NZ Wealth & Risk - money for thoughtful Kiwis
We may be in recession territory. Stats NZ recently stated that growth in GPD for the March 2022 quarter was negative, and “recession” is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. When I look at Google Trends, it tells me that more Kiwis are searching for the term ...
What will the world look like in 2050? How will it be different to today?Lately, I’ve been a little preoccupied with that question. The reason I’ve been thinking with this timeframe in mind is because, with any luck, it covers some of my most productive years – my 40s, 50s, and 60s.This ...
I LOVE rules of thumb. In the right place at the right time, they’re invaluable. There are, however, times and places where rules of thumb aren’t appropriate. Working out how much you need in order to retire or feel comfortable or feel “financially independent” is NOT the time or place ...
🤍🤍🤍 Before we were able to store food properly, the best place to store extra food was in the stomachs of our friends, family members, and neighbours. When they had surplus food, they’d reciprocate. Through most of our evolution, before the agricultural revolution, refrigeration, and the ability to store, refrigerate, ...
You can find useful insights anywhere. Whether they’re new insights, reinforcing insights you’ve already had, or rearticulating or recontextualising insights. Take, for instance, Tyler Cowen’s recent interview with Chuck Klosterman. At various points, Tyler explains to Chuck: “high-quality real estate and cheap hobbies… are the best hedges” “You are human ...
Consumer NZ is paving a road to hell with good intentions with the way it talks about personal insurance, and especially personal insurance advice. I’m a big fan of Consumer NZ. I pay for membership to access its research and to support its mission.I’ve benefited from Consumer’s guidance when purchasing big ...
Lots of people reassess their insurance arrangements after repaying their mortgage. That’s fair enough. It’s a significant financial milestone. A lot of people also associate insurance with debt — it’s common for people to arrange insurance around the same time they take out mortgages (and it’s often the same people ...
Sometimes I chat with people who are thinking of cancelling, or substantially reducing, their personal insurances as a result of short-term cash flow pressures. Most of the time, when people are prompted to cancel or reduce their insurances, I try to get them to reconsider, or to s-l-o-w the decision ...
I’m ambivalent about Peter Thiel. He’s a thoughtful and articulate guy. I like many aspects of his book Zero to One. I think we have a very different idea, however, of what a good society looks like, and what it would take to get us there. In other words, I ...
Being a parent is a huge responsibility.We want the best for our children. When they leave the nest, most of us want to have some comfort knowing that they’re well-equipped to be happy, independent, productive people.Part of this picture is being able to make sound financial decisions.As a result there ...
Sometimes, for some people, the smart thing isn’t to maximise the probability of success.Sometimes, it pays to do things that are more likely to fail – where you’ll probably lose money or get nothing for you time. If there is the possibility of a big payout. And you’re in a ...
TLDR: High-level thoughts. Less relevant to any specific decision, but more about the lenses through which we see the world, which can in turn inform our decisions.In the last year or so, something weird has happened. I’ve become an optimistic person.This is weird for many reasons, including:The fact I’ve spent most ...
Most of the books above are fictional – in the sense that they don’t technically exist (outside of my mind or this blog). Today, I want to share Devil's avocado: On giving advice. (I often refer to myself as a "devil's avocado". I define it as "a devil's advocate, but ...
I recently wrote about taking articles from this blog and collating them into a series of books. Ostensibly, the books above are short works of non-fiction. With the exception of Luck, however, they’re fictional – in the sense that they don’t technically exist (outside of my mind or this blog). Today, ...
I recently wrote about taking articles from this blog and collating them into a series of books. Ostensibly, the books above are short works of non-fiction. With the exception of Luck, however, they’re fictional – in the sense that they don’t technically exist (outside of my mind or this blog).Today, I want ...