Hi All,

My first seminar of Steve’s also. I found it very good value for money, but I would add a qualifier saying the seminar will be completely valueless if I don’t take any action from it!

The main reason I signed up is I was in the position of many people (confirmed by chatting to others at the seminar) of wondering what to do now the boom is over?

I now have the confidence to go forward with what I will call the ‘theory’ Steve outlined, plus the actual real world practical examples provided by the Mappers. Whilst Steve and Dave make making money look very easy, I found the struggle some of the mappers went through helped balance out that perception. They still achieved spectacular results, but you got a sense of their blood, sweat and tears as opposed to Dave’s nonchalent ‘I made a 100K in 5 minutes’ stories [blush2].

Another benefit was definately the rubbing shoulders aspect. Just hopefully making a few contacts and finding out about other people.

Anyhoo, lot’s more information than I could absorb so am thankful we did get notes in the end! I was also impressed by Steve and his sincerity. I had no problem with Dave’s style either and appreciate the time he took to answer a personal question I put to him.

Will see you in Sydney!

Ben

Bit of a digression, but I like the characterisation of investors that Kiyosaki uses (he borrowed and adapted it from someone else originally).

Bit complicated to explain here but many of you would have read about it.

The idea is there are 7 levels starting at zero and should be at least a level 4 if you expect to do well with investing. Level 4 investors have a long term plan, excellent spending habits and intermediate to advanced knowledge of their chosen investment vehicle (or more than one).

Really they are supposed to be people with all the fundamentals in place, with the main bad habits that detract from success under control.

From there you may like to become a full-blown capitalist and start creating global markets

I think the ‘serious’ investor fits with this characterisation of a Level 4 investor. The lower levels are described as gamblers, cynics, excessive borrowers, market followers that kind of thing.

Ben [buz2]

Hey,
To put it even more simply the body corp insures the building structure and anything on the exterior of the buildings and your job as owner is to insure the internal parts of the property, e.g. carpets, kitchen cupboards, other fittings etc.
I personally do not bother with rental income insurance as this is quite costly and the risk should be negated by having good tenants and a decent property manager.
This means all you need is contents and public liability insurance. The liability insurance is usually part of any policy so for a typical 2br unit you might have $20,000 worth of contents that need insuring which can be had for the paltry sum of $130pa.

Hope this helps,

Ben [buz2]

Some may find this a little strange, but since reading Rich Dad and not being ready to fork out for Cashflow I have started playing Monopoly again.
To my surprise I had a much deeper understanding of how to win from reading the book and in the first game was able to utterly destroy my opponents [baaa].
Seriously though, it shows how simple the principles of making money really are – acquire assets that give you income and look after your cashflow.

Ben [buz2]

Have been working on this lately, but as someone mentioned I am still in a very steep part of the learning curve and this is subject to change.

I think goals should be specific where possible however, and should be looked at several times a week.

1) $500pw passive income in 5 years (any asset class)

2) Have a great network of mentors/friends

3) Have a strong and well protected asset base

4) Have developed my ‘financial iq’ and investment experience substantially. Know something about all the investment vehicles, different strategies, market trends etc.

5) Have developed my sales leadership and other skills in preparation for starting a successful business

As you can see I mostly focused on learning but through action as much as possible.

regards,

Ben [buz2]

Looks like balanced commments to me.
There wouldn’t be much point in him trying to influence the market with those comments – if he was he’d be so slick most people would miss it
Ben

If you purchase with two names on a contract, that’s automatically deemed a 50/50 partnership. I believe you can have a solicator draw up some documents to make it 70/30 or whatever you like but remember this will only split your income, NOT your liability. You are always 100% liable as a partner in a partnership (if you’re partner bails to Costa Rica) for example.
Note this my understanding from WealthGuardian so feel free to correct me

Ben Carbery

Steve,
Thank you so much.
By some strange co-incidence this month’s newsletter has helped answer the exact question I have been asking myself lately…should I sell and realise some of the capital gains I have made in the last 18 months or continue with a buy & hold (accumulate more debt) strategy.
This article really clarifies a few issues for me.
First of all it is good to hear it is ok sometimes to sell! I guess it’s common once you have read a book or two on property investing to think this is always a bad idea.
Secondly it seems very timely advice considering the current market climate. Many people have made big capital gains in the last 2 years and are concerned about securing these gains and minimising their level of debt in an uncertain market.
In my case I bought several small negatively geared properties (albeit profitable after tax) and am looking to convert my portfolio to true positively geared over the next year. Selling one property was an option I had considered but was concerned that a) I would be paying CGT and b) it was counter to my strategy.
Thanks for the working example showing how this can be actually be a beneficial situation!
cheers,
Ben Carbery