Investing & Travelling - How we can have the best of both world's

Many Kiwi’s are either heading overseas to move to the UK & Australia, or are still financially recovering from a Europe 2023 summer.

There is lots of talk around the savings needed to do this, but it seems that investing is not a part of that conversation. Furthermore, it seems that we need to decide between doing one or the other?

When I was saving for my move overseas, I knew I wanted to continue investing. I wasn’t prepared to keep investing at the risk of not having enough money for my travels, so I needed a clear plan in place so I wouldn’t need to choose between either one.

Why I wanted to keep investing

I wanted to keep investing for multiple reasons. Investing was something I had begun doing about three years ago to work towards financial freedom. I learned all about the importance of combating inflation, how compound interest works, and I quickly figured out which platforms provided the lowest fees and best education and support for my investment journey.

I had enough knowledge to realise that even investing $5 a week could make a difference to my investments down the line.

At the time, I had a full time salary and could afford to invest about $1000 per month. This number needed to be reduced in order to meet my savings goals, and again while I was traveling without an income. The beautiful thing with investing is that we can adapt and change our strategy to suit our current situation.

How I did both

I had a clear savings goal in mind to move overseas. I needed enough for 4 months of travel, and extra money to fund my eventual move to Spain. I had an automatic transfer from my income to my travel account every pay day. I knew exactly how much I wanted to save, and I calculated my transfer that I would hit that target two weeks before my last day at work.

When this goal was achieved, I knew I was all covered for what I needed to travel. It left me with the last two weeks of salary and my pay-out from untaken leave I accrued. This money was my dedicated investment money that would go straight into my investment platform.

I had just over $2,000 from my pay-out. I set up an automatic transfer for $50 a week. This covered me for the first 10 months I would be traveling, and also gave me flexibility should I choose to invest differently as my situation changes.

Let’s be honest. I am 24 years old, and so far I don’t know what my next 3 months will look like. It’s exciting to not know the future but it can also be a bit daunting. Either way - setting up my investments meant that I wouldn’t have to choose between chasing adventure or growing my money.

I didn't have to pick between chasing adventure or growing my money, and you don't have to either.