What is your net worth? $2,495,000
Are you filling this out as an individual or a couple? Couple
At what age(s) did you become a net worth millionaire? 45
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Auckland
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Rural property, KiwiSaver, full-time jobs plus farm work and a little inheritance.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $5,000
What is your career? Engineer and Nurse
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? $320,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $2,700,000
Are you debt free now? NO
If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $900,000 mortgage
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? Ticked yes as we both had basic parental instruction about saving; however, this is minimal compared to the types of education available now to young people, especially around investing.
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? We travel a lot internationally; we are saving NZ for when we are old.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
If YES, can you please elaborate. We have assisted both adult children into homes. Various support includes loans for their properties secured over our property that they repay, their loans we are paying and gifts.
What is your greatest financial win? KiwiSaver growth over time, it’s passive, untouchable and now that we are close to retirement age we wish we had respected the long-term benefits more.
What is your worst financial mistake? Thinking solely about the $$, we severely disadvantaged ourselves by supporting adult children into properties. However, the benefits outweigh the financial hit.
What advice do you have for others? Keep your eye on the prize. For us it was to travel a lot while we were young and fit and not to save everything for retirement. This costs money at the time and we valued this investment in our lifestyle and wellbeing.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? We have the comfort that we have a diverse rural property that cares for us and our family in so many ways. We grow our own food, we have low waste, we protect the environment, we have an incredible lifestyle, a new low maintenance home built to a high spec by a builder we trust. The property has cost a lot and is now giving back daily as we get closer to retirement. We have avoided needing to think about downsizing and are comfortable if a reverse mortgage is entertained in the future. We gave assistance to our children early and they are OK with no/low inheritance if that is the case in the end. The financial buffer allows us to have financial freedom.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Respect the time needed for growth in property and KiwiSaver. Buy the worst house in the best street definitely not the other way around.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Buying new cars too often or hanging out in malls leaking money on unnecessary stuff that will end up in landfill
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: Always build a little joy into your budgets and plans. Carve out some money for a little splurge to make the hard work worth it. The mother’s sacrifice is real, think hard before you give up your career completely or take a longer KiwiSaver holiday than needed because the balance at 65 is severely reduced by any stopping of contributions - speaking form experience here 🤷♀️