In the height of lock down 2020 Katie and I launched Rebel Finance School and put it on Facebook for anyone to come. 135 people attended that first ever Rebel Finance School and 1 of them was Ruth The Happy Saver from New Zealand.

Ruth has since been to every Rebel Finance School we have run and has become one of our closest friends. She invited us to New Zealand and after years of promising to come we finally made it happen. In this post we share what it was like staying with internet strangers for a month, the meetups, learning about finances in New Zealand and some of our trip highlights!

When we first announced on the blog that we were coming to New Zealand for a month in our Great PIE Tour Announcement, we got such wonderful email responses. The Kiwis invited us to stay with them in their homes as we travelled around New Zealand! Out of 30 days in NZ we spent 27 staying with people who had done RFS but we had never met!

The generosity of the Kiwis was incredible!

We arrived in Auckland and stayed with Al and Linda who welcomed us into their home and left a bag of Pineapple Lumps (a New Zealand sweet treat!) on each of our pillows and a note telling us not to compare!

We chatted for hours about finances and life. Al showed us he was using Katie’s net-worth tracker for his finances. We stayed with Hilary in Tauranga, Alina & Ben in Whanganui, Maree in Wellington, Heather in Wanaka, Ruth in Alexandra, Martina at Lake Tekapo and Bronwyn in Christchurch!

Every house we went to we met incredible people all working on their finances and living their lives to the full. It was so inspiring.

Katie and I are constantly amazed at the generosity and kindness of people that we have met around the world whilst travelling. It is so inspiring and reinforces our faith in humanity!

We loved the Lord of Rings movies and were so inspired by the scenery in the Movies we wanted to visit the sets. They have left Hobbiton’s set up and you can now visit and do a tour!

Peter Jackson’s team found this location as they were scouting round New Zealand in a helicopter looking for locations.

We chose to do the second Breakfast tour of Hobbiton. My favourite meal of the day is breakfast and they did a 2nd breakfast tour! We were the first to arrive on set and got to explore Hobbiton without anyone else there. It is just like the movies and breathtakingly beautiful in the rolling hills of the Waikato region.

After touring the site you end up at the Green Dragon pub and then walk over the bridge to the Mill where you sit down with everyone on your tour for the most epic breakfast with more food than I knew what to do with! If you are going to New Zealand stop in and do the second Breakfast tour. it is worth it!

Alan was 25% tempted to buy a piece of land and built his own Hobbit Hole.

The Tongariro Crossing is the most amazing alpine hike, 12 miles up and past Mount Tongariro which doubles as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings.

You park your car at the end and take a shuttle to the beginning of the hike. Then you hike up across volcanic landscapes, past the Red Crater, sulphurous gas emitting between the ice, down past the Emerald Lakes and out towards the Blue Lake.

It was a tough hike! It took us 6 and a quarter hours (with a long lunch break and photo stops) to make it from one end to the other.

Shorty came with us on the hike and showed us the way! Thank you Shorty for guiding us! If you get a chance go do this hike, it is EPIC!

As we travelled the North Island and marvelled at the beauty, everyone kept telling us “just wait till you see the South Island!” They weren’t wrong. It was stunning.

From Queenstown to Wanaka, the hikes around the lakes and all the way through the mountains we saw stunning view after stunning view. A month in New Zealand was not long enough and we are planning another trip in the future!

The main reason for going to New Zealand was to meet Ruth the Happy Saver and all the New Zealand Rebels around the country!

We didn’t really know how many people would show up and hang out with us, so with the help of some local Rebels we chose venues and put out dates and invited people along.

The first meetup up was in Auckland where we flew into. Our host Al came with us as we made our way to the Greek restaurant for the meetup! When we arrived there were already 30 Rebels and a huge table! Kiwis, we were to find out are very punctual!

By the end of the night 40 people showed up. We chatted all night about finances and making new friends. Katie and I said a few impromptu words in the middle which developed into a 5 minute speech we gave at nearly every single meetup!

There were so many amazing stories from every single event. From a teenager who was savings tens of thousands to someone in their early twenties, working for a wealth management company and after our course wants to change jobs as he doesn’t believe in his employer anymore. We learnt so much from each and every person we met.

Here are photos of the 10 meetups from around New Zealand that we ran and the incredible people we met!

We had over 250 people come to our meetups around New Zealand and hearing your comments, stories and ideas has taught us so much. Your challenges and questions all inspires us to think more deeply about the book we are writing as well. It is stronger as a result of every conversation we had. Here is what we have learnt that we think will be useful to you on your journey!

You are an investor

We were chatting to one lady who was telling us that she was focused on paying off her mortgage and was not at the investing stage yet.

Fast forward a little bit in the conversation and she was telling us about her KiwiSaver (NZ version of a SIPP / 401K) and where she had that.

It turns out she had $100,000 in investments in a less than ideal fund with a high fee platform. She was an investor but hadn’t done those parts of the course as she didn’t think they were relevant yet as she was focused on the mortgage.

We helped her think about moving her investments to a better platform and fund and that will help her massively. This one small change could be worth hundreds of thousands over the next couple of decades just based on the changes in fees, let alone the increased performance!

For everyone reading this right now; you probably are an investor already without knowing it. This is a CRITICAL subject to master no matter your stage on the finance journey.

You might be 18 and getting your first job which is going to come with a workplace pension. You might be 40 and paying off your mortgage but you probably still have investments that need managing / optimising! You might be 70 and in draw down on your pensions but that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce your fees and optimise your investments!

If you haven’t yet watched the investing weeks of the course please make sure you do and take control of your investments. This is one of the single most important things you can do for future you!

You are already an investor so you might as well optimised those investments and get the most you can for future you!

Over the last year we presented at FI events in America, Bali, Australia and New Zealand. We have learnt that there are themes that always come up:

• No one teaches us about money in our country
• The cost of living is so high here compared to before
• We have the worst taxes
• Buying a house is the most important thing and the entire culture thinks property ownership means security and success
• Having a mortgage is bad and the most important goal is to be mortgage free

What Katie and I have learnt is that every country thinks it has it worst situation and complains. We all think we are stuck and trapped by the culture that surrounds us.

Why am I telling you this? Because it is the same the world over. There are pros and cons to every single country and we just have to make the best of what we have.

It is up to us to take control and create the life we want. Don’t let the media story that your country is the worst get to you.

We spoke to a lot of people about mortgage payments, interest rates and whether or not to focus on investing or paying off the mortgage.

Several extreme examples compelled us to write this piece in our update.

One Mum had been unable to support her kids going to university so the kids had taken the government backed student loans. These loans are 0% interest.

The Mum was super focused on getting her kids to pay off those debts asap and helping them. She lamented that if it was set to a minimum her kids would be paying this debt in their 40s!

I wondered what was so bad about that. Why is it a bad thing to still be paying a 0% loan in your 40s. I had a different thought.

In my mind I would want to be paying that off for as long as possible for two reasons. Firstly I could invest instead of paying that down and those investments would grow massively over time and dwarf the debt I had.

Secondly, the time value of money means that a loan amount of $10,000 right now will feel HUGE but in 20 years time $10,000 won’t feel as much as inflation will have eaten away at it.

Your 0% interest loan decrease in real monetary terms over time just because of inflation!

Which of these situations would you rather have

1. Pay a $10,000 debt now at todays prices
2. Pay a $10,000 debt in 2045 at the prices then.

To really bring this to life the equivalent purchasing power of $10,000 in the 90s is now $24,138.

If you had borrowed $10,000 in the 90s at 0% interest and the paid it back with todays dollars it would be the equivalent of paying back a little over $4,000. Your debt decreased just because of inflation!

This can be hard to get your head around. The general principle is that with super low interest rates it is not in your favour to pay it off quickly. You will be far better off paying it slowly and investing instead.

We heard many times how terrible it would be having a mortgage when you are a mum or still having a mortgage when you are retired. Why is this so bad?

If the Mum had a million in investments that easily covered the payments of the loan and her living expenses then is it a bad thing? If the pensioner had a massive retirement pot that could easily cover the mortgage on the property is it a bad thing?

We are not saying debt is a good thing but we are saying that the drive to pay off debt at ALL COSTS even when it makes you poorer in the long run is a bad thing.

Let’s make decisions based on maths and logic that will support us to become wealthier in the long run. If we caught your attention enough to make you think then read this article: Should I pay off my mortgage or invest.

We all make the best decisions we can at the time, given what we know and our influences. You did the best you could.

The key is to not get defensive about past decisions and if you learn something new change those decisions as quickly as possible.

You made the best decision you could with the investments you have. If you have now worked out a better way to do it then change as quickly as possible.

Some people avoid making these decisions based on if they change they are some how admitting that they were wrong in the past! I don’t care if you were wrong in the past, I care about your future. If you have learnt something new then change as quickly as you can!

Katie and I have spent a lot of time listening to people defending their decisions. It is almost as if us showing people a better way makes them feel as thought we are telling them off. That is never our intention.

Having heard so many of these conversations around the world Katie and I have started to wonder where “are we defending our previous decisions rather than learning?” We are still figuring this one out.

As soon as you find a better way of doing things, let go of the past and move forward into a brighter future. You did the best you could and now you have new information.

We had such an amazing time hanging out with you all and Ruth the Happy Saver in Alexandra. You have such a beautiful country! We will be back.

We hope that our visit has bought together the community and kicked off a new set of meetups and collaboration in finances across New Zealand.

Have you heard of the term zero sum game? It means that in a game there can only be one winner and for someone to win other people have to loose. Think Monopoly, Risk or other board games.

The thing Katie and I have learnt to love the most about investing, finances and money is that it is not a zero sum game. For us to get wealthy we don’t have to put anyone else down. The stock market will treat us all equally. If we invest in the same fund we will get the same results. It doesn’t matter if we are female, male, Māori, black, white, tall, short, Lego lover or coffee fan, we will all get the same results.

By working together we can all get better at this game, earn more and invest more. I LOVE how the Rebel community helps each other through tax, investing and life questions and Katie and I want to inspire us to all help each other even more in 2025.

Nothing fills our hearts more than your success.

Thank you for being part of the community. New Zealand thank you for welcoming Katie and I with open arms. Let’s work together to make 2025 the best year ever for all of us!

What would a PIE tour post be without a picture of a pie? We went to an award winning pie shop in Tauranga and the most amazing pie! Roast Duck, Mushroom, Bacon and Cheese? New Zealand has pie game!

Katie and I have a few things coming up to tell you about:

1. Annual finance article – We have just finished out annual finance review and written an article about the growth we got, what we did with our money and our investing split. Our hope is that this transparency helps you to open up and talk to people about your investments and finances. Read the Annual Finance Review Article here
2. Platform review – after the Vanguard Fees update Katie and I have been inspired to do a proper platform review for us all. We will be working on that over the coming weeks and are so excited to share it with you all. Look out for that over the coming weeks.
3. Book – the book is coming on nicely. With your help we have chosen a title and our have nearly chosen a cover design. We are currently spending countless hours on the balcony editing and improving the book. We are so excited to share it with you.
4. Music Album – with our friend Finn, Katie and I have been creating music. We played one of the tracks after the how to set up your 2025 workshop and loved seeing your reactions. We are so excited to share the album as it tells the story of your journey in finances. It is a multi-genre album all about money, from making your first dollar, earning and investing, compounding, the boring middle and all the way to quitting like a millionaire! More coming soon.

5. Setting 2025 up for success.  Katie and I designed a brand new workshop that we gave away at the beginning of the year. The whole workshop is designed to help you set yourself up for the best year ever and has some innovative uses of AI that might inspire you to make more progress quicker.  Let us know what you think

6. UK Tour – Katie and will be doing a tour of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in April and May of 2025. More on that very shortly

Thank you for reading and thank you for being part of the Rebel Community. If you want to stay up to date on where we will be, what we are up to and more then make sure you are on the mailing list.

New Zealand. THANK YOU for the most epic time in 2024. We love you and we will be back

Peace and Pineapples

Alan and Katie