s kids and she will be happy with no $worries till the day she dies. Last year we repaid Mum’s car with our three year old Subaru which in her word “is very goo-ie”. She is very much the trendy granny with her friends and immediate siblings
We love spoiling them because they will not do it themselves. So we brought them up to Sydney for the Para-Olympics, New Years Eve and such. They enjoy these things immensely but always insist to take a cut lunch for all to save costs!
Recently my wife and I flew to Melbourne for weekend with the family. Celebrated my sisters 33rd Birthday. Went to Mums Church followed by morning tea and cake overload with her friends. I then took my nephew to his first AFL game for his 6th Birthday and my wife took our Niece to “girls only” shopping and movies session. To cap it off on Monday we took all the parents to a Guesthouse in Daylsford and enjoyed a luxury long lunch by the lake.
But you know, in the end, I think Mum enjoyed showing off her son, dutiful daughter in law and grandchildren at Church to her elderly friends on the Sunday more than anything else.
Proving as the ads say “the airfares went on MasterCard but some things are priceless”
Enjoy the ride and best wishes, Peter 147
I've just realised that I've been unfair to my folks in one respect.geoffw said:
They were not "into" property investment.
However, they were "into" business.
My dad started as an employee in a bookshop.
He ended up owning that bookshop- and effectively retired at 50 as a result of the success of that business (and a spinoff business).
So it's unfair for me to comment on his "lack of success" when he did so well in business.
(I was talking to him last night. His two regrets were that:
.When he started, he had the enthusiasm but not the knowledge
'When he finished, he had the knowledge but not the enthuiasm)
And another BTW.
My Mum was about the third person in Victoria to be qualified for her role in the council- to do with city planning- that was before she was married. And she was a working mother at a time when that was very much the exception, rather than the norm (I'm 50 now). I took it all forgranted then- but looking back, I admire them both for what they have achieved
Listening to the news this morning there was an article about a energy trust that is paying some 80,000 people (anyone who is a customer of this power company) $1,500 each. The reporter was saying that in the area covered by this they have already seen a strong surge in consumer spending - flights, new furniture etc. My sister is one of the people getting the payout - she's going to use it to pay off some of her consumer debt so that she has a better credit rating and can get into a better flat with her two kids. My parents, also in that area, are spending it on trees for their rural property they recently bought outside of Wellington after years of renting. My other sister is moaning the fact that she won't get any. She and her husband "had" to live closer to the city since they need to live in the "right" kind of area. They could use the money right now since they are constantly borrowing money off Mum & Dad to pay their power bills. Mum and Dad complain that my sister and her husband should get rid of their cable tv and stop eating out so much if they can't afford electricity - but they still lend them the money.
My husband's mum has just had a knee replacement. Since my father-in-law is so close to retirement and earns so little they were unable to borrow against their morgage to pay for the operation so they put it on their credit card (!??!). We gave them $1,000 to help and now they are buying our son extravagent birthday presents (have you seen how much Thomas the Tank Engine trains and carriages cost! Some one is making a killing!). When dad retires in three years they won't have finished paying off the morgage - but they still go to Surfers every year and mum still smokes like a chimney and plays the pokies at the casino.
My brother-in-law and his wife have the latest of everything - not that we complain too much since we are very happy to receive their castoffs (eg they upgraded their 5yr old dining table after it got a small red stain. Apparently it was better to upgrade than get the entire table resurfaced. We bought it off them for $300 and a chocolate cake and then spent 5 minutes rubbing the stain with baking soda. Result - we now have a nice dining suite without any marks). They have 100K equity in their home as a result of capital growth - they are thinking about buying a holiday home on the coast but we think that they will probably just upgrade to something flashier witin 6 months.
Everyone on both sides of the family thinks that we are pretty hard up. We have a older house in one of the furtherest out suburbs. We drive secondhand cars. My husband doesn't go on the 'boys weekends' with his brother and cousins. Most of our furniture is secondhand and I buy many of our clothes secondhand as well. Our son has a couple of basic multipurpose toys (Duplo, wooden traintrack and a good two wheeler bike) and tons of books from the library each week but not a lot else. We enjoy a glass of cask wine every evening with dinner and are careful not to develop any fine taste! We don't go away on holiday much and if we do it is usually only as far away as we can reasonably drive and we stay at cheap accomodation.
In actual fact, we have simply decided that we don't want to waste our money now and go without later. We plan to enjoy the affluent and generous lifestyle that some of our very wealthy friends (a generation older than us) are now enjoying after many years of spending carefully and investing wisely.
So what did I learn from my family about property? Nothing!
Instead, an overseas colleague of my husband sent him a pile of books after a long conversation on superannuation. He included a note telling us what order to read them in:
1. The Richest Man in Babylon
2. More Wealth from Residential Property
3. Building Wealth Story by Story
4. The Greatest Salesman in the world.
We have recommended the first book to all our family members - none have read it and a couple got offended. So another thing we have learned from our family is don't talk about money - just spend it and flash it round so everyone can see how well you are doing.
When we put in an offer on our first IP my Mum was staying with us. She quoted at length the 'experts' view on the property market and is now sending us newspaper articles about landlords in Auckland and extortionate rental prices being exploitation of the poor. We haven't even mentioned it to my husband's family as they would assume that we are rolling in it and would want their due!
Today at 4pm our first IP goes unconditional. Next year we hope to buy two more, and two more the year after etc. With careful budgeting and planning on our part (not luck!) we should have a string of 12-17 properties by the time my father-in-law has run out of superannuation money. He can then continue to earn by doing the kind of handyman work that he loves maintaining our properties. We want to be in a position to make sure that they are taken care of. They moved halfway around the world to give their sons a better life. Even though they drive us mad with their decisions on how to spend money we owe them a huge debt of gratitude that can be repaid by making sure that they are provided for in this vulnerable time of life.
In the meantime, we will continue to be the "poor ones" and try not to get too frustrated at the extravagent lifestyles of our family members. We will make sure our kids learn from us what we got from books, and we will try and guide our nieces and nephews as well.
My husband's mum has just had a knee replacement. Since my father-in-law is so close to retirement and earns so little they were unable to borrow against their morgage to pay for the operation so they put it on their credit card (!??!). We gave them $1,000 to help and now they are buying our son extravagent birthday presents (have you seen how much Thomas the Tank Engine trains and carriages cost! Some one is making a killing!). When dad retires in three years they won't have finished paying off the morgage - but they still go to Surfers every year and mum still smokes like a chimney and plays the pokies at the casino.
My brother-in-law and his wife have the latest of everything - not that we complain too much since we are very happy to receive their castoffs (eg they upgraded their 5yr old dining table after it got a small red stain. Apparently it was better to upgrade than get the entire table resurfaced. We bought it off them for $300 and a chocolate cake and then spent 5 minutes rubbing the stain with baking soda. Result - we now have a nice dining suite without any marks). They have 100K equity in their home as a result of capital growth - they are thinking about buying a holiday home on the coast but we think that they will probably just upgrade to something flashier witin 6 months.
Everyone on both sides of the family thinks that we are pretty hard up. We have a older house in one of the furtherest out suburbs. We drive secondhand cars. My husband doesn't go on the 'boys weekends' with his brother and cousins. Most of our furniture is secondhand and I buy many of our clothes secondhand as well. Our son has a couple of basic multipurpose toys (Duplo, wooden traintrack and a good two wheeler bike) and tons of books from the library each week but not a lot else. We enjoy a glass of cask wine every evening with dinner and are careful not to develop any fine taste! We don't go away on holiday much and if we do it is usually only as far away as we can reasonably drive and we stay at cheap accomodation.
In actual fact, we have simply decided that we don't want to waste our money now and go without later. We plan to enjoy the affluent and generous lifestyle that some of our very wealthy friends (a generation older than us) are now enjoying after many years of spending carefully and investing wisely.
So what did I learn from my family about property? Nothing!
Instead, an overseas colleague of my husband sent him a pile of books after a long conversation on superannuation. He included a note telling us what order to read them in:
1. The Richest Man in Babylon
2. More Wealth from Residential Property
3. Building Wealth Story by Story
4. The Greatest Salesman in the world.
We have recommended the first book to all our family members - none have read it and a couple got offended. So another thing we have learned from our family is don't talk about money - just spend it and flash it round so everyone can see how well you are doing.
When we put in an offer on our first IP my Mum was staying with us. She quoted at length the 'experts' view on the property market and is now sending us newspaper articles about landlords in Auckland and extortionate rental prices being exploitation of the poor. We haven't even mentioned it to my husband's family as they would assume that we are rolling in it and would want their due!
Today at 4pm our first IP goes unconditional. Next year we hope to buy two more, and two more the year after etc. With careful budgeting and planning on our part (not luck!) we should have a string of 12-17 properties by the time my father-in-law has run out of superannuation money. He can then continue to earn by doing the kind of handyman work that he loves maintaining our properties. We want to be in a position to make sure that they are taken care of. They moved halfway around the world to give their sons a better life. Even though they drive us mad with their decisions on how to spend money we owe them a huge debt of gratitude that can be repaid by making sure that they are provided for in this vulnerable time of life.
In the meantime, we will continue to be the "poor ones" and try not to get too frustrated at the extravagent lifestyles of our family members. We will make sure our kids learn from us what we got from books, and we will try and guide our nieces and nephews as well.
Peter 147 said:
I'd be very close to it for sure.
My lesson learned from family is from parents who were not investment minded. They saved up for everything and never seemed to have enough to buy a house. Dad was a manager with car and house supplied (very cheap rent) and five kids to feed. Had many opportunities to purchase cheaply right where I have invested now and never did.
If only................
Mind you, the oldies made sure we always had a holiday at the beach every Christmas.
So my lesson learned is, don't hesitate, get in and get wet and do not leave it until it's too late.
Thorpey.
UPDATE on my previous post....
...since posting my husband's aunt and uncle, who are near retirement age, put a deposit on a 2 brm house in a nice retirement complex and put their own house on the market. They did the sums and decided that they needed at least 80K over what their house was worth in order to purchase the retirement house but thought 'If it's meant to be it will happen!'
Naturally the house sold at a reasonable market price, far below what they were hoping for, so they contacted the retirement place and cancelled. They got their deposit back because they said that their house didn't sell. In the meantime they are renting their old house back off the new owners and driving very nice late model cars. They have been spending money like it is going out of fashion and I suspect that they now have too little to purchase anything.
My husband and I are utterly aghast at this - especially the attitude that it is all meant to fall into their laps and if it doesn't then that means it wasn't meant to be - not that they didn't work hard enough, plan sensibly, think properly, make the sacrifices needed etc.
Also, we just recently purchased Monopoly and have been having lots of fun (actually I have - my husband won't play with me anymore). Hubbie says that when he used to play it with his family they would try and accumulate as much cash as possible so wouldn't buy houses and hotels since they might get taxed???
Naturally, we haven't mentioned anything about what we are doing as it would throw them into a tailspin and they wouldn't get any sleep at night worrying about it!
...since posting my husband's aunt and uncle, who are near retirement age, put a deposit on a 2 brm house in a nice retirement complex and put their own house on the market. They did the sums and decided that they needed at least 80K over what their house was worth in order to purchase the retirement house but thought 'If it's meant to be it will happen!'
Naturally the house sold at a reasonable market price, far below what they were hoping for, so they contacted the retirement place and cancelled. They got their deposit back because they said that their house didn't sell. In the meantime they are renting their old house back off the new owners and driving very nice late model cars. They have been spending money like it is going out of fashion and I suspect that they now have too little to purchase anything.
My husband and I are utterly aghast at this - especially the attitude that it is all meant to fall into their laps and if it doesn't then that means it wasn't meant to be - not that they didn't work hard enough, plan sensibly, think properly, make the sacrifices needed etc.
Also, we just recently purchased Monopoly and have been having lots of fun (actually I have - my husband won't play with me anymore). Hubbie says that when he used to play it with his family they would try and accumulate as much cash as possible so wouldn't buy houses and hotels since they might get taxed???
Naturally, we haven't mentioned anything about what we are doing as it would throw them into a tailspin and they wouldn't get any sleep at night worrying about it!
My parents taught me to stand on my own feet and avoid welfare at all costs. Work hard and invest conservatively in IPs.
They like many of their generation made little use of professional advice. Good proactive advice was rarely available then.
From observing my work colleagues and others I learned that:
Particular advice I would pass on? Choose to associate with happy, successful people and lead an intentional life.
They like many of their generation made little use of professional advice. Good proactive advice was rarely available then.
From observing my work colleagues and others I learned that:
- most people settle into a rut immediately post-education and they are comfortable to remain in a rut;
- people in a rut vehemently dislike those who climb out of the rut (a jealousy thing); and
- booze and gambling are certain limiters of success and vanity is not far behind.
Particular advice I would pass on? Choose to associate with happy, successful people and lead an intentional life.
I recently talked to my aunt and uncle (aged in their early 70s). I had last talked to them some years ago, well before I got into property.
They are very comfortably retired, and enjoying it immensely. They are in a "retirement village"- a luxury one with a golf course and lots of activities.
I had always thought that they had been successful just because he had a job which paid well- but it turns out that he has been dabbling in property over the years, and has realised some very good profits. They're now wondering what to do with all this money from having sold one of those properties. A different money problem from most in their age group.
They are very comfortably retired, and enjoying it immensely. They are in a "retirement village"- a luxury one with a golf course and lots of activities.
I had always thought that they had been successful just because he had a job which paid well- but it turns out that he has been dabbling in property over the years, and has realised some very good profits. They're now wondering what to do with all this money from having sold one of those properties. A different money problem from most in their age group.
Great topic
I have enjoyed reading the posts immensely.
From my parents I learned never to buy anything unless you could pay cash for it...Fantastic advice that has stood me in good stead when it comes to the budget...Not such good advice when it comes to investing...it has taken me 30 years to work out the difference between good debt and bad debt!
Thanks to them, at least I don't have any 'bad' debt to hold me back on the investing road!
Pony
I have enjoyed reading the posts immensely.
From my parents I learned never to buy anything unless you could pay cash for it...Fantastic advice that has stood me in good stead when it comes to the budget...Not such good advice when it comes to investing...it has taken me 30 years to work out the difference between good debt and bad debt!
Thanks to them, at least I don't have any 'bad' debt to hold me back on the investing road!
Pony
