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What does the Uber Eats app have to do with the skills shortage? What does walking down the cereal aisle in the supermarket have to do with our economy and our property markets? In today’s show I chat with leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher, who uses a number of food metaphors to help explain what’s happening in our economy, so if you’re a lover of food as I am, and more importantly if you’re interested in the property or business, I’m sure you’re going to get some great insights from my chat with Simon. I’ll also share a mindset moment about failure with you. Topics that Simon and I discuss: Australia is facing a skills shortage This is happening because of low immigration. Without overseas migration, the country doesn’t have enough workers to meet its needs Businesses “raided the pantry” by hiring from the pool of unemployed workers, but the pantry is nearly empty now Because skilled migrants aren’t available, full employment is near Even some long-term unemployed workers have returned to the workforce But some sectors, like tourism and hospitality, are still struggling to find enough workers Competition for workers may drive some wages up However, not all businesses will be able to afford to raise wages. And in some cases, wages might not be the reason they’re having trouble finding workers Australia needs to get to work on creating its own skilled workers to fill positions, since skilled migrants from overseas are unavailable This involves removing barriers to upskilling Companies will need to choose where they fall in the “cereal aisle” – expensive cereal on one side, cheaper brands on the other, and a basic brand square in the middle Resources: Michael Yardney Simon Kuestenmacher - Director of Research at The Demographics Group As our markets move forward why not get the team at Metropole to build you a personalised   Strategic Property Plan – this will help both beginning and experienced investors. Get a bundle of eBooks and reports www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: There’s no UberJobs app to solve the problem. It’s time to try something else with Simon Kuestenmacher Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “One of the ways one can have a better GDP and improve your economy is becoming more productive.” – Michael Yardney “We choose to target areas where there’s more skill level 1 and 2 workers, where there’s more established money suburbs because that’s the premium end of the Weet-Mix market.” – Michael Yardney “I think failing is overrated.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

What’s a better investment in today’s market -  apartments or houses? That’s the topic of today’s show. Now I could give you a simple answer, but I thought it was better to help you understand the thought process behind my decision than give you an immediate answer. Of course, I’ll also be sharing my mindset message for today before the end of the show. So is it better to invest in a house or an apartment? The change to a new working and home life prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with a loss of confidence thanks to some shoddy high-rise apartment buildings during the last building boom has seen investors increasingly shy away from investing in apartments. It seems that more investors are now asking if apartments are still a good investment in the current market. Well… my response is… it depends. I remember times when apartments outperformed houses, but for the last decade or so house values have risen at more than twice the rate of units. And the current property boom widened what was already a sizeable difference in prices. Of course, historically apartments have been cheaper than houses but the gap in prices has grown particularly wide in the past year. Some apartments, especially family-friendly low-rise apartments in lifestyle neighborhoods have still performed well and are likely to remain in continuous strong demand. The Numbers of Apartment Living The 2016 Census of Population and Housing found that 10% (2,348,434) of all people in Australia spent Census night in an apartment. This meant that there was around one occupied apartment for every five occupied houses in Australia - compared with one to every seven, back in 1991. While the number of vacant rental listings has fallen significantly in Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, and Hobart over the past year, Sydney and Melbourne continue to bear the brunt of closed international borders that has left many inner-city apartments without tenants. Data from Domain showed Melbourne’s vacancy rate sat at 4.7 percent as of February 2021 — a massive spike from the same time last year when the vacancy rate was 1.6 percent. Choosing the right neighborhood Sure, last year offices were shut and lockdowns were in place but moving forward more of us are likely to continue working flexible rosters and working at home more than ever. This means gone are the days where our ‘home’ was simply the place we rest our heads and enjoy some downtime between work and our social lives – the coronavirus crisis has put an end to life as we once knew it. If you can leave your home and be in short 20-minute proximity – whether that is on public transport, bike ride or walk - to a great shopping strip, your favorite coffee shop, amenities, the beach, a great park, that’s the new gold standard of where people want to live. What matters in a home? And it’s not just the importance of neighborhood that has shifted Australians’ views. The legacy of the lockdowns and the work-from-home-movement have made many Australians reevaluate what exactly they want in the home itself. All of a sudden people were trying to find space to be able to work, study, and also relax all under one roof - and in many cases, this hasn’t gone well. Prior to COVID-19 more Australians were trading space for place and were embracing apartment living, trading their backyards for balconies and courtyards in inner-city locations. Now we want more space – a zoom room, a bigger yard, and a garage that can be converted to a gym. High rise apartments: The slums of the future It’s worth pointing out that while large well-located suburban medium-density apartments will make great investments increased substantially in value over the long term, many of the high-rise towers built in the last fifteen years will continue to underperform with poor, if any, capital growth in the foreseeable future. Of course, these cookie-cutter-style apartment blocks never made good investments. The sad reality is that today, in light of the many media reports of structural problems in some of these high-rise towers, there is a crisis of confidence. This sector of the property market has lost the trust of the buying public and confidence will take quite some time to restore as various stakeholders including state and local governments as well as the construction industry including building surveyors and certifiers scramble to shore up the building sector. Investors are shying away Historically, a significant volume of apartments were bought by local and overseas investors. But as I explained, now many of these investors are shying away from apartments, due to increasing concerns about vacancy rates, capital growth, and also because of COVID-19 related concerns. Highly-publicized failures and defects in high-rise apartments, such as the Opal Tower in Sydney, are also playing their part and dampening demand. But it’s important for investors to remember that not all apartments can be lumped into the same category. While many new homes are being constructed, the pipeline for new apartment complexes is very thin meaning when our borders eventually reopen and demand for apartments increases from the many new migrants and students returning to Australia, apartment prices will start increasing again as the cost of constructing new projects will be considerably higher than previous building costs. This will of course push up the price of new apartments and with it drag up the price of established apartments. Remember, property markets are cyclical In the short run, returns can be inconsistent, but it’s well documented that investment returns eventually revert to their long-term averages. That is, periods of below-average growth tend to be followed by periods of above-average growth and vice versa While houses outperformed apartments with regard to capital growth over the last decade, for the 10 years prior to that many well-located apartments grew in value as much as houses did. The fact the houses have displayed strong capital growth rates over the past 10 years due to appreciating land values, interestingly implies that apartments are currently intrinsically undervalued. But comparing apartments to houses is unfair Of course, if your budget allows you to buy a house or townhouse in an A-grade location, that’s first prize when considering an investment purchase, but our booming property markets mean that more and more investors will be unable to afford a house in an investment-grade location. Fact is, the rich are getting richer and they don’t want to travel further out and I believe the gap between values in our established inner suburban locations and the outer suburbs will only widen. Australia’s apartment market: The outlook In the short term…. Over the next year or two, it is likely that there will be less demand for apartments while first home buyers continue to prioritize houses and investors remain wary. In the long term…. Over the next 10 years, I think we’re going to see a shift in Australia’s apartment market and a much more substantial increase in capital growth. Why? While currently around 10% of our population living apartments, this is significantly lower than the percentage of people living in apartments in similar size western cities to Sydney and Melbourne, where it’s not unusual to find 20 to 30% of the population living in apartments. Then, in light of structural and building problems in recent years, the next round of apartments will cost significantly more to build as builders and surveyors will be forced to avoid cutting corners and risking further scrutiny. This will, in turn, push up new apartment prices and therefore values of good established apartments. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Get a range of my ebooks here: www.PodcastBonus.com.au  Shownotes plus more here: What makes a better investment in today’s market – a house or an apartment? Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “There’s not one property market, so we can’t even say there’s one apartment market.” – Michael Yardney “These days, the place people want to be is not near the CBD, but in lifestyle neighborhoods where all the amenities are close by.” – Michael Yardney “Watching a movie that excites you, inspires you, makes you laugh, takes you away to another place, that’s a good way of turning off your stress.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

We’re well into the second half of 2021 now so it’s a good time to reflect back on the year so far and then look forwards to what’s ahead. Property values across our capital cities have experienced double-digit growth already this year. And despite the Covid concerns we’re experiencing, there’s plenty more growth to come. Clearly, buyers are still out in force – owner-occupiers, investors, and first home buyers – at a time when available supply is struggling to keep up, keeping pushes prices higher. While much of the commentary is about the micro factors – what’s happening on the ground in our property markets – I like to regularly get together with property commentator Pete Wargent in these Big Picture podcasts to look at the macroeconomic factors affecting our economy and the property markets to help give you some more clarity about what the future holds so you can make better investment and business decisions. Since we spoke last month Australia’s economic recovery has continued to unfold, more jobs have been created and our property markets keep surging. Australia’s Property markets All our capital cities have already experienced double-digit growth this year other than Perth. Homebuyers and property investors who took a long-term view have already enjoyed significant capital growth. The higher-end, more expensive end of the market is outperforming the cheaper end. Investors are back in the market. The pace of growth will slow but property values are likely to increase another 10% this calendar year. Rental growth is slowly starting to pick up as vacancy rates fall. Australia's households just keep getting richer. Australian household wealth grew more in the last year than it did during the preceding three years combined. Much of our wealth is due to ownership of property A new report from Credit Suisse estimates as many as 1.8 million Australians are millionaires today based on net household wealth (defined as the value of financial and real assets minus debts). And over 3 million Australian adults could soon be millionaires, according to the report. A lot has to do with property and super The RBA and interest rates Governor Philip Lowe’s announcement telling us that the economy is doing much better than previously forecast resulted in speculation that an interest rate increase may come sooner than expected Latest housing finance figures The value of new home lending has almost doubled since May last year. New home lending increased by 4.9% from the month prior and a whopping 95.4% or $15.90 billion from May 2020. While the value of owner-occupier lending only saw moderate month-on-month gains, investor lending has gone way up Investor lending has now hit the highest level since June 2015 with $9.13 billion of new loans in May, more than double the value in May last year when COVID was in its early stages. However, the investor surge comes at the cost of first home buyers, with the number of owner-occupier first home buyer loans dropping. While first home buyer numbers are down, the value of first home buyer lending is up, reflecting Australia’s rising property prices. Jobs The jobless rate has fallen to its pre-pandemic level of 5.1 percent after the creation of 115,000 jobs in May. The underutilization rate is the lowest since February 2013. With international borders shutting out foreign labor and fuelling skills shortages in some industries, job ads at a 12-year high, and jobs vacancies soaring, the local labor market could reach full employment sooner than expected. Population Australia's population increased by 136,300 people in 2020. This was the slowest population growth since ABS records began in 1982. There were 294,400 babies born in Australia last year, the fewest births in 13 years. And there were 161,400 deaths in the past year down by 3.4% over the previous year. Over the next 40 years, Australia’s population is expected to age and become smaller than expected. Resources: Michael Yardney Metropole’s Strategic Property Plan – to help both beginning and experienced investors Get your bundle of eBooks and reports here: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Join Michael’s Property Update private Facebook group by clicking here Pete Wargent  Next Level Wealth  Pete Wargent’s new book Low Rates High Returns Shownotes plus more here: The Big Picture | Economic & property trends you must understand – July. With Pete Wargent Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “The markets turned in October last year, and they’ve gone gangbusters ever since.” – Michael Yardney “We’ve never had as many first homebuyers, so housing is affordable. Maybe not right in the centre of Sydney or Melbourne, but there are still opportunities.” – Michael Yardney “I can see an employment rate with possibly even a 4 in front of it, moving forward.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

My special guest for today’s show is Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad Poor Dad fame. I spoke with Robert on my podcast last year at the beginning of Covid when he warned Australians about the challenges for our economy ahead and the opportunities that he felt would come at the other side of the downturn. Now I didn’t agree with everything he said, but I respect that he has taught not only me, but millions and millions of people about the basics of financial literacy, so I was keen to hear his opinions. Fortunately, Robert’s dire predictions didn’t come to pass, so I was pleased when he reached out to me again recently to be on my podcast so I could ask him what the biggest surprise was for him over the last 12 months. You’ll hear how Robert’s teachings challenge conventional thinking about money and he suggests that you should be doing what the 99% are not doing. You’ll hear Robert speak positively about Australia’s opportunities, but you may be shocked by some of his predictions of what will happen before these opportunities arise. As I said, I don’t agree with all of Robert’s thoughts, his ideas about real estate, and his forecasts for what’s ahead for the economy, but rather than debating him, I gave him the airtime he deserved, and then after our chat, I’ll share my views. So don’t panic if you hear some of Robert’s extreme thoughts, but please listen to the whole show including my thoughts, and then you’ll have both sides of the discussion argument to make your decisions on. My Chat with Robert Kiyosaki For many years Robert Kiyosaki has been one of the most respected voices in the world on growing wealth.  He is best known as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad which is the #1 personal finance book of all time and Robert has challenged the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money. Some of the topics Robert and I discuss: Robert’s background and credentials What surprised Robert over the past 12 months He believes the United States is desperate and dumping money straight into the economy, rather than through the banking system Why real estate is Robert’s preferred investment vehicle He likes being able to use debt to buy real estate and lower tax obligations He believes that his concepts are applicable to Australia as well as the US because he’s made money in Australia using his concepts Robert’s investment philosophy hinges on self-education rather than trusting the government Robert’s explanation of his Cash Flow Quadrant The Quadrant uses the letters are “E”, “S”, “B” and “I”. “E” stands for Employee. “S” stands for Self- employed or Small business. “B” stands for Big Business and “I” stands for Investors. Why Robert believes that the world’s biggest financial crash is on the horizon He believes that we’re in a bubble because the US has been printing money instead of fixing mistakes He does not believe the bubble is likely to deflate slowly Robert believes that it’s difficult to know what will cause the bubble to burst, but that it will probably be something small added on to a pile-up of things He believes that Australians should not be complacent about their susceptibility to a bubble Robert also believes that a home is not an asset This is because he believes that assets bring in cash, while liabilities cost money, and a home costs money Robert will be doing a live event with Harry Dent while he will explain more about what he believes will happen and what opportunities will arise from it. My response to Robert’s thoughts In the show I give you an alternative view on 2 of Roberts assertions: What’s in store for our economy and His concept of what makes a good property investment. Property. Robert clearly knows a lot about United States Real Estate – where the rules are very different, the tax regime is very different, the markets are very different and the way to invest is very different to Australia. In fact, if I think about it the way I would invest in real estate in New Zealand is very different from how I would invest in Australia even though our countries and economies are more similar than Australia and the USA. Our property markets are underpinned by the fact the 10.6 million properties around Australia are in general owned by homeowners – in fact, 70% are owned by homeowners and half of these homeowners don’t have a mortgage against that property. And for the other half that do you have a mortgage, many of them are ahead in their payments while others are using the mortgage to support the purchases of investment properties. There is not a real property debt problem in Australia. How I see it is that the way you get income from your investment properties is in 4 ways. Capital Growth Rental returns tax benefits Accelerated/ manufactured growth. Unfortunately, too many people look for cash flow from their residential real estate investments in Australia and that’s just not how it works. Our economy When I spoke with Robert last year, he was concerned that Australia would fall into recession as with most countries around the world. And that prediction came true, but the recessions weren’t as deep voice disastrous as he expected because our governments have learned they can buy their way out of a recession by spending money. Australians perform better than most advanced economies and of course, we are still susceptible to coronavirus-induced problems and I won’t even discuss the potential geopolitical problems with China, but I see a number of reasons to be optimistic about the future. Global economic growth is recovering rapidly Australian consumers are going to keep spending. Fiscal stimulus will continue Monetary policy remains ultra-easy New migrants will flood into Australia when the borders open Your home as a stepping-stone In this new age of property investment, when interest rates are accommodatingly low and mortgages so cheap, present-day homeowners are actually sitting on a potential goldmine. Far from being a drain on the household coffers, many of us are taking the opportunity to reduce our mortgages faster, contributing extra to our continually shrinking monthly repayments. In turn, some property owners are building up equity at a considerable rate, with the help of the long-term appreciation of well-located property. Take select pockets of the Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane property markets for instance, where homeowners have enjoyed significant growth on their principal place of residence over the last few years without lifting a finger. Some of them are leveraging the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equity they’re literally sitting on (or in) to invest in further high growth assets, while others are cashing in on a rapidly moving rental market and erecting granny flats in the backyard to create quick (and lucrative) accommodation. Now more than ever, your home can and should be an integral part of your investment game plan. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Robert Kiyosaki’s Australian Virtual Event – www.robertandharry.com Shownotes plus more here: An eye-opening interview with Robert Kiyosaki – the economic shock ahead in 2021 Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “I think it’s important to not go forward with blinkers on, to listen to people with various opinions, especially from people who’ve got a track record.” –  Michael Yardney “Our property markets are underpinned by the fact the 10.6 million properties around Australia are in general owned by homeowners.” – Michael Yardney “First of all, it’s not just Australia – global economic growth is recovering rapidly.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

One of the most difficult aspects of being a property investor comes from the fact that we have competing emotions depending on where you are in the property cycle. There’s fear and greed, overconfidence and loss aversion, panic and euphoria. We’re told there’s nothing more important than being disciplined when getting involved in property and investment, but it’s not easy when the emotions hang in there. One of them is fear of missing out, like a lot of people are currently experiencing as they feel the market is moving faster than they can get in. And there there’s fear of getting in, which a lot of people were experiencing last year when people were talking about property Armageddon. So today I have two segments: the first one a chat with property researcher John Lindeman and we have a little bit of a general chat about FOMO and what you should watch out for. Then I’ll share the ten FOMO mistakes I’m seeing many property investors make, to ensure that you don’t make them as well. So, today’s podcast will be useful for you whether you’re looking to get into property or you’re already in property anyway, because as we go through these things, there are a couple of great fundamentals and lessons I’d like you to know. Some of the Topics John Lindeman and I Chat About: FOMO is an emotionally based desire. We don’t want to miss out on something someone else has. It’s similar to greed. You have to respect the market. When things settle down, some people will find they bought the wrong property or overpaid. FOMO can move a boom to a bubble when too many investors become involved. That’s why it’s better to buy in areas that are mostly owner-occupiers. There will always be another opportunity, so buy with your head, not your heart. Big FOMO mistakes John Lindeman currently sees: Emotion that takes over decision-making. Finding it difficult to wait. Have rules that can help you rationally you decide which property to buy so that emotion doesn’t take over. 10 FOMO Mistakes Not really understanding the nature of the property cycle You need to remember that the property market always moves in cycles. So after a boom, you will see a downturn. Acting with heart and not head Allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment means you are more likely to over-capitalize on your purchase, rather than negotiating the best possible price and outcome for your investment goals. Diving in or Dithering FOMO causes some investors to act too impulsively, while others freeze up out of too much caution and never act at all. Not adhering to their property strategy Successful wealth creation through real estate requires you to set goals, determining where you want to end up, and then devising a cohesive plan to get there. Changing their investment strategy. If your aim is to gain financial freedom through property investment this is a critical time to stick to a proven strategy. Speculation over Patience Property investment is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Doing it successfully requires patience. Not having a finance strategy. Strategic property investors have a finance plan to allow them, not just to buy one property but the next and the next. Compromising on Location A property’s location will do 80% of the heavy lifting when it comes to capital growth, so don’t compromise on it. Taking advice from the wrong people You should take advice, but from proven experts, not just anyone with an opinion. Buying the wrong property Don’t make a snap decision on the wrong property. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us John Lindeman – Lindeman Reports Get our special bundle of eBooks and reports at www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: Warning – Avoid these FOMO errors investors make in a hot property market; with John Lindeman Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “It’s owner-occupiers that basically create the markets, about 70% of purchases, and it’s investors who push it up to its heights - the booms, and even sometimes the bubbles and then also create the slumps” – Michael Yardney “Currently I’m seeing some buyers so worried the market is going to pass them by that they’re compromising their selection criteria just to get in the market.” – Michael Yardney “By approaching property investment with patience and persistence, you will gain far more success and wealth than if you seek out the next big thing.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

You heard me say it before - property investment is a game of finance with some houses thrown in the middle. But the rules of the game are changing in front of our eyes, so today I’d like to explain what’s going on with lending, so you have a better chance of the banks saying “yes” to you and lending you more money, with leading finance strategist Andrew Mirams, director of Intuitive finance. I plan to ask him a number of the common finance questions we’re asked when clients come to see us at Metropole, but I’m also going to ask Andrew some of the questions you probably wouldn’t even think of asking but are important to know the answers to in today’s financial climate, so that at the end of today so you’ll have a better understanding of how to approach the game of property finance. The changing game of property finance with Andrew Mirams What’s actually happening in the world of finance? Are the banks open for business? The banks are always open for business. They’ve actually been pretty good through the pandemic. They’re working on more responsible lending. Are they still talking about loosening the purse strings a bit? Lending restrictions have been over the top a little bit and probably needs more scrutiny. Why is it taking longer to get preapprovals? Applications to banks have gone up a lot mostly due to first-home buyers and now investors are coming back as well. Also, lots of workforces are offshore We discuss some preapproval conditions borrowers need to understand It’s important to understand where banks are willing to lend – they restrict lending for certain postcodes and types of property Bank loan officers don’t necessarily understand business. You can’t go to a bank to get property advice The right time to invest is when it’s right for you Interest rates are important, but the right loan rate is more important. Online lenders aren’t necessarily the right answer. A finance strategy is much more than an interest rate or fees. Banks are looking at your serviceability as much as your equity. Loan insurance can entice banks to increase the loan, but it protects the bank, not you, and loan insurance costs. So, you have to find a sweet spot that gives you the amount you need without paying too much for the loan. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Get a bundle of free eBooks and reports at www.PodcastBonus.com.au Andrew Mirams Director Intuitive Finance Shownotes plus more here: Understanding the changing game of property finance with Andrew Mirams Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “I believe it’s important to have a preapproval in place before you go out into the market.” – Michael Yardney “I don’t think you should assume the bank is on your side.” – Michael Yardney “If you do the easy things now, you’re going to have a hard life later; if you do the hard things now, you’re going to have an easy life later.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

We’re halfway through 2021 now so it’s a good time to reflect back on the year so far and then look forwards to what’s ahead. Property values across our capital cities have experienced double-digit growth already this year, in all capitals other than one. And despite the Covid concerns we’re experiencing, there’s plenty more growth to come. The surge in property value has caused the property bears to go back in their caves and hibernate and our major banks have done an about-face and are now forecasting 20% to 30% rises in property values around Australia this cycle with strong growth continuing for some time. And the economic Armageddon predicted by some didn’t eventuate and we didn’t fall off the assorted cliffs that were meant to litter our path along the way. So, in today’s podcast, I’m going to have a chat with Australia’s leading economist, Dr. Andrew Wilson, as we look back on what’s happened to price growth so far and give you some thoughts on what’s ahead. This year’s property growth and what’s ahead No one would have predicted the unprecedented record-breaking levels of high house price growth in the first half of 2021. The outstanding performer so far this year has been the Sydney property market where house values have increased 17.8% this year alone. In fact, Sydney home values have increased 24.2% in the last 12 months. Sydney apartment values also increased, but not as much - increasing 7.3% in the last six months and 9% in the full year. Over the six months of 2021 so far: Melbourne property values have increased 11.8% Brisbane values were up 10.7% Adelaide values rose by 10.4% Perth values increased by 8.1% Now it’s important to remember the capital city of values set their previous records in September 2017 and today values are only around 10% higher than previous records. In other words, the market did but it always does, operate cyclically with periods of flat or no growth and even periods with property values drop. How FOMO Affects the Markets The other critical factor, of course, is fear of missing out (FOMO), a self-fulfilling cycle where those yet to buy in are motivated to do so by the prospect of having to pay more to do so at a future date. None of these factors look likely to change over the rest of 2021, and it’s likely that house prices could rise by another 10% before the end of next year. Of course, this is just average price growth, and the upper end of our property markets are outperforming cheaper properties, and for the last month, capital cities are outperforming regional Australia which performed strongly during the Covid lockdowns last year. In due course, the property markets will slow down as affordability becomes an issue for some homebuyers and investors. Regulation appears to be imminent. Historically, surging house prices have tended to lead to a deterioration in lending standards and risks to financial stability, giving regulators impetus to tap on the brakes. The RBA has given fairly strong indications that they won’t use monetary policy to this end, at least not yet, so expectations are instead that they and APRA will look to macroprudential controls such as increased interest rate buffers, and limits on high loan-to-valuation and high debt-to-income ratio lending. Government stimulus measures will continue to be wound back. HomeBuilder, a major driving force for the market through the pandemic, has now ended, and smaller state housing incentives may also be retired over the coming months. More broadly, the indirect influence of fiscal latitude will gradually be reduced as governments seek to move their budgets back towards balance. Low immigration will continue to be a drag. Restrictions on migration have cut underlying demand for housing by around 100,000 dwellings (nearly 50%) this year, and this is one outage caused by the pandemic that won’t be switched back on overnight. Even with a vaccinated population, borders will probably be opened gradually with quarantine requirements remaining in place for some or most arrivals. Immigration will recover slowly. But currently, with the lack of new apartment construction it’s likely we will have a looming undersupply of apartments once our borders are open. In my chat with Dr. Andrew Wilson as we discuss how despite the doomsayers’ dire predictions our housing markets remained resilient last year, but growth was stifled by lack of consumer sentiment The markets turned in October 2020 and have gone gangbusters over the first half of 2021 Those who heeded the negative nellies lost out, while home buyers and property investors who took a long term view have already enjoyed significant capital growth. Listen as we discuss how each state government introduced their own set of temporary measures to stabilise the rental markets, prevent evictions and support tenants in hardship. Rental vacancies in our big capital city CBD’s spiked due to the lack of overseas students, no overseas tourists using Airbnb and decreased local tourism While rentals initially fell, vacancy rates, especially for houses are now falling and the rental markets are tightening. Resources: Watch the Property Insiders Video of this session here Michael Yardney Metropole’s Strategic Property Plan – to help both beginning and experienced investors Guest: Dr. Andrew Wilson, chief economist of My Housing Market Subscribe to my weekly Property Insider video with Dr. Andrew Wilson here- www.PropertyInsiders.info Collect your bundle of eBooks and reports- www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: Amazing double-digit growth in property so far this year, with Dr. Andrew Wilson Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “When people feel about their jobs, when they feel secure about their financial future and employment, they make big investment decisions like buying homes.” – Michael Yardney “Our economy over the last year experienced that V-shaped recovery that we all hoped for, but not many of us expected.” – Michael Yardney “Most successful people fostered accomplishments in their lives by diligently doing things every day, but they also did it by diligently avoiding certain things.” –  Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. 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When planning to invest in property, people tend to think about “where should I buy, what should I buy, how much can I afford?” But often they don’t think about “who should I ask for advice?” Since investing in property is a significant financial and personal decision, it’s really important to make wise decisions, and it’s really important to get good advice early in the piece, because getting it wrong can result in significant financial loss, emotional stress, and a huge lost opportunity. And if you’re in the middle of your property investment journey, it’s still critical to ask for advice to make sure you’re heading in the right direction. So, who do you ask for advice? And with so many mixed messages and vested interests out there, who can you really trust? Well, that’s the topic I discuss today with Brett Warren, National Director of Metropole Properties and I hope at the end of the today’s show, you’ll have more clarity in your options and who you can ask for advice, and what you can and can’t expect from your advisors. And of course, I will also share my regular mindset message with you. Who Do You Ask for Property Advice? Our property markets are booming at present but we know that now all markets will perform the same over the long term. So as a property investor who do you turn to when looking for advice? A better question may be - with so many mixed messages and vested interests, who can you really trust? Who investors could turn to for property advice: No One— many beginning investors make this mistake. They think they already understand the market. Friends or family— People do this for understandable reasons, but unless you have millionaires in your family, it’s probably a bad idea. A real estate agent— It’s important to remember, agents work for the vendor selling the property, not you. A mortgage broker— Brokers are helpful in the finance areas, but not experts on investment-grade properties An accountant— You should talk to an accountant! But about things like tax matters and structuring, not the property market. Financial planners— Financial planners sell financial products, but most are not able to advise on real estate. A property marketer— These are salespeople who really selling “product” for a property developer who is most likely going to make the biggest profit out of the deal. Investment seminars and workshops— Is the person leading the seminars an actual expert who made their money in the market? Or do they only make money by teaching others? It’s an important question. A property mentor —It’s important to have mentors. Just be careful who you choose and ensure they have achieved the results you want to achieve. A buyer’s agent— These can be a great help in selecting the right property, but they don’t devise a plan that takes into account your family's future needs and your risk profile. A property strategist – Someone who can help you grow, protect and pass on your wealth using property as a vehicle. What a good property strategist can do for you: Get to know their clients’ hopes and fears to help them achieve their long-term financial goals. Help remove his client’s anxiety by simplifying the complex. Develop a long-term relationship with the client and help them see several steps ahead. Recommend proven strategies that have always worked. Offer a list of potential property options and refer their clients to a buyer’s agent who is part of their team. Help their clients select an investment property that is the highest and best use of their funds. Help clients avoid big mistakes. Provide perspective, insights, and often optimism. They will also advise their clients to invest their money the way they do themselves. Regularly and objectively assess the performance of their property portfolio Some things a property advisor can’t really do: Predict the future. Find the next hot spot for you. Pick the best time to purchase an investment property. 4. Help you get rich quickly or achieve extraordinarily high returns without taking on extra risks. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Get your bundle of eBooks and Reports at: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Brett Warren – Director of Metropole Property Strategists Shownotes plus more here: The right and wrong people to ask for property investment advice with Brett Warren Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “Many beginning investors think they understand real estate because they’ve lived in a house, they’ve rented a house, they’ve rented an apartment.” – Michael Yardney “In my mind, it is critical to have a trusted advisor when making property decisions. It’s just too hard to do it on your own.” – Michael Yardney “A property advisor should actually be part of your long-term journey. It’s a long-term relationship.” –Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. 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The Australian housing market is going gangbusters and all the signs are the boom is here to stay for some time. But how do you profit from this current growth cycle? In today’s podcast, I discuss 6 property trends that you’re going to see – and hopefully take advantage of – in 2021. Then, in the second half of the podcast, I chat with property researcher John Lindeman, who will teach us how to profit from this stage of the growth cycle, because if history repeats itself, lots of investors will unfortunately lose money instead of profiting. My aim is to ensure that at the end of this episode you’ll have more direction and certainty to take advantage of our property markets over the coming year. 6 Property Trends to Look for in 2021 Demand from Homebuyers Will Remain Strong: People have saved money, borrowing costs are lower than they’ve ever been, and interest rates won’t rise for a while. Plus, COVID is under control. These factors will inspire more people to buy and FOMO will continue to drive homebuyers into the market. Investors Will Eventually Squeeze Out Homebuyers: Increased competition and rising property values will edge out first-time homebuyers as more investors get into the market. Property Prices Will Continue to Increase: Consumer confidence, low interest rates, economic growth, and a favorable supply and demand ratio will all help drive property values. However, some segments of the market will continue to struggle. Buyers Will Pay a Premium for the Right Neighborhood: People want 20-minute neighborhoods, with the ability to live, work, and play all within a short distance of each other. And buyers will be willing to pay more to get that. Expensive Properties will Outperform: Higher-end properties are leading the way in growth. Upgrading Will Be Common in 2021: After lockdown, small apartments will seem to confine, and people who a deposit by not traveling or spending much on entertainment during the quarantine will be eager to upgrade to a bigger and better place, especially given the ease of borrowing money. How to profit from this growth cycle Profiting from this growth cycle isn’t as easy as it seems. Property researcher John Lindeman reminds us of Warren Buffet’s famous two rules that all investors must follow if they want to ensure their success. The first rule is never to lose money and the second rule is never to forget the first rule. But if history repeats itself, some investors will lose money even though overall our property markets are booming, Today, John Lindeman and I discuss the things you need to know in order to profit instead of losing money. Subjects John Lindeman and I discussed today: Investors need to make sure they’re buying in markets where the growth is yet to come. You can’t measure growth by the length of time that price growth has been occurring or the amount of growth that has taken place. Growth is revealed by the types of buyers creating the demand. First home buyers, upgraders, downsizers, and investors have different motives and limits when it comes to buying property If we know which group is doing most of the buying, we can estimate when the growth is likely to end Investors are motivated by profit. Owner-occupiers are motivated by affordability In the current market, most buyer demand is being generated by owner-occupiers, not investors Investors can take advantage by buying property in areas that have not yet experienced growth but have the potential to. As first-time homebuyers reach affordability ceilings are reached and their growth slows down, growth will ripple to more affluent areas as upgraders take advantage of the market. So far, not much of this has happened yet. However, this means that suburbs in desirable locations are likely to be next to rise In general, it’s better to be in an area that’s going to be stable. You also want an area that’s in continuous demand. Capital growth has been stronger in the CBD and flattened out the further away you get from the CBD. It was predicted that a lot of people would move to the country post-lockdown, but that hasn’t panned out. Once the pandemic and the lockdowns passed, people realized they didn’t really want to relocate to the country and away from their work, family, and friends. Many banks, economists, and other analysts get their forecasts wrong last year. They looked at historical events like the Great Depression and the Global Financial Crisis, saw those caused property markets to slump, and assumed the pandemic would have a similar effect. That assumption was incorrect. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us John Lindeman – Lindeman Reports Get our special bundle of eBooks and reports at www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: How to Profit from 6 Growth Trends in 2021, with John Lindeman Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “If Coronavirus has taught us anything, it was the importance of living in the right property in the right neighborhood.” – Michael Yardney “Upgraders are now seeing the value of their home increase, and a lot of people after COVID, “I deserve a change. I’m looking for something different.”” – Michael Yardney “You’ve really got to see property as a long-term investment.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. 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No one likes to fail. In fact, most people would do almost anything to avoid failure. So, do you want to know the real secret to success? It is not dedication, commitment, hard work, smart work, passion, or even habits. You’re not going to like the answer. I’ve heard it said that the real secret to success is managing your failures. In this episode, we’ll take a look at some of the lessons we can learn from failure. Failure teaches you that success is never guaranteed. Like Winston Churchill once said, success is moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Failure isn’t final. Failures happen, but they’re no reason not to start again. Successful people have lots of failures on the road to their successes This too shall pass. Failure isn’t fun, but it’s also not permanent. No matter how much it stings at first, you can move past it. Failure forces you to embrace change. When you go through failure, this is basically the universe telling you that there is something you should be doing differently. Failure can be a great source of motivation. For people with the right mindset, failure can be a great source of motivation. Failure teaches you to stay humble. Failure isn’t unique. Everyone experiences failure, even the most successful people you know of. Criticism doesn’t equal judgment. Time is the greatest teacher. Rejection is a powerful tool.   You can learn valuable lessons from failure. Failure teaches: Creativity. If you fail by taking a route traditionally associated with success, you might have to embark on a novel path when you try again. Who to trust. When someone – even a friend or family member who you thought you could trust – plays a role in your failure, you learn not to trust them so readily in the future. Value. Failure is a chance to take another look at your value and how you can best present it. You to listen to yourself. Tune out any non-constructive, negative feedback that comes from failing and focus on building self-trust. Over time, failure can build resilience, which is why the pain is a little less each time it occurs. What to do better next time. If you can identify the steps that led to your failure and why they had the results they did, you can form a strategy for future success. Links and Resources: Why not join Metropole’s Business Accelerator Mastermind Learn more about Mark Creedon – Business Coach to some of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs  Get a copy of Mark’s new book here – Have a business not a job Get a heap of special reports and eBooks here- www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: 10 great lessons successful people have learned from failure with Mark Creedon | Build a Business, Not a Job Podcast Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “I’ve often said I’m a real success at failure, but it really does come down to resilience.” – Michael Yardney “If you get it right first time as a property investor, you probably think you’re smarter than you are.” –Michael Yardney “Successful people revel in other’s success.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how.

For Australians, real estate is something of a national obsession. That’s understandable given our home is often the biggest investment most of us will ever make. I’ve been investing in residential property for almost 50 years now, and throughout those decades there have been doomsayers and scaremongers claiming the Australian property market was a bubble waiting to burst. Reputations were staked on it, bets have been made and the media has offered these property pessimists more than their fair share of air time. Yet the crash never arrived. Instead, our property markets are booming with a number of capital cities already exhibiting double-digit capital growth this year. And Australia’s economic growth has also confounded the pessimists as we experienced the “V-shaped” recovery that, to be honest, very few expected. While much of the commentary is about the micro factors – what’s happening on the ground in our property markets - I like to regularly get together with property commentator Pete Wargent in these big picture podcasts to look at the macroeconomic factors affecting our economy and the property markets to help give you some more clarity about what the future holds so you can make better investment and business decisions. The Big Picture with Pete Wargent Since last month Australia’s economic recovery has continued to unfold, more jobs have been created, and the property market continues to grow. Australia’s economy recovery The latest GDP figures show that Australia has enjoyed a V shape recovery, though that’s ancient news now. Our economic output is now higher than it was before the COVID-19 recession hit, with easy monetary policy, booming commodity prices, demand for resources from the rampant Chinese economy and fiscal policy stimulus all playing a part. The public service is doing okay while the private sector has borne the brunt of the Covid ‘recession’. Australia’s robust economic recovery has merited an upgrade to a "stable" footing from ratings agency S&P Global. This has been matched by enthusiastic bets on interest rate hikes. As the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July meeting approaches, when the central bank will review its quantitative easing program. The Reserve Bank at this month's meeting reiterated its position that the cash rate is "unlikely" to rise until 2024 at the earliest. Biggest lift in business investment in 9 years New business investment (spending on buildings and equipment) rose by 6.3% in the March quarter. This together with the strong construction industry points to strong overall economic growth. Why jobs confidence is a big deal Policymakers are pushing hard for a strong improvement that will see a return to ‘full employment that brings an end to the persistently low wages growth that has held the economy back over the last decade. There are important implications from Aussies feeling secure about their jobs: Catalyst for spending Additional support for housing demand Budget deficit The economy is in better shape than expected around six months ago and therefore so is our budget. This gives the government options to provide more assistance to have individuals and businesses. The recovery has led to a 4% improvement in the deficit so far this year. Why Australia needs higher-paid migrant workers Recently the Grattan Institute released a report into Australia’s migration policy suggesting we focus on increasing the number of young skilled workers, rather than the government’s current emphasis on older less-skilled migrants. Grattan suggested this would help boost the economy by as much as $9 billion 8th consecutive current account surplus In the March quarter, the current account surplus widened to 18,300,000 representing 3.5% of GDP. This is the largest surplus on record matching to 3.5 achieved in June 2020. Who needs China when Australia’s got Tesla: Why do we need China when we have companies such as Tesla knocking at our door? And don’t let Elon Musk’s often ‘loopy’ and weird behaviour distract you! Tesla is a business with a huge future, being a first adopter of the electric car and the biggest proponent of big batteries as an alternative to the power delivered from the grid. A Tesla electric vehicle (EV) has $5,000 worth of minerals and metals in it and Australia supplies 75% of the lithium and 33% of the nickel in these Tesla cars of the future. Resources: Metropole’s Strategic Property Plan – to help both beginning and experienced investors Gets your bundle of eBooks and reports here: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Pete Wargent  Next Level Wealth  Pete Wargent’s new book Low Rates High Returns Shownotes plus more here: The Big Picture | Economic & property trends you must understand – June. With Pete Wargent Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “I guess it’s fair to say it’s probably always been about jobs, but at the moment, the focus is on our labour markets.” – Michael Yardney “We’ve actually got big war chests, and the more comfortable we feel about our job security, the more likely we’ll be to spend it.” – Michael Yardney “Until the vaccinations are rolled out, everyone’s had their second shots, or at least enough of us have, I can’t see the borders opening.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. 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Our current property boom is going to create a whole new generation of wealthy Australians. But since most people who become involved in a property boom don’t become financially independent, last week I started this special series of podcasts discussing 40 lessons I learned in the last 40 years of property investment to hopefully help make sure that you’re one of the ones who does succeed. Last week, I shared 20 property lessons, and today I’m going to share the other 20. Last week, I asked, with the benefit of hindsight, would you have bought an investment property in 1980? What if I warned you about the recessions, pandemics, and other challenges that were coming? What I wanted to share with you in this two-part series are the lessons I learned in that time period that made me a better investor. No one really knows what’s going to happen to the property markets. Don’t listen to who most property investors listen to for investment advice. Timing the property market is just too hard. It’s much better to buy the best asset you can afford and hold it for the long term. Any property can become an investment property – just kick out the owner and put a tenant in place and it becomes an investment property. But not all properties currently on the market are “investment grade” and will deliver wealth-producing rates of returns. Don’t rely entirely on property data – it can be misleading and can be twisted to say almost anything. Property investment is part science and part art – you need to understand and interpret data (science) but you also need an on-the-ground perspective to employ that data (art.) There are 4 ways you make money out of property: Capital growth, rental income, tax benefits, and forced appreciation or manufactured capital growth through renovations or property development. But these streams of income are not all equal. Tax-free capital growth is the most important. Cash flow is important to keep you in the property game, but capital growth will get you out of the rat race. You will never get rich from earned income or savings. Location will do around 80% of the heavy lifting of your property’s capital growth. Be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy. Don’t do what most property investors do. The majority of property investors fail. Treat your property investments like a business Don’t look for fun or excitement in your investing. Diversification is for people who don’t know how to invest. Having the right mindset is critical to investment success. While knowledge is important, successful investors take action. There are always risks associated with investing. Don’t be afraid of failing, because the biggest risk is not doing anything to protect your financial future. Don’t waste your time worrying. Most things you fear will happen never do. They’re just monsters in your mind. Never give up. You will have failures along the way – in fact, I’m a real success at failure, but each time I’m knocked down I get up again. You need resilience to be successful. Resources: Get a range of my best eBooks and reports at PodcastBonus.com.au Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Shownotes plus more here: 40 property investment lessons I learned in the last 40 years – Part 2 Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “There are too many enthusiastic amateurs out there at the moment offering investment advice.” –Michael Yardney “You need to make your money work hard for you, even when you’re asleep.” – Michael Yardney “Everyone does everything with money, no matter how silly it looks, because at the time it makes perfect sense to them.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how  

It should come as no surprise that the current property boom will create a new generation of wealthy Australians. However, if history repeats itself, most people who get into property investment this cycle won’t become financially independent. Just look at what happened during the last property boom, and the ones before that. 92% of those who held onto their property never got past the second property. You can’t develop financial independence from just one or two properties. Real estate has soared in value by more than 500% in the last 25 years, but most investors failed to develop a substantial portfolio. So, I’ve put together a special two-part series to help you make the most of our property markets. In today’s show and the next one, I’m going to share with you 40 property investment lessons I’ve learned in the last 40 years to help you become a successful property investor and create lifetime wealth. Let me ask you a question… With the benefit of hindsight and knowing what you know now, if you had the opportunity to do so, would you have bought an investment property 40 years ago? I bet your answer would be yes. But what if you didn’t have the benefit of hindsight and there we both were, back in 1980 and just as you were about to invest in a property I told you that in the next year or two Australia would fall into a recession and that in 6 years’ time negative gearing would be removed only to be reintroduced a couple of years later. What if I told you there was going to be a stock market crash in 1987, and a severe recession in the early ’90s, meaning that in the first decade of owning your investment property you would have had to face all those headwinds. Of course with the benefit of my time machine and you still being back in the 1980s as you planned to buy your first property I would also warn you about the upcoming AIDS scare and the SARS pandemic, the Asian financial crisis, September 11th, the Global Financial Crisis, the Coronavirus induced world recession. Would still have had the courage to buy that property back then in 1980? The answer for many people would now be: “No…why on earth would I invest in property knowing there are so many challenges, problems, and risks ahead?” Of course, they would have missed out on some amazing wealth-building opportunities, wouldn’t they? I was already investing for almost a decade back in 1980 and I did buy another investment property that year. And over the years the capital growth I achieved from my investment properties allowed me to keep adding to my portfolio meaning that today I have a significant “cash machine” that gives me the lifestyle choices I was looking for back then. Of course, along the way, I’ve had some great investment wins but I’ve also made more than my share of mistakes. And I learned many lessons that I wish I knew back then, so here are… 40 property investment lessons I learned in the last 40 years The economy and our property markets move in cycles. Booms never last forever, neither do busts. That is mainly because most of us get swept up in the optimism or pessimism of others. Despite the ups and downs, the long-term trend for well-located capital city properties is rising values. Even though they are armed with all the research available in today’s information age, economists never seem to agree where our property markets are heading and usually get their forecasts wrong. Every year we get hit by an X factor – an unforeseen event or situation that blows all our carefully laid plans away. Then every decade or so we have a major event and the world “breaks.” There are multiple property markets in Australia. Property investment is risky in the short term, but secure in the long term. It is definitely not a way to get rich quickly Since property is a long-term game, don’t look for “what works now.” Instead, look for “what has always worked.” Residential property investment is a high growth, relatively low yield investment class. Don’t try to make it something different. At times of poor or no capital growth, strategic property investors “manufacture” capital growth through property renovations or development. Residential investment is a game of finance with some houses thrown in the middle. Taking on debt is not a problem. Not being able to repay debt is an issue, meaning cash flow management is a critical part of wealth creation. Property investment is a process, not an event. Strategic investors not only buy properties, but they buy themselves time to ride out the cycle by having financial “cash flow” buffers in place. Wealth is the transfer of money from the impatient to the patient. I must thank Warren Buffet for that quote. The media is not there to educate you, but its job is to get you to click on their links so that they receive revenue from their advertisers. So don’t rely on the media for investment strategy or advice. There will always be someone out there telling you not to invest in property. There will always be people out there telling you to invest in property. So, understand their vested interests – they don’t usually have your best interests in mind. Savvy investors surround themselves with a great team and are prepared to pay their advisors – they see it as an investment, not a cost. If you’re the smartest person on your team you’re in trouble. You are going to make investment mistakes along the way and you’ll either end up paying a significant learning fee to the market or you can pay your advisors and learn from their experience and mitigate your risks. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us  Shownotes plus more here: 40 property investment lessons I learned in the last 40 years – Part 1 Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “Don’t be surprised when the booms and the busts come around and don’t overreact.” – Michael Yardney “Over the years, I’ve found that it takes the average property investor around 30 years to become financially independent.” – Michael Yardney “Knowing what not to do, in my mind, is just as important in achieving success as knowing what to do.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

You’re guaranteed two things in life – death, and taxes. While taking care of your physical and mental health can lead to a longer, healthier life and stave of the death part, what can you do to legally minimize your tax? Since everyone wants to pay less come tax time, in today’s podcast I chat with independent financial advisor Stuart Wemyss about what options are available to you. Minimizing Your Tax Tax isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re paying tax, it means that you are making money. But of course, there’s no need to pay any more than you legally have to. Minimize your risk Stick within the letter of the law, but explore legitimate ways to minimize tax liabilities Many more aggressive tax minimizing measures delay tax rather than permanently reduce it Implementing these strategies may create costs (tax advice fees and documentation) and complexities Sometimes, it’s better to keep things simple Minimize tax pre-retirement Personal exertion income earners have few avenues to minimize tax You can use negative gearing and/or contribute into super, but that’s about it Contribute to your super After 1 July 2021, individuals can contribute up to $27,500 per year into super and claim a tax deduction for this expense Borrow to invest Borrowing to invest (to generate capital growth) often makes good sense, especially if you are more than 10 years from retirement Minimize tax on investment returns If there are not many avenues to reduce the amount of tax you pay on your income, then at least make sure you don’t pay too much tax on your investment returns. Invest in assets that generate more capital growth than income Make sure the investments are owned in the most tax-effective way Minimize land tax Map out a plan and follow expert advice to minimize land tax as much as possible Consider capital gains tax Self-employment gives you more options Make sure that your business is structured correctly Stuart’s new podcast, The Holistic Accountant, is a good way to learn more about this You should aim to pay zero tax in retirement A couple can have up to $3.4 million invested in super, and not pay any tax If you plan well, it is a reasonable expectation to pay little to no tax in retirement If you can’t save tax, focus on investment returns If you earn money, it’s likely you will have to pay your fair share of tax. That’s life Cheating is never worth it The ATO is cracking down on dodgy deductions and the penalties can be up to double the tax plus interest Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Stuart Wemyss – Prosolution Private Clients Stuart’s Book – Rules of the Lending Game Shownotes plus more here: How to Minimize Tax – Your Largest Expense, with Stuart Wemyss Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “Tax isn’t necessarily a bad thing. No one likes paying it, but if you’re paying it, I guess it means you’re making money.” – Michael Yardney “If you’re going to own a property investment business, you should actually own the best assets you can in best locations you can, and land tax unfortunately is a cost of doing business.” – Michael Yardney “Those who invest in their abilities their entire lives, they become the beneficiaries of luck.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how  

What a year it’s been. This time last year Australia was heading into its first recession and deepest recession in decades. Yet last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed the strength of Australia’s economic rebound. It was the fastest economic recovery from a recession in 45 years. In fact, we are one of only three countries where our economy is ahead of where it was at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, but today can race and I unpack the statistics and explain what’s going on – the truth behind Australia’s economic recovery. But don’t worry if you’re not into economics, my chat today with Ken Raiss, Australia’s leading property tax strategist, will be in plain English and we’ll unpack what’s going on so you understand what’s ahead- both the good and some of the headwinds that may slow us down, so that you’ll be able to make a better-informed investment, and financial, and business decisions. What you’ll be hearing today is a portion of a private webinar we conducted for the attendees of Wealth Retreat to give them some insight before they join us, and while you won’t be able to see the slides, I’m sure our description will be sufficient for you to get benefit from our chat. Australia’s impressive economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession was confirmed with the strong 1.8 percent rise in March quarter GDP. This followed unprecedented growth of 3.2 percent in the December quarter and 3.5 percent in the September quarter of 2020. Our economic output is now higher than it was before the COVID-19 recession hit, with easy monetary policy, booming commodity prices, demand for resources from the rampant Chinese economy, and fiscal policy stimulus all playing a part. Back in the first three months of this year when we had JobKeeper, enhanced unemployment benefits, and no lockdowns and Australia roared out of recession. The GDP figures released at the beginning of June, which were for the first quarter of the year up til the end of March were for the months leading up to the end of JobKeeper. Australians spent, earned, and produced an impressive 1.8% more than in three months to December, which was itself more 3.2% more than the three months to September, which was itself 3.5% more than the three months before that. Our growth of more than 8% was the most over three quarters since 1968. But it followed a collapse in gross domestic product of 7% – by far the worst since the Bureau of Statistics began compiling records in 1959. The net result over the year to March growth of 1.1%, an extraordinary result which means that, at least until Victoria’s (just extended) lockdown, we were producing, earning, and spending more than before the COVID recession. I today’s podcast Ken and I discuss: what GDP is and why so much fuss is made about it Why I think that having a single overriding ‘economic’ health measure such as GDP is flawed What’s happening to unemployment, job growth, business, and private expenditure. Here are 7 reasons to be optimistic about the future. Covid vaccines will help in underpinning reopening and recovery Global growth is recovering rapidly — driven by vaccines enabling reopening, monetary and fiscal stimulus, and pent-up demand. Growth in consumer spending is well supported Dwelling investment will provide a strong contribution to growth — the surge in building approvals points to more upside in housing construction this year. Business investment is strengthening - — investment plans for the next financial year are up nearly 15% on plans for a year ago which is consistent with high levels of business confidence, excess corporate cash, and the instant asset write-off tax break. Fiscal stimulus will continue Monetary policy will remain easy However, there are some headwinds. Economic growth should continue this year and then could slow next year as some headwinds are revealed, the effects of the fiscal measures start to fade, and the housing market slows down a little. further coronavirus outbreaks economic ramifications of the international border closure, the potential for further lockdowns due to the slow vaccine rollout, and the geopolitical risks emanating from Australia’s “strained” relationship with China. Resources: Michael Yardney Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Get your bundle of eBooks and Reports at: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Ken Raiss – Director of Metropole Wealth Advisory Shownotes plus more here: The Truth Behind Australia’s Economic Recovery with Ken Raiss

What’s ahead for our property markets for the rest of 2021? That’s a common question being asked now that our property markets have been booming for quite some time. And that’s the question I’m going to ask Dr Andrew Wilson, Australia’s leading housing economist in today’s show. You’ll also hear his thoughts on what’s ahead for the rental markets, is inflation on the rebound and should we be locking in on interest rates with the speculation that interest rates are going to rise? Now you probably know that every week I record a Property Insiders video with Dr Wilson where we give you our thoughts and commentary on the property market and our economy, and today’s podcast is the audio of last week video show. You’ll hear Dr Wilson and I explain how our property markets have been bounding along this year. Buyers are still out in force – owner-occupiers, investors, and first home buyers – at a time when available supply is struggling to keep up, keeping pushes prices higher. In fact, a number of capital city property markets are already showing double-digit capital growth this year. Listen in as we discuss: What’s ahead for our property markets for the balance of this year. What happening in our auction markets as they give a good “in time indicator” of what’s happening on the ground. How our rental markets have turned around and vacancies are falling causing rents to rise. Why Dr Wilson doesn’t believe we’ll get sufficiently high inflation to raise interest rates for some time, and… Why some banks are recommending customers lock in their interest rates and why he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Resources: Guest: Dr. Andrew Wilson, chief economist of My Housing Market Metropole’s Strategic Property Plan – to help both beginning and experienced investors Subscribe to my weekly Property Insider video with Dr Andrew Wilson here- www.PropertyInsiders.info Collect your bundle of eBooks and reports- www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: Now what next for our property markets? With Dr. Andrew Wilson PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes – it’s your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here’s how

Why don’t most property investors succeed, especially since there’s so much information out there and so many people willing to help them? Well, today I’ve got three separate segments that are going to help you understand why many investors don’t succeed, but of course, the intention of that is to even the odds in your favour, to make sure you do succeed. I’m going to share with you probably the worst investment mistake I made, but it turned out to be one of the best investment lessons I made. It was a mistake I made early in my career when I lost 100% of my equity. Boy was it an expensive mistake and a blow to my ego. I guess it shows that I didn’t start off as a successful investor. There are some lessons in that alone. I’m also going to share with you a discussion I had with Joseph my hairdresser who learned how to invest like the pros. Isn’t that something that you’d like to know? Then, in my mindset moment, I’ll help you understand that I’m a real success at failure. So lots about success and failure in today’s show, but the intention of it is to make you a more successful property investor and more successful in all areas of your life. How to Invest Like the Pros I was having my hair cut the other day when Joseph, my barber, said, “Michael — I’m going to get into property investing and I’m going to make a fortune because I’ve learned how to invest like the pros!” When Joseph told me he knows how to invest like the pros, I had to ask — “OK — how are you going to do it?” “Easy,” he said. “I’ve been to a seminar and signed up for a course.” Then he pulled out the advertisement in the magazine that attracted his attention. It promised the ability to control millions of dollars worth of property with none of your own money and bypassing the banks. It also explained how the course presenter had made millions of dollars in seven days. At that point, I felt sorry for Joseph and for the thousands of novice (and some experienced) property investors who will be taken by the new breed of property spruikers who are once again out in force. You can’t become wealthy in seven days. You probably couldn’t even read the course material in seven days. Here is what the real pros know: You can’t create wealth through property overnight, but you can certainly become very rich in the medium to long term by knuckling down and seriously applying yourself in a dedicated, disciplined, persistent way. You get there by following a proven system and by having a safe property and finance strategy. You then implement this by buying the right property, in the right location, at the right price, and holding it for the long term. Not by adding hot water to a packet of magic beans and counting to seven. You can and should accelerate the process by learning the strategies of value-adding through renovations and development, but you can’t skip the fundamental process. While property spruikers went quiet during the real estate downturn, unfortunately, the new property cycle is bringing out a fresh group of “property pretenders”. There are now property “experts” out there selling advice and courses despite never having built their own property portfolios. This makes it timely to remind listeners that seminars promising easy wealth through property have all too often led to financial ruin. It’s just the cycle repeating itself. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should do it on your own. To become a successful investor, you will need to surround yourself with a team of independent and unbiased professionals — a team of people who are known, proven, and trusted. Then go ahead and take advantage of the new property cycle, because the future is bright for those who invest sensibly in property. My worst investment loss One of my early investments was a complete loss. I lost 100% of my invested capital many years ago, way back in the 1970s, and the investment mistakes I made that created this disastrous result. But first I want to explain the 2 main reasons why I’m sharing this story. Losing investments can be great teachers You’ll not only learn from the investment mistakes you make, but you can also learn from other people’s investment errors so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes yourself. Losses are a natural and normal result of making investment decisions Don’t be so hard on yourself when things don’t go as planned because the key to long-term success is what you do when this occurs and the lessons you learn from your mistakes, so you don’t repeat them. So here is the story of my big investment mistake where I lost 100% of my investment capital You see…I already owned a few investment properties at the time, but I was in a hurry to get rich quickly. I was offered the opportunity to invest in a Gold Mine. In fact, one of my friends, Brian, had invested the vast sum of $5,000 (remember it was the 1970’s and that was a lot of money) into a venture that was resurrecting an old disused gold mine in Wedderburn, near Ballarat in Victoria. Of course, my initial reaction was to tell him how silly he was. How he’d lose his money. But Brian asked me to speak with the promoter, explaining that he tells a compelling story. One Sunday morning a man called Terry came to our home and described how with the price of gold rising and using new technology it was now viable to reopen an old disused gold mine near Ballarat where the Gold Rush occurred in the 1800s. He had budgets and profit projections, diagrams, and plans; but things changed completely when he took a shiny nugget of gold out of his pocket and placed it in my hand. He told a compelling story of how I could double my money quickly investing in his company – The Asian Pacific Mining Corporation (what an impressive name!) – and how I’d receive dividends for years. My greed glands began working overtime as I swallowed his story – hook, line, and sinker. The end result was I invested $5,000 of my money and of course, I lost it all. My investment decision was one big mistake from the beginning. Here are a few of the more obvious mistakes I made with this investment: I gave my money to a virtual stranger without doing enough due diligence. I invested in something I didn’t understand. I bought a story rather than investment fundamentals. I was lured by the opportunity of making quick money. I was speculating, not investing, and risked money I couldn’t afford to lose. I had no investment strategy – just a desire to get rich quickly. I learned many lessons from this experience including: Not everything that glitters is gold Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make. Don’t invest in anything you don’t fully understand. I knew nothing about gold mining, so I was speculating rather than investing. I had no competitive advantage and there was no mathematical expectation to my investment strategy. One of the worst things that can happen to an investor is to get it right the first time. I thought I was smarter than I was when in reality my investment success so far was in large part to a rising property market – a boom that made me look smarter than I was. Don’t become overconfident -the market will soon humble you. I didn’t understand the incentives of the so-called “advisor” who really had a vested interest which created biases in the recommendations he gave me. In retrospect… My worst investment mistake was a cheap lesson This investment was the first of many learning fees I’ve paid to the market over the years. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and paid a lot of learning fees during my journey to investment success. It’s much easier for investors nowadays – you don’t need to do it on your own. Resources: Get the team at Metropole to help build your personal Strategic Property Plan Click here and have a chat with us Get a range of my ebooks here: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: I’ve learned to invest like the pros | My biggest investment mistake + more Some of our favorite quotes from the show: “If you are going to listen to somebody’s advice, make sure it is somebody who’s unbiased.” – Michael Yardney “Find a credible source, not somebody with incredible promises.” – Michael Yardney “One of the key factors to my investment success is that I always try to learn from my mistakes.” –Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

Since the First Fleet dropped anchor in 1788, close to 10 million immigrants have moved from across the world to start a new life in Australia. They have arrived in waves, encouraged by developments like the 1850s gold rushes, or to escape adverse conditions at home such as the Industrial Revolution’s social upheavals in 19th-century Britain, the two world wars, and the aftermath of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Collectively these migrants have helped shape what was a uniquely British-based and now multicultural society in Australia. In today’s podcast, I chat with leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher about the history of migration and how it’s changed our culture and our property markets over the years, and what’s happening to migration now because of our border restrictions. Australia is the land built on migration Immigration to Australia began about 80,000 years ago. And from the 17th century on, the continent was explored by Europeans. European settlements began to crop up around 1788, and the discovery of gold in 1851 drove more activity and permanent settlements. Immigrants have been queuing up to come to the country ever since. But what’s happening to immigration in our nation at the moment? About 2/3 of our population growth pre-pandemic came from migration. Only 1/3 came from natural growth. During COVID, the migration has completely disappeared. For the first time, more immigrants went out than in. Our country is so much more multicultural than other nations. When people are concerned about migration and focus on asylum seekers, it’s not really relevant, because it’s such a small number. One of the biggest drivers of migration in recent times is international students. One in 6 of those students become permanent residents. You can grow the GDP through the sheer number of people added to the country. The natures of homes and neighbourhoods have changed because of migration. We can see this in everything from the design of homes to the food available to buy. We will still see more people coming into Australia as long as they’re allowed. Australia is attractive to international students. We also still need skilled workers. Millennials are moving out of their apartments as they age and move on to the next stage, but apartment living remains necessary because of the population size. We will still need apartments, but we may need different ones moving forward. We will need more family-friendly Resources: Simon Kuestenmacher - Director of Research at The Demographics Group As our markets move forward why not get the team at Metropole to build you a personalised Strategic Property Plan – this will help both beginning and experienced investors. Get a bundle of eBooks and reports www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: Australia: a land built on immigration, but what’s ahead? With Simon Kuestanmacher Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “Just because of the cost of living, we do need more apartments, but we need different apartments than we’ve built in the past.” – Michael Yardney “I know it might sound cliché but work a little bit less and play a little bit more.” – Michael Yardney “Remember, most of the things we worry about don’t happen, or if they do happen, they’re not as serious as we thought they would be.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

It’s that time of the month – when I have my regular Big Picture podcast where Pete Wargent and we look at the macroeconomic factors affecting our economy and our property markets This time last year, we were supposed to have a federal budget. Instead, we had a pandemic. And over the last year many elements of our life were upended due to Covid 19 Around this time last year, our Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he’d build a bridge for us to get to the other side and it seems he did. The government threw everything it could, including billions of dollars at creating jobs and keeping our economy moving and it succeeded. And it’s still doing so if you look at the federal budget handed down by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg - you’d think it was still raining money. Never before has a budget done so much to supercharge the economy after the worst of a recession has passed. But don’t worry, this podcast isn’t another rehash of the budget, even though there are a few interesting points I want to discuss with Pete – things that haven’t been clearly explained but I think we need to understand as investors. Plus we also will look at the macroeconomic factors affecting our economy and the property markets  to help give you some more clarity  about what the future holds so you can make better investment and  business decisions Understanding the Big Picture Our property markets don’t operate in isolation, so I believe it’s good to regularly have a look at the big picture, the macroeconomic factors affecting not just Australia’s economy, but the world economy, and who better to discuss that with than Pete Wargent, a lifelong student of and commentator on our economy. Since last month there’s been lots of good economic news and Josh Frydenberg delivered this year’s budget. The underlying message from this pandemic budget is that while our recovery is running apace, the economy still remains fragile and unable to stand on its own two feet. The government has no option but to continue spending, and it has given the green light to a number of initiatives to ensure our economic recovery continues. With all the tax dollars rolling in, what kind of treasurer could resist spending some of that, given ultra-cheap borrowing costs and an election campaign expected within a year or so? Booming iron ore exports have delivered a bumper company tax take over the March quarter, with the budget’s bottom line improving by $30bn since the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook in December. And our economic recovery is likely to continue, underpinned by strong household spending supported by further lifting of activity restrictions, increased confidence, and the world effects from higher housing prices. Rapid fall in unemployment could challenge RBA stance There are now forecasts that expect the unemployment rate to fall to 4.8% by end-2021 and 4.4% by end-2022. And even lower again in 2023 seems likely. These forecasts potentially challenge the RBA’s expectation a rate hike is “unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest”. While these forecasts may appear ambitious, they reflect the expectation of a decelerating pace of labour market improvement, particularly in 2022. Ultimately, it will be inflation that matters for the RBA, and the most important judgment in our view is the strength of the transition from underutilization to wages, and then to inflation. The RBA is presuming this transition will be very slow, as it was the last cycle, but the risk around this assessment appears rather one-sided. Sluggish inflation numbers push rate hikes further down the road The CPI rose by 0.6% in the March quarter, taking annual inflation to 1.1% year-on-year. Although this is the third increase in a row, we’re still well below the target band and underperformed expectations by 0.3% in March. With a few exceptions, such as jewellery, petrol, and vehicle prices (driven by supply bottlenecks), price pressures remained weak across most of the economy, especially in food and housing. To some of us who remember the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising above 10% for much of the late 70s and early 80s, the RBA’s present determination to drive up inflation might seem a little counterintuitive. Investors are back in the market We know that home loan approvals have been surging, particularly for first home buyers and that investors have taken to the sidelines, but that’s changed recently as more investors are now back in the market as evidenced by increasing investor loan approvals. Building approvals surge to the second-highest in history Residential building approvals rose 17.4% m/m in March, surprising sharply to the upside and taking the level of approvals to the second-highest in history. Going forward, we will be looking to see whether the recent strength in detached dwelling approvals will be sustained given the end of the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder program (March was the last month to be eligible for the grant). Since HomeBuilder was introduced in June 2020, detached house approvals have soared by 72% and are driving cost pressures through the industry. Should we be worried about geopolitical risks? The political pendulum is swinging back to the left - geopolitical risks are higher than prior to the GFC reflecting three big themes: a populist backlash against economic rationalist policies; the falling relative power of the US; and the polarising impact of social media. key geopolitical issues to watch this year are US and Australian tensions with China; Iran/Israel tensions; Russia and Ukraine; the German election; US tax hikes and a possible early Australian election. Resources: Metropole’s Strategic Property Plan – to help both beginning and experienced investors Gets your bundle of eBooks and reports here: www.PodcastBonus.com.au Pete Wargent  Next Level Wealth  Pete Wargent’s new book Low Rates High Returns Shownotes plus more here: The Big Picture – May Economic and Property trends you must understand with Pete Wargent Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “I recently read that the suggestion was that a huge number of Baby Boomers were going to downsize because of this. I can’t see that happening.” – Michael Yardney “When people from outside Australia look at us, Melbourne is the only city of five million people that’s actually beaten COVID, and life’s moved on again.” – Michael Yardney “If you want to be successful, you need a mentor who’s going to help guide you through life.” – Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how

I have found most successful people have at least one, but usually a number of guiding principles. Things like phrases or ideas by which they live and work To help you develop or add to your own guiding principles, in today’s show I have rounded up a number of philosophies or thoughts that I’m going to discuss with Mark Creedon, founder of Business Accelerator Mastermind in our monthly Build a Business, Not a Job podcast. But before we get into the main show, I’d like to share all of the philosophies of Steve Jobs, the late co-founder and CEO of Apple. Jobs said: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." Another interesting philosophy comes from Michael Jordan how famously said: "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." In today’s show, you’ll hear Mark Creedon and I talk about failure and how the way you think about it makes a huge difference in how you approach all areas of your life, so welcome to today’s show. Life philosophies that could change your life You don’t have to look far on the Internet to find blogs about the philosophies that successful people live by. I enjoy reading those blogs and learning what drives successful people. Interestingly I’ve found some of the best lessons I’ve learned are the simple ones. I’m still a voracious learner and if I haven’t learned something new by lunchtime every day, I’ve had a bad day. Take responsibility for your world Shouldn’t we all? There’s a belief in this world, that I completely resonate with, that everything that has happened to you in your life is a direct result of your actions, either your physical actions or your mental actions. Thoughts are things. As you think so you become. This belief is The Law of Attraction. I know everyone doesn’t agree with this – but I believe you should be a part of your life, not a passenger. Don't make excuses, take action “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do” — Carl Jung. Action creates momentum and momentum matters. Sure, it’s important to make plans and know which way you’re heading, in life, in your investments, and in business but plans are just theory unless you take action. You are the company you keep. Someone once told me that you’re the sum of the five people with whom you spend the most amount of time and I couldn’t agree more. Studies have proven this time and time again – a Harvard study found that if your friend is happy, your chances of being happy increase 15%. It doesn’t just stop there – if your friend’s friend is happy, your chances of being happy increase by 10%, and if your friend’s friend’s friend is happy, your chances still increase 6% (if 6% doesn’t impress you, you’ll be interested to know that a $10,000 increase in annual income only increases your odds by 2%). This rule also works in the negative sense – if your friend becomes obese, your chances of becoming obese increase 57%. The same goes for smoking (61%) and other negative habits. Embrace your limitations. I know one of my strengths in creating – coming up with the big ideas and implementing them. Or creating things like blogs and podcasts. However, I know I’m not in my flow when doing other types of tasks. Trying to change fundamental aspects of your personality is like swimming upriver – you exert tremendous effort with little forward progress. Instead of trying to change these aspects of myself, I’ve surrounded myself with others who are better at various aspects of our business than me The race is only with yourself. “Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.” – Mary Schmich When you measure your success against that of another, you create an ever-distancing destination at which you’ll never arrive. Develop your own goals and celebrate every achievement. Don't stop when you're tired, stop when you're done You’re going to get tired of being an entrepreneur and you’ll probably even get burned out… especially when things aren’t going well. What’s helped me succeed over the years is that I am persistent. It doesn’t matter whether I am exhausted, or if I feel that I’ve put enough hours in the day, I just don’t ever stop until things are done. As long as you keep on chugging along, eventually, you will accomplish your goals. Commit to doing whatever it takes to succeed Of course, with the exception of causing harm to others! This discipline underpins all of the above. If we wish for success in life, it’s essential we commit to making that wish become a reality. The key to success in life is to go from interest to commitment to taking action from personal power. Honesty is a very expensive gift, do not expect it from cheap people As an entrepreneur, you are going to have to look to other people for feedback and advice. Over the years I’ve learned that not all advice is equal, as some people give better advice than others. The best advice you are ever going to get is the truth. The truth may hurt, but it will save you time and money. Just don’t expect the truth from people who care about saving your feelings. Behind every successful person are a lot of unsuccessful years When people look at what I have accomplished, most of the time they feel that I’ve done it over the last few years. What they forget to realize is that I have been an entrepreneur for over 10 years. And during that 10-year period, I’ve lost millions of dollars, made more mistakes than I can count, and put countless hours into my businesses. So as long as you keep pushing forward as an entrepreneur, your odds of succeeding will go up over time. Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it Businesses come and go, but the one thing you should protect more than anything else is your reputation. Your reputation affects any new business ventures or a job you may try to get later down the road. Be so kind and helpful that if someone spoke badly about you, no one would believe them. Just because you are struggling does not mean you are failing Every great success requires some kind of struggle. You’re going to have to work hard, fight through the tough times and keep pushing forward. So, when you are struggling, don’t give up, keep pushing forward until you see a light at the end of the tunnel. Give Back “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” ―Pablo Picasso. This is a great philosophy because I feel happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give. I am blessed beyond imagination in life, and I feel it’s my duty to give back. If I can help others in some way, then I do it. Whether through writing, creating, guidance, feedback, listening, financial, volunteering, etc. There are so many ways to give back. Links and Resources: Why not join Metropole’s Business Accelerator Mastermind Learn more about Mark Creedon – Business Coach to some of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs  Get a copy of Mark’s new book here – Have a business not a job Get a heap of special reports and eBooks here- www.PodcastBonus.com.au Shownotes plus more here: 11 Simple philosophies that could change your life with Mark Creedon | Build a Business, Not a Job Podcast Some of our favourite quotes from the show: “I do things that I’m good at doing, and in my business and my now partnership, I allow other people to do things that they’re good at doing.” – Michael Yardney “If you think about it, you never get everything done. There’s always things on your to-do list.” – Michael Yardney “There’s also the luck that you create for yourself by doing the right things, by being the right person, by having the right mindset, so when the opportunities come, you actually take advantage of them.” –Michael Yardney PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW Reviews are hugely important to me because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes - it's your way of passing the message forward to others and saying thank you to me. Here's how.