MartinLuther

I'd stick it in stocks rather than property at the mo.

ABCDiamond

It is definitely worth having, but no-one should buy an investment based only on getting it. One day, a government may successfully drop it, who knows for sure.

jad n rich

That would depend on your income, tax set up and if the property goes up or down in value.

My main positive with rental property is we bought in the right place at the right time, probably as much luck as anything else.

My main negative is tenants, the most recent tenant, unknown to us was out on bail, yes this tenant was fully checked out by the agency, however we have privacy laws.... and you still dont really know till they move in. Nice young family with job and good refs, er no, escaped from jail Yes I can laugh cause we have seen it all now, from knee high rubbish to 2 approved tenants turning into 12

Anyway house is now rented to a nice guy, hes paying the rent, even asked if he could put austar disc on roof, house looks clean, but if someone said hes secretly chopping up backpackers in the kitchen I wouldnt be surprised. Nope tenants are a bloody nightmare.

And to the OP, when renting to your kids, be aware of the difficult situation of if the kids friends decide not to pay the rent bit of a minefield that one.

MartinLuther

Negative gearing keeps rents down. If they got rid of it they would have to increase rent assistance.

What you gain on one hand you lose on the other.

The better direction would be for the government to encourage tax advantaged savings. I know they currently do this through Super but it would be nice to have some tax advantage savings that could be accessed at any age. Maybe once the stimulus debt has been paid it would be a good way of reducing the excess tax receipts to a less embarrassing level without stimulating inflation through tax rebates.