What is your net worth? $1,629,000
Are you filling this out as an individual or a couple? Couple
At what age(s) did you become a net worth millionaire? 48 and 46
What region of New Zealand do you live in? Southland
How did you accumulate your net worth, what are you invested in? Mostly houses. We bought, did up and sold houses since we were married in 1993. My husband is a painter and decorator, and I did the interior design and gardens. Apart from that, we have some money in KiwiSaver and some in Shares.
What was your highest average household WEEKLY income after tax? $1,600
What is your career? Painter and Decorator - Practice Manager of a Medical Centre
Do you have children? YES
Do you have a tertiary qualification? NO
Did you inherit any of your money? NO
What's the approximate value of your house? $750,000 for the main house. $670,000 for holiday home.
Are you debt free now? NO
If NO, how much debt do you have and what is it for? $91,000 left on holiday home and $30,000 other debt - holiday for the extended family to be taken for our daughter’s wedding in Rarotonga in 2026 - we have paid for our 4 children, partners and grandchildren to attend.
Are you in KiwiSaver? YES
Were you taught about money? YES
If YES, how were you taught? I learnt from watching/having to learn as a rural family when interest rates were up around 18%. Mum always budgeting and working out how to make money last until the next lot of lambs were sold, wool money came in after shearing or beefie steers were sold. We knew we had to live below what you earnt (as it’s not guaranteed until it is in the bank), save for a rainy day (as it will always rain) and be content with what you have (not that that worked as I always found things I "needed to have to make me content").
My husband’s upbringing was different. You worked hard and made money, then you spent it on things to make you happy - i.e. boats, cars etc. Then you worked hard to make money to pay the upkeep on the things you owned - petrol, insurance, upkeep or redoing the motors, etc.
What is the most enjoyable thing you do with money? Spend it on experiences, especially with our extended family.
Do you use your money or your time to help others? YES
If YES, can you please elaborate. We give to local charities, have sponsored children overseas in the past (2 of our 4 children sponsored 1 child, and the other 2 sponsored another child - giving up things in order to pay the monthly subscription). We actively give in our Church, either time or money, depending on the situation. We have volunteered with sports groups on projects, participate in Meals on Wheels, Community fundraisers.
What is your greatest financial win? Buying an old state house that no one wanted after saving hard, and selling it for $100,000 profit a couple of years later.
What is your worst financial mistake? Not investing earlier when we had the chance. Other than that, it would be buying an apartment in Auckland that ended up being part of a building that ended up being a leaky building, and we lost out by about $60,000 after having to fix it.
What advice do you have for others? Start saving and investing young. The saying is that young people won't ever be able to buy in this market - they can buy in this market, it just comes down to choice.
You don't "NEED" to spend $2,500 on the latest phone, $45,000 + on a nice vehicle - or two for the family, all the overseas trips, the latest clothes etc. If you add all them up that is a deposit on a house over a very short period of time - don't get sucked into what marketing tells you what you need, or that you are missing out.
Live life differently.
What is the point of having a net worth above $1,000,000. What does it mean to you? We would like to make work optional over the next few years, I want to help looking after the grandchildren if the timing works out. We would like to volunteer and help others out with our skills, including painting, gardening, any administrative work needed.
We want the Freedom to make choices and not be told what we have to do.
Finish these sentences:
If you want to build wealth do this… Go against the norm - research and reach out to people who have achieved what you want and learn from them.
Don't think there is only one way to building wealth - but don't do it just to accumulate money, do it so you can build wealth to help others less fortunate than you with your time and your money as needed.
If you want to build wealth avoid doing this… Buying all the trappings that media, influencers and "the Jones'" say you need to have.
If these questions don’t adequately tell your story, feel free to briefly elaborate here: We both grew up in a very very small rural community, I on a farm, my husband in the "town" - as such as it was. We are nothing special, never had a high income, still have a way to go to finish of our debt-free journey but it is so close now - only $120,000 and it will be done by the time he is 60 and I am 57 (3 years from now).
We have travelled all around NZ and overseas and not gone without in the later years - early on it was not uncommon to have to make the decision whether we bought an extra loaf of bread or petrol for the lawnmower, or other choices after all the bills were paid, so we are used to going without to provide for our family.
I have been binge listening to The Happy Saver Podcast, have joined up with PocketSmith via your discount, getting more invested in shares and looking forward to the next few years watching our debt disappear and our net worth increase, all the while enjoying life and our family.
We intend to slowly wind down work in 3 years and transition to part-time, then after our investments increase, we will make the next change.
Roll on the next stage of our journey.
And the best thing is that our 4 children have a good handle on money and know that they need to control it or it will control them to their detriment through frivolous/impulsive spending.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PODCAST AND SHARING OTHER REAL PEOPLE’S STORIES.