

Investopoly
Stuart Wemyss
Each episode is packed with concise tips, strategies, research, methodologies, case studies, and ideas to help you safely and effectively grow your wealth. Stuart Wemyss, a qualified financial advisor, accountant, tax agent, and licensed mortgage broker, delivers holistic advice. With four authored books, including "Investopoly" and "Rules of the Lending Game," Stuart shares his insights through a weekly blog, which is replicated on this podcast.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 7, 2021 • 23min
Loan structuring 101: How to finance a property portfolio
Borrowing to invest in property is a popular and highly effective wealth accumulation strategy if it’s implemented correctly. However, loan structuring can often be an afterthought. The reality is that loan structuring and maximising your borrowing capacity is almost just as important as buying the right property. This blog sets out how to structure your loans to build a property portfolio.A step-by-step exampleThe video below takes you through an example of how to structure your loans.See video here. Step one: access equity (deposit loan)You will need to pay a deposit (usually 10%) when you purchase a property. Therefore, you need to arrange access to these borrowed funds. Even if you have access to cash savings, I still recommend that you establish a new loan. This blog explains why this is important.I recommend arranging a loan sufficient to fund 20% of the property’s value plus all costs in addition to a buffer. This loan will be secured by an existing property e.g. your home.Step two: arrange an 80% loanYou will be able to fund 20% plus all costs from the deposit loan. Therefore, you need to arrange a second investment loan to fund the remaining 80%. This loan will be secured by the investment property only. This loan should be pre-approved before you purchase.Step three: consolidate loansWhen your investment property’s value has risen by 35% to 40% above the purchase price, which could take 5 to 7 years, you should be able to consolidate the deposit loan with the 80% loan so that all the debt is in one loan solely secured by the investment property. In this case, your home is no longer required as security.This structure avoids cross-securitisation which is important as explained in this blog.Additional investment propertiesIf you plan to invest in multiple properties, you can repeat the steps above. For simplicity, it is acceptable to maintain Do 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.

Aug 31, 2021 • 25min
A powerful share market investment strategy you can implement yourself
Investing in the share market is a relatively easy, simple and a low-cost investment strategy to implement, if you know the right way to do it, of course. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to mess it up. In this blog, I set out how to implement a highly successful (over the long run) share market investment strategy using a low-cost, evidence-based approach.Of course, the information in this blog (and in fact, in all my blogs) is general in nature. It’s not written or tailored for you, as I do not know your personal circumstances, goals, risk appetite and so on. Therefore, be careful. If you have any doubt, always seek independent financial advice.There are three steps to implementing a share market investment strategy.Step one: chose your investment methodologyWhen investing in the share market, you have three broad options:1. Invest in direct shares i.e. pick the stocks that you would like to buy;2. Employ the services of professionals to pick the stocks on your behalf e.g. use a stockbroker or actively managed fund; and/or3. Invest in low-cost index funds (this could be described as a rules-based approach to picking which stocks to invest in).Regular readers of this blog will know that I strongly believe in only employing evidence-based investment approaches. And there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that demonstrates that index investing has the greatest probability of generating the highest returns over the long run. If you’d like to learn more, I present this evidence in this blog and also in my book, Investopoly.Some people are attracted to investing in shares for fun (i.e. a bit of excitement). A perfect example of this is what happened to US stock, GameStop and other meme stocks. The core purpose of investing is to build wealth, not to have fun! In fact, if done correctly investing should be boring. Although the process might be boring, the outcome is exciting!Step two: pick the productNow that you have decided to adopt an indexing methodology (if not, return to step # 1!), it is time to pick the product you will use.Do 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.

Aug 24, 2021 • 21min
What impact will the prolonged lockdowns have on the property market and economy?
Approximately half of Australia’s population is currently in a lockdown, and this may continue for another few months until vaccine target levels are reached. I wanted to discuss what impact this may have on the property market and the broader economy.Of course, there are wide ranging impactsThe impact of Covid lockdowns can be wide-ranging. Dealing with the challenges of home schooling, not seeing family, not enjoying your normal pastimes, business failures, job losses, mental health challenges and so on. Of course, we all have a tremendous amount of empathy for the various ways that lockdowns are negatively impacting people’s lives. That said, the aim of this blog is to focus purely on economic impacts only.What we learnt from previous lockdownsThe lockdowns in Australia during 2020 and around the world taught us some valuable lessons, as there were some common themes, namely:§ Low-income earners tend to be impacted to a much greater extent. In fact, it is not uncommon for higher income earners to avoid any negative financial impacts from being in lockdown, because as they can work from home, they retain their employment and income.§ Because people cannot undertake their normal (non-lockdown) activities, we observe two economic trends. Firstly, people save more money (i.e. the savings rate spikes), which improves their financial position. Secondly, people tend to spend more on durable goods – although this trend will probably diminish at some point – how many new appliances do we really need!§ Whilst an increase in business failures hasn’t yet been reflected in insolvency statistics, it stands to reason that each successive lockdown (Melbourne’s onto its 6th) puts an increasing amount of pressure on some businesses, as their financial resources deplete. Anecdotally, unfortunately I have observed a greater number of business closures in the Melbourne CBD over the past couple of months.§ Overall economic demand does tend to bounce back strongly and quickly. At a macro level, demand for spending by higher income earners tends to more than compensate for lower levels of demand by income earners.But we don’t have JobKeeper anyDo 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.

Aug 17, 2021 • 20min
Land tax minimisation (or elimination) strategies
Land tax is levied on the value of an investor’s landholdings on 31 December each year. It is an insidious tax as any land tax is relatively small when you initially purchase an investment property but typically increases each year. As such, the problem is that it can become quite costly by the time you reach retirement – a time when it’s preferrable to pay less tax, not more.There may be several opportunities to minimise land tax which are discussed in this blog.Land value is a vital attribute of an investment-grade propertyThe value of a property comprises of the value of the underlying land plus the dwelling’s value (i.e. improvements that are permanently located on the land). Typically, land appreciates in value over time whereas buildings depreciate. Therefore, to maximise your property’s rate of capital growth, you must invest in property’s that have a high land value i.e. more than 50% of the property’s value should be in the land.There are a couple of consequences of investing in high land value properties:1. High land value properties tend to produce low rental yields. That’s because renters don’t really care about the value of the underlying land. Renters are more impressed by the size and quality of the accommodation; and2. High land value properties attract higher land tax liabilities.Remember, the power of compounding capital growth more than compensates investors for these disadvantages.In the past, it hasn’t been wise to own property in a company but…One of the major disadvantages of owning investments in a company is that a company is not entitled to the 50% capital gains tax discount.If you realise a capital gain in your personal name of $100, you can discount that gross gain by 50% if you have held the investment for 12 months or longer. As such, the investor will be taxed on a net gain of $50 at their marginal tax rate. If they earn over $180,000 p.a., their rate of tax is 47%, so they will pay $23.50 in tax. In short, the maximum rate of tax in respect of CGT in their personal name is 23.5%.If a company makes a capital gain of $100, it will pay tax on the whole gain as the 50% discount is not available. As the corporate tax rate is 30%, it will pay $30 of tax.In this situation, the investor that uDo 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.

Aug 10, 2021 • 19min
Property versus shares; a practical comparison
As a completely independent advisor, I have no vested interest in how my clients invest. Whether they invest in property, shares or any other asset class makes no difference to my life. Of course, I want them to invest in (1) assets that are most appropriate for them and (2) assets that provide the highest returns without taking unacceptably high risk. I know that if I help my clients invest successfully, they will continue to remain clients and therein lies my firm’s success. Often investors contemplate (and compare) investing in either property or shares.The property versus shares debate is meaninglessIt is often debated which asset class is better, property or shares. I view this debate like arguing which golf club is best. Each club has its unique purpose, and the reality is that golfers need many clubs in their bag to play well. Investing is no different. Investing in a mixture of asset classes allows you to balance out the pros and cons of each asset class at a portfolio level. Ignoring any one asset class in totality gives rise to higher investment risk as you are putting too many eggs in one basket.In summary, I think shares and property are equally good asset classes. I believe that most investors should invest in both. I believe that if you employ an evidence-based approach, in the long run, the investment returns produced by property and shares should be materially similar.The big difference is an investors’ appetite for gearingMost people feel more comfortable borrowing to invest in property but less so with shares. There is good reason for that. The chart below is from my book, Investopoly. It sets out the long term returns and corresponding volatility of each asset class.See chart here. The average volatility rate (or standard deviation) for shares is 20.9% and the average long-term return is 11.6% p.a. To put this in non-mathematical terms, two-thirds of the time, you can expect that your annual return from shares to be in the range of -9.3% and 32.5% (being plus or minus one standard deviation from the average). And 95% of the time your return will between -30% and 53% (plus or minus two standard deviations). That is a very wide range, right? And that is why shares are seen as volatile, as return can vary significantDo 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.

Aug 3, 2021 • 20min
Investment case for Brisbane property: Pros and cons
I hosted a seminar in August 2018 where I presented an investment case for (investment-grade) houses in Brisbane in the $800,000 to $1m price range. It was my thesis that they represented excellent value and had a high probability of delivering above-average returns in the medium term. An investment grade house that sold for circa $800,000 in late 2018 would be worth well over $1 million today.Depending on your financial position, existing assets and investment strategy, an investment-grade property in Brisbane might still be an excellent investment. I set out some pros and cons to consider in this blog (in no particular order).Pro: Overseas and interstate migrationThe chart below sets out interstate migration for NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Sydney’s interstate migration has been negative for many years (as a Melbournian, I’ll resist the temptation to disparage Sydney). The clear trend over the past 5 years is that a growing number of people are moving from Victoria and NSW to Queensland. However, historically, almost all interstate migrants move to the Sunshine and Gold Coast, not Brisbane. However, I suspect that Covid might change that trend.See chart here. This next chart sets out net overseas migration since 2004. Overseas migration declined significantly between 2008 and 2015. It was starting to recover but of course Covid has interrupted that. Unlike interstate migration, almost all overseas migrants move to Brisbane.See chart here.Interestingly, New Zealanders tend to represent around half of the total permanent migrants. But fewer New Zealanders have been moving to Queensland in recent (pre-covid) years. The number of New Zealand migrants between 2017 and 2019 ranged between 1,500 and 3,000. By comparison, in 2008 over 16,000 New Zealanders moved to Queensland. A rebound in New Zealand migration could have positive consequences for Brisbane and its property market.I suspect that Covid has highlighted how attractive Australia is as a designation for overseas migrants. And, for some of the reasons highlighted below, Brisbane is well positioned to attract a large share of these immigrants.Do 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.

Jul 27, 2021 • 22min
2021 super returns: The best industry funds & important considerations
It is not unrealistic to expect your super returns to be over 20% for the financial year ended June 2021. Of course, this is a great outcome in what has been a tumultuous year. However, I would like to highlight some important observations and considerations.And the 2021 winner is…The table below sets out investment returns for the largest 8 industry funds based on a Balanced investment option (data from Lonsec). The table is sorted by 1-year returns, highest to lowest for the financial year ended June 2021. Hostplus achieved the highest return. However, AustralianSuper is the best performing fund over 3, 5, 7 and 10 years as highlighted.See table here.I have selected the relevant pre-mixed investment option that has 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 it 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.This list of top 10 super funds includes all industry and retail funds (my list above only compared the 8 largest industry funds).Click here to view a similar comparison for a Growth investment option.Often, it’s impossible to understand how your money is investedOf course, it is basic common sense to make sure that you always understand how your money is invested. However, that can be challenging with some industry funds. Most people assume their money is invested in share and bond markets. However, some industry super funds invest a large amount of your balance in “alternative” investments.Alternative investments can include almost any type of investment that cannot be classified as shares, bonds, property or cash. Alternative investments include things such as infrastructure, construction and private credit, hedge funds, private equity, currency, commodities and so on. Industry super funds do noDo 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.

Jul 20, 2021 • 13min
How you can use mean reversion to drive investment returns
One of the challenges that many investors face is deciding what to invest in, how much and when. There are three methodologies that you can employ to help make this decision, but only two are supported by evidence.What is mean reversion?Mean reversion is a financial theory that suggests a period of above average returns is often followed by a period of below average returns, such that the average return over both periods is close to an asset class’ long term mean (or average) return.Many academics have studied mean reversion and concluded it is an observable and repeatable trend in financial markets.Mean reversion makes sense. It is unlikely that an asset class can generated above average returns for an unlimited period of time. For example, the S&P500 index (US market) has returned over 15% p.a. over the past 12 years. Its long term mean return is close to 10% p.a. Therefore, the probability of it delivering that return again over the next 10 years (thereby generating a return over 15% p.a. over a 20-year period) is very low. In fact, modelling suggests the probability of that occurring is less than 1%.Examples of how perspective & mean reversion helps with investment decisionsI recall that towards the end of 2011, the AUD/USD exchange rate was close to parity (i.e. $AUD1 = $USD1). This meant that it was a good time to invest in the US market (because Australian dollars was more valuable). However, in the 10 years ended December 2011, the S&P500 index had delivered a return of close to zero. As such, an investor would have been excused for discounting such an investment opportunity, because why would you invest in a market that had delivered a zero return over the past 10 years!? Sure, the exchange rate was favourable, but that alone doesn’t validate the investment.Since the end of 2011, the index has delivered a return over circa 14% p.a. and the Australian currency has fallen 30% (relative to the US), resulting in a total return of circa 18% p.a. Mean reversion together with a low-cost index fund have done most of the heavy lifting.Perhaps the most obvious market at the moment that is likely to benefit from mean reversion is the investment-grade apartment market. As I wroDo 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.

Jul 13, 2021 • 17min
When to not invest: 5 questions to ask
There are a number of factors that I consider when contemplating an investment on behalf of my clients or for me, personally.I think it’s very important to consider a vast array of investment opportunities (or appoint an advisor to do it on your behalf). But it is even more important to discount most of them. Being diligent, setting a high bar and having the discipline to stick to sound fundamentals is critical for success.This blog sets out the important factors that I always consider.Will it materially improve your financial position 10 years from now?It is often tempting to invest in ideas or opportunities that may promise to provide quick investment returns. Doing so appeals to our desire for instant gratification (reward). One of my favourite quotes is from Howard Schultz (billionaire and founder of Starbucks); “short term profit rarely creates long term value”. It’s very true.A quick profit is nice, but it’s not the solution to building long-term wealth, unless you can consistently pick the next short term opportunity. But that is impossible to do. The problem is these ‘quick profit’ opportunities tend to be inherently risky (so many don’t work out well) and provide a one-time return only.Instead, you are much better off to invest in assets that provide predictable returns over very long periods of time. Investing in an asset that provides an average return of 7% p.a. over the next 30 years will magnify its value by 7.6 times.Asking yourself whether the investment you are considering will materially improve your financial position in 10 years’ time, forces you to think long-term. It helps you avoid the shiny objects (i.e. opportunities that trick you into believing they’ll deliver quick profits).Ironically, the older we become, the easier we find it to make long-term decisions. Or maybe we just get more comfortable with delayed gratification. Either way, it requires discipline and patience.Do you understand what’s driving the expected returns?Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand.You need to understand how the investment will work. How will the returns be generated? It must make sense.For example, if you are investing in a property in a blue-chip and highly sort after location, it is easy to understand how that property will be worth a lot more in 30 yearDo 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.

Jul 6, 2021 • 17min
Are investment returns that important?
Last week a prospective client asked me a very good question. They asked whether I have data that shows what investment returns my clients have generated. Whilst this sounds like a logical question, my response was that not only did I not have this data[1], but it also wouldn’t necessarily be that useful. The reason is that investment returns are highly dependent on a client’s stage of life, their risk profile, the quantum of their investable income, their starting financial position and so on. Unless all those factors are identical to this prospective client, the returns are not relevant.But the question got me thinking; how important are investment returns anyway?Short term investment returns don’t give you the full storyIf I told you that my clients enjoyed a 100% return over the past 12 months, would you be impressed? Of course, no one’s going to be upset with that return but it tells me nothing about:1. The risk that I took to achieve that return. High returns are almost impossible to achieve without taking high risk; and2. Whether that return is sustainable. The laws of compounding growth tell us that it’s more powerful to consistently generate a sustainable return (e.g. 8% p.a.) over many decades. That should be your goal.Returns become more important over long periods of timeIt is very possible that when I start working with a client, in the short-run, they might be financially worse off. I have two examples to demonstrate this.The first example is when I advise them to invest in property. In that first year they pay for a lot of large expenses such as stamp duty and buyers’ agents fees. This diminishes their net asset position.The second example occurred last year when we had actively reduced exposure to the seemingly overvalued US tech sector prior to Covid. As we know, the tech sector was the greatest beneficiary of Covid during 2020. Consequently, our portfolios under-performed over the year to December 2020. However, based on initial investigations, it appears our portfolios have more than made up for that under-performance over the year ended June 2021 (being underweight tech has served us very well to date in calendar year 2021).The lesson these two examples demonstrate is that sometimes short term returns suffer in the pursuit of maximising long-term Do 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.