What is your net worth? $2,070,000
Are you filling this out as an individual or a couple? Individual
At what age(s) did you become a net worth millionaire? 36
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Wellington
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Real estate, investing in ETFs / managed funds and individual shares.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $2,500
What is your career? Lawyer
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? about $400,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $980,000
Are you debt free now? NO
If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $645,000 on second property - but I am looking to divest and get back to debt free.
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES.
Were you taught about money? NO
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Secure my future and work towards financial independance.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES.
If YES, can you please elaborate. Spend time doing pro bono legal work. I am looking to do more once I achieve financial independence.
What is your greatest financial win? Investing in housing in 2013 and again in 2020. I have both times bought when the market is flat (particularly in 2013) and bought houses for me to live in. They haven't been purchased for investment reasons but have been the biggest material contribution to my net worth to date. Hopefully this is replaced with my diversified ETF and fund portfolio going forward.
What is your worst financial mistake? Getting divorced. Investing in private equity IPOs (initial price offerings) on the ASX (Australian stock exchange). Getting divorced was costly in many ways (mental health in partiuclar, but also financial), even with asset protection as I had bought significantly more assets to the relationship. I learnt a valuable lesson when I lived in Australia for a couple of years during the GFC, don't buy into asset-stripped debt-laden companies being sold by private equity. If I have to buy individual companies (which I mostly do for fun), a good balance sheet and a business I can understand is better than high leverage and complexity.
What advice do you have for others? It gets remarkably easy to invest every month and slowly build that up until significant amounts are being invested regularly. All of a sudden, I am making tens of thousands of dollars in returns a year and getting close to financial independence - I think anyone can do it with the right attitude. There is no magic - lots of tools and advice are available online... the hardest / bravest thing is just starting, though it takes perseverance and resilience to stick with it.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Looking to achieve financial independence (passive income that covers my expenses) by time I am 50.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this: Start investing, now.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this: Take shortcuts - there are no get-rich-quick schemes. Always be a sceptic (trust but verify). Be careful with debt.
If these questions dont adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: I read about FIRE (financial independence retire early) around the time I bought my first house in 2013 and started regularly investing in various SmartShares funds. I started off with only small investments a month as my mortgage was high, but tackled the debt aggressively and started ramping up investments. I had cleared the mortgage by 2018 (assisted by inheritance) and at this stage was inveseting about 40% of net income into ETFs. I increased this to about 65% during 2020 and 2021 due to Covid and have maintained the nominal amount until recently (with increasing salary). Given my age, I have pulled together a very aggressive portfolio (30% NZ equities, 60% overseas equities, 10% NZ and overseas bonds). This has performed well and I have maintained a CAGR (compound annual growth rate), after tax and fees of almost 8% over my investing history (down significantly since late 2021 when it was almost 11%). My goal has been to build an ETF and fund portfolio that will cover my everyday expenses to allow me time to build a business from scratch. I purchased a second house in 2020 with the intent to renovate and move into it with minimal debt however, due to a sudden divorce, the renovation was delayed and I had to take on debt to keep houses and renovate. This worked out well in that real estate values increased dramatically from when I purchased and had fixed debt at a very low rate, but now that renovation is done, I am struggling to sell the second house and have more debt than I am comfortable with. While this has caused a reduction in investing from about now, it still has contributed significantly to my net worth. I enjoy investing, so devote around $100 a month or so to investing in individual companies on NZX for fun. Most of these have performed well.