Empower Blog Investment Planning

Retiring younger and richer

At one point or another, most of us would have thought about retiring younger and richer. It is not an uncommon dream and if you're lucky, you would probably achieved this already. But for the rest of us, this dream requires strategic planning. This time on the cover story of Australian Property Investor (API) Magazine, Ben Kingsley and other ...

Read More

2016 Predictions on the Australian Property Market

As we finished off 2015 and inevitably start with 2016, it is always common to think about what might happened in the year to come. This time on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, Ben Kingsley was asked to provide some of his 2016 Predictions for the Australian Property Market. Whilst we are not psychic in any way, Ben does have a thorough understanding on h...

Listen Now

Who’s more important: Buyers Agent or Mortgage Broker?

So, it is always interesting when it comes to investing in property, who is actually more important? Is it the Buyers Agent or Mortgage Broker?? And of course, being a Buyers Agent, you expect me to say that Buyers Agents are so important that they couldn't be possibly outrank by the Mortgage Broker but I think people will be surprised by my answer...

Watch Video

3 questions to ask yourself when setting up an SMSF

So what are the three initial considerations you need to consider when setting up a Self Managed Super Fund or SMSF? The first consideration is who's actually making the recommendation to you? Is it your mortgage broker, is it a real estate agent, is it a property spruiker or is it a buyers agent? All these people are legally not allowed to recomm...

Watch Video

How do you make a $200,000 mistake in Property?

So how do you make a $200,000 mistake in investing in property? Well, its quite easy really if you don't do the right preparation and the right planning work. Let's look at this example: Let's say you have a $500,000 property and because you've done your homework and you've done your numbers, you think that's all you can afford. But in reality, if...

Watch Video

Cash Flow Management | The Essential Element in Property Investment

When asked about their budgeting habits, most Australians would say that they manage their money excellently. Judging by today’s high debt rates and stress patterns, it would appear that some of those who think they are managing their money well are actually doing the opposite. Whether you’re in charge of your budget at home or are taking care...

Read More

Why you should be Nervous when Investing in Apartments

I always find it a really interesting topic when someone says do apartments make for a good investment or not? My dad is born in 1939 so he's a pre-Baby Boomer, my mom is born in 1948 so she's a Baby Boomer, I'm 1975 so Generation X and my wife is 1980 so she's typically on the cusp of Generation Y. So over the dinner table, we actually have a real...

Watch Video

Why Decision Fatigue could make you a Poor Investor

One of my favorite author is Tim Ferriss, the author of Four Hours Workweek and he talks about this concept called "Decision Fatigue". I was thinking about that recently and how that applies to my life but also how that applies to everyone else's life as I'm in the business of helping people invest in property. The concept is really simple. He said...

Watch Video

Residential Property Investment: The Overlooked Wealth Management Tool

Whether you are exploring ways to grow your wealth for the first time, or whether you are already well on your way, it is essential to have a plan that details what you want to achieve, which investments you are going for and how you are going to achieve your goals. With investments such as shares, FOREX, bonds, where the market is live, there is a...

Read More

A Vital Skill for Success – Money Management Strategy

For many people, visions of success include launching high-paying careers, having a multimillion dollar property portfolio or hitting the lottery jackpot. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a surgeon or win a lottery to be successful at managing money. Regardless of your career choice or your income level, you can set yourself up for success by le...

Read More

A Graceful Exit

You might not like to think about the end game, but when it comes to property investing, an exit strategy is a must. In this March 2015 issue of Australian Property Investor (API) Magazine, Ben Kingsley was asked to share his thoughts about how to exit the property game gracefully. Here's a snippet of the article: "The whole point of investing in ...

Read More

The Four Ways a Property Investor Will Pay

It’s always interesting the psychology of the property investor, when I’m chatting to them about the idea of if they are to pay for advice or whether they get the advice for free. Cause in my view, you are going to pay in four ways. The first way is to pay through buying the wrong assets, and that is not an egotistical statement. That’s actu...

Watch Video

Negative Gearing vs Positive Gearing | Which is Better?

Hello, Ben Kingsley here and today I want to talk about Negative Gearing vs Positive Gearing. Now the difference between the two is an income outcome which basically means that with negative gearing properties, we actually have to put some of our surplus cash into supporting the investment as opposed to positive gearing where we actually get some ...

Watch Video