Phone A Friend
A Phone A Friend chat will allow you to ask any question you like about your financial situation.
After many years of blogging, creating a podcast, and responding to thousands of emails, some people are sick of scrolling websites, reading books, and listening to podcasts. They just want to talk to someone, one-on-one, about money. Someone without a sales pitch, without a course or product to sell, with the only agenda being to help them answer their wide variety of questions about money and how they can make it work for them in their unique household.
I always say I can talk faster than I can type, and a conversation covers much more ground than an email ever can. That is why I offer the opportunity to ‘Phone A Friend’.
I’ve always offered this service, and I charge a fee of $110 to cover my time and invoice you after our chat. Feel free to book a time if you feel this could be beneficial.
Bespoke independent financial advice (where you pay an hourly rate or a flat fee) is the gold standard of personal finance help. However, it is costly and hard to find, and firms are selective about the clients they take on. I know from experience that most people can manage their own money and invest and grow their wealth, and they are just looking for information and tools to help them create their own financial roadmap to follow. I can help with that.
Often, people have a gut instinct for what they think they should be doing financially. Still, when they seek assurance or opinion from their friends and whānau, they can’t find anyone with whom they feel comfortable talking about their financial life, the feedback they get is contrary to what their gut instinct tells them, or their friends simply don’t know the answers.
Some have experienced a substantial life change and have been forced by circumstance to take over their finances, and they are confused about how to do this. They have created a plan but are unsure if it’s the right thing to do. They just want someone to chat with who is not directly involved.
Others started life with a simple way of handling money, but they have tacked on layers and layers of complication over the years. Eventually, they met their life partner and combined their rickety systems, which doubled the chaos. They reach a tipping point where none of their finances work or make sense to them anymore; they lack teamwork and just want to talk about how to simplify their life and money.
Then, some put all their eggs in one basket by buying debt-laden property, only to discover they are house-rich but cash-poor. They want to chat with someone like myself who can share free tools and resources about how to get some balance back in their life.
Some are blessed with success, great careers and great incomes, but they can’t work out why they can’t hold onto their money. They can run a successful business but can’t emulate that at home with their finances. Talking with someone like myself helps them sort through where they think they are going wrong and how to move forward.
I am privileged enough to have people email me with questions about their money and life, but sometimes, speaking to someone can be far more helpful, so if you need to talk about things, please book a time to chat via video call.
Now, I more than most understand that not everyone has $110 to spare, so please don’t worry. You can still email me with any questions, and I’ll always respond with helpful and friendly thoughts and resources for you to follow up on, as I’ve been doing for years. But if you can’t get the answers you want from my blog, podcast or emails we exchange, I’m happy to chat via video.
Also, to be completely transparent, I’m not a financial advisor - I never have been and never will be. I have a tertiary-level education but no financial qualifications, so I can’t give you specific financial advice, nor would I try. But, you know what? Most people do not ask me for that sort of detail. They just want to know where to start, how to see the wood for the trees, how to alter their behaviour with money and how to save their cents so their dollars save themselves. They enjoy a blunt discussion about money where no question is off-limits. And sometimes, having a person completely removed from your social circle gives you a refreshing take on things to help you answer your questions.
If you have been reading my blog long enough and have listened to my podcasts, you will hopefully understand that I just want to HELP people be better with money. I’m not trying to sell anything apart from an hour of my time. I’m just trying to help people get clarity on the direction they want to head in with their finances, and I just know, from all the people I’ve been fortunate enough to speak with, that having a chat helps. It just does!
“Finally, I got brave enough to book a ‘Phone A Friend’ call with Ruth. I don’t know what I was nervous about because she soon put us at ease. Within a very short time, we got down to business, and Ruth pointed out some blindingly obvious things that could make our lives a whole lot better, pretty quickly, if we wanted. We knew she was right, but it wasn’t really on our radar. She just seemed to pull back the curtain a bit, so we could really see the whole picture. I am grateful to Ruth for her honesty and refreshing, friendly manner. We would definitely recommend a chat with Ruth to anyone, no matter what your age or situation you are in.”
“I was not sure what I was going to get out of the talk, but I knew I needed to talk to someone after reading so much. I am really glad I booked a chat with Ruth as I got a lot more out of it than I expected, and it has really got me focused on the steps I need to take to achieve the financial peace of mind I am after. Ruth was easy to talk to, answered my questions on the areas I was confused about, and also provided some simple steps to follow, which was what I needed to get going. She also followed up with an email with more information and links to what we had talked about. Totally worth it. Thanks.”
“We needed to sanity check our plans and thoughts after a change in circumstances, and I wanted to informally discuss options (rather than formally meet with a financial advisor etc) but not with friends or family members, so when I saw Ruth’s phone-a-friend service, it was a perfect fit. Ruth is easy (and fun!) to talk with, and asked lots of pertinent questions to help clarify where we want to be and what actions we should take to get there. I’ve got a wee list of homework to get on with, but I’m no longer paralysed to act. Straight after our phone call, I changed my KiwiSaver fund to growth and progressed some long overdue admin with an old share portfolio.”
“Talking to Ruth about our financial situation was so valuable and easy to do! She is a ‘salt of the earth’ person with excellent knowledge and resources to share. We left feeling we had a clearer financial roadmap going forward, with our questions answered, and resources to learn more along the journey.”
“I found Ruth easy to talk with. She built rapport, listened, and acknowledged what I’d said and where I was coming from. We also discussed a product, PocketSmith, she is affiliated with that I had some queries and questions about. Ruth explained her point of view and how she came to use this product and why. She also followed up with PocketSmith directly to ask for more information that she then sent on to me. Ruth shared some of her background as needed that was relevant to my situation, which showed me another perspective. I recommend Ruth, a valuable resource, to confidentially discuss your money matters with, who gives useful suggestions and advice worth considering.”
Please book a time if you would like to have a chat. By clicking the button below you will be taken to my calendar booking link.