James Laughlin argues money gives dignity through choice, not status. He says the finance industry overcomplicates things: you can learn retirement basics in two hours. Sensational headlines claiming you need $1M+ in KiwiSaver often miss what you actually need.
You have a life with dignity when you have choices. Choices give you dignity in life. How do you get choices? Money. You grow up and you think that if I'm going to have money, I'm going to be happy, and if I'm going to be rich, I'm going to be really happy. And then you become rich and you're not really happy. The finance industry sort of presents itself like a priesthood, and they use these fancy languages and fancy words. Basically, the subliminal message that I read from that is, money is complicated and difficult. So I think people get scared. But money is incredibly simple. You know, the real basics of money you can learn. You could actually learn, I think, the most most important things about money. In about two hours, I think about my number. Like, what number do I need to be financially retired? It's actually interesting. For many people, it's less than they think. Everyone says I've got to have a million dollars in my kiwi saver or $2 million. And, you know, these are headlines that make the prep, but they just scare people off. It really matters, like, let's not pretend any other way. It gives you choices and dignity in life. So having enough money is incredibly important.
