Time is a precious commodity – use it wisely
Modern life is a non-stop rush hour. With the pressure of family, rising bills, and a job that seems to demand more from you every day, you have precious little time to spend on planning and investing in your future. Not doing so could have dire consequences. You could reach retirement age and find that you don’t have the income to do those things you’d promised yourself. Or, to do so, you have to continue working.
We all know plenty of people who have retired poorer than they thought they would. With UK state pensions depreciating in value every year, you wouldn’t be surprised to find them abolished altogether by the time you and I are due to retire. In fact, since 1980, the state pension has collapsed from 26% of average earnings to less than 18%.
In this post, you’ll meet Mark and John. Their stories demonstrate how important it is to make the time to invest now so that you have the money to do what you want tomorrow.
Mark – pushed for time and pushed into ‘safe’ savings
In the late 1990s, Mark was recently married and had two young children. He had some savings and was considering buying a second property as a buy-to-let investment. He asked a friend of his, who owned two or three properties, about investing in property.
His friend told him that he would need to make some time to seek professional advice and then make time to do his research. He’d need to visit locations, speak to agents, and negotiate deals. Then there would be the property management side of being a buy-to-let landlord. Mark’s friend explained that Mark would need to find and vet tenants, write a proper tenancy agreement and manage maintenance and repairs.
“That seems like a lot of work,” Mark told his friend. “I don’t think I’ve got the time to commit.”
A few weeks later, Mark told his friend that he had decided to park his savings in an ISA until he had time to commit to learning more about property investment.
Mark has never had the time to commit to a property. Or should I say, he never found the time?He’s dabbled in stocks and shares through an investment advisor (which didn’t work out too well) and bought some premium bonds. Once he won £100.
Jane − pushed herself to become a buy-to-let property investor
Jane was one of Mark’s colleagues at work. Same grade, same pay, same hours. Mark told her what he was thinking of doing, and Jane thought that investing in buy-to-let property sounded like a good idea. She started by borrowing a book about investing in property from the library. Within a couple of days, she had finished it.
She signed up for a property investment seminar and followed that by visiting a different new build site every week. She spoke to other investors and joined a property investment club. Eventually, she was ready to make a move and decided to buy an off-plan property in London’s commuter belt.
Now, 20 years on, Jane’s properties are valued at almost three times what she paid for them on average. The rental income is more than her salary. In the last five years, her rental income has helped to fund her children through their university studies.
This year, Jane has decided to spend her rental income on a second honeymoon now the kids are both settled: a holiday to Australia and the Far East. She’s putting the rest away for her daughter’s marriage next year.
Are you prepared to make the time to change your life?
Whatever you do, you have to make some sacrifices. Jane found that an hour or two every day was all that was needed to find out everything she needed to know about buying a buy-to-let property. The second and third properties were a walk in the park.
She doesn’t even get involved in the day-to-day property management side of the business: she offloaded that to a nationwide property management company. Now her time is her own, and she has the income to make the most of it.
If Jane hadn’t made time to learn about investing in property, she, too, might have won £100 on a premium bond.
Take the first step to a better quality of life through property investment. Call the Gladfish team on +44 207 923 6100 today to ask about our free property investment education. That’s right: free. All you have to do to change your life and your future is to make a bit of time.
Cheers
Ritesh Patel
