Almost time to start my investment journey :)

Discussion in 'Investor Stories & Showcase' started by Dan Donoghue, 1st Apr, 2016.

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  1. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    So as most of you know, I am currently being treated for Bowel Cancer (please, no well wishes or support needed, it's really not that bad :)).

    I was diagnosed just as I was about ready to jump into investing and the wife (rightly so) was nervous to make such a big decision when let's be honest, we didn't know if I was going to be around to see it through.

    After 1 surgery to remove part of my bowel, 6 months of Chemo (IV and Pills) and 7 months of having a colostomy bag, I am please to tell you all my final surgery to reverse the bag (and let me go to the toilet like normal again) is booked for May 18th. And I can tell you all, one of the cruelest parts of this journey was not flatulating for 7 months, I (the missus not so much) sure have missed it :).

    So in the background whilst investing was on hold, getting set up was not. My loan has been moved to a better lender, all available equity has been drawn down and placed into an offset account ready for use as deposits.

    My goal is 3 places in the first 12 months, my stretch goal is 6 places, lets see how far we can get :). I feel like I have been on this forum as a non investor for AGES!!!!, looking forward to joining the ranks of investor with you all :).

    Closer to the date I will post my strategy for you all to pick apart and tell me where I may have made some oversights but I have had some pretty amazing help along the way so far :).

    I leave you all with one thought that saved my life: If you want to be healthy, get your colon a selfie :).
     
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  2. Adele

    Adele Well-Known Member

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    Congrats! Your positive outlook and upbeat attitude is an inspiration.

    Looking forward to reading more on your upcoming strategy and journey
     
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  3. jins13

    jins13 Well-Known Member

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    You are well equipped Dan and do hope that you are able to accomplish all your goals.
     
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  4. Phantom

    Phantom Well-Known Member

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    Hey Dan. Very happy for you that you have put the worst of the illness behind you and you are on the road to recovery. It will be an exciting year for you with your first and subsequent buys coming up. I wish you all the best in health and investing for 2016 and into the future.
     
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  5. Steven Ryan

    Steven Ryan Well-Known Member

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    Let the journey begin :)
     
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  6. Hodor

    Hodor Well-Known Member

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    Good stuff. Look forward to hearing all about it
     
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  7. Wukong

    Wukong Well-Known Member

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  8. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Coffee time. My shout this time round.
     
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  9. Intrigued_again

    Intrigued_again Well-Known Member

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    [QUOTE=" I am please to tell you all my final surgery to reverse the bag (and let me go to the toilet like normal again) is booked for May 18th. And I can tell you all, one of the cruelest parts of this journey was not flatulating for 7 months, I (the missus not so much) sure have missed it :).

    [/QUOTE]
    You won't be able to wipe the smile off your face
     
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  10. Davothegreat

    Davothegreat Well-Known Member

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    Watch out that you don't get too carried away trying to make up for 7 months without letting rip... ;-)

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Bran

    Bran Well-Known Member

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    Good luck Dan. You've done the hard part.
     
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  12. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    Lol I will try my best not to :)
     
  13. Tony Fleming

    Tony Fleming Well-Known Member

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    Great attitude mate. Good luck with everything.
     
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  14. melbz

    melbz Member

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    Excellent stuff Dan. You're an inspiration. Good luck with your investing journey!
     
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  15. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Just get up each morning and say to yourself,this is going to be the best day of my life,before the sun comes up,no matter what happens..
     
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  16. sash

    sash Well-Known Member

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    Great....I like your positivity. I agree no sympathy from me...just get on with it...it will do wonders for you and your mindset both in terms of wealth and health.

    Reach out to this forum if you want to run ideas by.

    My only parting advice build the portfolio slowly. Perhaps start with one and then improve the process. One of key things when building your portfolio..is to focus on the balanced return yield vs growth. This is important because if the yield is too low you will have cash flow issue and if capital growth is too low then you will have issues with deposits for further acquisition. Obviously...this can be overcome if you have nice income surplus from your jobs.

    Best of luck....

     
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  17. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    For those of you who have been following my journey, just a quick update to let you know, I had my final oncology meeting yesterday, The onc told me 2 things, 1) There is no evidence of cancer in my body any more and 2) He hopes to never see me again :).

    I am officially cured.


    Thanks for all your well wishes (and for having a coffee and a chat with me in the early days @larrylarry) Onwards and upwards from here. Surgery booked in for 1 months time then it's time to start the next chapter of my life, this is a much more fun chapter, its all investy and stuff ;)
     
  18. chylld

    chylld Well-Known Member

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    Huge congrats Dan!!! You are an inspiration to many others who are fighting similar battles.

    Was there a specific reason you wanted to invest using offset cash rather than equity loans?
    Tax Tip 9: Don’t use Cash in Offset account to Invest
     
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  19. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

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    Thanks mate, it feels pretty good and I really do hope others can draw inspiration from this :).

    The offset offsets an investment account (currently the balance of the two is 0 as I haven't drawn any funds from it yet). Basically if you look at my online banking it looks like this:

    Home loan P&I: -$X
    IO Investment account: -$Y
    Investment offset account: +$Y

    If I never end up spending it (yeah right lol) the investment account costs me nothing.

    It is to be used for deposits, I will be taking IO loans against the properties I buy :).

    Basically it's no different from someone drawing money back from their equity to use as a deposit, I just drew it all at once and dumped it into an account. If APRA decide to make things harder with regards to drawing equity from your PPOR, it doesn't effect me as I have already done it :).
     
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  20. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    So you would be able to have coffee with full cream milk eh? It's wonderful news and very happy for you!
     
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