The Happy Saver Podcast - Personal Finance in New Zealand

In this episode, I chat with Tracey, a long-time reader and listener of The Happy Saver who first came on my radar through her detailed Debt Free Questionnaire in 2022. Tracey and her husband have reached what's known as Coast FI—meaning they already have enough money invested that, even if they never added another dollar to their investments, by the time they reach 65, it will have grown to their required amount. This gives them the flexibility to reduce their working hours in their self-employed HR roles if they choose. We dig into how Tracey got herself to this point and where she plans to take it from here. It's an interesting episode, with quite a bit of complexity, but I think it's a fascinating one, as this couple have independently and collectively created a lot of options for themselves. Tracey said she has had a “lumpy” journey, and that “there is no need to go anywhere in a straight line.” The key for her is that she is making progress. She is a firm believer in setting up an investment, making regular contributions to it, but not being afraid to make changes and do things differently as you continue to research and learn new information.

After my long kōrero with Sammy to prepare this episode, my head was spinning from all the twists and turns of her story. After 57 years of personal and financial trauma, last year, in 2024, Sammy had her “aha” moment when she said “Screw it, I'm sick of this,” and started to let a little light shine on her money. Once she had opened the door a crack, she basically just ripped the whole roof off her financial life, and has had a complete, and hopefully permanent, financial transformation. She's not done yet; she has some mahi in front of her, but she is well on her way. I'll often meet people who blow up their financial lives for the better, and the progress they make is astounding. Sammy is one of these people. Twice divorced, and with three children, one of whom has special needs, she has spent many years often living below the poverty line and buying bread and milk on a credit card that she could not pay off, and sometimes she has made decisions that kept her on the poverty line. Over the decades, she trained as a teacher and stabilised her situation, but still made questionable financial choices, until finally, aged 58 today, she is charging ahead.

In November 2024, I attended Black FI-Day, New Zealand's first financial independence hui. Nearly 40 people gathered for this three-day event to share their financial journeys. One of them was Amelie, the person in the spotlight today. Just 19 at the time, she showed up on her own and was understandably nervous. But before long, every participant was in awe of this young wahine from Taranaki, who had decided that if spending a weekend with a bunch of strangers meant learning about money and building financial confidence, it was worth the risk. She got fully involved in the weekend, even sharing her situation in a case study that she presented to the group. Now 20, she joined me for a kōrero, giving me the chance to dive deeper into her money journey. I hope today's episode resonates with teens, 20-somethings, and to the adults who happen to have a young person in their midst.

Today, I'm sharing the financial ins and outs of Alan and Katie Donegan, the world-travelling English couple behind Rebel Finance School. Over the years, we have become friends, and learning about their journey to financial independence and then watching them move into full retirement has been incredibly motivating for both Jonny and me. They finally made it to New Zealand, and back in early December 2024, we sat down at my kitchen table, where they generously answered all of my nosy questions. I'm looking forward to sharing their personal finance journey with you because once they discovered the concept of financial independence, these two were on FIRE!

I first met today's guest, Ajith, when he emailed me with a couple of questions back in 2024. He'd come across The Happy Saver while on the hunt for some motivation to keep pushing towards the goal that he and his wife Arya have to become debt-free by his 39th birthday, which is in 2028. When they began to lose patience and motivation, hearing both my journey with money and that of others helped to keep them on track. This couple are in their mid-thirties, with an eight-year-old daughter and live on the East Coast of the North Island. When I spoke with them at length in October of 2024 and again in February 2025, they were debt-free except for the $223,000 mortgage they have on the home they had built in 2021. They have also been investing in their KiwiSaver plus in investments outside of KiwiSaver. I wanted to share their journey today because his email to me and our subsequent kōrero threw up the dilemma of paying down debt fast vs investing. I think you will enjoy it.

In mid-October 2024, I brewed a coffee, sat down, and gave Poto a call. She's been a long-time listener of the podcast, drawing on insights from past guests to help guide her decisions over the years. Back in 2021, she and I started exchanging emails, and we've stayed in touch ever since. When we recently crossed paths in person, I learned more about her journey and couldn't help asking if she'd join me for a kōrero. True to her kind and generous nature, she agreed. Poto is 57 years old and calls the Central Plateau, in the centre of the North Island, her home and playground. She loves the area and loves the great outdoors. She had been heading down a few avenues that didn't sit quite right with her and backing out to take another path, but steadily, she tracked towards the FI (Financial Independence) community and a more simple path to wealth. With dedication and mahi, she's reached a point of financial independence—and today, she's here to share her story.

This week, I'm making a bit of an exception and chatting with someone who was a bit reluctant to talk about money. Which is ironic, given this is a podcast that talks about money. Rob, a 33-year-old plumber from Western Australia, took a little persuading to come on my podcast, but I persisted because I knew enough about him to know that his personal finance story is one that many of us will be able to relate to and draw ideas from. Rob is essentially financially independent, working just a quarter of the year, and he recently hosted Tribe FI, a personal finance retreat. I met Rob after he invited me to speak at the event, and after some detective work to confirm he wasn't a scammer (spoiler: he's not), Jonny and I attended—and loved it. In this episode, I delve into Rob's journey to financial independence and what inspired him to create a space for like-minded people to connect.

In today's episode, I will be sharing the financial journey of Jack, a Kiwi from the lower North Island. Jack found The Happy Saver when he was searching for podcasts on money. As an investor in rental property, he was looking to learn about shares. As you'll find out shortly, he leads an interesting life. He has a personality that I can relate to; he said he could talk to a lamp post, and as a result, he meets heaps of people, so he had no qualms about stopping in to visit Jonny and I when he was down in Central Otago riding the famous Rail Trail and doing other interesting things, earlier in the year. We've stayed in touch since, and I'm pleased I have because Jack gets about. When we chatted for this podcast, he was sitting in San Fransisco, having just had many months overseas and was getting ready to board a three-week cruise to bring him back home to Aotearoa.

Today's episode is an update on North Island couple Chris and Rosemary. Their first episode came out in March 2021 — it was episode number 49. Since then, we've kept in touch, and today's episode is an update on where this couple are now, in terms of both money and life. It's safe to say they have absolutely transformed their situation, and I hope this episode lights a fire under those listening and prompts you to reach for a few stretch goals, whatever they might be. Over the last four years, Chris has sent me some pretty epic emails as he went on a deep dive into learning about personal finance. I watched from the sidelines as he got Rosemary on the same page. They've since both utterly transformed their financial lives, embarking on a new journey toward financial independence. Today's update won't disappoint — these two are not mucking around.

Today's episode began with an email from a Kiwi couple in their mid-40s, who asked to be called Tokyo and Rio, inspired by the show Money Heist. Tokyo reached out just before Christmas 2023, sharing how a sinking fund she started nearly a year ago was making her happy amidst a tough financial year. It had been a challenging one—an overseas trip, big bills for their rental property, tax and ACC bills, and a lower-than-expected income. They were considering a $15,000 mortgage top-up to cover it all. But Tokyo wanted to know if there was a better way. Of course, there is another option. I hit reply to her email and proceeded to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

When I received an email from a guy called John saying that he and his wife Betty have gone from being terrible with money and trying (unsuccessfully) to grow wealth via debt to completely changing their mentality to one of getting away from debt, even going so far as to head to the mines in Australia to clean up the consumer debt mess they had created, they had my attention. Today, I want to share the story of a 38 and 39-year-old married couple with two primary school-aged kids who are on the crest of a knowledge wave when it comes to money. Month by month, they are reassessing everything they thought to be true about money and now are tackling their biggest remaining debt head-on, their $480,000 mortgage.

Ruby stumbled across The Happy Saver in October of 2022, prompting her to email me with a couple of questions. She'd recently signed up with Sharesies and was testing the waters by investing $20 a week, and had a few questions about where to start. Plus, she had a question about her KiwiSaver. While at home with two young tamariki, she had just realised that even when she was not in the paid workforce, she could voluntarily contribute money into her account, which she immediately started doing. Taking a moment to think about investing made her start digging around for more information about her money. From then on, her thirst for financial literacy grew, and she began to search for information that could teach her to be better with her pūtea. A year went by, and I heard from her again. She went into more detail, which led to me asking her to be on my podcast today. She is now 34, and her husband Tim is 38. They live in rural Canterbury with their two preschool children. I think their journey is typical of a lot of Kiwis, and what I particularly like is that they continue to adjust their financial course as new information comes to light.

Congratulations, you have made it to the final episode of this series of six: INVESTING. Investing can be incredibly complex, but I found a way to simplify it. I used to feel overwhelmed by the options available, but now I don't. I'm hoping to help you feel the same way. But still, this is one of the most challenging podcasts I have EVER written. Condensing “investing” into a single episode is no easy feat. The Happy Saver was born out of my search for information about what I could invest our money in. It took me years to arrive at our current strategy, which combines KiwiSaver and ETF investments. I don't want you to take so long to settle on your own strategy. I'm no different to you when I say, “I wish I knew then what I know now”. We had some margin in our budget, and I was looking for something to make us money. I started by asking my bank's opinion and followed a trail of crumbs of information from there. Ultimately, I finally found good information, which I want to share today.

Get out of debt, and stay out of debt. I think of debt as a phase of life that I moved through. That period has passed, and I've moved on. Jonny and I have been entirely debt-free since our early 30s, and I encourage you to head down the debt-free path as well. Debt has always had an ‘ick' factor for me, a feeling I am grateful for. I like earning interest, but I hate paying it. Despite our bank trying to lure us back into debt to buy a rental property, there has never been a day that we regretted becoming permanently debt-free. We never have to seek the bank's opinion about our financial decisions again.

The fourth part of this six-part series is one of the easier topics to cover, KiwiSaver. Joining KiwiSaver is a no-brainer, and it still surprises me when I meet people who are not in it. I'm always looking ahead and doing my best to determine what I might need money for and how much I might need. I keep my ear to the ground about how affordable retirement is for New Zealanders. I talk to people over 65 and ask them what advice they would give me about financially preparing for retirement. Then I ask myself if, on my current trajectory, I'm heading in the right direction.

The best thing I ever did was set some cash into a bank account, which we could instantly access in a financial emergency. It is an amount of money set aside in a specific bank account to be used for bailing myself out if something happens that I didn't otherwise plan for, but I need money to pay for. It takes me less than one minute to log into my banking and move money from my emergency account to my spending account. My previous episode discussed budgeting and planning for upcoming expenses. However, try as I might, I can't think of everything. Your emergency fund covers the things you forgot despite your best intentions.

In the first episode in this series of six, I quickly showed you how to calculate your net worth. It will take a little longer today, but I want to explain why you need to keep an eye on how and where you earn and spend your money, i.e., budgeting. When you learn to budget, your net worth will begin to increase. Budgeting is simply making a plan for your pūtea (money). Although I meet hundreds of people who are keen, motivated, and willing to do better with their money, I meet few who are, “Oh yay, let's track our spending and earning each month.” I know. I understand your reluctance, but if you want to grow your wealth, you must do what wealthy people do. And they know how much they earn and spend. So, I'm sorry, there are no shortcuts here; you've just got to suck it up and budget anyway. Most will come to enjoy it as I do, simply because it gives me a feeling of control over my life and removes any anxiety around my pūtea. But for some of you, it will always be a chore. So be it! Do it anyway.

Welcome to the first episode in a short six-part series. On my blog, thehappysaver.com, I created a comprehensive Financial Independence Series of six blog posts where I mapped out a plan to help you on your way to becoming financially independent. Because I know that there are some in my audience who only read my blog and others who only listen to this podcast, I wanted to make sure that both parts of my audience got the same information, so what I've done is I have turned each blog post into a podcast episode. Part 1 focuses on ‘Net Worth'. How much wealth do you have right now? If you added it all up and subtracted what you owe, what are you worth? This can be daunting if you've never thought about it. However, the objective is not to objectify wealth; it's to create a level of wealth that makes you feel comfortable and in control of your present and future.

Today, I have an update on Nic from Episode 78, released in March 2023. A lot can happen in a year, which I wanted to share with you today. When Nic and I spoke in early 2023, Nic was still very new to the whole concept of personal finance and long after we had finished the episode, I wondered how she was getting on. A year after we spoke, an update email arrived in my inbox. She said it's been an interesting 12-plus months, and they are slowly but surely getting ahead. It seems like a case of one step forward and then half a step back, as on occasions in the last year or so, it seemed her luck had deserted her. But even with some upheaval thrown into her life, plus some pretty ill-controlled budgets, she said they are still managing to pay down debt, lower their mortgage, and increase her KiwiSaver balance. I wanted to share her update because many of you listening will relate to her progress.

I met 19-year-old Josephine in mid-2023 when she emailed me with some questions about money. I actually already knew a little about her because her Mum and I have been in contact for a number of years, chatting about personal finances over email. Josephine hoped that I might be able to answer a few of her questions too. She mentioned that her Mum had sparked an interest in personal finances in her, which had led her to do a lot of reflecting on her money skills. She had been out of school and working for a couple of years, managed to save up a solid chunk of money and was planning on heading into study in 2024. Her intention was to get through her study with no student loan, which is entirely possible to do, if you plan well ahead. However, there was one small problem. She had caught the travel bug, and with a huge urge to travel, she knew it had the potential to be pricey. Her question to me was how could she balance living in the now while planning for the future and how could she set herself and her pūtea up to do both. So, the emails back and forth began, and I learned enough about Josephine to know that she would make an inspiring guest for my podcast.

In early January, I was lucky enough to have a long chat with Grace, who is now in her late 20s. Grace has been following my podcast since 2019, which is when her money journey did a sharp U-turn as she moved out of about $40,000 of consumer and education debt and onto a new path of saving up to buy a home by the age of 30. Listening to money stories on this very podcast from people all across our motu gave her ideas of where to start because, for her, this whole ‘money thing' was pretty overwhelming, so hearing from others has been imperative in helping her plot her path.

I'm particularly excited about today's podcast because it is a revisit episode with Bradie and Paul. This is actually the fifth time we have caught up on their money journey. The elevator pitch for them is that they felt they were drowning in debt just seven short years ago, and now they have just completed their first year of early retirement! The entire point of this podcast is to show you that becoming financially independent is entirely possible. Bradie and Paul did it, Jonny and I are well on our way to doing it, and you can too! Today, I'm really happy to give you an update on a story that keeps getting better over time. 

I chatted with Isobel and Sam for almost three hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon. As with all of these interviews, straight out of the gate, we were into the nuts and bolts of the financial lives of this 56 and 57-year-old deeply-in-love couple who are parents to three adult tamariki. Very handily, Sam had sent me a four page Vision Board of their financial and life journey. To sum it up I'd say they are creative planners who work as a tight team towards their goal of creating a really strong financial footing by the age of 60. He said that he is like a balloon, impulsive and trying to float off in random directions, while she is the rock who grounds him. They are finally hitting their financial stride as they work their way towards a retirement of plenty. Their intention is to reach what is referred to in the early retirement community as Coast FIRE, where your already invested money will take you to FI by itself and for Sam and Isobel, the age they will reach this point is 60.

In this episode, I'm going to be sharing the experiences of Scott and Jane. This couple are from completely different backgrounds and also from different countries. Scott's from New Zealand, in his late 20s and Jane's from South America and in her mid-30s. They've been together about four years and have settled into life in the Central North Island. Today, I want to share how they have melded their lives together and where they are headed from here. Jane wanted to share their journey to home ownership in the hope of inspiring and helping other migrants who decide to make New Zealand home realise that they can afford to buy their first home if that is what they aspire to do. Birds of a feather do flock together, and although these two hail from completely different parts of the globe, they managed to connect with each other and build a life together.

Today I am really looking forward to sharing the financial ins and outs of Rachael, a wonderful wahine who has been listening to this very podcast for years. She enjoys this podcast because the stories I share are relatable because they are, of course, about everyday Kiwis in Aotearoa. Hers, as you are about to find out, is a cautionary tale that she hopes you don't have to go through yourself, but you will come out more aware and informed having heard about it. Her partner of eight years, Tony, died suddenly in mid-2020. While coping with the shock and grief of this, she then also had to embark on a long journey of unravelling the financial side of his life, but because he died intestate or without a will, she had shaky legal rights to do so. These days, she is really focused on her finances and said she will squawk at anyone about them, particularly when it comes to retirement plans, end-of-life plans and the necessity of having a will. Coping with her grief was hard enough; sorting out the settlement of his estate made it doubly hard, and she wants you to avoid this same situation at all costs.

The standout for me today is how quickly you can change your financial lot in life simply because you decide to. Helen and Scott are 45 and 42 respectively, and have lived a life common to many of us, with good bits, not-so-good bits and, to a large extent, following the crowd for whom managing money is a struggle. With five tamariki between them, they have known each other a long time, yet only became a couple a few years ago. Both carry the scars and financial lessons from previous marriages, including reliance on consumer debt and being excluded either willfully or unwillingly from handling pūtea, yet they both jumped in boots and all with their money in their relationship today. Working harder was always their way out of a financial jam, but finally, they are learning to work smarter.

I've been corresponding with Kiri for about five years now. Those back-and-forth email conversations eventually led to me picking up the phone and chatting in person for the first time, and back in September of 2021, I released that episode: 60. First Home Buyers, where I detailed the rollercoaster that Kiri and her husband John had been on with their money and their life. That episode was all about the lead-up to buying a home. Today's episode is what happened after that; it's much less house focussed, much more life-focused, but it's safe to say that the rollercoaster continues.

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing the story behind how Tony and his wife Karen came to create a net worth of $2.8 million and retire aged 49 and 54, respectively. Now that I have your attention, you might also be interested to know that they own one home and have a large retirement fund which they built from always investing a portion of their take-home pay, about 10%, from their 20+ year careers in the New Zealand Police. Despite their success, there are still many unknowns as they try to work out how to structure their money to support them during their long and adventurous retirement. This episode shows how steady saving in a retirement scheme can build a substantial nest egg. I think it will be particularly useful to those interested in retiring one day, which, by my reckoning, is everyone!

Lucy, Steve and their two teenage children openly talk about money in their family. It comes from them trying to make sense of their complicated financial upbringing and then joining their financial lives together at 19. When they were young, they made many decisions because their backs were against the wall, and they now know they want their children to head out into the world more prepared than they were. While I understand that failure is a good teacher, I just don't see why you would willingly set your kids up to fail with money when it is far easier to do as this couple is doing and instead just teach your kids some basics from the get-go.

In this episode, we hear from Jess, a single 52-year-old woman who reached out to me in early 2022 when she sent me a lovely email telling me she had been using my blog and podcast, plus The Barefoot Investor, to learn more about money to help her keep on track with some long-term money goals. After paying off her credit card debt, Jess was working on building up her emergency fund, but beyond that, she struggled to see how she could ever afford a home of her own. In a subsequent email, Jess expressed feeling left out while reading my Millionaire Questionnaire responses, as they mainly featured coupled-up, double-income people who appeared to own property. So, when I got an email telling me she had just signed up to buy a home of her own, you bet I wanted to know how she went from a house being out of her league to owning one.

I met 29-year-old Dylan when he heard my call out for younger people to get in touch and share their stories with money. Through luck and good timing, aged just 21, he found himself buying his first property, an empty section, and then one thing led to another; he stumbled upon a cracking good deal, paying just $18,000 for a second section. This sounds impossible, and stories such as this need a deeper dive. As a sound bite, it's a good one, but I know that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that is never explained. Well, today I will explain, sharing not only how he purchased property but the numbers behind it, the lucky breaks he has had and the fact that since he learned about FIRE, he is now diversifying by investing in KiwiSaver and ETF share investments. Plus, he advocates good financial management to both whānau and friends. And now that he is joining his life with the love of his life, this late 20-year-old is on an excellent trajectory for a great financial future.

In this week's episode, I wanted to revisit an earlier episode with an update on Nathan from episode 71, and introduce a new guest, Sam, a 16-year-old Year 12 student who is starting a financial journey similar to Nathan's and already demonstrates a forward-thinking mindset towards his financial well-being. He recognises that financial stability is vital to achieving his goals. Nathan and Sam's experiences provide a valuable opportunity to educate young people about the importance of financial literacy and equip them with the tools they need to make wise financial decisions.

I'm looking forward to telling you all about 37-year-old Tui. She described herself as someone who has worked hard to get her financial house in order, and in the last three years in particular, she has made great progress. She had spent her teens and twenties gathering life experiences by living and working overseas, getting an education, beginning a career and buying a home with a friend. But more recently, she has increased her understanding of personal finance, and when she added that new knowledge to her situation, she has moved ahead, now with her partner Marcus, in leaps and bounds. Amid a pandemic, they bought the house from her friend and changed careers, and I know you want to learn how that has all worked out for them! Spoiler alert: really well!

Nic described herself as a 42-year-old professional who sometimes has to pinch herself at the job she has. It's a tough demanding role in a field she loves that pays really well. A mum to two tamariki and a partner to the world's most laid-back, carefree non-money-driven man. Her money journey started slowly, full of bad decisions, good luck, and some great times. Now she finds herself in the very fortunate position of earning an above average income, which up until recently, she spent. More recently, she has realised she is in a position to do things with her money that will have a lasting impact. New information on how to handle money better has made her cringe at past decisions. Nic has come a long way, but the journey is not over yet, but she has a plan now, something she never had before. She has her WHY and the HOW defined. She now just requires the discipline, focus and drive to pull it all off!

When Rachel told me that she had very recently moved from a super consumer to thinking instead that saving was the new shopping, I knew the story of this single, city-dwelling, dependent-free, self-employed 54-year-old was one worth sharing. Covid was to be the tipping point for Rachel. Realising that when her income stream dried up, she was in trouble financially. Today I'm going to tell you how she managed to stop living pay cheque to pay cheque and managed to catch a break instead.

This week I'm sharing the financial life of Ngaio and Ben, a Coromandel couple in their early 30s. They struck a chord with me because I love seeing examples of life enjoyed a little bit differently to most, in their case, choosing to build and live in a tiny home, work part-time, take mini-retirements and do a lot of adventures, which often include a bike. They are rare due to the fact that they have more invested in the share market than they do in housing, which lets them lead a more balanced life. They are an adventurous couple who will give you food for thought.

This week I caught up with a couple in their mid 20's, Richard and Jane. Their express aim in putting themselves out there is to comfort the other twenty-somethings that their financial situation is in their own hands and they, to a large degree, get to write their own story. In 2019, they purchased a home when they were just 22 years of age and are now setting about paying it off. Buying a home so young is unusual, but having the goal from the beginning to pay it off as fast as possible is even more unusual. My first question to them was, “how did you get so smart?”

This week I'm sharing the story of Ayana, a woman who sure does have a zest for life. However, life keeps throwing her curve balls, and she has to keep adjusting course. Ayana has worked since she was a teenager and left school with money in the bank. She had a brief stint in the Navy and then completed a degree at university. She no sooner started an internship in LA before it was cut short by Covid! She picked up work at a radio station, then as a carer. And, to top it off, she spent last summer working in Antarctica! Did I mention she is just 25 years old? She takes life by the horns, and because she is thinking clearly about money, she can embrace each new change instead of being crippled by it. I loved this conversation; I think you will too.

Today I'm excited to share the story of Pipi, a 20-year-old wahine from Auckland. Pipi got her first part-time job at the age of just 13, and now that she is a second-year nursing student, she continues to work part-time while studying and full-time when she can to keep the income rolling in. The extra special thing about Pipi is that she is fiercely determined to complete her three-year nursing degree debt-free. Today's podcast episode walks through how she is doing it. I think this episode will be particularly useful to NCEA students and anyone who knows one!

I've met countless people who have received an inheritance, yet today they are in a really poor financial situation. It's what you DO with an inheritance that counts. Will chose to pay off debt and invest. And while his investment strategy back in 2013 was similar to throwing a dart at a dart board, at least he tried. His biggest financial triumph, he said, has been the fact that he took an interest in working out how to grow wealth, he took the time to educate himself, and then he actually took action. Now married and living in their own home in Auckland, with an Auckland-sized mortgage, this 31-year-old couple is still well on their way to financial freedom.

Being only 19, and one of the younger people I've interviewed didn't mean that today's guest Nathan had less to share. In November of 2022, he will graduate from Polytech with a Diploma in Quantity Surveying, with two years of industry experience, no debt and a job lined up. Added to that, he is also helping to pay for his girlfriend's tertiary studies as well. He has some big plans for the years ahead and I think his story is worth sharing with high school students wondering “where to from here” as they gear up to leave school.

Today's guest, 33-year-old Freya from Auckland, emailed me because she wanted me to interview more younger women who had their money sorted and also handled their families' finances. From the little she divulged in her email, I could tell that she was on track to being financially sorted, so I encouraged her to speak with me instead! In the space of just seven years, she and her husband have moved to New Zealand from India and starting from scratch, they have got themselves into good careers, purchased a home and had a child. All in the midst of a global pandemic, stupid house prices and being all alone in a new country, I found her so inspiring to speak with. I think you will too.

Neil has come a long way in life since his move from London to New Zealand in 2005. His one-year adventure has turned into 17 and counting, and year on year, he has continued to learn a little more about how money works. Today he finds himself in his late 40s, a father of one, with investments both in the UK and New Zealand, which he is steadily adding to from his take-home pay and rental income. But it's not all roses, and the break up of a relationship is also teaching him how to financially prepare for a settlement and let go of what's not important in life, to create space for the things that are.

I managed to cross paths with 35-year-old Dani because both of us are runners and seeing the trails she was enjoying always inspired me to lace up my own shoes and head out the door for a run. It's probably no surprise that when I found out she was also navigating her own path to FIRE, or Financial Independence, Retire Early that I became even more curious and asked her to chat with me. I find that there is always something that tips people over the edge financially and makes them feel annoyed enough to do something about the strife they find themselves in. In Dani's case, it was the purchase of new curtains to go into their home. The home they bought in an effort to keep up with The Joneses.

Sometimes, a minor conversation lights a spark and makes me want to know more about a person. This was the case with today's guest Zoe. She emailed me a question, which I answered, but what got me interested was how financially assured this recently retired woman from Christchurch was as she actually begins to live off New Zealand superannuation plus the investments she has built up. The thing was, though, it was only more recently that she began to feel more financially confident as she only really started to pay attention to her pūtea (money) when she was in her late 50s, proving that it's never too late to take control of your finances.

Senia and her small whānau moved to Ashburton, New Zealand, from Samoa back in 2010 and quietly began to take on consumer debt. Until one day, enough was enough, and some well-timed conversations about becoming debt-free coincided with her realising they were living paycheque to paycheque. This kicked off the process of paying off $70,000 in consumer debt and completely changing the future of her family.

Australian based Kiwi Dad of two Jon went through a relationship separation and a financial crisis some years ago but is now on track to be mortgage-free within the next four years. The key for him has been self-taught education about how to handle his personal finances and he was particularly keen to share with other single parents that they can get their finances sorted too. He calls himself ‘a work in progress' but he is well on his way and is proof that reaching FI is a marathon, not a sprint.

Today I have a chat with Jay. He reached out to me with a story to share about him and his wife Shelle and their property investment journey. He sees residential real estate as their way to riches, and he enjoys the ins and outs of the property market. He has been incredibly successful so far in building wealth using debt, yet he is still constantly looking for new information and tweaking his approach as a result. He's building on a foundation built by his whānau and continuing to grow his investments, with the main goal being for him and Shelle to hand them on to the next generation, their three tamariki.

This is the fourth time that I've interviewed Bradie for this podcast! Why do I keep coming back for more? Because I am hooked on her journey from suffocating mortgage debt to financial independence in just six short years. Each time we speak there is an exciting new development and this episode does not disappoint. I've also enjoyed following the personal transformation that Bradie has gone through, from feeling significant stress to feeling that anything is possible. Join me in this latest episode to find out where she is now.

This week I'm sharing the story of early retiree Brendan. We've met in person many times now, even more so since he moved to Central Otago in late 2021 and I have always found him a relatively quiet and contemplative kind of guy. So I was delighted when he took the time (because let's face it he has heaps) to share with me just how, at the young age of 39, you manage to have enough money that you never need to work again.

In today's podcast, I'm doing a revisit with Bella who I interviewed in Episode 52. She shared the realities of student loan debt in New Zealand and how you can meander your way into student loan debt, but you need to fight your way out again. She explains how she has been tackling her $85,000 of student loan debt and how people are so wrong when they say that interest-free student loan debt just does not matter. Because it does. It matters a whole lot. Bella has not been idle, smashing out $66,000 of debt in just 14 months. Yep, you read that right. If she can do it, so can you!