:saving ourselves
���As women, we are our
own worst enemies.���
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 15year-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.
"As women, we are our own worst enemies,"
says Carmel. "When we're young, all we have
to think about is ourselves so we spend all our
disposable income confident in the idea that
the future will take care of itself. When we get
married and start families, they take priority and
our funds are once again depleted. Once our
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