Retirement Planning

NZ-specific retirement guidance (spoiler: the 4% rule doesn't work here)

8 April 2022
The 4% rule is a mind-killer

I love rules of thumb — in the right place at the right time they're invaluable. Working out how much you need to retire isn't one of those places. The 4% rule is a dumb rule that a lot of smart peopl…
29 January 2021
What your balance sheet omits [human capital]

Your balance sheet shows assets you can sell and value easily. The most important thing it omits is human capital — your own ability to generate an income over the coming decades. For most households,…
12 June 2020
Retiring early is expensive (and so is private education)

Every time I run the numbers, the cost of private secondary education stuns me. Retiring early is expensive too. Neither is wrong — just know what you're trading off.
7 June 2019
A tale of two pension systems (Australia v NZ)

New Zealand and Australia have very different approaches to funding pensions. Despite many other similarities between our countries, you can consider us at opposite ends of the spectrum on this set of…
9 October 2018
Don’t be fooled by the 4 percent rule

The 4% rule says you can safely withdraw 4% of your retirement portfolio each year — so multiply your desired spending by 25 to get your number. I don't like it. Retirement planning is not the place f…
30 July 2018
NZ Super and uncertainty in retirement planning

The future is uncertain — but we still need to plan for retirement. Plenty of variables are unknowable: when you'll retire, how long you'll live, what returns you'll get. The one I want to focus on is…
8 February 2018
Should I use my KiwiSaver funds to buy a house?

The NZ news media keeps warning of "frightening" long-term consequences when people use KiwiSaver to buy a first home. This is a false dilemma. Owning a mortgage-free home by retirement is one of the…
29 December 2017
Should I contribute more than the “minimum” to KiwiSaver?

Once you've captured the employer match and the Government contribution, the tangible benefits of putting more into KiwiSaver largely stop. So why does my wife contribute 8% of her income? Behavioural…
27 October 2017
You may not need to save as much for retirement as you think

Many people want to get to a position where they can "live off the interest" in retirement. It's a laudable goal, but for most people it's unrealistic, and aiming for it creates unnecessary pressure.…
20 April 2017
How much do I need to save for retirement?

How much do I need to save for retirement? The honest answer is that it depends — deeply — on you, and it's riddled with uncertainty. What counts as a comfortable retirement differs wildly from person…
29 July 2016
Biases that keep you from saving money

Two biases stop us saving: present bias (we weight now over later) and exponential-growth bias (we underestimate what a dollar today becomes). KiwiSaver's opt-out, locked-in design fights both.
14 July 2016
Why I’m keeping my Australian superannuation funds in Australia despite living in New Zealand

After working in Australia for ten years, I have a fair amount of money locked away in an Australian superannuation fund. As a resident of New Zealand, I have the ability to transfer these funds into…
7 December 2014
A will by itself is not an estate plan or succession strategy

A will is only one piece of estate planning — and often a small one. Superannuation, jointly-owned property, life insurance nominations, and trust assets often bypass the will entirely. Plan the whole…
5 December 2014
You shouldn't (and can't) save a fixed percentage of your income every year of your life…

Common advice is to save a fixed percentage of your income every year for retirement, starting as early as possible. It's reasonable in the abstract. But it doesn't really match how life actually work…

Retirement Planning

The 4% rule is a mind-killer

What your balance sheet omits [human capital]

Retiring early is expensive (and so is private education)

A tale of two pension systems (Australia v NZ)

Don’t be fooled by the 4 percent rule

NZ Super and uncertainty in retirement planning

Should I use my KiwiSaver funds to buy a house?

Should I contribute more than the “minimum” to KiwiSaver?

You may not need to save as much for retirement as you think

How much do I need to save for retirement?

Biases that keep you from saving money

Why I’m keeping my Australian superannuation funds in Australia despite living in New Zealand

A will by itself is not an estate plan or succession strategy

You shouldn't (and can't) save a fixed percentage of your income every year of your life…

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