AUTHOR’S NOTE: IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?

You’re worrying about your credit card debt, but hey, life’s for living.

You’ve given up on ever owning a home.

You’re wondering whether to wipe out your student loan.

You want to buy a car, but it’s so hard to save for it.

Your mortgage is weighing you down – when will it ever be paid off?

You’ve heard about this low-risk investment that pays 20% – maybe you should try it?

You know bank term deposit interest is pathetic, but other investments seem too risky.

You’ve heard you need to save a million for retirement and that’s just impossible.

You’re dabbling in shares and seem to be pretty good at picking winners.

You’ve put all your savings in rentals because you can’t go wrong with property.

You’re retired and scared to put your savings in anything except the bank.

You’ve given KiwiSaver a miss, OR you’re in but on a contributions holiday, OR you haven’t got a clue if you’re doing KiwiSaver right.

I’m here to help.

In many cases, I’ve been there myself. I’ve been poor (full-time student); somewhat richer (working); poor again (full-time student in the US); somewhat richer (working); poorish again (assets halved in divorce); somewhat richer again (working) . . .

I’ve been employed – by an oil company (for two days), a government department, big and little newspapers, big and little magazines; lost my job twice when newspapers folded; self-employed for 20 years . . .

I’ve lived and worked in New Zealand, London, small-town Michigan, Chicago, Sydney, New Zealand . . .

I’ve been married, divorced, a solo mum, a single middle-ager, single with a partner . . .

I’ve been a tenant, homeowner, landlord, tenant, homeowner, landlord again briefly . . . and a long-time investor in share funds.

And if I haven’t done it myself, I’ve learnt about it from other New Zealanders.

Over the years I’ve received thousands – yes, literally thousands – of emails from readers of my Weekend Herald Q&A column and from listeners to my RNZ personal finance segment. I’ve discussed money issues with thousands of employees at workplace seminars, and thousands more students in university lectures. And I’m a voice for ordinary investors and consumers on the boards of the Financial Markets Authority and Financial Services Complaints Ltd.

I feel as if I know what worries New Zealanders about money, what they misunderstand, the mistakes they make – and their hopes and dreams.

And I know what I’m talking about – I hope! I hold a master of business administration degree in finance from one of the world’s top business schools (the University of Chicago).

Most important of all, unlike many writers of finance books, I’m not selling any products or services (except this book!). I don’t want to sign you up for costly advice or courses or investments. I just want you to do well.

I’m on your side.

At a party given by a billionaire – so the story goes – author Kurt Vonnegut tells his friend Joseph Heller that their host, a hedge-fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, ‘Yes, but I have something he will never have – enough.’