Ask an Adviser: Investing, Property & Super - Community Mailbag with Glen Hare

Glen Hare (0:00)

I just don't want there to be hope. Is that going to set them up for no financial freighter? The media has done a very good job of telling young Australians it's not possible. We cannot forget that the market will crash.

Bryce Leske (0:10)

Equity Mates!

Bryce Leske (0:12)

Welcome to another episode of Equity Mates, a podcast where we explore what's possible in the world of investing. If you've just joined us for the very first time, a huge welcome to our community. My name is Bryce.

Alec Renehan (0:21)

And I'm Ren, and today we're back with another Ask An Advisor episode where we take your questions and put them to one of our favorite advisors and today we're joined by a returning favorite, Glen Hare.

Bryce Leske (0:33)

That's very nice to hear. Nice to be here.

Alec Renehan (0:35)

Thanks guys. Glen Hare, founder of Fox and Hare, financial advisor. Welcome back to the show.

Glen Hare (0:40)

Great to be here.

Bryce Leske (0:41)

Now, as Ren said in the intro, Glen, we have a mixed bag of questions that have come through the community. We're going to be covering investing, stocks versus property, some property specific ones. Budget is obviously still front of mind. Super, you name it, there's a bunch in here. So we're going to get into the nitty gritty. Before we do, though, for those that have just joined the show for the first time, can you just give us a sense of the type of clients that you work with and the work that you do?

Glen Hare (1:05)

Yeah, sure.

So I founded the business eight years ago after being at Macquarie Bank for 10 years and realized there was an opportunity to work with a very different demographic. So the average age of an advised client in Australia still to this day is 58 So most people don't see a financial advisor until they get to a point where they're like, I probably need to do something. I'd love to stop working at some point. And they go see an advisor and say, hey, this is what I've got. Can I retire? And if I do, what's that going to look like? In terms of our member base, so we work primarily with those aged between 20 and 45 So we only work with accumulators. If someone reached out to us and there was looking to transition to retirement, we would actually refer them on to another advice firm that specializes in that space.

So our youngest member is 21 He's a pretty go-getter kind of guy, earns good money, still living at home. So he's either, I either make this money work for me now, I've got the opportunity, or I don't. But the average age is 34 So it's probably when people get to that point, they've progressed in their career, they've started their financial journey and they're kind of thinking, well, what's next?

Alec Renehan (2:22)

Mm, love that.

Now, in that age cohort, which is broadly reflective of the Equity Mates core demographic as well, one topic has dominated the past few months, the budget. So I guess just a general question, and we'll get into some specifics around property and stuff later, but just generally, since the budget, has your view changed on anything and have you changed your approach in any way?

Glen Hare (2:48)

Great question. I have never spoken so much about a budget in my career. Usually budgets come, budgets go, we put on a webinar, no one shows up.

We thought about putting on events and again, we thought, well, who's going to come to that? This year, we have had more questions than we have ever had before. In terms of the budget, it's interesting. When logging on to a call with a Fox and Hare member, it can be quite polarizing. If we're having a conversation with someone that is looking to buy their first property, they're like, yep, this is great. Property prices have dropped. This is a window of opportunity that I've been looking for. I then drop off that Teams chat, log on to the next Teams chat with a young investor that's got two investment properties and they're like, well, what does this mean for me now and moving forward? So it's very much polarizing regardless of which side of politics you sit on.

The key theme for me, above all else, and this hasn't changed pre or post budget, is tax should always be considered but is a by-product of a good investment. I still believe that you can make money from investing in good properties, like I do obviously investing in shares and ETFs as well. Tax should be considered but it shouldn't be a key driver as to why you do or don't make a clear investment decision.