I take your point that $10 million in property seems like a lot to most people but the point of the book is to point out that in reality it isn’t and is achievable by just about anyone. Maybe I didn’t make my point well enough (suffering failure as an author syndrome with you!).

I do not believe I have lost touch – our clients (who I work with every day) fit your profile exactly – in fact many of my clients seem to be doing far MORE than I ever did at their stages which should lead them to becoming even more successful than me.

You also have to take my strategies in context that I do not only advocate property. We have our clients invest in a multitude of different asset classes and vehicles to “speed” their wealth creation.

I understand many of your points but don’t think it’s necessary to respond to them line by line (unless you really want me to). People do a lot of silly things to themselves out of fear but I can only address them by encouraging them to take action. And then if they don’t get it right take more action until they do.

Continuous forward movement – momentum – is critical to me. Momentum with a good strategy will inevitably lead to success, and at least if you are going to fail momentum will tell you sooner so you are not waiting your time on a loser strategy.

But if your question is what I think it is, ie how do I create an income stream of $50,000 PA in 20 years time – that’s easy (if a little under ambitious)…

To do that you need $500,000 in today’s money or about $1.5million in 20 years.

As you point out most people already have equity in their home and they are determined to pay it off. Personally I don’t know why you’d bother – seems lot of work to me but if they do that’s OK – in 20 years they’ll own their home outright, but that’s not going to get them far.

The strategy I would use is exactly as I have laid out in my book.

Use that equity to buy a property or two. Wait until the equity in it grows. Doesn’t matter if that is next week (as it has been over the last few years) or next year or in a few years (as it probably will be over the next few). When the equity goes up draw down again to buy more.

Subsidise the cash flow negative part (if you are following my strategies) by cash flow positive investments such as Commercial Property Trusts so the servicing costs are zero. If you prefer to follow Steve’s cash flow positive route that’s fine too. I think my strategy would get you there quicker, many would argue that the CF+ route would get you there easier – you choose.

Property grows at about 8% PA on average but does not grow consistently (that is pointed out in the book) like some people would have you believe.

Let’s say their house is worth $400,000.

Most of our clients can afford 3 (negatively geared) $250,000 to $300,000 investment properties straight off. Let’s make that $1,000,000 flat.

8% PA means a doubling every ten years or so. That’s $2,000,000 after 10 years, $4,000,000 after 20 years for the investment properties.

Yee Ha! $3,000,000 worth of equity. Sell it all up, pay back the loans (including the $400,000 for the house and you have $2,600,000 to invest. The house is now worth $1,600,000 and you own it outright. Beautiful.

Take the $2,600,000 and invest it in a diversified portfolio of higher yield investments like shares, managed funds, commercial property trusts and so on through a tax protected vehicle. Let’s say all that averages 9% yield (higher during the share and cash cycles, a bit lower during the property cycles). That’s $234,000 in cash rolling in PA. Tax on that would be 30% in today’s laws, so you’d have $163,800 net, so we are in front of our target.

Once of the best exercises I get my clients to do is just to sit down and project out into the future what their current assets would be worth in 10, 20 or 30 years, just based on averages. Most of the time it makes them much calmer about their future and less worried.

And a not worried client is not a greedy client. And when they aren’t being greedy they don’t do stupid things.

Greed to me is simply doing too much, too soon with too little skill in an effort to get too much money.

Other than that – why not go for it?

And as for the parties – you either need to be a friend, Platinum client, or very good looking blonde!

If you did I’d be forced to slap you! [biggrin]

In the end we are all human beings with the same challenges, problems and dramas in our lives.

I just liked the quote from some guru I once heard…

“Having wealth does not remove your problems, but it sure helps pulling up to them in a stretch limo!”

A very interesting question. The view is very nice – thank you.

How has my life changed?

Mmm, well, first I don’t eat Black and Gold Brand Tuna any more.

That’s a good first start!

I’ll let you decide for yourself if my life is exciting – to me it is just my life…

Really, the most important thing is that I have more choice about what I do, when I do it and who I do it with.

My life didn’t change much at all until my net worth was well into the millions.

There really needs to be a new “benchmark” for us to set our gaols towards. While I understand that most people would LOVE to be a millionaire it really is not that much if you have any for of desire for a materially extravagant life.

If you just want to sit and meditate a mil will still buy you a nice farm in Byron Bay!

I always say that money doesn’t buy you anything important – love, family, health, happiness, purpose – those are not the domain of the wealthy and people with money have just the same problems as people who don’t, no more no less.

Wealth is all about choice and ease.

So, on a material level my life has changed a lot.

Some of the changes I notice from the days I didn’t have any money…

I have a beautiful home in one of the most expensive suburbs in Australia – Darling Point as well as my home in Brisbane which was the 3rd most expensive sale for a house in Brisbane when I bought it.

My personal space is important to me and so to have so much room in the house means I can always find myself a quiet spot (different from living with 21 other people in a condemned house) and the outlook is lovely.

I have a full time housekeeper and cook who keep the house in an immaculate state at all times so no cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing or gardening. Of course, most people will know that allows me and my partner a LOT more free time.

While my favourite dinner is grilled chicken and salad with Sarsaparilla to drink our cook can and does whip up some quite exotic meals when we have guests over for dinner (which is about 3 nights a week and when home, Sundays for a pool side party) and, while not super extravagant, the wine on the table is usually in the $50 to $100 a bottle range.

It also means that all the spare rooms are always made up and ready so when we have guests they can be accommodated at a moment’s notice. Most of my friends prefer to stay with me than 5 Star hotels – they say they get better service!

When I do stay away – which is a lot – I stay 5 Star and usually in suits that I have stayed in many times before so I have a sense of sameness or homeliness – the staff at the boutique hotels where I stay usually recognise me and do those little extra things for special guests – again important to me. To people who do not travel a lot they don’t get why spending so much extra is worth it. Just to have a Butler press a shirt so I can have 20 more minutes sleep or 20 more minutes to myself is virtually priceless though when you spend over 200 nights away from home.

I have a nice collection of cars and I love driving my Ferrari on quiet country roads to just revel in its sound. I don’t wait in Taxi cues as my limo driver is always there waiting and I fly at the pointy end of the plane (First Class is a joy) and every now and again as an extravagance I charter a plane to remind me of my goal to again own one.

I go to Europe once a year, another international destination a least once per year, take my partner skiing once a year and head up to the Whitsunday’s to spend time on my 63’ boat as often as I can.

I throw excellent birthday parties and as I don’t like Christmas away from home bring my family and my partner’s family to me every other year.

I get invited to a lot of special events – charity balls (and you can get fantastic deals at the auctions), concerts, theatre, gallery openings, parties, product launches (recently the arrival of the Maybach at our local Mercedes dealer) and enjoy not going to most.

I get to follow my favourite sports up front and personal – F1 in the Paddock Club at Monaco, Melbourne and Imola this year, the swimming and beach volley ball at the Olympics, The Brissy Lions from a corporate box and so on.

I get to meet some great people… Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Michael Schumacher, all sorts of sports people, movie stars (I got invited to Cannes Film Festival by Sandra Bullock this year), politicians, businessmen and the like.

I hate lining up for things and a little bit extra “flash” (as they say in the good ol’ USofA) usually fixes that.

My Doctor was the President of the AMA (they most definitely do not bulk bill) and I have the best specialists in the country looking after me when I need it.

I don’t have to worry about many things – like where next month’s home loan repayment is coming from, can I afford this that or the other, will my credit card bounce if I hand it over, what I have to sacrifice to afford something and so on.

All of this I am extraordinarily grateful for. Coming from where I did I understand deeply how lucky I am to have all this, and on the flip side I also like to give back.
I have established a private foundation, and apart from the tax benefits it has allowed me to give away a lot of money to charity. These days I invest the funds I give to the foundations and the other funds we raise. 50% of the profits go back to the fund and 50% are donated. This has resulted in lower donations in the short term but will produce a sustainable fund that will in perpetuity donate to charity and continue to grow (Like J.P. Getty’s fund which is now almost $100 Billion).

I also like to do practical projects, so for example this coming weekend I have, with a group of my Platinum clients organised to build a barn on a farm that helps errant teenagers get skills and trades so they can get back into society.

We have 200 people coming and intend to build it between 9 am Saturday and 6 pm Sunday. This is the 7th such project I have started.

I still go to work most days and have a great company with a great team who I am proud to work with but what has changed is that I get the feeling that most days at least, we are really making a difference in people’s lives. The company has a small amount of influence with certain people which helps get things done. The Qld government for example were most helpful in assisting us to move our head office to Brisbane and in the process we made friends and contacts in the government and public service which would help us again should we need it. It also means we have the resources to do what we need to do to run our business and move it forward.

The influence extends well beyond that. In our western world people respect people with money more (sad but true). It’s easier to get things done. People are always offering me free things, discounts, extra services and so on just because they perceive I may have a bit of wealth. Odd that the more money you have the less you have to pay for!

I could go on but I think you’ve got the picture.

If having money has downsides I can’t find many of them…

Maybe a greater sense of responsibility. Maybe a greater sense of guilt when you see things not quite right in the world that money could fix (lot’s more than I have might I say), like hunger and so on.

But most of the downsides in my life come from my public profile not necessarily from money (ie I could have chosen to be wealthy without seeking public attention). Having people recognise you is mostly fun but sometimes difficult.

Like the other night I was running late for my flight home. I got to the airport late but was excited to see that they hadn’t started boarding the flight. The check in person called the gate and the gate said no, so I politely but firmly asked her to try again. The gate still said no and so I asked to speak to the gate person myself and finally after a bit of argy bargy got on the plane. The check in person said “I have been to one of your seminars and now I’m disappointed because I have seen another side of you.”

I mean, what am I supposed to do with that? I just wanted to go home after a long and difficult day. Somebody making a comment like that just makes it worse, like I always have to be on my best behaviour and never demand anything just because somebody might recognise me. I have seen people do far, far worse than that at check in time! No wonder genuine celebrities get lumbered with the “spoilt” tag. I can imagine the story she told when she got home!

But to my own personal credit I handled it, I believe quite well. A few years ago I would have full on chucked a tanty and made a real scene, so I’m making progress on the personal development front.

And this leads me to, more importantly, having a bit of wealth (and I do not consider myself rich) has enabled me to spend time on myself. Going to courses, reading books, working with coaches and so on to try to become a better person. I have a long way to go but I am enjoying the journey.

I think I lead a full life, and while I want to live for a long time, believe I have packed as much as I possibly could into my little life, and wealth gives me the freedom to continue to do so.

I always say that money acts as a giant magnifying glass, amplifying whatever you already have inside.

So if you are happy, money can make you happier, if you are sad then money will make you miserable. This is why I work on myself. To find happiness in everything I do, to find peace and harmony in my life.

So has my life changed since I have had money – absolutely.

Has money changed me – yes, mostly for the better I hope.

So set your goals around what will make you happy. Money has no purpose in the world apart from helping us fulfil our purpose. So for that, it is extraordinarily useful.

And if you set your goals around happiness then you will be happy today with or without money, and if it ever happens (not that it will), I will be happy without money too.

Hope this answers the question.

IF I deliver the book on time (running behind) it will be released into book shops about April 2005.

Firstly, let me say congratulations on your success. That’s fantastic.

Secondly, I try not to buy into the argument about seminars and their “worth” as I obviously have a biased view and it is open season on seminar presenters and I prefer not to open myself up to pot shots. I also don’t feel it necessary to justify what I do, but your question seems genuine so I will attempt to answer as best I can.

Before I answer your question about seminars I must say our two seminars are priced at $498 (Millionaire Magic – our buy and hold seminar on shares and property) and $1,980 (Instant Income – our options trading seminar). Secondly, Freeman Fox is not a seminar company. We are Licensed Financial Advisers – 80% of our turnover comes from Financial Planning, Stockbroking and Finance Broking.

Do our seminars represent value? Well, of course we think so, but it largely depends on how much YOU implement after attending.

The best seminar on the planet priced at $25 is still a waste if you do nothing.

We survey graduates and even 2 years after attending over 20% say their experience was exceptionally valuable, over 40% of the people surveyed say they got value for money by attending, and over 30% say, while they have not done anything they blame themselves, not the seminar. That leaves about 10% who, in hindsight think the seminar was not valuable to them. I’m not sure if that is a good record or a bad record but I imagine just about any company with 91,000 clients would have similar results.

To me its horses for courses. Some people, like me, love seminars. Some people don’t.

The value is completely intangible.

Once I complete my next book on shares and options my entire strategy and probably more content than can be covered in my seminars will be in the books and available for less than $100.

But that can be said for Tony Robbins too – his two books cover so much more than is in his seminars (I’ve been to just about all of them) and his seminars are about $15,000 and yet he is the world’s most successful seminar presenter and thousands of people attend every year. I’ve read his books and I’ve been to his seminars and I think I have got value for money from both even though some people could never fathom paying that much money for a few days of jumping around and doing a spot of Tony worship!

So, you have to judge value for yourself, before you fork out your hard earned dollars by through investigation and research (as best you can) and, at least with our seminars during (because you can ask for a refund if you don’t like them – about 3% of people who attend do). But still, over 60% of people who attend our seminars come from referral so we must be doing something right.

Then you have to commit to yourself to action what you have learnt.

People who love seminars love the motivational environment, mixing with like minded people and hearing the information from the horse’s mouth.

In the end you are not paying for the presenter’s knowledge – there are no secrets (as much as some of us like to market that there are). I freely admit that there is nothing in my seminars you could not learn for free or at least with a minor investment, but you are paying for the person’s time and the infrastructure behind what they do.

We tried having external presenters do our seminars and cut the price significantly (because I get paid more then they do for presenting them) but less and less people turned up. We even tried doing them for free but less people came and even fewer became clients. So we went back to charging for what we do and I present most of our seminars again. Go figure?

If all you need is the knowledge, then books work very well. It you need a bit of a motivational sugar hit to help push you to the next level then seminars, with ethical and knowledgeable presenters can be very useful.

I hope this is an adequate answer.

At the start of the Chapter on Renovating for Profit, Peter is meeting with Luke. Probably should have been a spare line spacing and a new paragraph started of Luke rushing off. Tis a little confusing[/quote]

Yes, it is a layout issue.
Oh well, in 67 reprints they will probably fix it.

While of course I can’t check your figures you are certainly on the right track in terms of interpreting my thinking on the matter. You may like to check out http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=16897
for additional comments I have made on this topic there.

As many have said I would reserve the $1,500 largely for instant repairs or special requests although many of the suggestions made are great.
It is well known that I give all my tenants a gift when they move in (I think there is a whole thread on it somewhere), on the move in anniversary and at Christmas to thank them for looking after my property (presuming they do).

Not sure this is exactly the same as not looking at it before you buy…
I once went to an auction (in a hotel) and bid on a property only to secure it for about $70,000 less than what I thought it was worth.
Of course 5 properties later the actual property that I wanted to buy (in the same building) actually went up!
Imagine my surprise when I discovered my new apartment was missing a whole bedroom. [blush2]
Lucky I have a few! LOL

Oh and I bought and sold property for a few years, then traded options and bought shares, then bought and held property, then delved into all manor of investments!