Nicola McDougall - The Female Investor: Creating Wealth, Security, and Freedom Through Property

CREATING WEALTH, SECURITY AND FREEDOM THROUGH PROPERTY

NICOLA McDOUGALL AND KATE HILL

First published in 2022 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Office also in Melbourne

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2022

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

ISBN: 9780730398639

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Wiley

Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the authors and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Nicola For my mum, Adrienne, and my stepmum, Vickie, for teaching me courage and kindness; for my dad, Ian, who taught me many things, including about money; and for Josh and Nichole, who gave me love and hope.

Kate for my partner in life, Jon, without whose unfailing love and support I would not be the person or investor I am today; for all the totally awesome clients over the years, both male and female, who continue to inspire me, who bring me joy, and who contribute to our giant investing family every day.

Nicola McDougall is a successful property investor, business owner, chairperson of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia, and an awardwinning journalist. She is also the former editor of Australian Property Investor magazine and the cofounder of Bricks & Mortar Media. She has been involved in property research, analysis and reporting since 2006.

Kate Hill is an awardwinning property mentor, qualified property investment adviser and buyer's agent. She has many years firsthand experience researching real estate and making hundreds of successful property purchases for her clients. Many of Kate's fabulous female clients are living proof that women of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances can invest in property successfully.

Hands up if you know a woman who is struggling financially to make ends meet. Maybe she is concerned about her financial future, or whether she's ever going to be able to afford to buy a property to call home. Perhaps she is nearing retirement and worrying about affording a home of her own.

She could be your sister, daughter, mother, aunty, motherinlaw, grandmother, cousin, or even a close female friend.

Perhaps she is single or in a relationship. She could also be divorced or even widowed. She may be in her 20s or her 60sunfortunately, her age doesn't necessarily mean she will be financially secure.

We know plenty of women like this and we're sure you do, too.

Their situationsand their reasons whyvary widely because each of us is an individual who will experience challenges unique to us during the course of our life.

Sometimes they may not technically be struggling financially, but they worry about how they are going to retain their financial independence throughout their lives, or perhaps they're concerned about how they're going to fund their retirementeven if it's decades away.

Alas, their concerns are valid, because it's a fact that women generally remain less financially secure than men.

First up, there is the income pay gap between men and women, which stubbornly appears to not be changing significantly.

Then there is the stark difference in superannuation balances between men and women, which starts when workers are only in their 20s and never recovers.

And there are the increasing numbers of women who wind up homeless after a relationship breakdown or in retirement, because they were never able to create their own independent wealth or buy a home of their own.

Let's face it, half of all marriages still end in divorce and many women remain the primary caregivers of childreneven more so during a pandemic, as it turned out.

And that means that if a women's forever' union ends in tatters, she's likely to be futilely playing financial catchup for the rest of her working life.

Many women are worried about their lack of superannuation and about having to work until they are 80 instead of retiring. In fact, many women are forced to reenter the workforce in their twilight years because they can't afford to live without doing so.

A recent retirementincome review repeatedly highlighted the inequitable outcomes for women, with women generally retiring with far fewer funds than men and also often living in poverty. What sort of end of life is that for anyone?

We want to be clear: this book is not antilove, antimarriage or antijoint bank accounts.

The Female Investor is a book to help women stake their claim on the property market so they have the assets to improve their financial futuresregardless of whether they choose to partner up or not; whether they are single, married, divorced or widowed.

But it's not a book to teach women how to become property squillionaires. Rather, it's a guide that will teach you about the importance of maximising your income sooner, so you have more choices later on.

Even though the salary gap remains, the number of women investing in property is risingbut more still could be done to secure your personal financial future.

Fundamentally, this book is about women being clued up, taking charge and being proactive with their finances via strategic property investmentat any age.

The truth is that most women have experienced a world in which they were not encouraged to take care of themselves financially.

We want to help change that because it potentially leads to dependency upon a spouse, another family member, continued employment late in life or even the government for financial support.

So, The Female Investor is a rallying cry from women to womenfrom us to youto motivate women of all ages to get educated, take charge of your own financial future, and become proactive enough to stake your claim on the property marketnow!

Here are some cold hard facts about the financial outcomes for women and men in our part of the world.

While most of these figures are drawn from Australian research, the situation is similar in most countries around the worldand the reality is that women are more likely than not to be financially inequitable with their male partners from the beginning of their relationships.