Investopoly

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For decades, negative gearing tipped the scales toward borrowing for an investment property over spending more on your home; investment interest was deductible, home loan interest wasn't. But with negative gearing quarantined and the effective capital gains tax rate climbing from around 20% to closer to 30–35% under the post-2027 indexation regime, that old comparison is dead. In this episode, Stuart rebuilds it from scratch.
The new contest: is a high-income household better off borrowing to upgrade the family home, or borrowing to invest in shares? He models two households starting identically, same income, same $1 million of extra debt, same 18-year repayment, and the result genuinely surprised him. Over 10 years, geared shares edge ahead; over 20, it's a dead heat; over 30, the bigger home wins. The reason is tax leakage: once the debt is repaid, the share portfolio's deductible interest shield vanishes while the home keeps compounding tax-free.
Stuart also walks through six things the model can't capture: liquidity, the willingness to downsize, home growth quality, lifestyle, and explains why, with these settings still politically contested, the smartest move may be to preserve optionality and reassess in 12 to 18 months.
My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here
Three richly detailed listener situations, three very different crossroads. First, Charles, 51, unemployed, four kids in private school, and a sprawling portfolio spanning a Singapore apartment, an SMSF, regional Queensland property, land parcels and a $500k crypto holding. His question is deceptively simple: in what order should he sell to fund a Melbourne home, and can he actually afford to retire? Stuart untangles the sequencing and confronts the concentration risk head-on.
Next, Matt and his wife in Lugarno, sitting on strong equity after a major renovation but facing single-income pressure with a young family and more children planned. Should they pour surplus into the mortgage, or recommence property investing to ultimately pay the home down faster? We weigh the options against cash flow reality.
Finally, an anonymous single mother of three, a medical professional on the Sunshine Coast, asks how solo parenting reshapes retirement planning. Should she sell underperforming shares into super, lift her contributions, rethink her growth allocation, or consider property despite constrained borrowing capacity?
Honest, numbers-first guidance for anyone wondering whether their strategy genuinely stacks up, and what to prioritise next.
My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here
In this episode, Stuart revisits Golden Rule 4 and admits that half of it has changed. In Investopoly, the advice was to build your asset base, then tilt toward income as retirement approached. Wealth by Design confirms the first half but overturns the second. Here's why.
Stuart makes the case that the real objective isn't income at all; it's after-tax total return and liquidity. He explains why the conventional glide path into conservative, income-heavy assets as you near retirement can quietly backfire, amplifying two risks retirees underestimate: inflation eroding your purchasing power, and longevity outlasting your money. The instinct that feels "safe" may actually be the riskier choice over a multi-decade retirement.
The alternative is what he calls a perpetual portfolio: one structured to keep compounding even as it funds your lifestyle, so you're drawing an income without dismantling the engine that generates it. Stuart walks through the total-return decision filters he uses to judge whether an asset earns its place, and how to think about funding spending without reaching reflexively for yield.
He closes with one simple action you can take this week to start reframing your own strategy.
My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Read Full Blog Here
Pre-order Wealth by Design Here
With the government's changes to established residential property now looking likely to become law, the investment case has fundamentally shifted, and those who try to ignore it will be exposed. In this episode, we unpack why quarantining negative gearing losses hits investors so hard: the asset costs materially more to hold each year, yet capital growth potential hasn't budged. We walk through the numbers, showing how an investment-grade property's after-tax internal rate of return could fall from around 11% to just 8.4% a return you might match through superannuation, minus the debt, concentration risk and hassle.
We also explore "livevesting", channelling your capacity into a better-quality home that compounds tax-free, and explain why Melbourne may now offer compelling relative value. Along the way, we sound a warning on the "obvious alternatives": commercial property and new-build packages that are often overpriced, structurally inferior, or both.
Finally, drawing on the 1980s Hawke-Keating reversal and New Zealand's recent backflip, we ask whether these changes will even last—and why the smartest move now is preserving optionality rather than reacting. Tax matters, but a good investment must still stand on its own merits.
My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Pre-order Wealth by Design Here
In this mailbag episode, we tackle five listener questions spanning some of the trickiest decisions in personal finance. A Brisbane couple in their mid-forties, with strong super balances and a plan to knock down and rebuild, ask whether to ease off super contributions to kill debt faster or keep compounding inside the lower-tax environment and whether debt recycling is their smartest long-term play.
We unpack a thorny capital gains question on the six-year absence rule: can you settle a new home first, then sell the old one, without triggering a double-PPR problem? A high-income Melbourne couple wonder whether $6,800 a year in ongoing financial advice is still worth it, how to untangle from wrap platforms, and whether a coastal second property stacks up given their age and timeline.
A father in St Ives asks whether tipping $2,000 a year into a 20-year-old's super is a gift worth making. And a Perth listener eyeing his neighbour's block wants the unbiased truth on double blocks and subdivisions.
Practical, numbers-driven answers to real situations and the principles behind them.
My new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus

Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au.

If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-services

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform.

Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected

IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.