Case Study: We needed 2 properties to achieve our retirement dreams

What got you into property investment?

According to Arron:

“It’s something I’d wanted to do for years, but I’d taken no action on it. Never really developed my learning or understanding of it, but somewhere in the background I thought that would be a good thing to do.

“I guess I thought it was for rich people. But I was out running with a mate one day and he’d actually done some work with Opes and he said, ‘Oh, you should give them a call.’

“The thing that attracted me to property is that, I mean, it’s sort of in the Kiwi DNA.”

But it wasn’t only the wealth aspect that attracted him to property investment … there was a social value too.

“Working in philanthropy and working in the charitable space I actually like that it’s not only [about] building wealth.

“But there’s actually a social value. People will have good housing … there’s a dual benefit there. Not just for us, but for the community too.”

Yes, the property investor gets the benefit from housing going up in value, but the person in that house gets the benefit of having somewhere to live too.

That said, the pair were in their 50s, and while they were smashing down their mortgage, they realised it wasn’t enough.

Retirement was looming.

This was important to them. They had 3 children and 6 grandchildren, so they wanted enough money so they wouldn’t be a financial burden on their family.

They wanted to be able to look after themselves.

What were you doing to prepare for retirement?

Up until this point, Arron and Karen had been doing everything Kiwis usually do.

As he describes it, it was “just the Kiwi thing.”

They had:

• Been paying down their mortgage
• Contributing 10% to Kiwisaver

But he also says, “We were spending a lot on travel. And I could see that even with a large Kiwisaver and mortgage-free home we still had a Wealth Gap.”

That means they weren’t on track to achieve the retirement they wanted.

That became obvious when the pair met their financial adviser, Stevie Waring of Opes Partners.

According to Arron “the numbers showed it was never gonna be this sunny forever. [Stevie] went through the Wealth Plan software and it just became crystal clear that because we are in our fifties, if we don’t act now we could miss the opportunity to build that future wealth.”

That’s because as Kiwis get older it becomes harder to get the bank to lend money.

How many investment properties did you need to close your Wealth Gap?

Many people think you need 10 investment properties to be successful. You don’t.

By using the My Wealth Plan software Arron and Karen realised they only needed 2 properties to achieve their retirement goals.

The first property was a 4-bedroom home in Halswell, Christchurch.

After it settled, it was tenanted within 5 working days.

The second property is a 3-bedroom townhouses in Mangere, South Auckland.

This property is due to settle in 2024.

How did you get on the same page with investing?

Arron believes people should “seek good professional advice, and then take it.”

He says it was important to him to use a financial adviser when investing in property.

If he hadn’t used a property investment company like Opes Partner, “We wouldn’t be investing. We would have our owner occupier-house and a pretty large Kiwisaver and a whole lot of good travel stories.

“I think that’s what we’ve learned about ourselves. That working inside of a construct of a good partnership where you’ve got brokers and property managers and people that have been there done that, works for us.

“We wouldn't have progressed or taken any action, so we wouldn’t have had a portfolio.”

Next steps

Arron and Karen’s experience might resonate with a lot of parents.

It is not only about wanting to be financially independent; it’s about wanting to continue helping your family too.

As Arron and Karen's journey shows, you don’t need to have a portfolio of 10+ properties to still be able to help out your kids in retirement.

You’ve just got to tally up the numbers.