What is your net worth? $1,900,000
At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 53 and 50.
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? We have high percentage saving rates and we are always looking for creative ways to keep costs down.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? Average over the last 25 years has been around $50,000 (annually) after tax. (We now get more than that from not working).
What is your career? What career?
Do you have children? YES
Do you have a tertiary qualification? NO
Did you inherit any of your money? YES
If YES, how much did you inherit? $150,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $500,000
Are you debt free now? YES
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? Not in too much depth but had parents who brought us up with sensible habits and they didn't live flash lifestyles. (4 kids, 1 income in the 1960's and 70's). Self taught to a great degree. I spent my first 16 years as an adult chasing sporting dreams (at the bottom end of professional sport) and living on the smell of an oily rag. I had a great time and saw that you didn't need to spend lots of money to have great experiences.
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Not to have to work. I've been able to share my daughter's formative years as a pretty much a stay at home Dad.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
What is your greatest financial win? Sharing much of the journey with another savvy saver. If you're both on the same wavelength it's way easier. Mrs found a job which included free accommodation. This saved us many thousands and really helped us get ahead. The GFC. I was reasonably cashed up in 2006-2007. The NZX pretty much became a bargain basement garage sale. I had a business which got by for 7 years then had 3 good years. Our peak income was over $100k after tax for those final three years. We kept our spending the same. One year we saved 85% of our after tax income. This coincided with the GFC.
What is your worst financial mistake? Missed out reading some small print when investing in some property syndicates and failed to consider liquidity risk and management ethics. Nearly all the other investors did the same, so I don't feel too bad.
What advice do you have for others? Getting to FI doesn't mean you do nothing with your time, it just means you can choose when and how to work.
Ask yourself if you give up your job or lose your job how long is it before you hit struggle street?
Look for creative ways to reduce your living costs.
Think of getting to FI as about purchasing 'time.'
If you're not sure if you have enough to live on without working try living on your investment income before you actually need to. i.e. if you're proposed level of income is $30,000, try living on that whilst still working.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Freedom. Enough to live on without having to work. Work is much more fun when you don't need the money.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Live on way less than you earn. Save lots. Invest sensibly. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Brainstorm and think outside the box for ways to get ahead if your income isn't especially high.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Buying dumb stuff, keeping up with the Joneses etc etc
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: Early on in my adult life I realised that I valued discretionary time more than actual belongings or the other so called trappings of wealth. Now I'm in the wonderful position of having enough income but still able to grow assets.
Hopefully this will show folks that they can save even in times when income isn't huge.