At the age of 55 (female, divorced, no children at home, working four days a week but renting) I've been seriously looking at my financial situation. I don't have a huge potential to save but I do have a regular savings plan set up and around $7000 of savings, currently sitting in the bank earning pathetic interest. I looked at the option of putting some into term deposit but the rates for those are also pathetic unless you have a significant amount of money. I have Kiwisaver but was a late starter with that so right now the balance is only around $16,000.

I have come to realize that I need to be more proactive and find a way to make what little money I do have, work better for me. I've made a decision (and have run this past an authorized financial advisor) to leave my Kiwisaver as it currently is - contributing 3% until I retire. I will just let it take care of itself but will probably change my plan (currently 50% balanced 50% growth) as I get closer to age 65. In the past I've tried to make extra manual payments to it as funds have permitted, but I no longer believe this is the best option. I think I am now better to look at alternative investment options to run alongside my Kiwisaver (that won't tie me in until I'm 65).

So ... I took the plunge yesterday and purchased my first 1000 shares (Kingfish Ltd). I am definitely a newbie to this (owned some shares many years ago but it was more for fun than as a serious investment) but I have spent the last few weeks researching companies, seeking advice from some trusted friends who have been investing in shares for many years, and generally trying to build a better understanding of how all this might work for me. I am looking at this holding as a long term investment focusing on growing my holding via dividend reinvestment, and will look to buying additional shares as funds permit, with the aim of building up to maybe 5000 shares. Alongside that the plan is to continue with regular savings and every time I accumulate another $1000 - invest that in additional shares with different companies (thinking maybe next time something outside of NZ).

As I said, the aim of this is to make what money I am able to save, produce (long term) better results for me than leaving it in bank deposits would. On top of that, I'm looking to diversify (both in terms of geographically and types of stocks). I would hope that as I build up a portfolio I will see some growth over the next 10 years until I reach 65.

I could really do with some advice or feedback on this as I'm flying solo with it. I am on my own making decisions for myself so it is really good to get some input from others with more experience than I have, as a way of seeing whether or not I'm on the right track. I would also be interested to hear opinions on ETF as an option for the next step in my plan, to stand alongside my Kingfish shares.

Thanks in advance for any comments!