I’ve been hearing from a few of you because you have been opening up your KiwiSaver account statements at this time of the year. And there have been a few unexpected surprises in there.
All in Retirement
The 4% Rule
Have you ever thought “How much do I need to save for my retirement”? I certainly have. Professor’s from Trinity University in America created a study that looked into a sustainable withdrawal rate and to cut a long story short, they came up with the 4% Rule.
It’s not what you earn. It’s what you save!
For those of you who are just stumbling upon the FI community you have to agree to be a weirdo like the rest of us and start to pay close attention to how much you are SAVING. It is arguably more important than what you are earning.
What can I learn from retirees?
I had a chat with a retired couple recently and I was torn between being polite and not too nosey and outright wanting to ask them every nitty gritty detail about their lives. I settled on the middle ground but found myself left wanting.
What to do with a windfall
One questions I ask is “if you were given $10,000 right now what would you do”? I picked that amount because in my mind it is enough to be significant, $1,000 just doesn’t make people sit up and listen, but the thought of a sudden and unexpected $10,000 does.
Maxed Out KiwiSaver
This will be the last year that we are going above and beyond with voluntary contributions to our KiwiSaver. I had been pushing up to $500 per month into both my husband and my funds but last week we reached my tipping point...
Becoming an Investor*
All your working life you are trying to increase your net worth so that when you finally stop working you start to slowly spend it to live on. If upon retirement each year you take 4% out of your pot of savings it will take about 30 years to boil the pot dry. So what can you live on a year? Do you need to invest $100K, $200 or $500K?
KiwiSaver ≠ First Home Buyer Deposit
Is it just me or are people confusing saving for a house with saving for retirement? I keep hearing about first home buyers all the time and how difficult it is to get into the market. But the question I keep asking myself is “why do people use their KiwiSaver as their primary mode of saving for a deposit?”
Forestry as an Investment
Over the years I have heard about forestry as an investment. I even toyed with the idea of our own Christmas Tree Farm as a side hustle. It is a REALLY long term investment as you wait for the trees to grow… But grow they will which then begs the question of whether it is worth the initial investment and the really really long wait.