This is a popular pastime when the stock market is booming and investors feel that the market will never turn down. However, it is highly speculative due to the difference in nature of property and shares. Property is a stable investment which is not generally subject to sharp falls and rises. On the other hand some shares can rise and fall as much as 80% (or more) in a single year.

This is all about money management and investment. That implies that investment is of a medium to long-term nature. If you buy and sell shares on a short-term regular basis as a trader, you are speculating on the market. This is simple gambling and while there is nothing wrong with having a flutter it should NEVER be done with borrowed money.

Funds Investing

Other problems can arise if money is borrowed against the security of shares or share-based investments. If the value of the shares falls, the lender may insist that certain of the securities be sold to reduce the debt. Thus you may be forced to sell at a loss on a depressed market. Using property as security may get you around the above problem but the fact still remains that borrowing for share purchase should not be undertaken by most investors.

Overseas Borrowings

It sounds too good to be true — heaps of money to be borrowed at interest rates of around 8%. Imagine, if you could just get your hands on a few hundred thousand US dollars at those wonderful rates you could not go wrong even if you put the money into debentures at 15%. But there is one big question you can’t help asking yourself: “if it is that easy why don’t all wealthy people do it?”

Whenever something looks too perfect there is often a flaw somewhere and in the case of overseas borrowing there is a big one. To get those cheap interest rates you have to borrow in the currency of the other country. That means you are throwing yourself at the mercy of the fluctuating dollar. If the rand drops in price against the overseas currency you have lost, if it gains against the other currency you have won.

Overseas loans are generally for large amounts and it would be unusual to find one for less than $200 000 (about R500 000). That, in itself, stops most people from becoming involved, but it also means that losses or gains in currency fluctuations can be quite large.

Under current foreign exchange regulations South African individuals are prohibited from borrowing money on overseas markets. This is a result of the Foreign Debt Crisis of September 1985. Prior to this, for a period of more than two years, South Africans were allowed to borrow money on overseas money and capital markets, but the inherent risks in this were demonstrated when the rand started declining against all major foreign currencies.

A loan of $200 000 at an American interest rate of 8% in June 1983 would have been worth only R200 000 at the then ruling exchange rate of the rand. But due to the subsequent sharp decline in the value of the rand this loan would have been worth R400 000 only two years later. Many wealthy individuals who negotiated large overseas loans incurred heavy losses when the rand dropped from 1983 onwards.

Even though there are no plans to allow individual borrowing on overseas markets in the near future, the lessons of the past should not be forgotten.

One of the secrets of financial success is not to gamble with your life savings. Borrowing in foreign currencies introduces a whole new element of gambling into your investment programme and for this reason I strongly discourage it.

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