Financial anti-planning

As someone about to make important personal financial decisions, I have been paying attention to the economy, and property prices etc., and would say I have a decent idea of whats going on. Most of my thinking has been that property is at an all time high, and interest at an all time low, so a cautious person would take seriously the risk of a decent interest increase and/or property price collapse, and plan acordingly.

What I'm wondering is is it worth being careful. If I borrow as much as I can get my hands on what's the worst that can happen. If things do go badly in the near future I'm in well over my head, so I declare myself bankrupt and start again, only losing a couple of years savings. On the other hand if I'm careful I'm able to struggle and make the repayments, I probably end up losing most of what I've saved anyway, but with a smaller house and bigger repayments starting again would be more difficult. On the other hand if things do go well and prices keep going up what good has my caution done me?

Opinions?

If I borrow as much as I can get my hands on what's the worst that can happen. If things do go badly in the near future I'm in well over my head, so I declare myself bankrupt and start again, only losing a couple of years savings.

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Unlike the USA and UK (?) I don't think that individuals in Ireland can declare themselves bankrupt although I'm open to correction on that. In the above scenario I don't see how you could casually "start again" since your credit rating will be worthless and, presumably, your savings and possibly any subsequent disposable earnings will be gone towards paying off the outstanding debts in part or full.

You seem to be focusing mainly or solely on property which is not necessarily a prudent thing to do. Have a read of the AMM Guide to Savings & Investments to get a better idea of how to prudently go about building a diversified (by asset class, risk/reward profile and geographic region) portfolio rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. It also outlines some of the risks inherent in borrowing to invest.

www.askaboutmoney.com/guide/index.htm

would say I have a decent idea of whats going on

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From what you're saying, I think you have a lot more to learn.