All in Money Education

How have YOU improved your financial situation?

How have YOU improved your financial situation?

Ruth
Index Funds, KiwiSaver, Money Education, Retirement, PocketSmith, Sharesies, ETFs, Budgeting

In my last blog post, where I was giving away a bunch of books on personal finance, I gave you two ways to enter. You could either just click enter and get on with your day, or you could take a moment to answer my wide-open question, “Tell me in 100 words or less how you have improved your financial situation”. I honestly thought most people would just enter to win the books without taking the time to write a response. Gosh, was I wrong! My inbox quickly filled up with over 260 fantastic responses, and I’m sharing all of them below. Yep, all of them.

Setting Kids Up for a Strong Financial Future

Setting Kids Up for a Strong Financial Future

Ruth
Kids and Money, Money Education

This week I wanted to write about how I teach my daughter about money. And I want to give the grown-ups a wake-up call because you have the biggest influence on younger people, but you might need to take your role more seriously. If some of us had to do an NCEA course in personal finances, we would get a ‘not achieved’ grade. This means it’s hardly surprising that we don’t have the knowledge about money to hand down to those younger people in our lives, meaning that some of them go on to make a right hash of their pūtea. 

A glimpse at my Inbox

A glimpse at my Inbox

Ruth
Money Education, Personal Finance

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. 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. 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.

Book Review: Barefoot Kids

Book Review: Barefoot Kids

Ruth
Reviews, Kids and Money, Money Education

This week, I’ve employed two exceptional 15-year-old women to help me review the new Scott Pape book Barefoot Kids, Your Epic Money Adventure. When I asked if they actually enjoyed reading the book or only did it because I paid them, Ivy said that she thought it would be a boring chore. But then she began to enjoy it because the more she read, the more inspired to start her own business she became. Nina loved reading it because she is interested in books and websites that teach kids about money. But, sure, she said, the $30 was a fab bonus too! In this book review, I bring together all our different thoughts, and you get to decide whether it is worth buying for the kids in your life.

KiwiSaver for kids? YES, please!

KiwiSaver for kids? YES, please!

Ruth
Kids and Money, KiwiSaver, Money Education

I believe it is essential that we don’t just teach our tamariki to ‘save’, but we teach them to become ‘investors’ as well. That’s where the money is to be made over time. Since taking part in the Sharesies Kids and Investing webinar, one conversation thread has stayed with me. It was about whether it is worth signing your tamariki up to KiwiSaver or not. I am firmly in the YES camp.

Book Review: Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?

Book Review: Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?

Ruth
Reviews, Shares, Money Education

I have a shelf dedicated to personal finance books that I actually enjoyed reading. The books that live there are the ones that I often refer to, and I’m pretty particular about the books I keep for future reference. I have to LEARN something from them, or there is no point keeping them around. They also need to pass my stringent ‘sleep test’. If I fall asleep reading them, it’s not a good sign. I’ve recently bought several new release personal finance books that I’ll review once I’ve read them, but today I wanted to give you a heads up on the one I’ve just finished.

Debt won’t solve your money problems

Debt won’t solve your money problems

Ruth
Budgeting, Debt, Money Education, Mortgage

Recently the banking/lending industry changed the way they view lending applications in response to new government legislation and changes made to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act. The government’s changes are to protect borrowers, which sounds fair to me. However, my personal view is that banks also saw this as an opportunity to reset the expectations of some borrowers.

How to Pay Cash for Tertiary Education

How to Pay Cash for Tertiary Education

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, Kids and Money, Money Education, Sharesies, SmartShares

This blog post results from a brief yet alarming conversation I had with a 15-year-old who has three years remaining at school before they planned to head off to university. In answer to my question, “how are you going to pay for it,” they quickly replied, “with student loans, because they are interest-free”. It was not my place to comment at the time (although in my head I was screaming to say something), but given I write a blog, I’ve created a space where I can give their response some thought. So, I will.

Natural spender or natural saver?

Natural spender or natural saver?

Ruth
Money Education, Budgeting

I’ve been thinking about the concept of “natural spender and natural saver” for quite some time. When people email me, they will often reference themselves as being very clearly one or the other. They have popped themselves into a category and then used that to explain their views and actions around how and why they handle their pūtea (money) the way they do. It’s never sat quite right with me, and it feels too restrictive and concrete to categorise yourself that way.

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