What is your net worth? $1,100,000
At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 31
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Personal house with flatmates, investment property, ETF's, PIEs, KiwiSaver.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? Prefer not to disclose.
What is your career? White collar business professional, individual contributor role.
Do you have children? NO
Do you have a tertiary qualification? YES
Did you inherit any of your money? NO
If YES, how much did you inherit?
What's the approximate value of your house? $890,000
Are you debt free now? NO
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? To not buy a house until I found a man as it would put men off. This was well intentioned but not financially beneficial for me. Bought my personal house and investment property in the same year at age 29, after a parent passed, far later than I could/should have in retrospect. And right in the middle of the 2016 Auckland house boom. Taking full responsibility though, I chose to take onboard the advice without any critical thinking.
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Live below my means so can give generously and systematically with zero stress about whether I can 'afford' it and/or whether it will impact my lifestyle. Selfish answer - buy any yummy food my heart desires from discount food stores (and reduce food waste at the same time.)
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
What is your greatest financial win? Investment house (a basic three bedroom, built in 2000's) purchased in Wellington on a whim in 2016 for less than $300,000. Bought sight unseen by me, my brother begrudgingly viewed it for five minutes and said 'does what it says on the packet, it's a basic house.' It was a Multi offer and I originally wrote a number, then last minute scribbled it out and replaced with $5,000 higher offer as I kept getting outbid in the Auckland market and really wanted to secure a place since I had been looking for over a year at this point. Next best offer came in only $1,000 less than mine and I was very lucky the vendors didn't do another round of offers.
What is your worst financial mistake? Not buying a house five years earlier than I did (see prior answer.) Most of my 20's I had most of my money just sitting in very low interest savings/chequing accounts. AND buying $10,000 worth of a company's shares I knew nothing about on a 'tip' from a work colleague. They are now worth approx $500.
What advice do you have for others? Net worth tracking = definitely recommend. I only started doing this at age 31. It feels like it brings everything together and gives clarity and purpose to the net result of my frugal lifestyle choices. Previously my financial life felt a bit out of control and aimless.
Budgeting = June 2019 is the first month I have tracked to a financial budget. It has been an eye opening experiment. The jury is out whether it’s helpful or not for me. Wonder whether, like a diet, it is something I could get unhelpfully fixated on and spend too much mental energy thinking about, with cravings for stuff to buy I would not have otherwise had!
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Choices and getting nearer to financial freedom. Fulfilling a belief/encouragement from my younger brother (circa 8 year old at the time) who once said something along the lines of “if he had money, he would invest in me as I would be a millionaire some day”.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Don't delay, start young and invest... just saving does not cut it.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Getting sucked into a materialistic lifestyle.