Investopoly

Queensland announced changes to land tax in its state budget in February 2022. On 12 July 2022, it released more detail regarding how these changes will be implemented (see here).  Queensland land tax to rise substantially for interstate investors Essentially, when determining an investors land tax liability, the Queensland government will consider the value of landholdings in Australia (excluding principal residence), not just Queensland, and apportion the land tax liability accordingly.  This is best explained using an example Situation: Gary owns an investment property in Queensland with a land value of $800k and an investment property in Victoria with a land value of $1m. Total Australian landholdings are therefore $1.8 million, excluding his primary residence.  Current land tax: Gary is only charged land tax on his Queensland property only at a rate of 1% for the amount above $600k plus $500 (individual land tax rates can be found here). So, Gary’s land tax liability is $2,500 p.a.  Proposed from 30 June 2023: The Queensland government will calculate the land tax payable on $1.8 million and multiple this amount by 44% (being the portion of Queensland land versus total land owned Australia wide i.e., $800k/$1.8m). Consequently, Gary’s land tax liability will increase from $2,500 p.a. to $7,866 p.a.! Yes, a 3-fold increase!!!  There are some practical challenges If you own an investment property in Queensland and other states, you will have to declare the value of this land with the QRO within 30 days of receiving a land tax assessment or by 31 October 2023, whichever is earlier.  Whether Queensland is able to data match and audit these declarations, is unknown at this stage, but I suspect they will.  What impact will this change have? These changes don’t begin until 30 June 2023 and a lot can happen between now and then. I expect the Queensland government will receive a lot of resistance and lobbying.  However, assuming these changes are implemented as proposed, this will have a big impact on investors returns and cash flow. Investors will either need to pass on some of these higher holding costs onto tenants in the form of higher rents or they will divest of their property/s, which potentially means fewer properties available to let. Either way, Subscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

 Superannuation returns for the 2021/22 financial year were mostly negative. However, we shouldn’t forget that the previous 18-month period (i.e., mid-2020 to the end of calendar year 2021) was stellar, so we must keep a longer-term perspective. And the winner is… The table below sets out investment returns for the largest 8 industry funds based on a Balanced investment option (data provided by research house, Lonsec). The table is sorted by 1-year returns, highest to lowest for the financial year ended June 2022. Hostplus achieved the highest return – more about this below.  TABLEI have selected the relevant pre-mixed investment options that have between 60% and 76% of assets invested in growth assets e.g., shares. This is defined as a Balanced asset allocation. You will note however that some super funds don’t use the Balanced description – some call the option Growth or Core and so on. This highlights that it is important to not rely solely on an investment option’s name. Instead, it is important to examine the actual asset allocation of the option you are considering. Click here to view a similar comparison for a Growth investment option. Beware of unlisted assets valuations (or lack thereof) One of the concerns I have with some of these industry super funds is their lack of transparency, particularly with unlisted investments, as I discussed here last year. Transparency invites more accountability, which is a positive attribute, especially when investing is concerned. That is why I’m so attracted to rules-based and evidence-based investment methodologies – they are completely transparent. Transparency allows stakeholders to make better assessments as to an investment portfolios inherent risks and therefore likely future returns. Transparency reduces risk too because there’s nowhere to hide fees, risk or underperformance. I read with great interest this article in the AFR on 20 July 2022. The article suggested that two super funds held an inSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

In mid-2021, I wrote this blog: “Don’t buy a property in this market…” because, at that time, many property buyers were over-paying for property just to get into the market. I call it the FOMO premium, for lack of a better term (more about this below). My thesis was that since it’s never wise to allow fear (e.g., FOMO) to influence financial decision making, it was better to not buy property in 2021 if it meant having to overpay.  We all know that the market has cooled somewhat this year. It is now my view that this is a much better market to buy in, if you can find the right asset, of course.  What drove the property boom in 2020 and 2021? The median house price in the eastern capital cities grew by between 12% and 16% p.a. compounding over the 3 years ended March 2021. I believe this growth was driven by two predominant factors: 1.     Long-horizon mean reversion; and 2.     FOMO premium.  The market was mostly making up for lost ground The chart below illustrates the historic compounding capital growth of the median house price in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for the periods ending March 2022. The “long-term” figures reflect growth over the past 42 years i.e., 1980 to 2022.  <<CHART>> Whilst recent growth in property prices was well above the long-term average and therefore unsustainable, longer-term growth rates are still below the long-term averages with only two exceptions: 1.     Sydney’s growth rate over the past 10 years exceeds the long-term average by 1.60% p.a. However, growth over 15 years is in line with the long-term average. Therefore, it’s possible that Sydney prices have over-corrected over recent years and could enter into a flatter cycle for the few years; and 2.     Brisbane’s growth rate over the past 5 years has exceeded its long-term average. It is noteworthy however that growth over 10 and 15 years is still below average, so this market is probably still undervalued and could continue to grow strongly to revert to its mean.   This updated chart demonstrates that property markets tend to move in two distinct cycles: a flat cycle followed by a growth cycle. To a large extenSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

You must invest in residential property primarily to benefit from the power of compounding capital growth. Any tax benefits (negative gearing) are merely a positive consequence of this investment, not the reason for it. That said, of course it makes sense to maximise your taxation deductions wherever possible.  Make it easy for yourselfMaintaining accurate and complete taxation records is necessary to ensure all tax deductions are captured and treated correctly.  I encourage my clients to utilise their property managers services to make record keeping as simple as possible. This involves asking your property manager to pay for all property specific related expenses on your behalf. For example, if you receive a bill, forward it to your property manager and request they pay it. You may need to transfer some money into their trust account if there’s not enough rental income to pay for it, but that’s not a big deal. In fact, having your bills mailed/emailed directly to your property manager streamlines this approach.  The advantage of getting your property manager to pay for all expenses is that it will be recorded in the end-of-financial-year income and expense summary that they will provide you. At the end of the financial year, you just need to provide your accountant two pieces of information: (1) the rental summary and (2) a summary of interest and bank fees. This makes record keeping very simple.  Summary of most common tax deductions The ATO publishes taxation statistics for each tax year (the most recent data is from the 2018/19 tax year). This data covers the 2.8 million investment properties that are owned by 2.2 million taxpayers. The most common tax deductions were:   | Deduction expense | Proportion of total deductions  | Interest on loans  | 47% | Capital works deduction  | 8% | Council Rates | 7% | Property Agent fees/commission | 6% | Plant depreciation | 6% | Repairs and maintenance | 6% | Body Corporate Fees  | 5% | Water charges | 4% | Insurance | 3% | Land tax | 3% | Other inc. cleaning, garden, adverting, etc. | 5%Source: ATO Interest and bank fees Interest and mortgage related fees will likely be your biggest tax deduction so it’s critical that you ensure its complete and accurate. I wrote this blog in 2020 which lists ten rules to follow to ensure you maSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

 It’s been well documented that property prices rose significantly over the course of 2020 and 2021. According to the Real Estate Institute of Australia, median house prices in eastern capital cities rose between 30% to 40% over those 2 years.  However, unfortunately apartments underperformed compared to houses in a big way. I wanted to discuss why this occurred and consider what growth prospects apartments might provide in the future.  Apartment prices are low relative to houses The chart below compares the median price of apartments to median price of houses from March 1980 to March 2022 (source: REIA). On average, the median house price has ranged between 1.2 and 1.4 times higher than the median apartment price in Melbourne and Sydney.  CHARTHowever, since house prices increased strongly during 2020 and 2021, the median house price is now almost 1.6 times the median apartment price in Sydney and Brisbane, and over 1.9 times in Melbourne. This is because the price of houses rose strongly over this time whereas the price of apartments barely changed.  Covid negatively impacted apartment values Apartments are typically owned by people on lower incomes or investors.  It has been well documented that lower income earners suffered the most during Covid lockdowns, as typically their occupations do not lend themselves well to working from home and/or their industries were closed e.g., hospitality and retail.  Investors that owned apartments during Covid were asked to provide rental discounts/waivers and were restricted from vacating tenants and/or increasing rent.  Consequently, throughout 2020 and 2021, apartment vacancy rates rose, rental incomes fell and of course, investors avoided this segment of the market.  Conversely, Covid had a positive effect on house prices Homeowners tend to earn higher incomes than apartment owners, especially in blue-chip suburbs. These higher income earners were able to work from home during lockdowns and as such, they didn’t suffer any reduction in income. In fact, because they were in lockdown, they found they saved a lot more money which strengthened their financial position.  Falling interest rates also helped higher income earners as it increased their borrowing capacity and ability to service debt. Together with an increased focus on lifestyle such as having aSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

 Banks will usually offer higher interest rate discounts to new customers to win their business. But, of course, the banks never offer these higher discounts to existing customers, unless they ask for them.  Whilst this has always been the case, it is noteworthy that interest rate discounts have increased substantially over the past 10 years. This means the gap between what interest rates existing and new customers are being charged has also widened to the extent that it is becoming more important that you (or your mortgage broker) review your loans at least annually.  New customers are enjoying higher discountsA decade ago, interest rate discounts (i.e., discount off the standard variable rate) typically ranged between 0.70% and 0.90% p.a. Today, we are obtaining discounts of up to 2.95% p.a.[1]! This means it’s very likely that new customers are paying significantly lower interest rates than existing ones, particularly if they haven’t renegotiated their loans for a few years.   The chart below is compiled by the RBA and illustrates that new customers (orange line) are, on average, being charged lower variable interest rates than existing customers (purple line) – see yellow highlighted box. As you can see, this gap has widened considerably over recent years.   CHART What drives home loan discounts? Management remuneration packages (i.e., senior banking executives) tend to be linked to shareholder returns i.e., the share price. Bank share prices will be affected by factors such as (1) growth in mortgages compared to their peers and (2) net interest rate margin (which essentially is the gross profit generated by mortgage lending). A positive or negative change in these factors will tend to have an influence on a banks’ share price.  For a variety of reasons, banks can experience phases where they produce better results (i.e., high growth and margins) than their peers. Conversely, the reverse is true too. Therefore, when a bank underperforms, it must make up for lost growth and buy a greater share of the (mortgage) market. It does this through discounting, either through broad based promotions or more often, offering higher customer-specific discounts to win new business.  For example, in its recent half-yearly presentation in May 2022, Westpac confirmed that its investment mortgage loan book experienced a decliSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

 An understanding of basic economic principles will set you in good stead to understand financial commentary, political rhetoric and make your own assessment of economic risks and opportunities. That is not to suggest you need to become an economic expert but understanding some basic principles will go a long way.   The foundation of economics: the law of supply and demand The law of supply and demand is the cornerstone of economic theory.  The law of demand states that as the price of a product or service rises (holding all other factors constant), the level (quantity) of demand for that product or service falls. Basic logic supports this principle because fewer people will be able to afford the product as the price increases and/or an increasing proportion of people will consider it uneconomical to buy it at that (higher) price. The demand curve is downward sloping, as depicted in the diagram below.  The law of supply is the opposite to demand. That is, the higher the price of a product or service, the higher the quantity of the product or service supplied by the economy (i.e., business). Again, this is common sense because as the price of a product or service rises, so does its profitability, so businesses therefore want to produce more.   Diagram 1  The intersection of the supply and demand curves is the equilibrium price. This is the is the price at which the producer can sell all the units they want to produce, and the buyer can buy all the units they want. Diagram 2  A current example A current example of the law of supply and demand at work is reflected in the price of lettuce – a topic being discussed in the media lately. As we know, supply has contracted due to supply chain issues and floods. Consequently, the supply curve has shifted left, and the price has risen to find a new equilibrium (i.e., equilibrium moves from A to B in the chart below). When supply returns to normal, so will prices.   Economic output and growth The economic health of a country is primarily measured using Gross Domestic Product (or GDP). This measures the market value of all the goods and services that a country produces. The formula to calculate GDP is:  GDP = ConsumeSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Many investors consider future trends when making investment decisions. Popular examples of investable trends include the growing demand for green energy, mainstream adoption of electric vehicles and cybersecurity.   The thesis is that if you can correctly spot/predict a trend in the early stages, then you can invest in the companies and sectors that are best positioned to benefit economically. This is called thematic investing.  What is thematic investing? Thematic investing is an approach that seeks to capitalise on megatrends and/or long-term structural changes. Most thematic trends tend to relate to three broad categories being (1) demographic change, (2) technological innovation and (3) climate change.   The goal is to invest in sectors or companies that are likely to benefit substantially from these changes. For example, electronic vehicles (EV’s) will likely benefit from increasing consumer demand because of an increasing focus on climate change. If you agree with this thesis, then you may be attracted to investing in not only EV manufactures but the downstream industries such as battery, sensor manufactures, rare material miners (e.g., lithium – Australia is the largest exporter of lithium) and so on.   Can you pick trends with consistent accuracy? The main challenge with thematic investing is that it’s a higher risk strategy because it relies on your (trend) expectations materialising. Our expectations can often be shaped by our world view, personal experiences and the dominant narrative of the day. However, these things may not be useful when making investment decisions.  Also, because these themes are based on future outcomes, we must realise that expectations, products, technology and so on can change very quickly. Again, using EV’s as an example, whilst some valuable advancement have been made, there’s still plenty of opportunity for significant development in the future. Challenges such as battery storage, manufacturing costs, faster charging, battery recycling all need to be addressed. And the solution may not rest entirely with lithium batteries, but an alternative technology that is not discovered yet.  How trends ultimately play out is inherently difficult to predict.  Do you need to pick trends? An argument can be made that you don’t need to pick trends because when themes eventually materialise and result in value (profitable businesses/sectors), theSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Some investors have been spooked by the RBA hiking interest rates by 0.75% over the past two months, particularly since it has spent the past two years telling us that rates would not rise until 2024. Higher interest rates at the same time as rising prices (inflation) are a two-fold blow for household budgets.Where are interest rates heading?The banks predict that the cash rate will rise by a further 1.40% to 1.50% by March 2023. Money markets have priced in a cash rate that is more than 2.60% higher by March 2023, but most commentators feel this is too hawkish, and unlikely to happen.The theory is that, due to higher inflation, the cash rate should return to the neutral rate as soon as possible to avoid monetary policy adding to inflationary pressures. The neutral rate is when the cash rate is neither economically expansionary nor contractionary. Most commentators believe the neutral rate is between 2% and 3%.Ironically, inflation may force rates to fall againAustralian inflation is currently 5.1% p.a. and will certainly read higher in the June quarter. Inflation in other developed economies is approaching 10%. But anyone that's visited a supermarket or petrol station lately knows that inflation is a lot higher than what the CPI measure reflects. This higher inflation has already dampened consumer and business confidence, which will cool economic growth (GDP).The neutral cash rate might very well be between 2% and 3% when prices of goods and services are at normal levels. However, given the backdrop of much higher prices, it is very likely that the natural rate is closer to 1% to 1.5%. Therefore, if the RBA raises rates too far at the same time prices are very high, it will result in a decline of economic growth (GDP). In fact, last week CBA forecasted that will happen and the RBA will cut rates by 0.50% in the second half of 2023.Don't overreact to recent rate risesI was watching TV with amusement last week. Reporters were interviewing people about the RBA's recent 0.50% rate hike. People were talking like interest rates were 10%! Of course, I shouldn't be surprised at the alarmist nature of TV!The reality is that interest rates are still very low by historical standards. By the end of this month (i.e., after the most recent rate hike filters through to mortgage rates), standard variable home loan (P&I) rates will be around 4.75% p.a. and investment (IO) rates approximately 6.10% p.a. Of course, new borrowers are offered hefty discounts of 2% p.a. or more off the standard variable rate. Therefore, most discounted homSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Our goal is to inspire our people to adopt a holistic approach when making financial decisions. That's because financial decisions often include several interrelated considerations and consequences, including financial planning, cash flow, taxation, borrowing and so on. Also, taking a holistic approach ensures no opportunities or risks slip between the gaps.Often, the best way to make a point is to tell relatable, real-life stories. Therefore, to demonstrate how valuable a holistic approach is, I have shared six client stories below.What is a holistic approach?Traditionally, financial services have been very siloed. If you have a tax question, you ask your accountant. If you have a mortgage structuring question, you ask your mortgage broker. If you have a question about super, you ask your financial advisor. You get the point.However, the problem with this approach is that financial matters tend to be interrelated. What seems like a basic mortgage question could have tax and/or financial planning consequences, which a mortgage broker cannot be expected to have the necessary experience and knowledge to address.A holistic approach recognises that many financial decisions require a multidisciplinary approach. At ProSolution Private Clients, we ensure that our team provides a collaborative response to help clients make fully informed financial decisions.Case studiesBelow is a selection of six case studies explaining how our clients have benefited from our holistic approach. Whilst these case studies are based on actual events, we have avoided including names or financial information to preserve confidentiality.(1) Business plan integrated with personal financial planOur client recently established his own professional services business. He was achieving some excellent financial results (in a relatively short period of time) and was able to share a business plan with us. We used this business plan to formulate advice regarding a few important matters.Firstly, we ensured that he had flexible business income structures to help minimise tax.Secondly, we developed a long-term financial strategy which addresses how he was going to achieve business and personal goals. Upgrading the family home was a priority.And finally, and perhaps most importantly, we developed a financing (borrowing) strategy to ensure these plans could be implemented with the banks help.This approach ensured all interrelated matters (i.e., tax, borrowing and building wealth) were optimised.(2) Tax planning whilst maximising borrowing capacityIn some situationSubscribe via www.investopoly.com.au/emailDo you have a question? Email: questions@investopoly.com.au or for a faster response, post a comment on the episode's video over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@investopolypodcast/podcasts If you're interested in working with my team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/prospective-client/If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://www.prosolution.com.au/stay-connected/ Buy a one of Stuart's books for ONLY $20 including delivery. Use the discount code blog: https://prosolution.com.au/books/DOWNLOAD our 97-point financial health checklist here: https://prosolution.com.au/download-checklist/IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.