r/PersonalFinanceNZ

Some interesting "analysis" here - what says PFNZ?

I am close (within a year or so) of proper FIRE at mid 40s (with partner and kid). The maths and modelling work based on all the research done by many people who are far cleverer than me. However, I have been at this stage before, taken a few breaks and then gone back to work when the call came (could not say no). I don't like the work I do at all and never have. It makes it tolerable knowing I have options though. My partner will probably continue working but is in a very low wage industry (although helps having something coming in)

The part I struggle with is the anxiety of getting it wrong and running out of money, as it could be a 40 year retirement. Some of the worries include

• getting the FIRE calculations wrong. I have done the calcs myself and no really run them past a professional. I just have not been able to find a professional that understands early retirement.
• having large unforeseen expenses down the track. I have 2 years of cash reserves but thats only 2 years. If something major happens, although I have insurance for health and life for the family, it won't cover other major expenses.
• not being able to get back into paid work if it all goes wrong. Hard enough to get a job while in the workforce these days, so I imagine once out it would be much harder
• Having a massive generational correction in the world, which is possible given the highs in the last 15 years

How have others dealt with the above? I often here "have a bigger emergency cash buffer" and "get any kind of job" as backup plans but I don't see those as realistically implemented. It would take years to save a bigger emergency cash buffer and getting a job in what could be a long high unemployment market is easier said than done, particularly as you get older.

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Hi guys, I just recieved my bill from the accountant company I have been using for the last few years being $891.25

This is for filing my income tax for the year.

They claim the total time spent was 9.5 hours which obviously works out at a great billable rate but I just have some questions as 10 hours seems insane for how much work I would personally estimate is needed.

I provided and filed all my GST returns myself.

I provided my accountant the spreadsheets used to file these, spanning across 3 bank accounts, every item was allocated to a spreadsheet named income, expenses etc and total for all of these items was only 500 rows.

My overall profit for the year was only 4k.

I had been winding down the business the last year and this was my final year operating, I barely did any business.

I also did de register for GST this year which they noted took 30 minutes on their end.

This was all done by a Junior.

Any accountants here have a time estimate this would roughly take, not once did I need to provide more information to assist in the process.

Thanks.

As the title suggests, I'm currently living abroad and I'm starting to wonder if I can get more from my Kiwisaver even though I'm not actively investing in it.

For some background, I'm living in Sweden at the moment and will be for a while, although I do plan to return at some point. My Kiwisaver is with BNZ set at 100% High Growth fund. Every year I'm depositing the minimum amount to get the government contribution. I don't plan to take out the money early and would mostly likely to use it to buy my first home.

However, I'm wondering if I there's better ways to get more from my Kiwisaver, like switching to a different provider etc.

From another thread a commenter had their emergency fund of 50k in a savings account so they could access it tomorrow.

Personally I feel this is way too much and there are very few scenarios where access a large amount of money MUST happen that quickly - outside of the time window to say transfer it out of a simplicity fund or similar.

So, I'm interested in a reality check - what are the emergency scenarios that have required cash on 24h, and how much was it?

Following recent posts about emergency funds has got me thinking about platforms. I am on RWT 33% rate. I currently use Squirrel on call account due to their 7 days a week and quick same day withdrawal in case I need money in less than 24hours ( I know it is not PIE). I also have some funds with Kernel PIE save, Heartland CashPIE, Booster Savvy and Sharesies PIE save. However, only booster savvy has the ability for same day withdrawals compared to the other ones. I am looking to see if I am missing any banks or platforms that I can access cash urgently within 24 hours and also earn some decent interest. ASB bank is my main bank and their rates are a bit crap. I am mortgage free. Thanks all.

Hi folks,

I’m curious from recent first home buyers how much they put from their KiwiSaver towards their deposit vs other investments.

For context, my partner and I are looking to buy and have a combined KS balance of $150k and investments of about $60k. Ideally, we’d wanna have a $150k deposit.

How would do it?

Most retirement calculators seem to assume that your main house will only contribute to retirement 'savings' if a person downsizes. I assume that's because most people intend on passing on the house as an inheritance to children.

I'm in my early 40's and single (likely will be for life at this stage!), and without children. My kiwisaver balance is projected to be $550K upon retirement and I should be mortgage free by 60. On the current market, my house is worth somewhere around the $625K mark. What's the best way to factor in that asset, expecting it will pay for a care home in late life and, if I'm healthy enough, some travel? Rent it out until I end up in care? Sell it and pay rent myself? Reverse mortgage to the hilt? Sell the house and live in a caravan? What have others done?

National is proposing to make KiwiSaver compulsory from 2028, including for self-employed people. As I understand it, sole traders would have to contribute 4% initially, eventually rising to 6%.

I’m a sole trader with no employees, and I can understand the argument for getting people to save more for retirement.
But I’m not sure the proposal really accounts for how different it is when you’re self-employed.

An employee putting 4% into KiwiSaver also has an employer contributing on top of that. I don’t. It’s all coming out of my own income.

I’ve spent years building my business, moved somewhere I could afford to buy a house, and I work close to seven days a week. A pretty major part of my long-term financial plan is getting the mortgage down while also keeping some savings and investments accessible.

So if I’m forced to put several thousand dollars a year into KiwiSaver, that’s money I can no longer choose to put against the mortgage or keep somewhere accessible if the business has a bad year. And because I’m a sole trader, there isn’t an employer contribution coming in alongside it to make the trade-off more worthwhile.

I’m not against KiwiSaver,
and I’m not saying I shouldn’t save for retirement. I just think paying off a mortgage and building accessible investments are also perfectly legitimate ways of preparing for the future.
I suspect if you’re employed, compulsory KiwiSaver probably sounds pretty reasonable. But I’d be interested to hear what other sole traders think, because from this side of it, it feels quite different.

hi ya'll, i'm having second thoughts. Between high growth and total world fund what would people choose for 10-20 years? Surely high growth with more tilt towards NZ would be more tax efficient?

I'm looking to purchase physical gold in NZ. Eg: 20g to 1 oz gold bars from Perth Mint.

I am based in the Bay of Plenty.

I have come across Best Bullion which seems to be a reasonable dealer but try are based in Christchurch.

Few questions:

1. Recommendation of gold dealers

2. Do gold dealers usually accept credit card? I'm assuming the surcharges would be high.

3. Is there benefit of buying gold mint bar rather than gold cast bar?

4. What denomination of gold do people usually buy?

I'm really looking to hold these long term (20+years) as an insurance policy in case systemic institutions in place break down rather than sell for a quick profit. In that scenario, I'm assuming it will be easier selling 20g bars than 1oz bars?

I currently have a small allocation in GLDM Etfs. I've never bought physical gold before so any advice around this or strategy in purchasing gold in general would be welcomed. I aim to build a 5 to 10% portfolio in this long term. My current GLDM portfolio is 0.9%.

Don't worry I won't ask you to predict when is a good time to buy gold.

Im 61. My Kiwisaver is in a balanced fund. I also have an equal amount on another platform, also in a balanced fund. I understand the basics of allocations, buckets, risk of return etc.

I see a problem with the managed fund that nobody seems to talk about.

Because I buy units in the fund, in a down market, I cant utilise the cash portion of the fund to ride through the low, so if I need to draw an income from the fund, I'm forced to draw partially from equities when they are down....am I reading that right?

It seems to me that, even keeping the allocation the same, the equities need to be separated from the cash so I can draw on one and not the other, depending on the market.

Hi all!

My wife and I will be re-fixing our mortgage for the first time at the end of November and we feel pretty lost. We are also in the process of swapping advisors since we did not find our current advisor's advice to be clear nor helpful. We will also meet with BNZ to get more information about our options but with this post I am seeking more general advice about re-fixing.

• We currently live in a new build in Papamoa in a $809,990 house
• Our current mortgage balance is $710,895
• Current fixed rate is 5.24%

We are paying a LEP of 0.75% at the moment. By the end of the current fixed term we'll have a balance of $708,200. By then our LVR will be about $19,000 shy of reducing out LEP to 0.35%.

We can make that extra payment by then although we'll only have about $5,000 left as an emergency deposit.

It has been one year since we purchased the home and it does not seem that its value has changed much seeing house prices around us; so, new valuation might not change much our situation.

These are the current rates for us:

Your fixing option	Current base rate	+0.75% LEP	+0.35% LEP
6 months	4.89%	5.64%	5.24%
1 year	5.19%	5.94%	5.54%
18 months	5.29%	6.04%	5.64%
2 years	5.35%	6.10%	5.70%

I do realise this is a crystal ball question; however, is there a "strategy" you guys follow? are there any good predictors of what might happen in the near future?

I much appreciate any reply!

If I want to buy into Kernel TWF but just plan on doing a lump sum quartely, is there anything stopping me from just getting the $5 plus plan for a month, making the investment, then canceling the plan, and repeating this every few months?

I know its not a massive saving but I'd save $30 a year for not much extra effort.