What is your net worth? $1,500,000
Are you filling this out as an individual or a couple? Couple
At what age(s) did you become a net worth millionaire? 43
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Auckland
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? We had two properties: our own home and an investment property. I have not included my own home as an asset. We sold our home property in January 2024, so we have more cash flow now. We both have KiwiSaver, some shares via Sharesies. Some crypto, and what I earn through wages (I am very fortunate that I earn a very good income). I have only included my wages not my husbands, as he is into a new career, which happened five years ago, So in my net worth maths I only include my income, but have inlcuded his KiwiSaver and mine.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $2,950
What is your career? Digital Technology
Do you have children? YES
Do you have a tertiary qualification? YES
Did you inherit any of your money? NO
What's the approximate value of your house? $900,000
Are you debt free now? NO
If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $500,500 for the mortgage on our investment property.
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? NO
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Purchasing food for the family; whatever we like, whenever we like. Planning holidays and not worrying about spending lavishly on that holiday.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
If YES, can you please elaborate. I use my time to help others, I volunteer at my kids schools. I give back to different kaupapa at work, which I was not employed to do.
What is your greatest financial win? Always being able to pay of debt. After selling our home we only had a small car loan, being able to pay that off and another small loan via our investment property. Investing is also another win.
What is your worst financial mistake? I really have not learnt with cars yet, even at my age. I have a run around car, which needs replacing but I bought that from a friend who sold cars and I run it on the smell of an oily rag. I have had it for 11 years. I bought a hybrid car a couple of years ago, didn't listen to my gut feeling and got stung on the interest and also the fact that I needed to get new batteries, a new light, etc; within the year, I had purchased it.
What advice do you have for others? Start investing as soon as you can. My dad is 73, we literally just lost our mum a week ago. I have paid for all the funeral expenses because I can afford it and my clever mum made me the beneficiary of her funeral insurance. As a Maori whānau, we also received koha from those that came to her tangi, we were able to use that and her insurance and I will be reimbursed and hopefully have money for dad. He just retired at 73, once mum got really sick two years ago. I will be putting a lot of his money into investments because it's never too late.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Freedom and not being stressed about living paycheque to paycheque. I was asset rich but cash flow poor. I only really became cash flow positive since selling our house. Much of what we made out of our home after 10 years, we have invested. I haven't bought lavish things, we have no debt just our monthly operating costs for the house. So it means ease. I just took two weeks off work and I can take another week off due to my mothers passing. It's just being able to do that without worrying about money. I feel very blessed.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Pay off debt. Invest - KiwiSaver, Shares, housing etc and investments for your kids. You do not have to be rich to do this, as long as you can afford to put money that wasn't going on debt into building wealth.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Buying dumb things that do not make money for you.
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: Through my 20s and 30s I was wasteful and did not manage my money well. So many lessons. I was able to purchase my first home with my partner when I was 32; that was amazing. We did go bigger too fast too soon. After two years and one baby later, we sold in a bad time and bought a larger house with a bigger mortgage during that bad time. I lived in it for four years adding to our family and that home ended up being a leaky home. We missed the cut-off for government payback by six months. We were gutted, but we were very lucky as well because we were still young and we were still able to build on our careers. Now in my 50s I am really proud of the choices we made (maybe except for our car). We are currently renting to be closer to our kids schools. We are also very comfortable with this and we may buy another property as an investment. My husband decided to change careers as we headed into Covid. He got a large payout as his redundancy to move into his new career. So even then we were not struggling and other fortunate things happened. Again I feel blessed. Thanks for this opportunity Ruth. I came across The Happy Saver probably six years ago I think. I also read a lot and watched many YouTube clips on FIRE. I haven't yet worked out how to live off my investments, that is the next phase, I do however enjoy my work and like what I do. I still have children that rely on me, but that is ok as well. I am teaching them to be financially sensible with their money. Thanks again Ruth.
Ruth here 😊 You are so very welcome. I’m sorry for your recent loss, but I’m so very pleased that in a hard time, you got to be fully present with your whānau and that money was not a stress during that time. Keep going! I’d love to see you get fully out of debt and enjoy keeping the rent that your rental property generates and earning money from your share investments, too. Ngā mihi