The Happy Saver Podcast - Personal Finance in New Zealand

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!

Kiri and I have been emailing each other since mid-2018 discussing all manner of money related things as they unfolded for her whānau of three. Kiri, her husband John and their four-year-old daughter, had big plans for 2020, which included a move to Australia, paying off student loans, buying a home and starting new jobs. But we all know how 2020 unfolded, and it was interesting to hear how Kiri and John didn’t bow out in defeat as their plans went up in a cloud of smoke but instead stepped up, created a new strategy and maneuvered themselves into their first home and a more secure position right here in Aotearoa.

I first heard from Andy when he was 29. He emailed with several questions and observations, and the bit that stuck with me most was that he was pretty keen to buy himself a car parking space as an investment. Indeed, he said, “I love the idea of owning a car park in the city”. He thought it was a pretty legitimate investment, plus he thought he might even use it himself one day - if he got a car, that is. I on the other hand thought, “what has the world come to that people can’t afford a house (which is what Andy wanted), and they have to convince themselves that owning a piece of dirt the size of a car is the next best thing”. So, Andy had my attention and for the last 18 months, we swapped a few emails back and forth. He writes for a living, so he writes a good email and through those, I got to see his thoughts evolve and the evolution of a workable financial plan. And to cut through the suspense, I’ll cut to the chase; it does not involve a car park.

This week I’m sharing the story of a central Hawke’s Bay couple Rach and Becs. They made the bold move to leave both of their families behind and move out of Auckland, headed for Hawke's Bay so they could get ahead both financially and for a better work-life balance. With careers in IT and Health Advisory, whanau and friends warned them of career setbacks but they have happily proved them wrong, both securing dream jobs and higher incomes. I heard from them when they wanted to share their absolute joy at the fact they had become mortgage-free, at the age of just 35.

Over the years Janet, who is 59, has worked out that other people can be unreliable, so she is better to plan for her own success, instead of relying on others. She is a huge forward thinker and she spends time gently tweaking all aspects of her financial life to gently steer her waka where she wants it to go. She does not earn a lot, just $798 a week, but as she said to me “I guess it’s what you do with it that matters right”? She knows her exact costs and she pays cash for them, then from her take-home pay at any one time she is saving up for a number of things that she has coming up, PLUS she is supporting her daughter through university. You can plan not to be broke and she is pretty keen to share what she has learnt so those walking along beside her can also achieve the financial peace that she has.

Today I’m introducing you to Fatima. By working hard and being at the right place at the right time, she had managed to buy several properties but there was a tipping point one day when despite the net worth she had built up, she found herself seriously short on cash and having to borrow money from whanau. Fatima is not one to muck around, so after listening to these very podcasts, she decided to implement some change and reintroduce some balance into her life.

I’m starting out this series of six new episodes with a woman that I know pretty well, the reason being that she is one of my sisters! It took a little convincing to get her to appear on my podcast and I’ve changed her name for a bit of anonymity, but the reason I wanted to share her story is that it is an excellent example of steady and consistent attention to detail over a long period of time. As you will soon hear Rachel (48) has had a few downs and ups but it was careful planning and setting of goals that has helped her stick to her teaching career, weather the Christchurch earthquakes and the subsequent insurance battle and, with her now teenage daughter, thrive after a divorce. I was particularly keen to catch her at an important milestone and we spoke on the eve of her last ever mortgage payment.

For the last episode in this series, I have once again reconnected with a few people that I’ve interviewed before. I like to check in on people and get a feel for the progress and changes they have made and I know you do too. A lot of people ask me, ‘what happened to so and so’? So, I’ve got three revisits for you this time: There is Lucas who was feeling the burden of a $1,200,000 mortgage in Auckland. Callum, the now 26-year-old from Christchurch who has just jumped boots and all into housing and gone from zero houses to five in just three short years. And Bradie and her husband Paul who climbed their way out of a tonne of mortgage debt and are now investing hard out for their futures.

When Julian and Sophie met in 1999 they each had a car, a very small amount in savings and no debt. Just 21 ‘short’ years later they have an approximate net worth of $1,500,000. So, how did they do it? Their current wealth is the combination of good budgeting, steady investing into retirement accounts, timely house purchases and aggressive debt repayments meaning they are now in a position for Julian to reduce to part-time work so he can spend more time with their two young children.

In today’s podcast, 26-year-old Bella shares the realities of student loan debt in New Zealand and how you can meander your way into debt, but it’s far harder to meander your way out again. She explains how the pressure of taking on student loans from the age of just 18 can quickly add up to $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.