What is your net worth? $3,800,000
Are you filling this out as an individual or a couple? Couple
At what age(s) did you become a net worth millionaire? 40
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Auckland
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Small business.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $6,500
What is your career? Management
Do you have children? YES
Do you have a tertiary qualification? YES
Did you inherit any of your money? YES
If YES, how much did you inherit? $700,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $1,500,000
Are you debt free now? NO
If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $728,000 personal mortgage. We've been focusing on repaying business debt and so have been leaving the personal mortgage.
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? Very haphazardly. We did “pretend investing” in the share market, and I was somewhat aware of my parent's budget. I feel I wasn't really taught about money but then compared to my wife's family, where any mention of money is taboo...
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? I really like trying to spend less each year and watching savings grow.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? NO
If YES, can you please elaborate. I used to volunteer my time and it was awesome; highly recommended. Then I got nervous about debts I haven't paid off and dropped it. My plan is to go back after the mortgage is sorted.
What is your greatest financial win? We bought a nice house when we moved to Auckland as a 'mental compensation' for having to live here. Then property prices doubled. The house was purchased to be a sanctuary rather than an investment, but it was the equity in the house that enabled us to start the businesses.
What is your worst financial mistake? I got greedy with work. Everything was going well financially but it was exhausting. I thought we should get rid of all the staff that were giving me headaches and just focus on selling products. The transition from bespoke to cookie-cutting was a financial disaster but I had my head in the sand and it took two years before I changed direction.
What advice do you have for others? Work out the path you'd like to walk through life. The older I get, the more I realise that money isn't key to the path I care about.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Freedom. An investment of $1,000,000 will return about $1,000 per week. If you can't get paid work for whatever reason, then you can live just fine on that.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this: Prioritise both earning more and spending less. Budget and decide where you want to put your money, and because you really want the fund stuff to happen, you've got a strong incentive to go out and earn that money.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this: Lifestyle creep: A nicer car, a fancier house. A lot of these are circular too as nice homes need much more spent on maintenance.
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: After finishing uni late we found myself at 35 with a single income, two small children and minimal savings. It felt like if we continued the same trajectory we would have a very tight retirement. So we took some risks to save much more aggressively and these mostly worked out.