MONEY JOURNEYS
Bella shares the realities of student loan debt in New Zealand and how you can meander your way into $85,000 of debt, but it’s far harder to meander your way out again.
All in KiwiSaver
Bella shares the realities of student loan debt in New Zealand and how you can meander your way into $85,000 of debt, but it’s far harder to meander your way out again.
Aria and her husband Dave didn’t grow up with much so once they got together they knew they didn’t want to live paycheque to paycheque. When asked what financial independence means to them they said it means “we don’t have to worry about money” and that is a sentiment that they want for everyone.
I first heard from Hamish when he sent me an email in late 2020 telling me that back in 2018, at the age of just 24 he had saved up and bought a $379,00 house in Palmerston North with a big deposit of $125,000. No surprises I was pretty keen to hear more from Hamish about the how and the why of this.
“Well this is awkward” I thought when some guy called Chris started secretly emailing me without his partner’s knowledge! Big long emails with tonnes of questions about personal finance, my favourite topic for sure! That is how I came to sit on the sidelines of the transformation of not just Chris but of his partner Rosemary’s financial life.
Jen freaked out at 49! She considered herself to be halfway through her life and had big concerns about what the other half might look like. A divorce halved her net worth and becoming a single mother introduced a whole heap of new challenges. She is now fast tracking to an early retirement at the age of 55 and is a wonderful example of showing just what a woman on a mission is capable of!
This week, I had a chat with Steve who described his financial story as “not so much an epic dig out of deep debt”, or a “becoming fabulously wealthy” kind of story. But, more of a “jigsaw puzzle piecing it all together over time” kind of story, which, he told me, is still very much ongoing. I think Steve and Madie have a story that many millennials could emulate.
Chris and his wife Megan were tired of it taking so long to pay off their mortgage, so they focussed on the detail and developed a game plan that will see them own their own house on 31st December 2020. In their mid-thirties, they have the strong foundations in place to provide a wonderful future for their family of five. There are a few other investment decisions they are working through, plus there is the small matter of him convincing his wife ‘they’ need a boat...
There were many points during Ella’s 40 plus years that her gut instinct told her to make a few changes to the way her family handled money. 2020 has been a huge time of change and these changes all stemmed from her wanting to be able to financially help her kids and once she worked out that she needed to be in a strong financial position herself in order to do this, the rest is rapidly falling into place.
In this final podcast of this series, I’m doing a recap of two people that I’ve spoken with earlier. Firstly Bret from episode #20, a guy who had gone from being a super consumer to someone who is finally in control of money. And Lucas from episode #28 who last time we met was staring down the barrel of a $1.2 million dollar mortgage. Both have come an extremely long way in a very short space of time.
Simon knows where he is at financially and more importantly he knows what kind of life he wants to live today and into the future.
A holiday is a great opportunity to clear your head and make future plans. Nellie decided that if you are going to make a plan to completely change your financial life then you might as well start right now.
At just 23, Callum has a net worth that would make others stand up and notice and a heap of plans for the future where he takes every opportunity to grow his skills, invest carefully and spend mindfully.
If you want the good oil on how to invest well, track down a retired English and History teacher! If anyone is going to remember key points and dates about their life it is them.