All tagged SmartShares

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’.

Financial Reset: Spending less and earning more for a month!

Financial Reset: Spending less and earning more for a month!

Ruth
PocketSmith, Simplicity, SmartShares, KiwiSaver, Budgeting, ETFs

My latest bright idea was for our whānau of three to spend the month of July earning more money while spending less of it. Call it a Financial Reset. Why? When the general societal vibe is that we are all in a rough state economically, it is easy for an individual to feel powerless. Although optimistic by nature, I’m not immune to this feeling of gloom. But instead of accepting that we are in a financial crisis, I’d prefer to take the bull by the horns and own our situation.

Applying the 4% Rule. We are selling!

Applying the 4% Rule. We are selling!

Ruth
ETFs, Gold, Sharesies, Shares, SmartShares, Investment, Index Funds

A year ago, I published a blog post titled “We Sold Some Investments: Putting our version of the 4% Rule to the test!” To cut to the chase, we’ve done it again. Having read about The 4% Rule for years and met many people who had retired early and were using it, back in 2023, we decided that we were not yet ready to retire, but pulling some income off our investments would improve our lives at that time. Finding more available cash without working more hours would allow us to do more of the things we wanted to do. 

Share Market Swing

Share Market Swing

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, KiwiSaver, Shares, Sharesies, SmartShares, Simplicity, Investment

A super quick blog post this week because I thought you might find it interesting. My last blog post, Share Market Shocker, shared that our investments had dropped $25,000 between August and October 2023. I said I’d give you an update in a year. Well, just to show how fast and volatile the share markets are, it's only been three weeks, but I have an update for you. The point of this post is to share how comfortable Jonny and I feel with these fluctuations.

Share Market Shocker

Share Market Shocker

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, KiwiSaver, SmartShares

In the first seven months of 2023, the combined balance of our investments increased monthly, helped by two factors: the share markets had risen, and we have invested a portion of every paycheque we make. But, it was not to last. As the year has rolled on, between August and October, and despite continuing to invest throughout that time, the total value of our investments dropped $25,000. Am I concerned about this recent drop? Not one bit. Give it time, and it will come right.

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’.

How to invest in a Total World Fund from New Zealand

How to invest in a Total World Fund from New Zealand

Ruth
ETFs, Hatch, Index Funds, Kernel, Money Education, Sharesies, SmartShares

Every Tuesday morning, a group of Kiwis takes part in Rebel Finance School. When I meet people and talk about money, a common regret is that no financial education was taught in school or at home. I think this course is your best shot at bringing yourself up to speed. The only sticking point is that while most of what they teach is internationally applicable, some elements are specific to their home country, England. As soon as we reached the investing component, the companies and products they discussed were incompatible with Aotearoa. Today, I want to explain the New Zealand equivalent of the two Vanguard Index Fund options they suggest as concisely as I can.

We Sold Some Investments: Putting Our Version of the 4% Rule to the Test!

We Sold Some Investments: Putting Our Version of the 4% Rule to the Test!

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, SmartShares, Sharesies, Kernel

In early May, Jonny and I made a call; we decided to sell off a portion of our investments to supplement our lifestyle. There is no drama, and we are not doing this due to inflation or the current cost of living; the simple fact is that our journey with money continues. For those who have followed along from the beginning, you’ve seen us slowly growing our net worth in readiness for it supporting us in early retirement. We are not there yet, we still need to work for an income, but we are well underway with our early retirement plans. What has changed is that there are things we want to do now that we need money for now.

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