Real Estate Matters | Becoming a sophisticated investor

Sam Lee

Most of us have jobs or businesses that we work that we work on during the day and preoccupy most of our productive attention. We like to believe that if we do our best at our jobs and work hard, then money will follow. We expect the work that we do to provide us not only with a sense of fulfilment, but also an income stream in the form of salaries or profits that we can depend on.

 But this financial strategy merits a thorough review. If you only have one stream of income (salary or profits), you are at a very precarious position if that job disappears or the business stops producing money for you. 

Also, you may get stuck in a vicious cycle of never having enough money because as you get promoted and make more money or your business grows, your expenses and lifestyle goes up at a similar rate – leaving you with little money to speak for in the end.  

The way out of this situation is to recognise that we each have at least two jobs. One as a professional or businessperson, and a second one as an investor. Your primary objective as an investor is to create multiple streams of passive income for you and your family so even if there are complications with your job or business you can ride it over smoothly. Or perhaps you don’t want to work at all for a while, and your investments will support you financially while you relax! 

There are 3 E’s that you need to become a sophisticated investor: 

• Education 
• Experience
• Excess cash 

 The E’s are listed in order of importance. Yes that’s right, having excess cash is the least important! Most people don’t even pay any attention to their job as an investor because they don’t have any excess cash. But if you start with Education instead, you’ll find creative ways around this issue and realise that you can always find the money if you have the right investment opportunity.

I’ve recently started taking my job as an investor more seriously, and have been committing more and more time towards the first E – Education. If I can share a tip with you that I had to learn the hard way: learn the difference between investing and speculating early, and don’t buy bitcoin just because everyone else is doing it! 

JML Property and a property investor.

Having been established in 1994, JML Property offers investment property & homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com