Millionaire #98

What is your net worth? $1,005,000

At what age did you become a net worth millionaire? 58

What region of New Zealand do you live in? Wellington

How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Long, slow, hard work as a single Mum. House almost paid off, Kiwisaver, Work Super Scheme, recent Smartshares, Forestry, have a knack for saving on the side then using that for various projects.

What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $797.00

What is your career? Administration

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 (ridiculous!)

Are you debt free now? No

If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $56,000 left on my mortgage but it will be gone in about 2.5 years.

Are you in KiwiSaver? YES

Were you taught about money? No

What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Saving it and being able to use what I've saved to make things happen for my girl or me or to do projects on my old house.

Do you use your money or your time to help others? No

If YES, can you please elaborate. Not yet. I plan to when the mortgage is gone.

What is your greatest financial win? Probably the house prices going up. I don't really count that even though it's part of net worth because I'm going to be living here until I drop if possible. That's not in MY retirement calculations.

What is your worst financial mistake? I put $5,000 into NZ Oil and Gas shares then the mine exploded the following year. Ended up with $2,500 which I took to help with house purchase. A perfect example of not investing in individual shares. I am rubbish at that.

What advice do you have for others? A little bit, often and stick to the plan.

What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? It's part of a plan. My hobby is saving money so about the time I'm ready to retire, my child may have her own children, so then I'll help her because having kids is blimmin hard. It's not how much you earn, it's what you choose to do with what you earn.

Finish these sentences:

If you want to build wealth do this… Be patient. Never accept you HAVE to spend money on stuff. There are very few things you really need to pay for - mortgage, insurance, food, power, phone, petrol - and those things you can tweak to reduce - the rest is fluff you can do without until you get on top of things and start salting $ away. AVOID debt ... never borrow other than your mortgage, ever. And if you have a mortgage get rid of it fast.

If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Avoid wanting things. Don't borrow money. Be a little bit patient and save up for what you need - house repairs, holidays, children's education costs etc. The time will go whether you save money or not, so you may as well save while the time is passing.

If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: Brief! Divorced at 46 with a 7 year old. Frugal by nature. Was working part time earning next to nothing. Saving and budgeting is like a puzzle. Flipping hard work but always skimmed a bit off to save in a fund for holiday cash, used to use credit card as a savings account so always put a bit more on than used - at one point had about $2,000 in credit which paid for camping holiday at the end of the year, or car repairs. Not for everybody though. Not many people have steel discipline! My child never missed out because I watched the pennies - she did ballet, soccer, surf club and I always paid fast and in full. Always had home cooked meals and lunches and looked after clothes etc. Started putting a little away each payday in her account, always saved copper and silver coins and put in her savings, she's now cash-flowing her science degree, no student loan, no debt - she should come out $10,000 ahead because she's working part time. Her Dad is paying her rent but she could do it herself because she has saved up, or next year I could slow the mortgage and pay her rent. She has paid for her own vehicle, laptop, cellphone. She is in KiwiSaver, has a chunk of $ in the bank, has recently opened Hatch ETF. We check in each week to do a budget check and savings catch up - sinking fund on the go for end of year fun and costs. You can plan not to be broke but it's hard if you don't know how.

Millionaire #99

Millionaire #97