The Happy Saver Podcast - Personal Finance in New Zealand

Anna has developed strong money habits through years of study, careful saving, and living well below her means. After following the traditional advice to buy a home, Anna and her partner, Thom, began to question whether home ownership really suited the life they wanted. Once they ran the numbers, they made the bold decision to sell their house, rent a home that better fits their lifestyle, and redirect their surplus income into sharemarket investments instead. Anna’s story is about much more than money. It’s about questioning lifestyle creep, rethinking housing as the automatic path to wealth, biking instead of driving, budgeting with intention, and creating enough financial margin to have real choices. She and Thom are still early in their journey towards financial independence, but they are already experiencing what it can look like in practice: breathing room, flexibility, and the ability to choose how they spend their time.

Today’s guest, Gail, has been on quite the financial trip and she’s still very much on it. Back in 2019, at age 41, she experienced a wake-up call. She found herself with plenty on her plate: a failing business, an income of just $25,000, no savings, no emergency fund, drawing down on her mortgage to pay the mortgage, mounting IRD debt, $4,000 on the credit card, and using buy now, pay later just to cover the basics in life. After listing down her not insignificant problems, she asked herself how on earth she could get out of this mess. But, at that stage, no ideas were forthcoming other than finding a new husband, getting back together with the old one, or winning the lottery. Ultimately, she realised that she was the solution to her own problems. As you’ve heard from many guests on this podcast, a bit of knowledge and time can make all the difference. Today, aged 47, Gail’s got a plan. And that is to put the past behind her, build her future and retire by the age of 53. Her financial situation is so common, and by sharing her story, she’s not only showing how far she’s come, but also helping others believe they can turn things around too. In fact, Gail credits this very podcast as one of the sparks that got her started on this journey. She told me, “I never would have thought it possible if I hadn’t heard of other people doing it, and just hearing the variety of ways that people have made their situation better was a huge help to me.”

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from an awesome couple, Kate and Taka, aged 33 and 34, who are doing life and money a little differently, and doing it well. From the moment we started talking, I could tell they’d put a lot of thought into not just their finances, but how they want to live. Over the past few years, they’ve made some bold, intentional choices: moving south, stepping back from full-time work to each working just two days a week, and prioritising time with their three young kids. It’s not the typical path, but it’s one they’ve carved out thoughtfully and intentionally. And mathematically. We chat about how they’ve managed to build a life that gives them both freedom and stability by sticking with frugal habits from their student days, questioning whether more work really means more money, and making financial decisions as a true team. Taka’s a fan of the numbers, Kate brings the big-picture perspective, and together they’ve found a rhythm that works. This episode is packed with practical tips, honest insights, and a refreshing example of what it looks like to live by design, not by default.

This episode revisits my August 2022 conversation with Neil in Episode 69, A Financially Complicated Breakup. Now 52, Neil has lived in New Zealand for 20 years, working in IT since moving from the UK in 2005. He retained his UK property as a rental and began learning about personal finance around 2006. When KiwiSaver started in 2007, he joined up, and by our first chat, his KiwiSaver had grown to $200,000. After a previous long-term relationship ended with a fair asset split, Neil began to invest more and more in a range of ETF funds. A new relationship followed, and he became a father, but without a relationship property agreement in place, the eventual breakup led to a bitter legal dispute over money. Hearing his story offered a valuable male perspective on something I more often hear from women: lengthy, painful separations marked by financial and emotional strain. Often, there’s already a financial imbalance, which becomes even more difficult when children are involved and time off work affects a woman’s earning power. While I’m mindful this is only Neil’s side of the story, I’m pleased to share that this challenging chapter ultimately ended well, and I hope the details provide insight and hope to others navigating similar situations.

After my long kōrero with Sammy to prepare this episode, my head was spinning from all the twists and turns of her story. After 57 years of personal and financial trauma, last year, in 2024, Sammy had her “aha” moment when she said “Screw it, I’m sick of this,” and started to let a little light shine on her money. Once she had opened the door a crack, she basically just ripped the whole roof off her financial life, and has had a complete, and hopefully permanent, financial transformation. She’s not done yet; she has some mahi in front of her, but she is well on her way. I’ll often meet people who blow up their financial lives for the better, and the progress they make is astounding. Sammy is one of these people. Twice divorced, and with three children, one of whom has special needs, she has spent many years often living below the poverty line and buying bread and milk on a credit card that she could not pay off, and sometimes she has made decisions that kept her on the poverty line. Over the decades, she trained as a teacher and stabilised her situation, but still made questionable financial choices, until finally, aged 58 today, she is charging ahead.

Today, I’m sharing the financial ins and outs of Alan and Katie Donegan, the world-travelling English couple behind Rebel Finance School. Over the years, we have become friends, and learning about their journey to financial independence and then watching them move into full retirement has been incredibly motivating for both Jonny and me. They finally made it to New Zealand, and back in early December 2024, we sat down at my kitchen table, where they generously answered all of my nosy questions. I’m looking forward to sharing their personal finance journey with you because once they discovered the concept of financial independence, these two were on FIRE!

In mid-October 2024, I brewed a coffee, sat down, and gave Poto a call. She’s been a long-time listener of the podcast, drawing on insights from past guests to help guide her decisions over the years. Back in 2021, she and I started exchanging emails, and we've stayed in touch ever since. When we recently crossed paths in person, I learned more about her journey and couldn’t help asking if she’d join me for a kōrero. True to her kind and generous nature, she agreed. Poto is 57 years old and calls the Central Plateau, in the centre of the North Island, her home and playground. She loves the area and loves the great outdoors. She had been heading down a few avenues that didn’t sit quite right with her and backing out to take another path, but steadily, she tracked towards the FI (Financial Independence) community and a more simple path to wealth. With dedication and mahi, she’s reached a point of financial independence—and today, she’s here to share her story.

In today's episode, I will be sharing the financial journey of Jack, a Kiwi from the lower North Island. Jack found The Happy Saver when he was searching for podcasts on money. As an investor in rental property, he was looking to learn about shares. As you’ll find out shortly, he leads an interesting life. He has a personality that I can relate to; he said he could talk to a lamp post, and as a result, he meets heaps of people, so he had no qualms about stopping in to visit Jonny and I when he was down in Central Otago riding the famous Rail Trail and doing other interesting things, earlier in the year. We’ve stayed in touch since, and I’m pleased I have because Jack gets about. When we chatted for this podcast, he was sitting in San Fransisco, having just had many months overseas and was getting ready to board a three-week cruise to bring him back home to Aotearoa.