Investing is personal
How would you invest if you were 60 and had an investment portfolio of $5 million? And let’s say you enjoyed a lifestyle that costed, say, $100,000 per year, and didn’t have any desire...
Category: Investing
My (in)efficient market hypothesis
One reason academically-inclined people give for investing in index-based funds is the “efficient-market hypothesis”. (Another is the empirical evidence that index-based funds tend to outperform actively managed funds, especially after fees, over the long-run....
Stop complicating your financial affairs!
There are a number of terrific, Kiwi-based, personal finance forums online. For some breadcrumbs, look for Facebook groups inspired by Mr Money Mustache or The Barefoot Investor; check out the Personal Finance NZ subreddit; or Sorted’s...
The myopia of compound interest
Compound interest is magical! But there’s a myopia that surrounds it, too. The magic of compound interest is something many financial gurus like to talk about. The Barefoot Investor is one of them. Below...
How money misconceptions can put your life into hard mode
My son is starting to get into video games. In many games, you have the option between playing on “easy mode” or “hard mode”. Sometimes I think we unnecessarily put our lives on “hard mode”,...
How to flawcast your financial future
One of the most valuable exercises I run through with clients is “flawcasting” their financial future. It’s one thing to create a personal balance sheet setting out your existing assets and liabilities, and getting an...
In theory, I like age tracker funds. In practice, I don’t.
In theory, there’s no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. In theory, I like the idea of funds that adjust your investment approach (asset allocation) based on your age. The idea...
Property investors – a tongue-in-cheek typology
I’ve met a number of people who’ve made a decent amount of money from property investment. I tip my hat to each and every one of them. Below is a consciously arbitrary, tongue-in-cheek, categorisation...
If you need to borrow to invest, you can’t afford to borrow to invest
I caught up with an old friend recently. He asked why more people don’t borrow money to invest. My first thought was that people borrow money to invest all the time. It’s called property...
Kiwis should embrace supermodels
(When I talk about embracing “supermodels”, I’m actually talking about embracing “super models”. As in, all Kiwis should care about the policy settings relating to NZ Superannuation. If you were expecting something more salacious,...
