All tagged KiwiSaver
In my email I wrote last week to all of the fabulous people who subscribe to my blog, a decent number of people got in touch to thank me for the prompt I gave them to look at their own KiwiSaver before the 30th of June. So I thought I would do a quick blog post this week, using my own KiwiSaver statement as an example to show everyone how you can make sure you have contributed enough to your own KiwiSaver by the end of June to get the full government contribution of $521.43.
Whatever it is that you are embarking on that’s always the best place to start in my opinion. The beginning. Then just follow the path, in my case, the path to financial independence and eventually not being tied to a job to earn my income. It’s a long journey but it’s one worth starting. I’m often writing emails that cover the same points over and over again, so I thought that today I’d put that information into a blog post for all of the people wondering where to start and how to string all the bits of information you have learned about money into a cohesive order.
With our house prices continuing to climb, more and more pressure is going on first home buyers to save up the large deposit they need to buy a house. This is hardly news to you I know and this blog post is not really aimed at those of you who are poised and on the cusp of buying your first home, instead, it’s aimed at your far younger children, siblings, nieces, nephews and friends who might also want to both buy a home one day AND retire.
I’m having a muck around with one of two of our investments this week. A “re-balance” is the fancy terminology, but I’m taking the opportunity to make sure that we are sticking to our investment plan because I have a tendency to wander off track. Some people are super organised and set a date to do this once a year, I don’t, I’ve just become aware that ‘it’s time’.
In mid-March, I happened to have RNZ on in the background when one of their guests mentioned that they got such a fright at the drop in their KiwiSaver balance that they immediately switched from a Growth fund into a Conservative fund in an effort to stop themselves losing money. I remember stopping what I was doing and smacking myself on the head in a Homer Simpson ‘DUH’ moment and saying out loud to myself “Noooo. What did she do that for? And why did she have to say it on the radio where other people might think it’s a good idea to do the same?”
I got a message this week from Joe. He said that he is after some “relevant situational budgeting help” and would like to see me help out and offer thoughts on “the most basic of budgeting for the families in severe need now”. So I thought I would reach out to someone else to help me write the blog post this week, someone who I consider to be a bit of a Budgeting Queen herself. It’s none other than Bradie from @kiwigirlonabudget
So, together we have worked on this blog post for you this week.
I asked you last week what I could help you with and I received a lot of emails with questions on various topics. I have pulled a couple of themes out of them and have shared them in this post, because my guess is that they are pretty common questions right now.
I thought I’d keep a diary for this week, so you can see what we are doing to prepare for the months ahead in this rapidly evolving situation. Take from it what you will and discard the rest. But first and foremost when it comes to money at a time like this, whether your job is secure or you have just lost it, the absolute key thing to keep in mind is to: Always spend less than you earn
I’ve had a “conscious uncoupling” from worldwide events and am instead reflecting back on the basics of how Jonny and I operate to make sure we are steering our waka in roughly the right direction during these rough waters. This is the first more serious market dip I’ve been through but I’ve read enough and learned enough from those who have gone before to know that the right thing to do is just hold my course and hold my nerve.
