How to build income from your investments

How do you pay for your Mistress?

An old Chinese proverb advises “Only pay for your mistress from your income, never from your capital” It is not known if it was a wise woman or a wise man who came up with the proverb but it was a person who certainly knew about money.

I admit as a young man, before I heard of the proverb, I got this wrong. I bought a second hand Porsche 911 SC. It was fun, fast and purred fantastically. I had the money to buy the car, especially with the part exchange of my old car.

As a young RAF officer what I did not have was the income to service it. Simple repairs such as when the indicator glass broke stretched my income and I really struggled with the cost of the insurance.

The indicator glass, for example, went in a semi circle around the wing. It cost me £68 for a new glass because of that bend in the glass. I still remember the price some 41 years later as back then £68 was much more significant than it is today.

For those of us living here in Catalonia our mistress tends to come in the form of, for example,

• A boat with mooring costs, winter storage etc
• A car for touring on the continent. Often falls into the category of a big name brand of car or a vintage car with associated costs
• The temptation to eat and drink out every night, every other other night etc
• Swimming pool with maintenance
• A bigger house with associated costs including security systems, insurance, watering of the garden etc

In nearly all cases when you hear couples talking about the purchase, you will hear the question “Can we afford it?”. The thought process to answer that question is do we have enough money in the bank to buy it. If the answer is yes, the item is bought. It is much less usual to hear “can we meet the ongoing costs?”.

Interestingly, even when we have accumulated significant wealth this proverb still stays true. With more capital we buy bigger things; house, super yacht, more expensive cars etc. and end up with bigger expenses.

We need to ensure that we have sufficient net income to meet the running costs of the purchase. If we do we can

• Enjoy our purchase without worry
• Not damage our financial position by having to spend capital to pay for running costs
• Still have capital left for our surviving spouse and/or our family
• Not suffer from buyer’s regret

How do we get sufficient income to pay for our mistress? We use our existing wealth to build up an income that pays out regularly. Preferably in a tax efficient manner where possible.

Nowadays investing in the latest tech company or perhaps even a crypto currency is deemed to be the way to make money by some people. It may build your capital. However, neither generates much income and in some cases, no income.

If you would like to discuss how to build income from your investments so you can enjoy your purchases without worrying about the ongoing costs please feel welcome to get in touch, in the first instance, by email at barry.davys@spectrum-ifa.com

I cannot guarantee to help you meet all your running costs but as I am passionate about financial planning I anticipate I can improve your situation.