Have you heard the term "leverage" when people are discussing their investments? This can be quite a confusing and daunting concept for many people. But all leverage really means, is borrowing to invest. The reason people call it "leverage" is because typically existing assets are used as the security or basis of the borrowing. That is, you leverage off the value of a current investment or asset, to borrow more money to invest.
If you have not borrowed to invest before, but are considering it, you really should discuss this with a licensed financial advisor before you do. The concepts provided in this article are general in nature and should not be taken as specific advice to be applied to your specific circumstances. A financial advisor will be able to tailor a borrowing structure which perfectly matches your goals.
Before I understood money, my debt profile looked very similar to most peoples. I had a credit card which I always struggled to get back to zero, I had a large personal loan for a car I bought and a smaller loan for some furniture.
All these debts were used to fund consumables - objects for my pleasure. I learned that there are two issues with this. Firstly, the objects this debt bought all rapidly lost value. They were depreciating assets. Secondly, as I used the debt to purchase things I consumed, the interest on that debt had no tax benefits. I had to pay it all.
Today, due to the many benefits I found you get when you borrowing to invest, my debt profile is anything but typical. I now have much more debt, but I have borrowed to buy appreciating and income generating assets. For example, I have a massive debt on a property in Victoria, Australia. I also have a reasonable size margin loan helping me make money in a successful stock trading strategy. And finally, as per all foreign exchange trading accounts, I have an account which is leveraged out (and heavily too, at 400:1 - so every $1 I put in allows me to invest $400). My debt on consumables on the other hand is negligible.
So what are the benefits of borrowing to invest?
When you borrow to invest, you increase your investment earnings potential. As you borrow money, you have more to invest. Therefore, the returns on your investments increase by the net returns on the borrowed money. Obviously the basic key here is to ensure your investment return rate is higher than the interest rates on the loan. If this is the case, you will always make money with the money you have borrowed.
Generally speaking also, interest payments on investment borrowing are tax deductible (get advice from your accountant on this point). As the borrowings have been made to increase your income, the interest payments on the loans are a direct cost of your income production. This typically makes the interest payments a tax deduction. For example, as my investment property creates a rental income, the borrowing are a cost associated with producing that rental income.
Margin loans work in exactly the same way. I have some stocks and I borrow some money using them as collateral. I typically try and keep a 50% leverage ratio, every dollar of stocks I own lets me borrow and invest another dollar. So I end up with a stock portfolio double the size I could have bought with my own money, I earn the returns on the entire portfolio, but pay interest on the money I have borrowed. Because I borrowed to earn money on stocks, the interest is tax deductible for me.
Those are some of the benefits you can gain by borrowing to invest. There are risks too though, so it is very important to get independent financial advice if you are thinking about leverage.
The first risk with borrowing to invest is the same with all loans. Loans come with obligations. You need to be able to fund the repayments, both the principle and the interest. So you need to do your sums properly and work out whether your income can cover these repayments. If you mess this up and over-extend yourself, typically your lender will come and seize your goods and assets and sell them to get their money back. This is never a good position to be in.
In a margin loan situation, it is a little different. If you borrow too much here, you may breach the allowable % of assets to debt you are given and if this happens, you will be expected to put more money in to put the loan back in "good order". This can be quite difficult if the market swings strongly against you. So you need to know that in extremely adverse market conditions (2007 - 2009 are a good example of this) you can generate enough income to cover such margin calls.
Obviously also there is the risk that your investments will lose, leaving you with an investment loss and a loan. So you need to be confident with your strategies.
One of the reasons its important to speak to a licensed financial adviser is that these risk can be managed properly with the correct strategy. This will make managing your risk much easier and making money on you borrowing much easier. With the right strategy, leveraging your investments can be extremely beneficial. - 29904
If you have not borrowed to invest before, but are considering it, you really should discuss this with a licensed financial advisor before you do. The concepts provided in this article are general in nature and should not be taken as specific advice to be applied to your specific circumstances. A financial advisor will be able to tailor a borrowing structure which perfectly matches your goals.
Before I understood money, my debt profile looked very similar to most peoples. I had a credit card which I always struggled to get back to zero, I had a large personal loan for a car I bought and a smaller loan for some furniture.
All these debts were used to fund consumables - objects for my pleasure. I learned that there are two issues with this. Firstly, the objects this debt bought all rapidly lost value. They were depreciating assets. Secondly, as I used the debt to purchase things I consumed, the interest on that debt had no tax benefits. I had to pay it all.
Today, due to the many benefits I found you get when you borrowing to invest, my debt profile is anything but typical. I now have much more debt, but I have borrowed to buy appreciating and income generating assets. For example, I have a massive debt on a property in Victoria, Australia. I also have a reasonable size margin loan helping me make money in a successful stock trading strategy. And finally, as per all foreign exchange trading accounts, I have an account which is leveraged out (and heavily too, at 400:1 - so every $1 I put in allows me to invest $400). My debt on consumables on the other hand is negligible.
So what are the benefits of borrowing to invest?
When you borrow to invest, you increase your investment earnings potential. As you borrow money, you have more to invest. Therefore, the returns on your investments increase by the net returns on the borrowed money. Obviously the basic key here is to ensure your investment return rate is higher than the interest rates on the loan. If this is the case, you will always make money with the money you have borrowed.
Generally speaking also, interest payments on investment borrowing are tax deductible (get advice from your accountant on this point). As the borrowings have been made to increase your income, the interest payments on the loans are a direct cost of your income production. This typically makes the interest payments a tax deduction. For example, as my investment property creates a rental income, the borrowing are a cost associated with producing that rental income.
Margin loans work in exactly the same way. I have some stocks and I borrow some money using them as collateral. I typically try and keep a 50% leverage ratio, every dollar of stocks I own lets me borrow and invest another dollar. So I end up with a stock portfolio double the size I could have bought with my own money, I earn the returns on the entire portfolio, but pay interest on the money I have borrowed. Because I borrowed to earn money on stocks, the interest is tax deductible for me.
Those are some of the benefits you can gain by borrowing to invest. There are risks too though, so it is very important to get independent financial advice if you are thinking about leverage.
The first risk with borrowing to invest is the same with all loans. Loans come with obligations. You need to be able to fund the repayments, both the principle and the interest. So you need to do your sums properly and work out whether your income can cover these repayments. If you mess this up and over-extend yourself, typically your lender will come and seize your goods and assets and sell them to get their money back. This is never a good position to be in.
In a margin loan situation, it is a little different. If you borrow too much here, you may breach the allowable % of assets to debt you are given and if this happens, you will be expected to put more money in to put the loan back in "good order". This can be quite difficult if the market swings strongly against you. So you need to know that in extremely adverse market conditions (2007 - 2009 are a good example of this) you can generate enough income to cover such margin calls.
Obviously also there is the risk that your investments will lose, leaving you with an investment loss and a loan. So you need to be confident with your strategies.
One of the reasons its important to speak to a licensed financial adviser is that these risk can be managed properly with the correct strategy. This will make managing your risk much easier and making money on you borrowing much easier. With the right strategy, leveraging your investments can be extremely beneficial. - 29904
About the Author:
Gnifrus Urquart has had impressive success investing for many years. As such, he enjoys reviewing investment strategies and giving trading tips to others who enjoys investing
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