I believe it is essential that we don’t just teach our tamariki to ‘save’, but we teach them to become ‘investors’ as well. That’s where the money is to be made over time. Since taking part in the Sharesies Kids and Investing webinar, one conversation thread has stayed with me. It was about whether it is worth signing your tamariki up to KiwiSaver or not. I am firmly in the YES camp.
Recently, a question came in via email asking, “how do you calculate your savings rate, please, Ruth?”. I thought it was a question worth elaborating on with a blog post. First up, why even take the time to work out how much you are saving? Put simply, the higher your savings rate, the faster you will have saved up enough money to retire or make going to work entirely optional.
I have a shelf dedicated to personal finance books that I actually enjoyed reading. The books that live there are the ones that I often refer to, and I’m pretty particular about the books I keep for future reference. I have to LEARN something from them, or there is no point keeping them around. They also need to pass my stringent ‘sleep test’. If I fall asleep reading them, it’s not a good sign. I’ve recently bought several new release personal finance books that I’ll review once I’ve read them, but today I wanted to give you a heads up on the one I’ve just finished.
Back in January 2012, blogger Pete Adeney, aka Mr. Money Mustache, wrote a blog post that changed my life when I eventually discovered it in about 2016-2017. I don’t think I would not be sitting here today, in our position, had I not stumbled upon it. Then his following article explaining the 4% Rule, which he wrote in May of 2012, set our wheels in motion. And these two powerful blog posts have just turned 10.
Why am I writing a blog about “buy now pay later” (BNPL) schemes? I’m interested in helping the casual users of BNPL realise that you don’t need any of these schemes in the first place. While there will be many who ‘safely’ use them, many more start with good intentions but find themselves on a slippery slope of having just too many payments coming out of their bank account to pay for things they bought weeks and months ago.
Budgeting for the first time? Then, please let me make it as painless as possible! I regularly speak with people who are, for the first time, looking at their money correctly. Like, I mean, actually looking hard at each transaction, which is what you need to do to understand where your money is coming from and going to. For many, we get by; earning, spending, and not taking too much notice. But this “head in the sand” attitude to money will only get you so far and will keep you living week to week or month to month.
I first published this blog post back in June 2017. I’ve dusted it off and rewritten it today purely because of many conversations I’ve had over the last six months with people who have inherited large sums of money. Receiving money due to the death of someone you love is an awful way to come into money. So, if you are the recipient, make it count and make that person proud of the decisions you make with their money.
I’ve been having many conversations with readers about money, which is not unusual, but what is standing out a little more is that I’ve noticed that for those who keep their money apart from their spouse, once you start to pile on all the other stressors of life, cracks begin to appear. I suspect that across Aotearoa, there are relationships being tested at the moment. This blog encourages you to face it head-on; start a conversation.
Recently the banking/lending industry changed the way they view lending applications in response to new government legislation and changes made to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act. The government’s changes are to protect borrowers, which sounds fair to me. However, my personal view is that banks also saw this as an opportunity to reset the expectations of some borrowers.
