Ken is director of Metropole Wealth Advisory and gives strategic expert advice to property investors, professionals and business owners. He is in a unique position to blend his skills of accounting, wealth advisory, property investing, financial planning and small business. View his articles
Protecting your hard-earned assets is increasingly becoming a common concern, especially with the increasing number of frivolous claims. For centuries people have used trusts to hold assets so as to protect them and to increase their flexibility. Protecting assets with a trust A trust is useful in this regard as the individual does not own…
Car ownership can be extremely expensive when you factor in all costs including registration and car insurance. However, many Australians will be surprised to know that the location of your home can significantly impact the price of your car insurance. Location, location Car insurers take into consideration a variety of different factors when determining the…
All parents want to provide for their children and hopefully create wealth to leave to them and their children, too. These days, with higher property prices, many people also want to help their children financially so they can buy their first home or property investment. However, sometimes these desires outweigh practicalities, such as tax planning…
A new client recently came to see me. He was a little hesitant at first as he had been using an accountant, lawyer, and financial planner and was apprehensive about the value Metropole Wealth Advisory could give. He left my office almost in tears when he realised the cost of his poor previous advice. Given that…
What is land tax? Who should pay for it? And can I reduce this major property cost which seems to eat into my rental income disproportionally? These questions are often asked by serious property investors who already have or are in the process of building a significant property portfolio. As is the case for most…
You’ve probably heard that most wealthy people own nothing in their own names, but control everything through structures such as a trust. If Australia’s richest people use trusts, maybe it’s something you should consider also. Did you know that trusts have been around since the 12th Century? The Lord Chancellor at that time could decide…
Over the past decade, many Australians have invested in property via their superannuation funds. One of the reasons they do this is because they want to have control over the performance of the funds in their super. Another is it allows them to buy an investment property when perhaps they could not have otherwise. However,…
Did you know that you have many options when it comes to deciding the entity that should own your new property? Most property buyers, even seasoned investors, default to simply buying the property in their own name, but this is not always the best and most financially savvy choice. The legally recognised owner of a…
Australia is becoming a more litigious society with more people considering suing and more lawyers opting to take on their cases for no upfront fee. While the number of lawsuits in Australia is growing, we’re still a fair way from the situation in the USA, where people have a 33 per cent chance of being…
Capital Gains Tax or CGT is one of those taxes no one really wants to pay. In fact, questions around Capital Gains Tax are very common here on Property Update. So, let’s dive deeper into CGT so everyone has a better understanding of what it is and how you can minimise its impact on your…
