If you set a goal of doubling your income, there are a couple of very different ways to go about it.

The first way, which is probably thought of as the only way by a majority of average Aussies, is to do twice as much work. 

Sure if you get a second job, you can double your income, up to a point.

If you’re earning $50k a year for example, there would be plenty of jobs or side hustles out there that would allow you to get to $100k.

As a matter of fact, that’s what B.Invested founder Nathan Birch did when he wanted to enter the property market for the first time. He knew he needed to earn a certain amount to save a deposit, so he worked two jobs until he got there.

Of course, if you’re on $100k a year, it’s much harder to find the kind of extra work that will turn that into $200k.

Returns that earn

Once Nathan underwent that initial grind to get into the market, he looked for ways to replace that income so that he could not only quit his second job, but quit working altogether as soon as possible.

His strategy was the other way to double your income… by acquiring cashflow producing assets. And this strategy can double your income in any kind of market, no matter what that income is.

He figured out how many positively geared properties he would need to replace a certain level of income and made sure he got to that number in his portfolio.

Easier said than done?

It might be one thing to sit there and say, OK you need five or six investment properties to replace an income of $100k. Or get 10 and earn $150k plus. But not everyone can just go out there and buy properties right?

Wrong. Nathan began his investment journey with enough of a deposit for one affordable house on the city fringes. He now has more than 220 properties, worth 10s of millions. He simply invested for below market value, earned equity, refinanced and freed that equity up for his next deposit. 

As he often points out, people think you need $1 million to buy a property and therefore need $5 million to buy five, but that’s not the case. 

You can buy them for $100,000, or for $200,000. That initial deposit may only cost you $20,000. If you’re paying interest only on an $80,000 loan, you may only be paying $100 a week. Current rents would see you get at least double that each week. And you’re off and racing.

Leverage equity

Once you’ve got that $100k property, it provides you with not only a cash flow stream, but an equity position. So you could leverage that first property to buy a second property, using the equity as a deposit. Then the equity on the second one can get you the third. Now, you have three properties and, say they go up in value by 10%, you might then have enough to go buy properties four and five. 

When these go up in value, you might be able to leverage into a block of units…then you suddenly have 10 properties. At this point, you may stop and realise that you have been able to create a whole lot of wealth and income from that one initial property investment.