Q&A
Derrick has all his eggs in the property basket, so it’s time to …
Diversify your assets by investing in shares too
Q I am looking to get the most returns out of my assets. I am 52 years old with a partner and three small children. I work in IT with a salary of $105,000 and my partner does not work.
I own one property in London worth about $800,000, which receives rent of $550 a week with no mortgage. I also own three properties in Australia: one worth $750,000 ($480pw rent with no mortgage); another worth $450,000 ($350pw rent and a mortgage of $70,000); and my private residence (with no mortgage).
I have $100,000 in super and am salary sacrificing up to 15%. There are no credit card or other debts apart from the mortgage.
Are you able to advise on what you think would be a good way to structure my finances to get the maximum out of my investments. For example, would you sell one of the properties and invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs)?
The investment merits of property versus shares would have to be one the most relevant questions I get asked, Derrick. We are truly a property-mad nation, but this is for good reason. We live in a vast nation, yet with so little land with reliable water, infrastructure, community services and so on. Our population has boomed over two centuries, so we have relatively limited supply and strong demand, hence solid property price gains.
Shares have also been a terrific investment. Over the past couple of centuries they have also delivered excellent returns,
