New Savings Goal #2 (Part III)!: Post-PhD Plans

In my recent series of posts, I am exploring new savings goals, especially those having to do with retirement. But to be able to plan for retirement, I really need to know what I'm doing, post-PhD. 

Well, best laid plans and all that, but here is what I'm currently thinking:

As I move to finishing my PhD, I want to start setting myself up for life afterward. I am going to ask for a raise this year, and increase my FTE (full time equivalent) work time to 0.5 FTE (as opposed to the 0.3 I'm at now) to start giving myself more income. This more adequately reflects the time I'm putting into my job, anyway. 

This reflects what I mentioned in my last two posts, where one of my investment strategies is increasing my salary so that I can start contributing more to my retirement funds.

Post-PhD, I think I want to keep my 0.5 FTE job and ask for a promotion to a more senior, permanent position of co-leader of the research programme I have been managing for 15 years. If I got a decent raise and went to 0.5 FTE, I should be able to survive on that salary, and have HEAPS more free time. 

I am thinking I need to stay at 0.5 FTE for my work time, or at least keeping it to below 0.8 FTE, so I can focus on my health and spending more time in the US with my family. With my ADHD diagnosis, I've stopped pretending I can handle more. And maybe I'll go for US visits twice a year instead of just once, to give my mom a bigger break? I can easily work from the US remotely for my programme leadership job.

What will I do with my days and time off? Well, heaps, and these tie in very nicely with my existing Post-PhD Funds, e.g. my travel and hobby funds: 

1. Priority #1 is recovering from my PhD and nurturing a life-long commitment to the 6 pillars of health: nutrition, sleep, exercise, stress reduction and awareness, connection, and passion, purpose and gratitude.
   
   
• Nutrition: I am pretty well in tune with my cravings and what my body wants to eat (and generally give it what it wants), but I definitely could cut back on the comfort and stress eating. I would like to track my diet and weight for a while and see if I can recognize triggers for eating when I am not actually hungry, and replace most junk food with healthier alternatives.
  
  
• Sleep: It would be cool to get a tracker for this. Again, when I'm stressed or unhappy, I stay up late to comfort myself with mindless activities online, like researching a travel destination, watching tv shows and youtube videos and scrolling twitter. Anything to get my mind off of what is *really* bothering me, and tiring myself out until I cannot fight sleep anymore. This distraction technique guarantees I don't ruminate while trying to drift off, but it means I stay up way too late.
  
  
• Exercise: this is the biggie. I would love to become more in tune with my body. I don't tend to be very plugged into it most days because I'm in hyperfocus mode or am too mentally tired to make myself go take a walk. I hate this aspect of ADHD. I really like some of the dance classes my Uni gym offers and I'd like to get back into them, even virtually while the pandemic is still happening. It's going to take a lot of motivation, will power, and grit to get into a good routine with this as I have a ton of immobile inertia to overcome just to get out of bed or my office chair to go eat or use the restroom!
• track how strong/weak or painful my body feels
  
• learn new exercises, stretches, social sports (see next section)
  
  
• Mental health: I'd like to start seeing a therapist again, esp one that specializes in ADHD and overcoming coping/masking habits. I'd really like to learn how to manage my moods and rejection sensitivity better, and practice gratitude & kindness a lot more. I'd also love to spend more quality time with friends and in like-minded community groups and by volunteering.
  
  
• Community groups: replacement for the feeling that church used to give me growing up
  
• I'd like to start attending the monthly club meetings and outings for the club related to my profession in my region. 
• I'd like to help manage my local puzzling group, which is awesome - I now go to a few of their events but would like to help run it.
• Create/join a pub quiz team or board game group.
  
• I'd like to find an eco club or something similar to help the environment in my area.
• I'd like to volunteer for the local first aid disaster response team and/or refugee assistance teams. I'm particularly interested in the Red Cross's psychological first aid course.
• If I ever live in a place where I can have a dog, I'd like to foster.
  
  
•  Develop new hobbies / take classes:
• active: sailing, golf, tennis, poi, dance, SUP paddleboarding, reformer pilates, flexibility & stretch, gymnastics, indoor rock climbing, e-biking, hiking/camping/tramping, skiing, fix my posture!
  
• creative: painting, drawing, jewelry-making, knitting/crocheting, ceramics/pottery, calligraphy, photography, silk screening, sewing and pattern-making, patchwork quilting, make up and hair dressing
  
• survivalist skills: wilderness first aid, soap making, candle making, furniture building, cooking, baking, gardening
• social: mixology, basic bar games: pool, darts, anatomy of a good joke and art of conversation
  
• musical: ukulele, piano/keyboard
• mental: learn German and Spanish; how to play various games (e.g. bridge, poker, chess), meditation, public speaking, reading body language, learn basics of a variety of different skillsets and professions, e.g. interior design, hair dressing, make up, clothes styling, mani/pedi, nutrition, astronomy & using telescopes, neurology/psychology, how to train and care for a dog, physiotherapy and muscles of the body, herbal medicines & natural/safe/plastic-free beauty product & hygiene alternatives.
  
• computer skills: photoshop, website building, GIS, coding, video-making (mostly to compile travel photos and vids for friends)
  
• career: leadership class, team management, business management
• finance: build dividend portfolio, work towards full retirement
  
  
• Connection is pretty much covered off in the above, where I describe my goals of spending more quality time with friends and family, plus going to community events and giving back.
  
  
• My current job takes care of the Passion and Purpose pillar very well. I cannot think of a job I'm better suited for or would love doing more. And I mentioned practicing Gratitude in the mental health section, above.
  
  
2. Travel. Travel travel travel! Traveling and going on adventures and exploring with friends is my absolute favorite thing to do in the world, other than my job.
   
   

Caveat: At some point before I reach 49.5, I'll probably have to move to the US for 10 years so that when I return to NZ for retirement, I can withdraw my US retirement funds tax free in NZ for 4 years. This will also allow me to earn enough $$ in the US to qualify for US Social Security. If I'm turned down for the co-leadership position or anything goes wrong career-wise in NZ, I'll make that move. What will I do for 10 years in the US with ADHD and awful healthcare pretty much requiring me to work full-time? Sigh. I'm really not sure.

So that about covers it! A lot is up in the air, and I've learned to be quite flexible with my expectations. You'll notice I haven't mentioned a house or a dog or a partner, and that is because I'm honestly not sure where any of those will fit into my life, or even if there is a possibility any of them will eventuate.

For now, my financial focus is on reaching that $5K hobbies fund goal and being more creative to increase my retirement funds. Inch by inch, with any luck, I'll get there.

New Savings Goal #2 (Part II)!: Retirement & Expanding My Investment Strategy

Previously I've discussed my completed funds and savings goals, new savings goals, both short and long-term, and today I continue exploring some new long-term investment strategies. 

My last post contained some ideas for investing more in the US for retirement. Now I want to think about investing in NZ. 

In addition to my ~$75K NZD Kiwisaver retirement account, I also have ~$95K NZD in cash, with most of it sitting in an NZ savings account. I know, I KNOW, that is the absolute worst place for it, esp with inflation being so crazy! But US-NZ taxes and retirement contribution rules kinda shafted me here. I've written about it before, but I'm banned from investing NZD in US retirement funds - it is literally illegal! - and the IRS doesn't take kindly to US citizens investing in foreign stocks (using foreign banks at least - it's OK if done through a Vanguard vehicle, for example). To a certain degree, it is the same for NZ - they have strict rules about investing in US stocks while living in NZ and I just can't afford a tax accountant to help me sort it all out. 

So what is a girl to do?! For now I've parked most of the money in a bank with as high an interest rate as I can find:

• $18K at 3.45% in my Rabosaver general liquid savings account; 
• $20K at 4.25% PremiumSaver account (balance has to increase by $50 each month to get this rate); 
• $50K at 4.5% in my NoticeSaver account (I have to give ~60 days' notice before pulling any of the $50K here out).

 The only ideas I can come up with are:

1. Move more funds to higher-interest rate buckets (except for the money allocated to my short term goal funds, described in a previous post). Short term funds should stay in the 3.45% bucket as I'll be pulling from it often. My $10K EF can chill in the Premium Saver and the rest can go into the NoticeSaver. Basically, the plan is to move all but $5800 NZD from the 3.45% bucket to the 4.5% bucket, and all but $10K from the 4.25% to the 4.5% bucket.
   
   
2. Explore other places to put the cash where it will have better returns than ~4.5%. For instance, I currently have $5500 NZD invested in Lending Crowd, and have a >9% return on that money. I will move $4.5K from my Rabosaver general liquid savings to make that an even $10K.
   
   Why not invest more, you ask? Well, it is kinda risky. I've spread my risk over hundreds of loans at $50/a pop at this point, but there is still a chance of default, especially with the economy tanking. I just don't trust it enough to invest a whole lot more than that, at least at this stage!
    
3. Keep an eye on the USD-NZD currency exchange. If it goes to 0.8 USD per 1 NZD, transfer $30K NZD to USD, to invest in my US brokerage account. That exchange rate is about the best rate I've seen in ~15 years, so it is the best deal I could hope for. Also, I can easily/legally have < $50K NZD invested in US stocks (cost basis - what you paid for the stocks, not what they are worth) before the IRD FIF rules come into play.
   
   
4. Continue to contribute to my KiwiSaver retirement account as usual for as long as I am employed in NZ. That will grow my 65+ age cushion a bit more.
   
   
   • Increase my Kiwisaver contributions as soon as I make more $$. I have it at the minimum to get the 3% employer match at the moment, as my income is very low right now.
     
     
5. Speaking of increased salaries...I have a plan to ask for more money soon and am concocting plans for post-PhD. All revealed in the next post!
   
   

Any more brilliant ideas for me??

New Savings Goal #2 (Part I)!: Retirement & Expanding My Investment Strategy

In my latest series of posts, I've detailed my need for new savings goals, explained the lay of the land, and described my first new savings goal. Now I am on to Savings Goal #2: A renewed focus on retirement, and making smarter money moves. 

 As far as retirement, I have the following accounts:

• ~$11K USD Roth IRA (can access this at 59.5; legally I am not allowed to contribute to this fund as I am a resident of NZ and do not make USD)
  
• $20K USD Traditional IRA (can access this at 59.5; legally I am not allowed to contribute to this fund as I am a resident of NZ and do not make USD)
• ~$9K USD Brokerage (can access this anytime but I'm using this in lieu of being able to contribute to my US retirement funds, so count this as retirement technically)
  
• ~$75K NZD SuperLife KiwiSaver (can access this at 65)  
  

My ultimate retirement goal is to have $3K of income per month (or the equivalent amount in future dollars) to live off of after 59.5 years of age. I know I can currently live *very* comfortably off of this amount and also fund my travel dreams (as long as I am in a country with socialized healthcare, that is). Healthcare is the #1 reason why I plan to retire in NZ and not in the US. 

My number crunching reveals that if:

• my current investments have a 6% average return, 
• I draw down 4% per year in retirement,
•  I can live off of $3K/mo in the late 2030's, 
• the USD-NZD doesn't crash below its current value, 
• no changes are made to the social security / NZ Super minimum ages, 
• I receive current-amount NZ social security benefits (~$2K/mo; assuming I'm living in NZ), and 
• the US and NZ reach some sort of reasonable tax treaty regarding KiwiSaver withdrawals,
  
  I barely have enough to retire at 59.5 right this very second, without making any further contributions to any of my retirement accounts. That also assumes I can cover all of my bills until I am 59.5 and don't have to dip into any of these accounts, to say, buy a house.

A lot of 'ifs' in there, but that is actually incredibly comforting!

• Basically, between the ages of 59.5 - 62, I plan to live off of my US retirement funds. At $3K/mo, I'll need $57K USD; $90K NZD.
  
  
• At 62, I can start my US social security payments (~$1K USD; $1.5K NZD), and will still be living off of my US retirement funds. I'll need $54K NZD between 62 and 65.
  
  
• At 65, I can start withdrawing funds from NZ Super and my KiwiSaver. Between US Social Security and NZ Super, I'll need about $900/mo from my KiwiSaver. With a good return rate and 4% drawdown, I'll need $300K in my KiwiSaver to maintain the funding for the rest of my life.
  

Easy peasy, right? HA. Especially the social security parts!!

So now I want to work on growing this lead to a comfortable amount. Some ideas for US investing (NZ in the next post!): 

• I'd love to earn $3K/mo in dividends by the time I retire, much like Revanche and other smart PF bloggers (and my mom and uncle!) are doing.
  
  
• My uncle has had a lot of success with his post-retirement hobby of researching good individual dividend stocks, so I'm going to ask him to tutor me in his wise ways. My mom follows his advice already.
  
  
• I'm not sure if my uncle's way is the best way to do it, necessarily, esp as an overseas US citizen, so I want to do some research into this. Maybe there is a good dividend index stock or ETF I could invest in, instead?   

• Increase my investment in my US Brokerage account. I've been hearing that NOW is a great time to invest in stocks, what with the recession and down economy. Also, in my retirement planning research last year, I discovered that I could invest ~30K NZD worth's more in US stocks before I hit the NZ tax FIF limit.
  
  So then I thought about transferring some of my NZ cash* to USD and adding to my Vanguard Brokerage account. It is a shame the NZD-USD rate is so low right now, though. That has me hesitant.
  
  For now, I have enough USD in my US bank to start an auto-buy of $50/mo in my Vanguard brokerage account, and have set that up. I should be able to maintain this pretty easily as I sometimes transfer $$ from NZ to US to pay my US credit card bills, and my dad likes to transfer money to me every so often. I'll just invest most of what he sends me!
  

• Investigate peer to peer lending in US. Any recommendations? Stories? Warnings?
  
  
• Increase my income. I'm making ~$19K/year between both my PhD stipend and 0.3 FTE part time job now. I'm still saving a tiny bit and contributing to my NZ retirement, but it just isn't sustainable long-term!
  
  

*More about this cash and some NZ investing ideas in the next post (Part II)!

New Savings Goal #1!: Honoring my ADHD

Now that I have the lay of the land, I mentioned in my last post that I can easily ID two areas that I think are missing from my current savings and funds strategy, and my life.

The figures show that I've reasonably saved enough for the next year or two. Assuming lots of travel and maybe a change in location/job, I've banked approximately $28K for travel and basic life expenses for the year or so after my PhD. 

Once the PhD is done and I have secured a job afterward, I'm sure more short-term and medium-term goals will pop up. But for now, I think I can leave those alone, with the exception of saving to fund some self-care & healthy hobbies.

Reasoning: I feel like I've lost a decade of my life to my PhD. I've had to "empty out my life," repress a lot of my impulses and desires and ADHD tendencies to be able to focus on getting the PhD done. I desperately want to make up for the wasted time and opportunities and lack of self-care. Honestly, I'd just like to allow myself to finally have some guilt-free fun and explore a ton of hobbies and classes in quick succession - i.e., be the scatterbrained, flighty explorer that I haven't been able to be since 2014. 

For example, I want to get better at public speaking, so Toastmasters. I want to learn all sorts of Photoshop and graphic design and interior design concepts. Take a pasta-making class if I visit Italy during my post-PhD travels. Learn German and Spanish. Learn how to draw and make jewelry and pottery and take good photos and maintain a car and basic household appliances (is there even a course for that??). I want to get seriously into Reformer Pilates. And then there are all of these field camps in amazing places that would both allow me to travel while adding (another) line to my CV. I feel like all of these are opportunities I missed because I was doing my PhD over the past 10 years instead...!*

I've therefore set up a new medium-term fund, my $5K NZD Post-PhD Hobby Fund, dedicated to paying for fun new courses. I'm already 17% of the way there, with $842.13 in the bank for it. Some ideas of costs --

• Wilderness first aid: $750 NZD
  
• ToastMasters course: $300
• Jewelry-making: $370
• Drawing: $585
• Basic car maintenance: $84
  
• Spain internship 1: $1100 NZD; internship 2: $1700
  
• Iceland course: $7K - $10K NZD
• Specialist course in Switzerland: ??
  
• Reformer Pilates: $500 (6 mo)
  

I don't know if $5K is enough, but it'll be a great head start on cultivating healthier, more social hobbies and habits than I have developed during my PhD/pandemic. More on my other savings/fund ideas and my very, very tentative post-PhD plans in future posts!

*All of this is assuming that the worst of the pandemic is over, and new, more effective vaccines/meds/treatments for both covid and long covid are developed in the next few years

Creating New Savings Goals: The Lay of the Land

I need new savings goals!! My last post detailed the completion of my 2023 US Trip Fund. 

Firstly, I need to get the lay of the land. I have the following funds in hand, as shown in my sidebar: 

• Short-term funds ($5800; intended to spend in the next year or less):
  
  
• $300 NZD Insurances Fund - to pay my renter's insurance each year
• 
  
• $500 NZD Sanity Fund - emergency fund for when the PhD gets to be too much and I need to let off some steam/not worry about my budget so much
  
  
• $5K NZD 2023 US Trip - to refill my stockpile of US items I cannot get in NZ, buy clothes and shoes and electronics that are much cheaper in US than in NZ, and to do activities with my family and friends
  

• Medium-term funds ($43K; for events or activities happening in the next 1-5 years, or for emergencies):
  
  
• $10K NZD Emergency Fund - Hopefully I don't need to use it, but it is there. I don't expect to spend it unless it is necessary.
  
  
• $5K NZD Post-Hand In PhD Fund - After submitting your PhD, usually there is a ~6 month period of down-time before your PhD defence while the examiners read through your thesis. Usually PhD candidates take a little trip, take a photography class or something, and try to recover from the end-of-PhD burnout that occurs. My plan is to travel to the Cook Islands (including Aitutaki) for a week or so and really get some serious relaxing in. I've built up a good number of airpoints for traveling so that should help cut on airfare costs. I also wouldn't mind exploring Northland NZ more.
  
  
• $13K NZD Post-Defence PhD Fund - After my PhD defence, I intend to take a significant amount of time to travel, again to nurture my burnt out self. I want to go to Iceland, Hawai'i, visit home, and maybe a few spots in Europe if there is enough funding for that.
  
  
• $10K NZD Post-PhD Life Fund - I expect I may need to move from NZ or at least change things up (new job?) after recovering from my PhD and all the travel I'm wanting to do. Plus there may be some down time if I end up quitting my job. So, this fund is intended to help me bridge the gap between PhD and new life/job and act as a cushion. It could be used towards a (very used) car, first/last months apartment deposit, furniture, health insurance, whatever I need.
  
  
• $5K NZD Post-PhD Hobbies Fund - to help me honor my ADHD by dabbling in all sorts of fun activities when I have more time, post-PhD, and set up a healthier lifestyle that I hope to continue into retirement. Described in this post, and in this one.
  
  
• Long-term funds ($125K NZD; $40K USD; for events that may happen 5+ years from now, usually longer):
  
  
• $50K NZD House Down Payment Fund - I have no idea when I'll be able to afford a house (if ever!), but this is there if a good opportunity comes up.
  
  
• Retirement Funds:
• ~$11K USD Roth IRA (can access this at 59.5; legally I am not allowed to contribute to this fund as I am a resident of NZ and do not make USD)
  
• $20K USD Traditional IRA (can access this at 59.5; legally I am not allowed to contribute to this fund as I am a resident of NZ and do not make USD)
• ~$9K USD Brokerage (can access this anytime but I'm using this in lieu of being able to contribute to my US retirement funds, so count this as retirement technically)
  
• ~$75K NZD SuperLife KiwiSaver (can access this at 65)
  
  

Breakdown (in NZD):

 

To create new savings goals, I need to look at the above and figure out if anything is missing. Where am I not saving enough? What else could I save for? 

There are two areas I can easily identify, and I'll go through each of them in the next few posts!

Savings Goal Completed!: 2023 US Trip Fund

All right all right all right (Matthew McConaughey voice), I've hit another savings goal! 

$5K (NZD) for my US trip in November, sorted. 

My flights to my cousin's wedding destination, then on to home, then back to NZ, are paid off already (thanks, Mom and Dad!) so the bulk of my completed fund $$ will go towards top-ups of US supplies as usual (wardrobe, stuff I can't get in NZ), plus I need to start thinking about replacing both my laptop and smartphone. I bought the ones I have now in Sept 2019, and there are several little things that have gone wrong or are starting to go wrong, e.g. certain keys on my keyboard are just...broken. Even when I replace the individual keys and underlying spring mechanisms, they continually fall out, and my smartphone's battery is just terrible, even after I've replaced it, TWICE. There are also several apps that my phone can't download/install because it is too old now. It is starting to be disruptive, for example, I can't expand my short term car hire options to include Mevo because the app just won't download for me. That really impacts my transport options and budget. Drats. 

If I had my way, I'd keep the same machines/phones for decades and just upgrade/fix the parts as they wore out/upgrades became available, but a) I'm not really tech-y enough to do that, despite my commitment to learning how to do basic upgrades (RAM, HD replacement, keyboard replacement, phone battery surgery) myself using YouTube, and b) I think that would still just end up costing about the same amount of money. Replacement parts are expensive compared to just buying a whole intact product. Plus I dunno how to solder wires and stuff.

So anyway, next steps. I need a new savings goal! I get really antsy if I don't have goals to work towards steadily. But what should they be?

I'll do some research and explore this in my next few posts...