All tagged ETFs

The Happy Saver Turns 10: Giveaways, Gratitude and Your Wins

The Happy Saver Turns 10: Giveaways, Gratitude and Your Wins

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, KiwiSaver, Money Education, Net Worth, Personal Finance, PocketSmith, Sharesies, Sharesight, Smart

I know your time is important, and over the years I’ve taken up a fair bit of it, ten years in fact! Yes, The Happy Saver is 10 years old. This blog post is packed with gratitude, giveaways, and a celebration of your wins, because you haven’t just read my blog; many of you have changed your lives. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to you for being part of The Happy Saver, and to the Kiwi companies who continue to support the work I do. For ten years, I’ve been writing blog posts documenting our financial progress and answering the questions I regularly receive from you. The original goal of The Happy Saver was simple: help people. Ten years later, that goal has not changed. What has changed is our own net worth, and the net worth of thousands of people who have quietly and steadily become better and better at managing their pūtea.

Our Coast FI Plan: Keep the House, Invest Less

Our Coast FI Plan: Keep the House, Invest Less

Ruth
ETFs, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Net Worth, Retirement, Smart, Investment, Emergency Fund

After years of prioritising investing, we’ve made a decision that feels both strange and surprisingly freeing: we’re keeping the house, cutting right back on how much we invest, and letting time in the market do more of the work. For a while, downsizing looked like the logical next step. Sell the house, invest the difference, and fast-track our way to full financial independence. But the more we sat with it, the more something felt off. Coast FI has helped us find a middle ground between selling up, working longer, and creating a life that feels right for us now.

Which providers offer a Total World Fund in NZ?

Which providers offer a Total World Fund in NZ?

Ruth
ETFs, Financial Advisors, Index Funds, InvestNow, Kernel, Sharesies, Smart, Smart Invest, SmartShares

I am writing this blog post because I am constantly asked where you can purchase a Total World ETF from in New Zealand: “Could I use Smart or InvestNow?” “Sharesies, or a sharebroker?” Once you understand that low fees and broad diversification matter, i.e. buying the whole global share market instead of picking stocks or countries, you land in a new kind of confusion… where to buy. This post is not about finding the perfect platform. There isn’t one. But there are some perfectly good options. The goal is to understand them enough to choose one and get on with investing.

JL Collins Goes Global - And Why That Feels Familiar

JL Collins Goes Global - And Why That Feels Familiar

Ruth
ETF, Index Funds, ETFs, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Shares, Sharesight, Smart

The financial clouds parted the day I picked up the 2016 edition of The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. Instead of picking and choosing individual companies, just buy them all in one tidy package: an ETF or index fund - the simple path to wealth. For years, JL Collins has been known for one beautifully simple idea: Buy VTSAX and chill. VTSAX is an American index fund holding 100% U.S. companies. But readers began asking, “JL, what about the rest of the world?” He has long explained that U.S. companies are so large and globally dominant that U.S. investors could “get away with” owning only VTSAX. So when JL announced that he had added international stocks to his portfolio, people noticed. It felt like a big deal.

Explain It To Me FAST!

Explain It To Me FAST!

Ruth
ETFs, Index Funds, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Money Education, Personal Finance, Smart

If you’ve ever listened to a money podcast, read a finance blog or chatted with that one friend who’s suddenly “really into investing”, you’ve probably heard a whole bunch of money words thrown around. People nod. No one wants to look dumb. And quietly, many think: I should probably understand what that means… So this post is for you. Here are plain-English explanations of the money words that come up again and again, using New Zealand examples and my common sense logic.

$1.71 Million Net Worth: Our 2025 Money Update

$1.71 Million Net Worth: Our 2025 Money Update

Ruth
Budgeting, ETFs, Investment, InvestNow, KiwiSaver, Net Worth, PocketSmith, Smart, Smart Invest

At the start of every year, I open one spreadsheet that tells the story of a decade of choices. Updating our net worth spreadsheet helps me see where we’ve been, and where we might be heading. These annual check-ins matter, and I genuinely enjoy this process. 2025 was a good financial year for us, driven primarily by consistent investing in the share market through our ETF and, to a lesser extent, our KiwiSaver. Once again, we prioritised investing, never missing a month, and it paid off. 

Answering the Money Questions Readers Email Me About

Answering the Money Questions Readers Email Me About

Ruth
Budgeting, Emergency Fund, Investment, KiwiSaver, ETFs

I’ve been hitting “reply” to as many emails as I can this week. If you write to me, I will write back, but due to the volume of emails I get, there is often a delay. I respond to every single email because the questions asked are so valid and important to the person doing the asking. Every email is different, weaving together a set of circumstances in a new way, so I provide a bespoke response that links to tools and resources to help answer the questions. While each is different, though, there are commonalities. Most of my emails give people a simple starting point and a rough map to follow, so I thought that, as we head for Christmas, a time when a lot of people do sit down and focus on money, this might help you head into 2026 more prepared.

How We (and Our Daughter) Plan to Pay for University Without a Student Loan

How We (and Our Daughter) Plan to Pay for University Without a Student Loan

Ruth
Budgeting, ETFs, InvestNow, Kids and Money, PocketSmith, Sharesies, Smart

Well, the moment has arrived. The tiny five-year-old who started Primary School back in 2012 has just turned 18 and completed her final day of Year 13 at High School. Just. Like. That! I was warned that time would pass quickly, and it has. She has a few exams to get through, then she is done with school for good and can enjoy a few well-deserved weeks of R&R. Once the weather heats up, she will launch into full-time summer work for a local cherry packhouse. Going to university is expensive. Most of the cost is in the accommodation. We have always explained to her that we will financially assist her through university, provided she also contributes. She has done that. It’s going to be a family effort to get her through her degree debt-free.

Time for My Monthly Net Worth Check-In

Time for My Monthly Net Worth Check-In

Ruth
ETFs, Personal Finance, PocketSmith, Sharesight, Net Worth

Wednesday marked the beginning of a new month. The first day of any new month is the day that, from a personal finance perspective, energises me the most because it is when I update our net worth and get a snapshot in time of how Jonny and I are financially progressing. Are we growing more prosperous or poorer? When I’m asked for a sound bite one-liner/single comment about ‘taking control of your money’, encouraging others to track their net worth is my go-to reply. Without a doubt, it is the most effective tool for understanding whether you are going backwards or forwards financially. It only takes a couple of minutes each month, but hands down, it's the most simplistic yet effective way of showing us how far we have come and where we might be headed. Additionally, since I’m relatively open about our finances, I thought you might be interested in seeing our progress over the last month.

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