One of my subscribers sent me an email telling me that I really should look into Sharesight because it is an excellent tool for gauging how my SmartShares are tracking. What? Is my excel spreadsheet not good enough?
What to do with a windfall
One questions I ask is “if you were given $10,000 right now what would you do”? I picked that amount because in my mind it is enough to be significant, $1,000 just doesn’t make people sit up and listen, but the thought of a sudden and unexpected $10,000 does.
Maxed Out KiwiSaver
This will be the last year that we are going above and beyond with voluntary contributions to our KiwiSaver. I had been pushing up to $500 per month into both my husband and my funds but last week we reached my tipping point...
One Year of Blogging
Now, we Kiwi’s don’t like to self congratulate, it’s frowned upon. But stuff it, I’m going to… This week marks one year since I started this blog! Cripes, I can’t believe it has gone by so quick AND that I have managed to dream up something to discuss each week.
Insurance (YAWN)
Whatever your situation it’s important to take a look every year or two at your level of insurance cover. It bores me to have to do it if I’m honest because it always means looking over documents which are designed to be confusing. Plus, it involves me having to make phone calls, wait for new policy documents to arrive, ask questions and so on. It ALWAYS takes longer than you think it will. But once it is done I’m pleased I did it.
Becoming an Investor*
All your working life you are trying to increase your net worth so that when you finally stop working you start to slowly spend it to live on. If upon retirement each year you take 4% out of your pot of savings it will take about 30 years to boil the pot dry. So what can you live on a year? Do you need to invest $100K, $200 or $500K?
KiwiSaver ≠ First Home Buyer Deposit
Is it just me or are people confusing saving for a house with saving for retirement? I keep hearing about first home buyers all the time and how difficult it is to get into the market. But the question I keep asking myself is “why do people use their KiwiSaver as their primary mode of saving for a deposit?”
Shares Shopping in the USA
I’ve been having a good run with good returns but it is high time I diversified and headed offshore a bit more than what my KiwiSaver is offering. Diversification spreads risk so that when one investment is underperforming another is hopefully performing strongly.
Analysis Paralysis - SuperLife or SmartShares
Investing is like shopping for toothpaste. There is a range of companies offering a very similar product. There are differences, most of which are minor and you just have to cut through all the jargon and choose an option. If you get too bogged down in the detail it just all becomes too difficult and you will end up doing nothing.