What is your net worth? $1,500,000
At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 44 years
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Auckland
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? I bought my own home in 2005. It took 5 years to save $50,000 for my deposit but I’m so glad I got into the market early.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? It varies greatly from year to year but was around $110,000 on average (annually)
What is your career? Film & TV Producer
Do you have children? YES
Do you have a tertiary qualification? NO
Did you inherit any of your money? ES
If YES, how much did you inherit? $200,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $1,400,000
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? I enjoy travel and experiences, so I’m happy to be frugal on day to day living to be able to afford holidays.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
If YES, can you please elaborate. I donate regularly to KidsCan and have worked on many short films for free over the years to both upskill myself and to give back.
What is your greatest financial win? My parents helped me with buying my first home. It would have been harder, and taken longer, without their initial investment.
What is your worst financial mistake? Not investing earlier into long term savings. I wish I had started earlier towards retirement.
What advice do you have for others? Pay yourself first. Set some financial goals for yourself, then do what it takes to achieve them and spend what’s leftover. For me, that meant not going on an amazing trip to South America with friends that I really wanted to go on. But I choose to keep the $20,000 for my house deposit. I own my home and they both still have $500,000 mortgages.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Having financial security is very important to me as a solo parent. Owing my home means I don’t have to worry about a landlord asking me to leave, and I can make career decisions knowing I have some financial security to fall back on. It allows me to sleep at night.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Set yourself some goals and work towards them. Otherwise, you’ll fritter your money away on unimportant things. You spend your 20’s & 30’s accumulating stuff and the rest of your life trying to de-clutter.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… And trying to keep up with others. Don’t take on debt for a fancy car you can’t afford to buy outright. Save up for things. Do you really need that designer jacket? Or another pair of shoes? Money is hard-earned. Spend it wisely.
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: The best thing I ever did when I decided to buy a house was to read up on lots of books and blogs about homeownership in NZ. I was self-employed so getting a mortgage wasn’t easy through a bank so I used a mortgage broker. Best thing I ever did. He not only helped me secure a mortgage, he helped me to set goals to pay it off as fast as I could. He told me “it’s not the rate you pay, it’s the rate you pay it off”. So true! Any extra money I earned, any bonuses or well paid jobs as a freelancer, I put it on my floating account and aimed to pay that down as fast as I could so the next time my fixed mortgage came up, I could draw more down on floating. This allowed me to smash my mortgage without incurring lump sum penalties. A good mortgage broker can, and should, offer considerable knowledge and value.