All tagged InvestNow

Hurry Up and Wait

Hurry Up and Wait

Ruth
ETFs, InvestNow, Smart, Retirement

I've been feeling a little frustrated lately. I'm sitting in my living room, laptop on my lap, gazing out at the snow-capped Old Man Range. Things aren’t going badly, quite the opposite. Our investments have passed $800,000, our emergency fund is full, and Jonny is about to finish his graphic design job for good. We’re CoastFI and tantalisingly close to financial independence, but not quite there yet. After years of saving, investing and optimising, there’s not much left to do except trust the plan and wait. And I’ve got to be honest: waiting just that wee bit longer is frustratingly hard work.

Ten Years Later: What KiwiSaver Taught Me

Ten Years Later: What KiwiSaver Taught Me

Ruth
ETFs, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Money Education, Smart

Ten years ago, on the 6th of June 2016, I published my very first blog post. It was about KiwiSaver. In that first month, I also wrote about Gold, Credit Cards and Kids and Money. And it's fair to say my thoughts have changed somewhat. I’ve sold our gold, cancelled our credit card, and spent the last ten years ensuring our ‘kid’, who is now a young adult, knows all about how money works. And what of KiwiSaver? Well, paying attention to that has really paid off. Ten years ago, I had absolutely no idea where that first blog post would lead. And I had no clue that a decade later I would be as fascinated by our personal finances and investing as I am today. So today, I wanted to go back to where it all started and talk about the evolution of our KiwiSaver investment.

Our Coast FI Plan: Keep the House, Invest Less

Our Coast FI Plan: Keep the House, Invest Less

Ruth
ETFs, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Net Worth, Retirement, Smart, Investment, Emergency Fund

After years of prioritising investing, we’ve made a decision that feels both strange and surprisingly freeing: we’re keeping the house, cutting right back on how much we invest, and letting time in the market do more of the work. For a while, downsizing looked like the logical next step. Sell the house, invest the difference, and fast-track our way to full financial independence. But the more we sat with it, the more something felt off. Coast FI has helped us find a middle ground between selling up, working longer, and creating a life that feels right for us now.

Which providers offer a Total World Fund in NZ?

Which providers offer a Total World Fund in NZ?

Ruth
ETFs, Financial Advisors, Index Funds, InvestNow, Kernel, Sharesies, Smart, Smart Invest, SmartShares

I am writing this blog post because I am constantly asked where you can purchase a Total World ETF from in New Zealand: “Could I use Smart or InvestNow?” “Sharesies, or a sharebroker?” Once you understand that low fees and broad diversification matter, i.e. buying the whole global share market instead of picking stocks or countries, you land in a new kind of confusion… where to buy. This post is not about finding the perfect platform. There isn’t one. But there are some perfectly good options. The goal is to understand them enough to choose one and get on with investing.

Buckle up - here we go again!

Buckle up - here we go again!

Ruth
Emergency Fund, ETFs, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Smart

This week, I wanted to go back in time, six years back to March 15, 2020, when the world was in turmoil. Again. At that time, I wanted to address your concerns about the global crises, particularly around COVID. I took the time to write a blog post about it, and today, I’ve summarised the key points and added an update. Because, surprise, surprise, here we go again, folks!

JL Collins Goes Global - And Why That Feels Familiar

JL Collins Goes Global - And Why That Feels Familiar

Ruth
ETF, Index Funds, ETFs, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Shares, Sharesight, Smart

The financial clouds parted the day I picked up the 2016 edition of The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. Instead of picking and choosing individual companies, just buy them all in one tidy package: an ETF or index fund - the simple path to wealth. For years, JL Collins has been known for one beautifully simple idea: Buy VTSAX and chill. VTSAX is an American index fund holding 100% U.S. companies. But readers began asking, “JL, what about the rest of the world?” He has long explained that U.S. companies are so large and globally dominant that U.S. investors could “get away with” owning only VTSAX. So when JL announced that he had added international stocks to his portfolio, people noticed. It felt like a big deal.

Explain It To Me FAST!

Explain It To Me FAST!

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Money Education, Personal Finance, Smart

If you’ve ever listened to a money podcast, read a finance blog or chatted with that one friend who’s suddenly “really into investing”, you’ve probably heard a whole bunch of money words thrown around. People nod. No one wants to look dumb. And quietly, many think: I should probably understand what that means… So this post is for you. Here are plain-English explanations of the money words that come up again and again, using New Zealand examples and my common sense logic.

$1.71 Million Net Worth: Our 2025 Money Update

$1.71 Million Net Worth: Our 2025 Money Update

Ruth
Budgeting, ETFs, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Net Worth, PocketSmith, Smart, Smart Invest

At the start of every year, I open one spreadsheet that tells the story of a decade of choices. Updating our net worth spreadsheet helps me see where we’ve been, and where we might be heading. These annual check-ins matter, and I genuinely enjoy this process. 2025 was a good financial year for us, driven primarily by consistent investing in the share market through our ETF and, to a lesser extent, our KiwiSaver. Once again, we prioritised investing, never missing a month, and it paid off. 

Debt-Free at 18: The Money Systems We Put in Place Years Before University

Debt-Free at 18: The Money Systems We Put in Place Years Before University

Ruth
ETFs, Kids and Money, KiwiSaver, Money Education, PocketSmith, Sharesies, Smart, Budgeting

Our daughter is leaving home, off to Otago University. I’m so looking forward to her finding her next steps, but I will miss her terribly. She is ready to go! And, I’m not going to lie, I am looking forward to a tidier house. As we adjust to a new phase of long-distance parenting, I’m pretty determined to make one last push to get her as financially ready as we can for the big, wide world. I’ve always put a lot of time into making sure she understands how money works, long before she leaves home. In many ways, it all comes down to this moment: can she leave home and be fully financially capable? Without a doubt, I’m pleased to say the answer is yes. So today I’m sharing exactly how we have managed to, I hope, successfully let her financially set sail from home.

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