Thinking about investing in property to try and beat inflation? Just do it! (said Art)

There is sometimes an easy answer to a problem.

You may not like the answer, it may not work without help, it may not be the dream, it may seem like hard work, it may not seem fair to some however, it is a good answer to a problem.

My daughter’s school PE teacher has just left the profession of teaching after 12+ years. He was Head of PE and had a very good reputation. He left to work in the cIty, in Finance, and many of us probably understand why. I’m not talking about the known negative issues that teachers have with long hours, targets and some unruly pupils. More the positive change this move makes financially.

This move made me think about a short piece of advice that changed my perspective on choosing a career, choosing a type of work and choosing a job. It also changed my thoughts on many ways of making decisions whilst solving problems.

‘If you want to earn a lot of money when you work, choose an industry to work in that pays a lot of money’.

The advice is simple, clear, honest and for some…brutal! It does not say it will be easy and does not say if the work will be enjoyable. It is a simple solution to the basic question asked by many ‘I want to earn more money’.

Therefore, I have a huge amount of respect for my daughter’s PE teacher even though I believe he will miss the more intangible highs he experienced seeing a young person grow and succeed because of his tutelage.

So what is the problem at the moment? At the minute the new problem we face after recession, austerity, Brexit, Covid and, partly due to a war, is the cost of living crisis and its effect. So the question we are trying to answer is ‘how can you invest money to beat inflationary rises in the cost of living?’

As I start to write this blog today (Times 17/4/2022) the price index’s in the UK are:

  • Consumer price index at 7%
  • Consumer price index including housing at 6.2%
  • Retail price index at %

    However:

  • Wages are up 5.4% over 12 months to £598 per week on average.
  • Unemployment is down to 3.8% of the working population (1.3M people)

So, if you want to make money during a national crisis or at least not see your investments fall in value, choose an industry that does well in these times.

For example:

  • During the recession the industry that prospered was: Hedge funds who bet against the banks
  • During austerity the industries that prospered were: Low cost online clothing and pound shops
  • During Brexit the industries that prospered were: Management Consultants and Bookmakers
  • During Covid the industries that prospered were: Pharmaceutical companies and residential property
  • During the cost of living crisis the industries that may do well are: oil / gas companies / electric vehicles / solar panel companies and residential property investments.

(Please note these are my own observations rather than specific investment advice. Any investment made should be researched thoroughly by yourself.

Housing? Yes, the average property price in Peterborough has risen 30% in the last 5 years (Dataloft 28/4/2022). The current rents in Peterborough are 8% higher than last year (across all properties, Dataloft 28/4/2022). Wages are up, unemployment is low and we have a national shortage of housing.

This takes us back to our simple piece of advice ‘If you want to earn a lot of money when you invest, choose an industry to invest in that makes a lot of money’.

But life is never quite as simple as this, first of all you have to just do it, taking into account that it may not work without help, it may not be the dream, it may seem like hard work, it may not seem fair to some however, it is a good answer to a problem.

So the best person to explain the how to get started with this journey and how to ‘just do it’ is Art Williams.

If you would like to ‘just do it’ call us at Tortoise Property on 01733 592020 where we can take away the stress, anxiety and time required to set up and manage your investment in an ever changing market.

Mike Matthews

Tortoise Property