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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome along to the Property Academy podcast by Obus Partners. I'm your host, Stephen Knight. And I'm Adrian Nicoll. And this is the show that helps Kiwis go from zero to five investment properties so you can be financially free and stick around for the next 15 minutes because you're going to learn how this Kiwi investor built her wealth and retired at 29.
What her 60 years of retirement will really look like and the surprising things she learned about retirement that no one ever tells you. And I'm so excited for this show because our guest is probably one of the most recognizable names in New Zealand, investing at Simcoe, who is the co-founder of Friends That Invest.
Hello. That's a very kind intro. I don't know if it's completely accurate.
Well, actually, I was just thinking, do we call you the co-founder or are you just the founder these days?
Founder, but I meant more around the most recognized investor, but thank you.
Well, do you know what? It's quite funny.
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Chapter 2: How did Simran Kaur achieve financial independence at 29?
So Sim doesn't even know this, but- Oh, here we go. But I had to write her a recommendation letter recently for something she was doing. And I started sitting down and writing down all of Sim's achievements. And I was like, holy heck, there are so many of them from being the KiwiBank Young New Zealander of the Year to now being on the judging panel as well.
She's on the board of the Auckland Hospital Foundation. I might have messed up the exact name of it, but the fundraising body for Auckland Hospital. She founded Friends That Invest, wrote a bestselling book that sold over 100,000 copies, has a massive podcast with 18 million downloads, I think you're up to now. 15, but thank you. 15 million, I must have- We round up.
It'll be 18-
We do round up.
Chapter 3: What does retirement look like for someone who retired at 29?
It'll be 18 million soon. And had her own regular radio segment at Radio New Zealand for quite some time.
And we hit her on the podcast. How many years ago would that have been originally? We knew her before she was famous.
When was it? Was it? It was 2021. I actually went back and had a listen to it. And yeah, you guys have been so instrumental to like my journey. And I'm so thankful. I was thinking about it. You know, you were like my first mentors really.
I mean, that's very kind. This is where the mentor exceeds the master. But here she is in 2026 at 29 and she has now retired. She's hit her number and I want to talk all about it. So, Sim, what made you want to retire at 29?
Lazy, obviously.
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Chapter 4: What were the unexpected challenges Simran faced after retiring?
Clearly, clearly. I guess I just didn't want to work. Is that like such a bad answer? In all honesty, I think when I first started working, I was like, wow, this is hard. And like 40 hours of this. My first job was when I was at uni and I was working during the summer at the petrol station. And like 40 hours of that was really difficult.
Not going to lie, a lot of it was also hearing stories like, Andrew, I still remember the story that you shared of your dad and how he waited his whole life to retire. And I believe you said it was at 65. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to. That really stuck with me, those kind of stories.
And so how did you know that you were ready to retire? Because just before we came down, Andrew and I were talking to one of our financial advisors and there is a situation where there is a nurse who's in her mid-70s and she's got boatloads of money, right? But she's scared to retire. And we kind of see that quite often with investors.
What gave you the confidence or how did you know that you could do this at 29?
Ed, I feel like you'll like this answer, but it was just maths and like understanding the maths behind it. When I remember being at my first job in 2020 and listening to a podcast where they spoke about this concept of FIRE, financial independence, retire early. And the math behind it was, look, if you figure out how much you need to live off at minimum,
You then kind of work backwards and go, if I draw down 4% or 3% of that money, what is my overall portfolio of income producing assets needing to be? And once you hit that number, you can, you know, in theory retire. But I do relate to that nurse because once you get close to that number, you're like, but can I actually, like, can I actually stop?
Yeah, and that's a really interesting concept that I've noticed with a lot of investors who we've helped. I mean, I think Opus is going to be 14 years old in August. So some of the clients that I work with now, I started working with 14 years ago, and even some from before this company. And now we're getting into the stage where they can retire.
And so many people, usually the ones that have got heaps more money than they need, they are worried that they're not going to have enough money. And actually going through the maths of it and testing out some different, you know, assumptions around inflation and growth rates and asset returns and all those kind of things.
Even then, they see it all there on a spreadsheet, but they get a bit nervous and they think, well, what if it doesn't work out this well? I don't feel like I'm rich now, particularly if people have got investment properties, right, that they've got lots of debt on. Well, they don't feel like that net worth is that important because they still owe a whole heap of money.
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Chapter 5: How did Simran build her wealth through Friends That Invest?
And that was the thing I had in mind. Initially, it was $100,000. I wanted to live off $100,000. But then lifestyle creep happened, and I couldn't.
Once you get upgraded in that seat to business class that time, and it's free, it's the most expensive free thing you'll ever get done to you in your life, right?
Oh my God, I sound so spoiled. Yes, it's so bad. It's so hard. I mean, I'll do it. Short haul, tag me to Sydney in a economy seat. 100%.
Ed and I, for Ed Stag do, we went to Sydney because that was the only place we could tolerate spending that for just a weekend getaway. And I definitely flew back. Economy, we did. Which was totally fine. It was a reminder of where we came from. No, no, no, but there's nothing wrong.
Three hours in an economy seat, all good. But if you're going through Dubai to the other side of the world and you only go over once every two years, I can totally understand that you want a nice seat because if you're flying in a nicer seat, the holiday starts when you get to the airport as opposed to when you land and then you're tired and grumpy and all of that.
Spoken like someone without kids. So...
Hang on, I've got another question. No, but hang on. That's a good question. So your husband works, and when you added him into the equation, do you add his number on as well and say, well, I'm going to aim for that as well, just in case he decides to retire, or does he have to provide for himself?
I don't know the answer to that. I found that I retired before I got married. And so my FIRE number is based off... I mean, in all fairness, the $120,000 is both of our living costs because we live together. So it makes everything half.
But the FIRE number was off the back of, you know, God forbid, like touch wood, if we were to separate, can I still, on my own accord, with my own investments, live off it? And the answer is yes. Together and without. But... Ideally together.
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Chapter 6: What financial strategies did Simran use to calculate her retirement number?
And I think for about a week, I was like, okay, now that I've reached this, let's just log off social media. I have like a small team now that helps run friends that invest. Like I don't have to do the work. So let's just log off everything and just live as if I wasn't working for a week. And about like every two or three hours was fun. And then after that, it gets really boring.
Like I've started tennis lessons. I just came back from tennis. It's like, it's fun. But like, what else do you do for the rest of the day?
Two or three hours. I'd be drunk by noon. You know what? I was just kidding. That's just a usual day. I could understand completely. When I've had a high pressure week, I think, oh, it's going to be so nice to retire one day. And then I get to the end of my weekend, I'm like, I need to get back to the office and do some work.
It's so funny. Andrew used to say to me that he wanted to retire at 40. And I used to laugh at him benignly. And then I remember I was around at your house and you told me you wanted to retire. And I just laughed at you as well. Like,
When you're you type of people, you might want to work a bit less, but you're not going to want to retire and sit at home and think, oh, I could actually still do something interesting in my life. Yeah, I'd be terrible at tennis.
I don't have the legs for the skirts.
Yeah, it's a really good point. The kind of person that I think puts in the effort to try and retire early, you know, even if it is like retiring by 50 or 60 rather than 65, your brain just whizzes too much. You can't sit still.
What does a usual week look like for you now? What did you do last week?
I don't really remember. I guess what I went down to Queenstown on Thursday to a Sunday to spend time with my husband's brother that lives in Clyde. So we went there. I recorded a podcast. You know what? Let me just go look at my calendar. I have no idea. Goodness knows. But, yeah, it's not too busy. I wrote a Substack article. I had a physio appointment.
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