Leverage Your Investments For Greater Rewards

By Gnifrus Urquart

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.

When I started investing, my borrowing habits where the same as most peoples. I had a floating credit card debt which varied to my whims. I had a small personal loan for some household items and a bigger one which enabled me to buy my car.

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?

Borrowing to invest increases your ability to earn investment returns. Its simple maths really. You have more money to invest because you borrowed some, so when you invest the money wisely, you'll earn more returns. There is one additional variable to this equation though to keep in mind, the interest on the loan. Your investment strategy must be strong enough that the additional earnings are higher than the interest on the borrowings. Otherwise your net position is actually going backwards. Ie. Overall, you are losing money.

The second benefit you can get from borrowing to invest is a possible tax benefit. In my situation where I have borrowed to purchase an investment property in Victoria, as I rent out that property and earn an income from it, the interest payments on that mortgage become a cost associated with that income. As such, in my circumstance, I can claim those interest payments as a tax deduction. This means that while my asset is making me money, the tax office is actually giving me a discount on my borrowing by making it tax deductible

Margin loans work similarly. Basically I buy a bunch of stocks, fund 50% of the purchases myself and borrow the other 50% in a margin loan. This means I can double the size of my share portfolio and hopefully make a lot more money. Because I borrowed money though to buy the stocks which will make me money, the interest accrued in the margin loan is tax deductible.

So there are definite advantages you can gain from leveraging your investments. There are risks also though, which is why you should seek proper financial advice prior to moving down this path.

So what are the risks associated with borrowing for investment purposes? One of the obvious risks relates to your financial capacity. There is the risk you over-extend yourself and cannot meet the repayment obligations on your loans. When taking out a loan, you need to be sure you can pay the loan repayments.

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. - 23217

About the Author:

Gnifrus Urquart has had significant success investing over the years. As such, he likes reviewing investment strategies and offering trading tips to others who enjoys investing