Why an 'average salary' should not stop you from investing
Investing in property requires wisdom, confidence and financial capacity. While education is easy to come by, having enough money to build and maintain a property portfolio entails much harder work. This did not stop preschool teacher Will from investing with his wife and preparing themselves for retirement.
According to him, being on an investment journey gives them more capacity to be in charge of their financial future, rather than relying solely on a salary or a job.
“The reason we’ve done it is to get a passive income when we retire. We don’t want to rely on super to be able to retire on. We don’t think that the government wanted to change super rules recently and in 20 years’ time, when we want to retire, we’re not too sure where super’s going to be or what rules are going to be in place, or if we’re going to be able to access it and how we’re going to be able to access our super. So, I guess we want to have control over our own destiny and that’s the main reason why we do it,” he told Smart Property Investment.
While he spends most of his time teaching what he refers to as “little preppies” – four to 11-year-olds – Will also manages to find time for continuous education as a property investor.
At the same time, he also makes it a point to incorporate some fun finance lessons for the kids to spread the knowledge to the younger generation.
Will said: “My favourite unit that I run with the kids is about money and I get them to create their own little business and do spreadsheets about exporting products and making their own online businesses. We use specific formulas for the kids to be able to figure out just how much of a profit they make and they love it. It’s one of their favourite activities that we do from year in and year out.”
“You never stop learning. If you’re going to wait until you know enough, you’re never going to invest,” he added.
As property investors, Will and his wife are now focused on growing their portfolio to just about the right size – not too big nor too small – motivated by the desire to be able to enjoy their retirement.
He shared: “We want to enjoy our retirement, we want to be able to utilise all the spare time we have. One of the biggest things that we want to do is, we want to go up to the Northern Hemisphere, every winter. So we want to follow the summers and we don't want to look after a massive portfolio while we do that. Four or five investment properties, that’s the goal, and obviously, (we’re) getting property managers to run those so it’s not a big investment of our time.”
While his property investment have been anything but perfect, Will believes that anyone can succeed in the field as long as they have the right mindset, as well as the drive to continue learning and thriving despite the hurdles.
The property investor concluded: “It’s all about mindset. I’m a big reader and I read a book called [Mindset]; it’s by Carol Dweck, and it’s about approaching any situation in life with an open mindset and not focusing on the negatives but rather the positives and lessons that you’ve learnt. So, I take that into my property investing as well.”
Tune in to The Smart Property Investment Show’s special episode at the Property Buyer Expo to know more about setting goals, repaying loans and working your way up the investment ladder.
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