What is your net worth? $1,105,000
At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 43
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Saving, Auckland house, shares.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $1039
What is your career? Operational Team Manager
Do you have children? NO
Do you have a tertiary qualification? YES
Did you inherit any of your money? YES
If YES, how much did you inherit? $420,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $830,000
Are you debt free now? YES
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? NO
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Travel
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
What is your greatest financial win? Buying a house in Auckland. Both A) being able to afford in the first place and B) the capital gains.
What is your worst financial mistake? Probably not buying a rental property in Auckland when they were more affordable.
What advice do you have for others? Have a budget, have a goal, don’t worry about what others around you think. I have always been quite frugal and many around me didn’t understand things like why I don’t buy my lunch every day etc even though I can now afford it but I prefer to keep some things simple like taking lunch to work most days, cycling to work 3ish days even though I get a car park at work (I don’t need my car at work, it’s not a company car and work doesn’t pay for the petrol) also cycling three days a week means I don’t bother paying a gym subscription so its a double win. I have a couple of pretty cheap hobbies (hiking, cycling) so can fill in my time without spending too much but equally I enjoy going out with friends which is not exactly frugal but it’s something I can enjoy and I figure it’s a balance for me. There is no point in saving everything if you are not enjoying life.
Record everything you spend, this can be quite an eye opener. You soon learn exactly where your money is going and what you can trim back on or what you don’t want to.
Do plenty of research for investing and find something you are comfortable with. To begin with I was very conservative as I had worked very hard for the money I earned and couldn’t bear the thought of losing it. Now I’m a little more prepared to take some risks as it can be a way to make a little more money.
Make the most of every little opportunity. My work will rebate up to $100 per year for “health related” things, I have claimed this every year but many of my colleagues have not bothered, this is really them giving away $100. Sign up to KiwiSaver if you haven’t already, especially if you are employed so you get those contributions too, I am always amazed at the amount of people not signed up or not making the minimum contribution to get the government contribution of $521 annually. I didn’t sign up when it was first available, only signing up when a former employer wouldn’t give me the pay rise I wanted and I thought I’ll get some more money out of you this way then! Also it meant I didn’t even notice the contributions going out of my paycheque and I have increased them along the way so I’m now at the maximum and have never noticed the money out of my paycheque doing it at times of pay increases. My KiwiSaver is now $53K and I feel like I haven’t really contributed to it. Shows the power of compounding interest/investment.
Read plenty of books, even if you only get one or two things out of each book it was still worth it (plus the time you have taken to read the book is time you have not been spending money). You can borrow a lot from the library, both physically and e books. Sign up/read/listen to blogs, podcasts, newsletters, facebook groups etc. There are some really interesting ones out there which are both inspirational and that come up with things you may never even have thought of.
Don’t forget to enjoy life too :-)
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? For me it’s a lot less stressful, not having to worry so much now where the rent or mortgage comes from.
I can enjoy things like going out for meals, travel, weekends away etc. If I really want something I can afford to go out and buy it.
If I need to take leave or if I lose my job I know I will be okay for quite some time.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Pay yourself first and then budget the rest. Have a goal and work towards it but make sure you have balance in your life. If the goal seems too big, break it down to sub goals so you don’t get despondent and give up. Find some like minded people to keep you inspired.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Getting sucked into buying all the latest gadgets, especially if you have to borrow to get them, following the crowd and taking on high interest debt especially on consumables which will depreciate in value.
In fact, taking on any debt unless its a mortgage or for education, is not likely to help you build wealth.