Property vs Shares / ETFs

Hi,

Deciding whether to focus on building a property portfolio or investing in shares and ETFs for financial independence can depend on several factors including your financial goals, risk tolerance, investment timeline, and personal preferences.

Property Investment:
Investing in property can offer tangible assets and potential steady income through rent. Properties often appreciate over time and can be leveraged to buy more properties. However, property investment requires significant capital upfront, involves maintenance costs, and can be less liquid compared to shares. It’s also geographically limited and can be affected by local market conditions.

Shares and ETFs:
Investing in shares and ETFs provides greater liquidity and diversification. ETFs, in particular, offer exposure to a broad range of assets, reducing the risk associated with individual stock investments. Shares and ETFs can also be less capital intensive, allowing investors to start small and regularly contribute smaller amounts. However, the stock market can be volatile, and values can fluctuate significantly in the short term.

Combining Both:
Many investors find a balanced approach beneficial. Diversifying your investments across both real estate and equities can help mitigate risks and capitalize on the strengths of both asset classes. This strategy can provide both steady income (from rent) and growth (from equity markets), contributing to a robust financial foundation.

At Pearler, we understand the importance of aligning investment choices with your long-term financial goals and risk tolerance. Our platform supports a variety of investment options, including ETFs, which can be an excellent way to build a diversified portfolio suited to achieving financial independence. Whether you’re leaning towards property, shares, ETFs, or a mix, Pearler aims to facilitate a thoughtful investment approach tailored to your personal financial journey.

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Hi Alex,

Probably the most debated question in all of finance. The answer is, both can work and they have different features.

Many people choose to invest in property to build wealth using high levels of leverage, which are unique to residential property. Downsides can be long periods of negative cashflow, large costs such as stamp duty, and uncertain growth with periods of flat or poor performance.

Most property in Australia also has pretty low rental yields after all costs are accounted for, meaning it’s not a great income generator in retirement even if it’s paid off.

For this reason, many investors later choose shares for an income stream, regardless of whether they’ve invested in property or not to build their wealth. There are basically no costs, it’s simpler, and more tax efficient. The main downside of course is the occasional big market decline, which is enough to put some people off by itself.

It’s really a huge discussion with many different variables to consider. If you’re interested, I explored this topic in detail in my book (shameless plug), which you could get from the library for free (they can order it for you), or on Spotify/Audible if you have a plan with them, or the ebook/paper version on Amazon.

Strong Money Australia book page: https://strongmoneyaustralia.com/book/