Where are you going? – have you made a plan yet?
Retirement on the Horizon: Are Kiwis Prepared or Heading for Poverty?
A growing number of Kiwi’s are sleep-walking into retirement poverty. The gap between our means and our needs appears to be widening with each generation. Many retirees would already struggle to live off government superannuation alone, so if you have a few years to go, now’s a good time to visit this topic. If you’re a property owner especially, you’re most able to fill the retirement gap, but be mindful
The Ethical Quagmire of Financial Freedom
What’s the value of wealth if achieving it comes at the expense of our freedom to choose. My wife and I recently hit a milestone – we're halfway prepared for our future. It took about 15 years to get here. Keep earning, control our spending, and test our assumptions -If that's all we do from here, we're going to make it. Throughout the next 15 years however, at some stage, we'll need
How Long Should I Fix For?
"I don't care about climate change - and I don’t care about Trump, free speech, alien disclosure, or even World War 3. The world may be going mad, but unless it impacts my family or my mortgage payments, I just don’t have time for it.’ I can understand this, especially for those doing it tough. There’s good news though - relief is on the way. Rates are falling. Granny's getting
Leveraging Riches From Rags
When you come from nothing, the only way to catch up is to work harder than everyone else and use leverage. If you can use other people’s money, with permission of course, and make correct assumptions about the future, you might build more with less. But with current global events, it’s crucial to test your assumptions. Elections, inflation, WW3, or climate change – how confident are you in your assumptions
CBDCs: With Great Power [To Control The Money], Comes Great Responsibility.
Our money-system works, because we trust our financial institutions. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are a digital transformation of the money we use today. It'll usher in the tokenisation of almost any 'real world asset' and then eventually, allow for a more digital financial system. Using this type of money may increase our reliance on central banks like the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). Career-focused players position themselves in
Will CBDC’s Affect Your Retirement?
Could Central Bank Digital Currencies (aka programmable money), make you poor? A sensationalist and alarming claim would be that the Bank of International Settlements (B.I.S), through a 'unified ledger', is attempting to coordinate, through Central Banks, a plan of world domination. To really turn it up a notch, you could suggest it's the next step towards a one-world currency like in the book of Revelation. It's a curious, yet creepy
Half a % Slash: Ready-Set-Go
Half a % Slash: Ready-Set-Go 1983 was my first exposure to something akin to a 'Dad joke' - 'We're off, like a turd of hurdles!' A herd of turtles was mind blowing enough, but he must have been thinking this every time we jumped in the car - 'we're making progress, but it's still pretty crap'. A turd of hurdles feels like New Zealand right now. It's a worse recession
The Truth Behind Property, Inflation, Debt, and Money
Curiosity May Cost You a Finger, But Ignorance Can Make You Poor Fixating on your footsteps as you behold the wonder of being able to walk up and down stairs, can cause you to trip. Second guessing what you instinctively know to be true can destroy even deeply held confidence. On the other hand, falling into new rabbit holes or getting bogged down in the bigger picture can cause anxiety.
The Property Boom Was Interrupted?
Twice a year, we adjust our clocks. Once a day, the earth spins around, and in a year, we all complete a circuit around the sun. Our own lifecycle, from conception until death, in roughly 15-20 year increments, cycles between one focus, to another: From 'Me' (single) to 'Us' (finding a partner) to 'They' (having children), to 'Us' (empty nesters), and finally, to 'Me' again...and then we die. Our physical,
The More Active Approach To Property Investment
With so many strategies available with property or even investing outside of property for that matter, it's often hard to know where to start. One effective approach is to understand what the future might look like and align your investment strategies accordingly. To begin, consider the broader economic and technological trends. Will governments and central banks continue to print money? Will technology keep advancing at an exponential rate? How will
The Value of Financial Advice – An Inside Story.
I had a prospective client ask me when she would see a return from the cost of my financial advice. It was a brilliant question, and it caused me to think deeply about not only the value I offer, but the relationship between price and value. Sometimes value can't be measured within a specific timeframe, and often you can't even quantify it in dollars. How valuable is peace of mind
New Zealand Property Market / Sept ’24
Property: In the New Zealand property market, we've seen house prices take a significant dip since their peak in late 2021 - depending on what you read and the day you read it on, it could be as much as 17%. That home purchased in 2021 for $1 million? It's now sitting at about $830k. After accounting for real estate commission, there wouldn't be much left over if a property
The Dangers of a ‘Just Because’ Investment Strategy
Time freedom is to have complete control over one’s time. Imagine this for yourself: If you genuinely had all your cares taken care of, not just in your life but for all around you, what would you do with your time? Imagine not having to go to work and having all the resources you needed to live in all the comfort you could handle. What would you do with your
Introducing…The Sounding Board Sessions
Introducing Sounding Board Sessions: The bit you've been missing all along! Have you been wading through the infinite choices you have as a self-directed investor or homebuyer? Are you looking for a qualified third party not to tell you want to do, but to help chart your own course? Look no further! We're thrilled to announce the launch of Sounding Board Sessions, a bespoke one-on-one coaching service with Darcy Ungaro,
Prison Break: Retirement Edition
Here's a Netflix-pilot episode that never came to be. Imagine the scene of a retired person living alone in government-funded housing, aka the 'council flats'. It's where people who can't afford much go when they're old. Like the 30-square metre dwelling with poor ventilation I can still remember from almost 30 years ago. The inside of the windows are thick with a thin film of nicotine blended with moisture from
Engineered Money & Self-Paying Mortgages / CJ Konstantinos
When you "invest" in a bond, you're effectively becoming a lender. You part with a sum of money with the expectation that you'll get it back in the future, along with interest. When you lend to the government by buying bonds, you're essentially lending to an entity considered risk-free. A Bitcoin bond, where 80% goes towards government debt and 20% towards Bitcoin, might be a way to safeguard your capital,
How To Invest: For The End of The World
At 5:30pm on a Friday night, I wanted to chip in for a friend’s birthday present. I couldn’t – the bank was offline. Most of the banks were offline. I dug a little deeper, discovered banks, airports, and other essential services were offline. Is THIS, the end of the world? I better change my underwear, stock up on toilet paper, and most importantly, renew my subscription to the resurrection. The
Will Property Prices Ignite in the Wake of Interest Rate Drop?
The recent drop in the official cash rate (OCR) by 0.25% has sparked a flurry of speculation about the future of the property market. Those hanging on for dear life are desperate for good news and recency bias is at work here - many believe lower interest rates signal a return to the boom times. However high on hopium property hodlers are, reality is a bit more nuanced. Property works
The REAL Values-Based Strategy That Works
Looking for the best investments, and the best strategy? Let me ask you this: Do you believe it’s possible to build more wealth using a values-based approach? An approach that aligns what’s most important to you with the finite set of choices you have regarding your resources? If you think this sounds a bit too abstract, consider this: What happens on the inside—our thoughts, values, and beliefs—inevitably bubbles up and
Discovering The Power Of People’s Money
August is Money Month in New Zealand, and it's the perfect time to focus on activities that can enhance your financial security not just for the month, but for the rest of your life. Here are three essential actions to consider: Work Hard, Work Smart, Stay Open-Minded: Strive to earn as much as you can through hard work, smart strategies, and an open mind. Assume that you'll require more money