This question was sent in by Declan a while back, but it is one that crops up in my inbox relatively consistently as well, so I thought back to what I did and what I would do if faced with the situation he is proposing again.
All in Index Funds
Stock Market Blip - Hold your course!
I have reached a point where I’ve learned a bit more about myself. When I heard that the stock market had “plummeted” it actually didn’t unnerve me at all. Warren Buffet would say that I have not lost anything, because I didn’t sell, the value of my investments has simply changed and by my calculations, I’m down 4%. If I freaked out and sold then I would have locked in my losses. But I didn’t and I won’t.
Sharesies for Kids
I don’t subscribe to the view of “leaving my daughter to it”; that when she is old enough she can earn her own money and save for herself and she will miraculously become wealthy. In my view starting young, learning how money works and investing over a long period of time is the way to get ahead.
What about the bit in the middle: Medium Term Investing
The very first thing I would do is set up an automatic transfer to syphon off a set amount of money each week into a sub account with your bank and give it a flash name like “IKMSMOI” (investments keep my sticky mitts off it).
Why am I a passive investor?
A conversation I had a month or so ago is still buzzing round in my head. I was asked about my preference towards passive investing versus active investing. So, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks thinking this through so I can get it clear in my head.
Investing In Something Other Than A House
Today I thought I would tackle one of YOUR questions head on. It’s housing related, a topic that is constantly being talked about in New Zealand and one that I generally try to avoid. So here goes…
KIWISAVER FOR KIDS: Is this the best investment tool?
KiwiSaver is one of many investment tools you can put in your little kiddies tool box. I have a daughter who is now ten and I signed her up when she was born. It was darn hard holding her little cute pudgy hand and getting her to sign the paperwork I can tell you, but we got there in the end!
SHARESIES
Sharesies have just celebrated their first birthday and up until this point I have resisted having a play around with their product. But I figure that they are still here after a year, the social media fan party has faded away and yet they still keep coming up in conversation.
Mortgage be gone!
People tell me that they are investing quite large sums of money in order to get a return but at the same time they have a mortgage. My short and sweet response is typically that “in my humble opinion, you can’t make money while you owe money”. Once I’ve uttered my opinion the fireworks often start.