What is your net worth? $1,600,000 ish (depending on house and share prices)
At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 30 ish
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in?
My parents gave me $300,000 over the years for property investments (I'm extremely lucky!)
Property (I have two homes - one rented out)
Shares
Income from businesses
Sale of businesses
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $4,800 ish
What is your career? User experience, product design.
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? $300,000
What's the approximate value of your house? $1,000,000 and $350,000
Are you debt free now? YES
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? My parents bought and sold property, invested in shares (a bit!). Mum always made us work and save growing up - we always had jobs (from like 7 years old) and started 'businesses' (door to door chocolate selling, dog walking, selling ice cream etc).
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? TRAVEL! DAY SPAS!
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
If YES, can you please elaborate. I love Pat from the 1% Collective and while I don't give through there anymore. I believe those of us who have led a life of privilege (educated, middle class, great opportunities, gifted money) started with such a head start, its our responsibility to do better in many ways. I try to donate between 1-4% of my income on any given year.
What is your greatest financial win?
Education and money from my parents!
Xero shares
Property price increases
What is your worst financial mistake? I had a terrible business partner in my early 20s. It cost me an awful lot of money (i.e. $100,000 when I was 23). It was an awful, awful few years. Taught me a lot though!
What advice do you have for others? Just get started. Start small so you don't panic. My first share market investment was $1,000 in the Xero IPO. Then $500 to set up Smartshares ETFs. Then just small regular payments I increased over time. And avoid debt. Don't buy stuff until you've saved! Women should learn to negotiate their salary too (my friends and I all practice on each other).
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? Probably I no longer fear financial insecurity. I mean I still do worry about money, but I used to really worry (I've always run my own businesses, so had people to pay and an uncertain income!)
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this…
Make sure you're paid what you are worth and always up-skill so you are as indispensable as you can be
Take your long term savings out of bank savings and put them into highly diversified ETFs
Invest small amounts regularly
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… I honestly don't think I am in a position to say. All the old 'don't over spend', 'save more' etc that everyone has already heard, works. Maybe just avoid thinking it's harder to get started than it is. You really don't need a lot to get stuck in and there's great options now with very very low barriers to getting started.
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: I know I'm in an extremely rare situation. A lot of people don't have the advantages I had growing up and don't work in such a highly paid industry. 50% of how I got here (at least) is complete blind luck.