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There are many roads to Rome, and this couldn’t be more true when it comes to pursuing financial independence […..]
Previously I’ve written about the hidden costs of home ownership, that housing is not the dream, so called property gurus, and false housing stories. Anyone would think that I am against home ownership.
I am not against home ownership. I am for maths and facts.
So that brings me to today’s short post based on a common misperception of current and wannabe landlords […..]
Tax is often a bit of a sore point in many conversations. Most people think they are paying too much of it. Without getting too political in this blog, many people don’t like paying taxes to people on benefits. Read some of the […..]
I’ll admit it. I used to be a chronic procrastinator. It was just too easy to put off things I didn’t want to do until the last minute. The last minute has seen a lot of action over my time. In this last minute of getting things done there is a lot of stress and anxiety, not to mention […..]
You may not be the CEO of your workplace, or even your marriage. But you are the CEO of your life. Many people go to jobs they don’t like to finance life’s they don’t like. To continue living this life we […..]
I was recently in the hospital waiting room with 12 other people. Do you know how many of these people had their head down on their mobile phones for pretty much the whole duration? 10 out of 12! I have seen similar numbers in airports too. It is not just the young either. The older generation have also managed to pick up this habit of […..]
Back when I was a young fulla, my first impressions of money were that my mum had a lot, and my dad didn’t have much.[…..]
This is a question that my wife and I are going through right now and I thought I would share our current thought process. Hopefully you can apply some of it to your own situation […..]
There are so many people retiring early and living the life of their dreams at the same time there are so many people struggling to save enough for retirement. How can this be? How can we have so many people struggling, yet so many succeeding?
About a month ago I wrote an article about how the stories we tell each other help promote increasing house prices through misinformation.
My $100,000 increase in house price was actually a big loss due to $273,000 in home ownership costs […..]
Everyone is so busy these days. I have to book weeks in advance to catch up with friends and family. We say things like “I have so much on at the moment”, or “things are just crazy.”
There is nothing wrong with being busy if what you are busy adds value to your life. Such as starting a business or being prime minister. It is when we are busy just for the […..]
One year ago I finally hit the publish button on my thoughts. It was, and still is, my intention to help New Zealanders be better with their money.
As a nation, our savings rate is negative 2%. This is quite frankly shocking, and will never allow us to reach any sort of financial freedom. At these savings rates, we will forever be […..]
Did I hook you in with the title? Bold statement isn’t it?
This investment costs very little money. The investment returns beat the stock market by a long shot […..]
Why is it that over time, socks mysteriously disappear? I’m sure I’m not the only one that experiences this. I now have a collection of single socks divorced from their significant other. They are not in the house, in the washing machine, in the drawers, or […..]
When was the last time you read an article about hose prices in New Zealand? My guess is it hasn’t been too recent.
Up until last year there were articles daily. “Record house prices”. “I made $500,000 flipping property”.
Banks, property developers, property investors, and real estate companies were all actively promoting content on our computer screens. Where have they all gone now? It’s been extremely quiet […..]
When I was growing up I used to love computer games. My favourites were the strategy role playing games, where you had to make strategic decisions as a main character. Each decision lead you down a path to a new bunch of challenges. Some paths would lead to […..]
Just over a month ago I published an article about the sale of my apartment. I have had a couple of clients and readers comment that I must have done well from the sale.
Well here I am to pour fire over popular opinion of housing. The housing market is so hot because of all these stories we tell ourselves. I made $100,000 in 10 years sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it? But it doesn’t tell the whole story […..]
The difference between millennial's and previous generations is not minor. The difference is the world is currently a much tougher place financially.
I can hear boomers spitting out the coffee as they read the opening sentence. “Honey, I can’t believe what I am reading. Look what this clown is saying about those entitled, selfie taking, avocado eating, Laté drinking, slackers. He is saying they are the same as you and I were at that age. Unbelievable […..]
Just over a year ago the jewel of my eye was born. We have had some ups and down, but I wouldn’t change anything.
Watching our daughter grow has been an incredible experience […..]
We live in a very pro housing society here in New Zealand. Everyone wants to get on the property ladder, even if houses are relatively expensive. We are told that houses double in price every 10 years and you are a fool if you don’t buy. All the while, conveniently forgetting about […..]
One Saturday morning last year, my wife and I drove past a man on the side of the road in obvious pain. As concerned citizens we spun the car around and pulled over to make sure he was ok. He was bleeding from his face and […..]
So often self-control is seen as a negative act. Where we are depriving ourselves of something fun or something so good, but oh so bad for us. We are taught from an early age we can’t have ‘bad’ foods all the time, even though we want them. As adults, the list of things that are supposedly ‘bad’ for us grows exponentially. Ironically, these are also the things that […..]
Many of us lead comfortable lives. We have shelter, are well fed, we have jobs that we are good at, and a close group of friends. In our spare time we tend to follow the same routine and do the same things. Over time we find […..]
Thinking of our future leads many of us to become anxious or disinterested. We tell ourselves things such as […..]
With so many options we can’t always make the best choice. It would require far too much time and effort deliberating even the smallest decisions and then when we make the wrong decision we will beat ourselves up over it. Once we have finished giving ourselves the uppercut then next time we may be too scared to even make a decision at all in fear of getting the bash again [……]