A glimpse at my Inbox
26 Mar, 2023
Today’s post is a bit random. It’s about the emails I receive.
I’m often asked if I receive many emails from people who read my blog or listen to my podcast. Well, the short answer is yes. Every day I respond to emails I receive, but I set aside Monday, in particular, to make a dent in my inbox. Even when I reach the bottom, it fills right back up. I don’t get paid for this, it’s just part of running a blog, and I can’t not respond. If people have taken the time to get in touch, it’s only polite to reply.
I’ve never really thought about how many I receive and send; I just know that it’s a lot and that each of them is interesting to me.
Today I am sharing a few email highlights, plus a few conversations, with you so you can get a taste of the money conversations floating around Aotearoa.
There is SO MUCH information flying about regarding money. It’s overwhelming. And if it is overwhelming for someone like myself who loves talking about this topic, I know for a fact that it's doubly overwhelming for those who are not that interested yet realise they need to pay a bit more attention. After 6.5 years of blogging, I've deduced that we can wipe 95% of what we see/read/hear off the table because it’s all too much. Get the basics right, and the rest will naturally follow. Which often leads people to my blog.
I’m always up for a chat. My inbox is full of simple yet thoughtful questions and queries, which leads to many long-running email conversations about money. And if we don’t have anyone in our friend group to ask questions because of the RIDICULOUS notion that it is rude to talk about money, people ask me instead.
Before I begin, I want to assure everyone who emailed or spoke with me that I’m not publishing our conversations. You can relax. I won’t share names, gender or location. I instead want to share the sentiment so that others reading this can see what good stuff can happen when you decide to engage with your money. And that there is no silly question.
I’ve picked some of the emails that I received between the period of 11-25 March and pulled a few points out of each:
Despite redundancy, sporadic work, and eating into savings, the reader and their partner didn’t let it stop them, they never gave up, and they still smashed out their mortgage in the face and are now debt free. They reckoned that semi-retirement was the way forward for them; a little work and a little leisure. I love this. And I love when people share their debt free moments with me.
I helped a 53-year-old answer many questions that were on their mind about term deposits, index funds and KiwiSaver and how they could utilise these options in retirement. They were on a journey of discovery and information gathering, and our email exchanges go back many years as they piece their money puzzle together.
It sometimes helps to kōrero instead. I spoke with a 42-year-old who recently returned from overseas and had been doing a tonne of research but actually wanted to talk with someone about the information they were gathering. Already an excellent saver and living well below their means, they needed clarification about their options in NZ.
A couple had been outsourcing their money management to an investment firm but decided they wanted to take control and do it themselves. That’s pretty cool to hear, and my view is that with a bit of knowledge, you can easily manage your own money and don’t need to pay ongoing high fees to a firm to do it for you. I sent them many key resources to follow up on.
I had a back-and-forth with someone feeling pressured to keep up with the Joneses. Already mortgage free, and with additional savings building up and giving them some diversification, they considered returning all their eggs to one basket by upsizing their home and taking on a mortgage again. I offered a huge congratulations for becoming debt free and encouraged them to think beyond the house and instead look at their family's freedom and options. Why would you give that up? We can become so focussed on an upgrade that would come at the detriment of so many other parts of our lives.
I had a lovely email from someone who shared that they also use sinking funds to save for holidays. Plus, as self-employed, they had also begun to set aside money to cover their wages while on holiday! Genius.
In another long-standing email exchange, I shared my electricity usage numbers with a reader, so they could determine if the increase they were facing was reasonable or not. I'm happy to share if comparing my electricity spend helps them out. That led us to talk about budgeting etc. I enjoy these email exchanges that have gone on for years. I’ve got many on the go.
Although I do my very best to keep people on my podcast anonymous, someone reached out to say they recognised the person I was talking about. NZ is so small! It was all good, though; it led them to search out a photo that the two of them had taken together on the top of a mountain many years before. A nice memory to reflect on.
I had a nerve-wracking exchange between myself, some UK bloggers and a keen Kiwi who wanted to create a presentation in some main centres in NZ. The thought terrifies me, and I just don’t have the time, so I respectfully declined. But I promise that if they do bring something together, I will absolutely share it with you.
Recent podcast episodes have become longer and longer, and I mentioned I was trying to cut them back. I’ve had heaps of responses telling me they are happy with the length because all the content was helpful. I’ll continue to try to be as concise as possible, and for those who find them too long, I’d encourage you to increase the playback speed of the podcast!
Someone I had featured on my podcast sent me an update and shared that their spouse got a 30% pay rise at work. Now, that is decent! And the writer was also in line for a career and money jump. They were sweating about mortgage interest rates increasing, but this will cover it and more. I loved that they were thinking ahead and planning how to cover the increase long before it happens.
This next one just about knocked me off my chair. A listener's student loan had been playing on their mind. They wanted to pay it off; they had the money but were hesitating. They were listening to my podcast, and after hearing of yet another person being thoroughly sick of their student loan, they paused the episode, went and paid off their own $52,000 student loan, and then returned to listen to the rest!!! They said it was the ‘right and the best thing for them to do’. I was delighted that they were delighted!
I had an email from a person signing up to PocketSmith but was really worried about security, so I connected them directly with PocketSmith, and to my knowledge, they are now happily budgeting for the first time. There were similar concerns from a new Sharesies user, and I did my best to find the answer to their questions. It's better that these people reach out, ask a question and have it quickly answered than sit and stew in their concerns.
I received a lovely and lengthy 1800-word update (you would be surprised at the length of the emails I receive) from someone with whom I’ve had in-depth conversations before. They are still awaiting a response, and they will get one soon. I always feel that if someone has taken the time to carefully craft such a comprehensive email, it’s my duty to give an equally considered response, so it sometimes takes me a few weeks to respond. I have a number of other longer emails I need to respond to; that’s next week's job.
I’ve also enjoyed a few Phone A Friend conversations in the last fortnight, plus some in-person conversations with locals. They are an opportunity to talk to people ‘where they are at’ and let them ask me any questions they like, and I’ll either answer if I know or send them resources to help. Every conversation comes back to the basics of understanding your net worth, budgeting your money, having an emergency fund, paying into KiwiSaver, becoming debt free and then focusing on investing. I finish every conversation invigorated.
I should write about housing again at some point because another couple of emails I received centred on the rent vs buy conversation. And the ‘upsize our house’ or ‘stay put’ conversations. It’s interesting to hear people's reasonings, counter them, and offer suggestions. There is a lot of FOMO out there, and I’ll always encourage people to concern themselves with themselves and not worry about what everyone else is up to.
Someone shared with me that, like me, they pay for everything upfront by saving up first and THEN buying the item. They said they are surprised that some are so shocked that saving up and paying cash is an option. We have become so accustomed to debt. There were many other emails in this vein, with people sharing examples of how having paid cash for a holiday, they then had considerable unexpected costs pop up - but because they planned for that situation too by saving up, there was no stress about finding the extra money. I get a lot of emails like that; they just share everyday money stories and situations with me. I really enjoy hearing these.
I’ll often receive emails from people who have just discovered my podcast. Hearing about so many other money situations of everyday Kiwis instantly makes them feel less stressed about their situation. Because their problem is, they discover, not unique, which gives them the courage to email me and ask some questions about debt payoff and emergency funds. They often miss basic money skills, which can all be learned regardless of age. But generally, if someone has taken the time to look for my content, they are in a tricky situation and looking for a few pointers.
I’m in the midst of answering another big email exchange, and the thing that strikes me is as we continue our back-and-forth conversations, it becomes really evident that a clear pathway is emerging for the person I’m ‘speaking’ to. The emails get shorter, and the points clearer. The emotional tone dies down, and the practical solutions ramp up. That’s progress, and I love these emails.
It’s not unusual for me to be contacted by people who are FIRE but are a bit stuck for like-minded people to speak with. So, I’ll always do my best to connect people. I do wonder how I could formalise this somehow so that retired and semi-retired people can have meet-ups all over NZ. It is hard to keep so many different people in my head to know who to link with who. Any suggestions?
It’s always humbling when people donate to me via my Buy Me A Coffee link. Generally, I’ve helped them via content I’ve created or emails we have exchanged, and it’s always wonderful to get an update. I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it, blogging is a really positive and rewarding experience. I’ve met so many people in person or online that I now call friends. I get the odd nut job sending me emails, but they are rare, and I just delete those emails and move on. Being ignored infuriates them, I should point out. But they are just not worth my time.
And finally, there are the emails I get from people who have never heard of me before but come across me via podcasts I’ve been featured on. They have only ever heard of housing as a way to grow wealth, are generally leveraged up to their ears, working their guts out and can’t understand why if this is the path to riches, they are feeling so darn stressed out all the time. So, that’s always fun, pointing them to books/blogs/podcasts/people to offer an alternative view to property and debt.
Amidst all these exchanges are many emails from companies and agencies trying to get me to mention their product or service, or worse, subtly imbed their content (for payment) in my blogs. No thanks. Although I’m sure I have become biased over the years and favour one company over another, it’s generally simply because I’ve found something that works, and I am happy to share that experience, whether paid or not.
So, there you go. As you can see, I’m not answering complex questions about expense ratios, share splits and ROIs (although I sometimes do). It’s just the basics of good money management that I keep talking about over and over.
But before you discount these conversations as too simplistic, I need you to understand that I’ve emailed many people for a long time. I’ve therefore witnessed their progress and transformation into a far better financial position. And the ones who succeed do it by keeping their money simple.
They learn to do the basics well:
They know what they are worth this year compared to last by tracking their net worth.
They budget.
They always have an emergency fund.
They pay into their KiwiSaver.
They get out of debt fast and don’t go back into it.
Then they invest in whatever asset class is their thing.
I cover this in much greater detail here: Begin at the Beginning: Step-by-step Path to Financial Independence
As I was writing this up, I paused to interview a woman called Jess for a future podcast episode. A 52-year-old wahine who has just bought her first home. 30+ years of renting, living pay to pay, and she will soon move into a place of her very own. Because she never thought buying a house was possible for her, she never really thought about buying a home full stop. It was simply not on her radar.
Her first email to me was back in February 2022, asking how on earth she could save up an emergency fund. She was giving it a go, but it was taking ages. What was she missing? We emailed back and forth, going over the basics as mentioned above. Seeing her lightening fast progression from that first question to owning her own home has been exceptionally rewarding. She just asked a few good questions and learned some new information. And she completely changed her own life.
If there was a takeaway from this blog post, it’s to focus on the basics and ask questions of those around you. Keep your money simple. Never stop being curious, and therefore you will never stop learning and improving your lot in life.
