No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" (The White Rabbit - Alice in Wonderland.)

Have you ever wondered why you never have enough time? Or are always working and never seem to have enough money? Time and money, money and time. For many people the one literally equals the other. They spend their whole existence trading minutes and hours for pennies and pounds. And they work harder and harder to increase the figure they can attaché to those 60 min. The problem however is that you will only ever have 24 hours in a day to trade. No more, no less. You can't buy any more when you run out, you can't save it up to use later. 24 is your lot. Use it, or lose it.

I remember an advert I once saw on TV. It was a black screen with a stopwatch on it counting down. A bit like the clock on the hit series 24. There was no sound other than the ticking down of the clock. Then a calm voice says something along the lines of "The average human lives for 2000 million second" Then silence, the clock on the screen keeps counting down - "Tick, tick, tick". The voice comes back - "There's another 3 gone..." Screen goes black and that's it.

I can't remember the exact amount of seconds, or if the voice was male or female. I can't even remember what product or service it was advertising. But what I do remember is what a massive impact it had on me. I remember feeling a mixture of awe, fear and exhilaration as I literally watched 3 second of MY life tick away. I immediately switched off the TV, called up one of my friends and drove to the beach for surf before sundown.

Over the weekend I bumped into a mate I haven't seen for close to a year. We had a quick chat, promised we would catch up for a beer soon and then he had to run. His parting comment was "When we have that beer you really must take me through this property thing. I'm dying to get a buy-to-let." After he left it struck me that even though we live in the same area I could count the number of times we socialized together in the last 12 months on my one hand. And every single time we see each other we part company with exactly the same tag line...

Now I'm not taking pot shots at this guy. One he's my mate and secondly I know he has a crazy work schedule. Know those guys who are first in the office and the last to leave, day in, day out. That's him. He keeps a spare suit and shirt at work in case he needs to pull an all-nighter. On top of that he's a young father. One toddler, a second on the way. And he's doing up his family home. Sticking a loft in, a bit of decorating and so on. Lots of trips to BQ. Maybe swing by Baby GAP on the way. I could go on but I'm exhausted.

And so is he. What's wrong with working hard to provide for your family? Absolutely nothing. You do it, I do it, all our friends do it. The biggest problem however is that most people work so hard, they never have the time to make any real money. Let's face it - very few people have become financially free by working for the Boss. They work hard, get promotions, get big pay packets, maybe a nice bonus and at the end of the year, and during the Christmas break, absolutely exhausted, they look back on their year wondering where it's all gone. So they take stock, decide they really must change something, make some time for the gym, some time to find that investment property. And so the next year they throw themselves back into it with new vigour. Working harder, working longer. Always deferring, always sacrificing the "here and now" for the "one day" in the future. And then, all too quickly its Christmas again. We all look at each other and say "My, this year has flown".

So Carpe diem, quit your job, live for the moment, dance in the rain and hug a tree while you're at it? Nonsense! It's quite simple - If you want to have the money you have to make the time. In one of my previous articles I discussed the importance of "Paying yourself first" when it comes to your money. You need to apply this very same principle to your time. Take time to educate yourself about money, time to look at investment opportunities and time to acquire assets. Invest time in your future the same way you invest money in your future. Your return on investment will ultimately secure not only your future, but also that of your family.

One of the greatest benefits of using Smuts & Taylor is that you get to use our time so you don't have to use yours. Our time finding lucrative opportunities, our time structuring the deals and our time to do the extensive due diligence.

So have a look at our current investment opportunities here and then call us on 0207 223 4109 or visit our Contact Page to drop us a line.

I look forward too speaking to you soon.

Mike Smuts
Property investor and Managing Director of Smuts & Taylor.