All in Personal Finance
I interviewed a bloke for an upcoming episode of my podcast and he had a lot to say about investing in individual shares and why he used to buy them, but now no longer does. He took the advice of a good friend when she told him, back in the 1980s, just buy into today’s equivalent of an index fund and let time in the market be your money’s best friend. Low and behold, she was correct.
Sharesies have been making a few tweaks to their system. If you already use them they will have emailed you (but if you are like me, you may not have read it) and I felt the changes are worth mentioning for those investing with them already or for those thinking about doing so. Sharesies is now “tidier” to use and I think probably less confusing for newbie investors too.
Have you given any thought to how much your car costs to run? I’m not just talking about how much petrol or diesel it uses. Until now I don’t think I had ever totalled up all of these costs specific to my vehicles. But after getting a question about cars, I decided to look into it a bit further and now its a case of “you can’t unsee what you have seen” dammit!
How important are credit ratings? A credit rating or a credit score is simply a rating of how well you manage DEBT. A high credit score is not a badge of honour, it's not an indicator of your net worth or your ability to earn money, it instead indicates how often you have taken on debt (and paid interest) and how well you have paid it down.
Mary Holm has been on my radar for a long time, she was possibly the first woman I heard speak with authority on how to handle money and has continued to be a great role model. The front page of her new book says she is “New Zealand’s Most Trusted Money Expert”. I bet the publishers angst over that bold claim, but I think it’s true.
Every single day I receive emails from YOU about anything and everything that is playing on your mind in regards to money and I absolutely love responding to them. This week I thought that I would just give you a snippet of the queries I get because to me they are one of the main reasons I blog, to interact with other people who are thinking about PF.
Any time of year is a great time to finally sit down and get your financial house in order, but January in particular, is a time when many people finally do it. One of the first tips I offer people who are wanting to take control of their personal finances is to tell them that it’s crucial that you track your earning and spending, otherwise, how do you know if you are getting ahead or falling behind?
Personal finance is deeply personal, and everyone goes about it slightly differently but the key to those who succeed and get ahead is working out exactly where their money is. One of the first tips I offer people who email me is to track their financial activity. Only when you do this in some form or other can you make the right changes and start to understand where all of your money is going.
The Barefoot Investor by Australian Scott Pape is an excellent book and it has been instrumental in changing the financial direction of not just Australians but also of Kiwis. Many people have asked me to work out what the Kiwi equivalents are of the providers he recommends. I’m not saying this is a conclusive list, but I’ve given it my best shot.
