All tagged Sharesight

PocketSmith Helps Me Manage and Understand Our Money

PocketSmith Helps Me Manage and Understand Our Money

Ruth
Budgeting, PocketSmith, Money Education

Budgeting is particularly at the top of my mind as I’ve been leaning heavily on it since quitting my day job in late October. Given that my regular paycheque is now gone, it is during times of change that I pay closer attention to our pūtea until things settle down. In the lead-up to finishing work, I’d used my budgeting and saving skills to build up various bank accounts, which would act as a cash buffer/backup plan. My hunch was that we would be OK, but it pays to double-check. So I could feel confident about stepping away from a paycheque, PocketSmith, as always, played a massive role in helping me plan.

Your emails keep me busy, and I’ve picked a few to share with you.

Your emails keep me busy, and I’ve picked a few to share with you.

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, KiwiSaver, Kids and Money, Money Education, Smart, SmartShares, Simplicity, Sharesight, Sharesies

My inbox is cluttered with hundreds of different threads of conversations, which in turn means I struggled to find a true focus for a blog post this week. But I often think I’m receiving and sending out some real wisdom, and it's a shame it never reaches a broader audience. So, today, I’ve scrolled back through my inbox from the last week or two and pulled out a few threads from some emails I’ve received.

We Invest Using the Share Market, Not Property

We Invest Using the Share Market, Not Property

Ruth
ETF, Index Funds, Investment, KiwiSaver, Sharesies, Sharesight, Simplicity, SmartShares

This week, I wanted to show how our US 500 ETF investment is tracking, especially now that this is our only one. And explain how we will use it to provide income for retirement. I also have a quick update on our KiwiSaver. I mainly wanted to share this because investing in KiwiSaver and an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) provides an alternative to investing in rental property, something we have never wanted to do. This blog explains how Jonny and I invest, that investing this way grows our wealth, and how we see our investments providing us with long-term, easily accessible income.

Portfolio Rebalance: We sold $103,000 of investments!

Portfolio Rebalance: We sold $103,000 of investments!

Ruth
ETFs, Investment, Sharesight, SmartShares, Simplicity

In August, I made a significant change to our investment mix. I sold all $103,000 of our Smartshares NZ Top 50 ETF (FNZ). This change ties in with all the other tweaks I’ve made over the years, where I have been progressively refining how we invest and setting ourselves up for future growth. Year after year, our mix changed as I learned and understood more, so this recent change is part of this evolution. If I were to use investment speak, I’d say I have ‘rebalanced my portfolio’.

8th Anniversary Giveaway: Guess the Piggy Bank Total!

8th Anniversary Giveaway: Guess the Piggy Bank Total!

Ruth
Saving, PocketSmith, Sharesight

I'm hosting a giveaway to celebrate The Happy Saver’s 8th Anniversary. This isn't just any ordinary giveaway. With her creative flair, my daughter made a paper mache piggy bank way back in 2021. It’s taken three long years of her diligently filling it up, and now it’s time to break it open and see just how much she’s saved. To enter to win one of the prizes, take a wild guess at the total amount inside the piggy bank.

How is my US 500 ETF performing?

How is my US 500 ETF performing?

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, Sharesight, SmartShares

This week, I’m aiming for this blog post to loosely follow my last one, where I talked about Index Funds and ETFs. Today, I will share my own experience, and to simplify things, I'm sharing information on one of our investments only, our Smartshares US 500 ETF. As an alternative to property, readers are trying to find the ‘perfect’ share market investment and will suggest an investment provider or fund as ‘the ONE’. My thoughts are that there is no perfect investment, housing or otherwise. It simply doesn’t exist, but I have concluded after investing myself for many years that there are several investments that are perfectly ‘good enough’.

2022 Review & Net Worth Update

2022 Review & Net Worth Update

Ruth
ETFs, PocketSmith, Sharesight, Simplicity, SmartShares

I’m about to share my 2022 numbers with you. The primary reason is so that you have someone to benchmark against. Because of my blog, I’m lucky that I’m regularly conversing with people interested in discussing personal finances. Those conversations also helped me learn what Jonny and I could improve. Chances are that very few of you have friends and family willing to share their experiences with money to help you learn. Therefore, I’m happy to share ours. Please don’t judge me and my financial position; it’s just information. Use it how you will.

Lotto Loser / Investing Winner!

Lotto Loser / Investing Winner!

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, Sharesies, Sharesight, SmartShares

November is the only month that I ever buy a Lotto ticket. The reason is that when my Dad was alive, he always liked receiving a Lotto ticket on his birthday. Almost five years have passed since he died, and I’ve continued to buy a single ticket for his birthday, eagerly checking it to see if Dad had better Lotto luck in death than he did in life. Yeah, Nah. He didn’t! Imagine if, instead of buying a Lucky Dip, I began to buy a share investment instead of Lotto when my Dad died almost five years ago; how much would I have today?

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