Saving ourselves

It is never too late and you’re never too small or too womanly to start saving
By Nakita Ardern

What would the state of the New Zealand economy look like if people could effectively save? What if every individual was required to put aside a regulated amount for their retirement, starting in their adolescence?
Think back yourself… if you were presented with a proposal in your youth to put aside a percentage of your earnings for your retirement, would you have taken it? Of course, with hindsight, most would agree funds spent on those Ace of Base CDs or Doc Martens could have been more effectively channelled elsewhere.
Founder and Managing Director of Fisher Funds, Carmel Fisher, implemented this strategy with her two young daughters who today both hold impressive investment portfolios and are Kiwisaver members.
"They enjoy receiving their monthly newsletters and seeing how their investments are growing," Carmel explains. "They lived through the global financial crisis and saw their small investments fall in value and then recover again… what a great lesson for a 15-year-old and 11-year-old to learn. Because they are Kiwisaver members, they cannot touch the money until they retire or buy their first home. This is fantastic because too often when things go wrong people pull their money out and run for the hills. When the girls reach adulthood I believe they’ll be much better investors because of this lesson."
Carmel subscribes to the belief that the time to prepare is now and that saving for a rainy day is more important than ever… whether you have the benefit of time in your youth or are knocking on retirement's door.