The use of Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF) has skyrocketed over the past decade in particular. Among the many reasons for this increase is the ability to purchase residential property in your SMSF with borrowings – debt via what’s called a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement, or LRBA. In essence, the LRBA structure allows an SMSF to…
Articles by Ken Raiss

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
Heard about compound interest? It can be a friend or a foe, and if you have a savings account and a mortgage like most Australians, then compound interest has already had an impact on your finances – for better or worse. Compound interest is a powerful tool that can work for you, or against you…
Did you know that only 300,000 or so people own two investment properties in Australia? The number who owns three or more falls dramatically from the figure. However, more and more people are taking charge of their financial futures by buying investment-grade real estate assets. Like so many things with wealth creation, though, there are…
While modern life is exceptionally busy, any decent Financial Adviser will tell you that today is the best time to start planning for your retirement; the earlier you plan, the better placed you will be to enjoy it. With life expectancy at its highest recorded level there are a lot of years to fill between…
No one ever sets up a business with the intention to fail. Rather, entrepreneurial types are motivated by a multitude of factors such as personal drive and ambition or a desire to work for themselves or to create a particular product or service. Sometimes it’s as simple as wanting to be in charge of our…
The difference between repairs and improvements can be confusing for property invetsors. I mean… what is a repair? When does a repair become an improvement? And how do you know what’s tax deductible and what isn’t? Fortunately the Australian Tax Office sheds some light on these questions. What is a repair? A repair replaces a…
What happens when you dissolve a trust? Do you need to pay stamp duty and Capital gains Tax is you then transfer the trust’s assets to your personal name. That’s the question I was recently asked by a reader of Your Investment Property Magazine – so here’s the Q&A Question: I bought a warehouse/office in…
Estate planning is different for everyone and especially in today’s modern environment of potentially blended families. So, with more people remarrying, it’s critical to prepare for the distribution of your wealth on your passing. While you are alive, the estate planning process allows you to manage and preserve your wealth for those you will one…
Capital Gains Tax or CGT is never far from the headlines when there is a Federal Election looming. And this year is no different. So, it seems perfect timing to dive deeper into CGT so everyone has a better understanding of what it is and how you can minimise its impact on your wealth creation…
Why is it important to understand the difference between a repair or an improvement to your investment property? The property investor is often grappling with whether an expense is a repair or an improvement. This is critical because a repair can be written off immediately whereas an improvement must be written off over a longer…