By Amanda Morrall
1) It's going to cost how much?
I have a dream. Well I have a few of them actually but a big one is to build or buy an environmentally efficient home that I can grow old in. I started looking into home building costs a few weeks ago with plans of writing a story around it but the good people from Auckland City Council never got back to me on the sticky subject of consent costs. I'll come back to this story another time. In the meanwhile, you can read about television producer (7 Days) and comedian Jon Bridges' wake up call on how expensive the ordeal is here.
In this particular blog Bridges is blown away by the bottom line as calculated by his quantity surveyor. It poured a bit of cold water on my dreams. I cheered myself up by digging up a story I found awhile back about a couple in Wales who built a cozy little Hobbit House for £3,000. Read it and weep Jon.
There's not much pretty about divorce. Because money is the leading cause of it, I end up writing about it a fair bit in this column. The following guest blog published in the Huffington Post offers a somewhat unique angle on the topic. It's a first person story written by a child of divorce (now an adult) who describes how the experience shaped her views on money and also her management of it. It was all for the better.
3) Breaking the taboo
People don't easily or readily talk about money. I've found that to be more so in New Zealand than in Canada. For example, my girlfriends and I (all of whom were working mothers) knew how much money we respectively earned. I don't have a clue how much money my Kiwi gal pals earn, nor would I dare ask them. It's clear, you just don't go there, here.
I found this article from marketplace.org interesting as it charts financial disclosures in the U.S. around age group. It seems the less you earn, the less you have to hide and also the older you get the more reticent you are about talking money. I guess that stands to reason. Still, would it kill us to be a bit more open about money?
4) Retiring by 50
Among policy makers and retirement planners, there is an expectation that many people will have to work past 65 to compensate for insufficient personal savings and the possibility of national pensions being pared back from their current levels. Will this be your fate? Not if you don't want it to be. Here's Forbes Money with some strategies to get you toward an early retirement.
5) Retirement reality
Retirement scares people. I have to talk about it quite often as part of my job so I know this to be true. When it comes up in conversation, people tend to get this look of fear or panic in their eyes, or else an expression of sheer boredom. Believe you me, I'd rather talk about cheerier topics but someone's got to do it. If I haven't scared you sufficiently, than this opinion piece by a retirement policy planner in the U.S. will. The average American at 65, apparently ends up with only US$30,000 in the bank. You do the math.
Retirement calculator here
KiwiSaver calculator here
More '80s goodness. Meow.
To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamorrall
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.