SPEAKER_00 0:10

I have James today to let me know what he's learned in twenty twenty five. So listen in if you are interested in anything James has to say today. Oh god,

Setting The Scene With James

SPEAKER_00 0:20

I'm catching it. Awesome, James. Well we can track to see how many people watch this. James.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Guten Morgan.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Guten Morgan. You've joined me March, April.

unknown 0:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Nothing shortly behind.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

I've been hanging around since the beginning of the year. Like a pet smell.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

You had a tough year. You had a very, very, very extremely tough year. Anything that could have happened happened to you this year. A death, moving houses, some other drama behind the scenes. So there's been a lot of stuff. Like are you still married?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Further, further dramas to come that we'll talk about in future podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yes. But what have you learned this year as an advisor?

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Well, it's been really interesting in a lot of ways, but I one of the interesting things is that banks really

What Banks Really Want

SPEAKER_01 1:08

want to screw us over.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Sorry. I didn't mean to say that.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

No, I was I was gonna say they're a lot better to deal with than what I thought they were gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Okay, that's good. That's a positive.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

They're really good. So and generally they they want to they're a bank. So they want to lend. So they're looking for ways to lend. They're not necessarily looking for ways not to lend. So if you are generally an okay, you know, reasonably credible sort of uh client, then you're gonna get the green light sooner or later. Do you know what I mean? So and and and so it's more about patience and persistence and rather than getting the go-ahead straight away. Do you what I mean? Like sometimes the client is not in an ideal position when they first come to you, but that doesn't mean that they can't be in three or six months. And just being with the client throughout that journey rather than oh no, no, we can't help you, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I think it's that consistency and reliability, you know. If you're consistent with your client, if you are reliable for your client and you can show them the way of how to turn things around for them, then the bank will be more willing to work with you.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yep, so there's there's that part that the yeah, and being reliable and being good to deal with, I think, is something that we've brought from our our days working with international students and and financial literacy. So there's been a little bit of crossover for me coming from that area. And I I think the interesting aspect as well is just what a big what a big factor KiwiSaver is nowadays, and how good that has been really for for people that want to get into the property market. So that that's been educational. You know, some of the things is like some of the poor lending that's going on, becoming aware of some of the poor lending

Coaching Clients To Approval

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that's going on, especially in the car finance

Predatory Car Finance Exposed

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space that I see.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

What do you mean by that expanding?

SPEAKER_01 3:05

I mean people

KiwiSaver’s Power For First Homes

SPEAKER_01 3:06

a a lot of clients are getting taken advantage of in terms of who could be considered vulnerable clients. English might might not be their first language, they get sold these cars that are just you know, they're the same as a mortgage payment, they're on 20% interest, and it might be a second hand car, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

So really taken advantage of people's vulnerabilities.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yep, it absolutely is, and it's usually internationals, usually, and it's usually the people that can't afford to do it, and of course, then when they want to buy a house, they've got everything else going for them, but they've trusted this lender to get a car, and so now, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Because they need to get to work, right? They need to go from A to B, and in order to do that, they need a car. So when they first arrive, they don't know much, they've got a job, they don't really speak English, and usually they operate on the trust level of hey, I'm in New Zealand, surely no one will screw me over here.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, it's just not true. And we've seen it, right? We've seen it. We fix that.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah, the interest rates that we've seen in some of our clients car loans, and as you say, but also the exit fees that people don't realise. Yeah. That there will be massive exit fees if you try to leave them.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Okay. So we're trying to what we're doing now is getting people to come and actually talk to us before they buy that car because we can do it a bit better. We can we can get it in a bit better, a better interest rate, better terms,

Online Gambling And Money Drains

SPEAKER_01 4:34

and and and have it so that you can still buy a house afterwards if you want to. Um so there's that, absolutely. I guess learning about how easy it is nowadays for people to there's there's a lot more distractions out there for your finances than what I you know, I didn't realise how prevalent things like online gambling and stuff like that were.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Because it's much easier, right, when you at home to press a button and gamble versus back in the day, if there was a lot or store, you had to actually dress up, get in the car, drive over, park the car, get in the queue to buy a gambling ticket.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

But now it's so much more convenient to do it from the tap of your phone.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yeah. And it's like an alcoholic living at having a liquor store next to you, isn't it? How do you stop drinking alcohol if there's a liquor store next right next to your building or a pub or whatever?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

True.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

That availability of of that sort of thing makes it really hard. And that sort of leads on to the other area which on has been really educational, is that most people have got some kind of outstanding debt or you know,

Afterpay And The Cost Of Convenience

SPEAKER_01 5:46

the credit scores and the well, not most people, but there's a there's a significant number of people that just don't have have these bad credit events, which I'm a I was surprised about impacting their credit scores and stuff like that, that it's as prevalent as what uh as what it is.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

The other thing you reminded me of when you were talking about the gambling is the afterpay facilities.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Everyone's got it.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Even I have it.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

And I got an email the other day that they've increased my limit because I've been such a good client. I'm not even using it.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

And they've increased my limit. It's like, wow. So imagine all those people that get the temptation, the ones that are using it and their limits. I've seen some crazy limits on afterpay. Yeah. And people are now using it to even buy groceries. Yeah. And that makes me sad.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Well, I think the the the key thing with stuff like um afterpay and and those sorts of things is it takes people, it takes us away from the real key concept.

Spend Less Than You Earn

SPEAKER_01 6:48

If any of us want to be successful, no matter what area, we have to spend less than we earn consistently. I know you can't do it every month because things come up. But if you are super successful, you know, you might have the biggest paying job in the entire world. But if you spend more than you earn all the time, you're not going to end up with anything. So that is in things like afterpay, they take you away from that key concept. So this is what we need to be doing, but at the end of the day, spending less than we earn. Okay. Because we're seeing I've you know, we're seeing people on huge income.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

But also huge debt. Like some of the personal loans are pretty much the size

Big Incomes, Bigger Debts

SPEAKER_00 7:32

of your mortgage deposit, house deposit. You know, I think we've done a hundred thousand dollar personal loan debt consolidation for someone recently. And that's basically two cars, credit cards, after pays, and and they didn't even know that they racked up so much debt. Yeah. Because they want high incomes. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And they even their credit scores are not very good because they miss payments and stuff like that. And but yeah, the key the people that do well, I think, are the ones that keep their costs the same, but their incomes go up. So, and that's where putting X amount, if you're a terrible saver, putting X amount aside into Kiwi Saver, a percentage every month, and then percentage into your savings

Automating Saving And Investing

SPEAKER_01 8:13

or whatever, paying off your mortgage, it's compulsory investing in yourself and your future in a way. So, yeah, that's about any other things. I've I've kind of gone off on a tangent.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

This this episode was Learnings of 2025 for James Buchanan. I just I know so much already, you know, it's hard to learn. I love that, James. I love it. Anything else you thought? Ooh, that's interesting. I didn't think of that becoming an advisor would feel this way or look this way.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

I I wish I'd done it 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

I wish I'd done this from day one. Because it's the coolest job. It is the coolest job. You know, you're getting to talk to people about

Joy Of Advising And Purpose

SPEAKER_01 8:58

money, you're getting to try and help people's financial situation, you're getting them to build their asset base, you know, and that's really interesting. You're talking about their just helping them get to what they want.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Their goals.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Exactly. So yeah, I mean that my biggest learning thing has been why did I wait so long to do this? It's probably because I I needed to meet somebody, catch up with somebody like you, and see that you were in this business because it was important to me, the people I work with or who I work for. So I wasn't just gonna jump in with anybody. So I needed to meet it's actually your fault. You should have um you should have uh you know shoulder tapped me.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Sooner.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Sooner.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Who knew you had so much potential, James?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

We should be on the Forbes list by now, you know. But so that's you know, really compelling, and um, you know, and if you've if you're doing something you like doing, right? It's not really uh you know, we're working weekends and I'm working late at night, and this is very unusual for me to do to work this hard. But it's not work, you roll out of bed in the morning, right? Even on a Saturday, even on a Sunday for me. I quite like doing stuff on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

I get so many emails from you on a Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Just trying to make it look like I'm doing work. I've actually programmed it for Friday from Friday. Um, but you know, it's just that.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

But you know what they say is that if you find what you love doing, you never have to

Relationships Over Transactions

SPEAKER_00 10:20

work a day in your life. And I think that's very true. Like we're still human, we still get tired, we still, you know, some days we just want to bang our head against the wall because of the banks, normally, not because of the clients. We love our clients, but the banks are the ones that usually drive us a little bit crazy, and especially at this time of the year when things already are a little bit crazy as they are. So I think seeing the joy that you get, and I'm talking about you, James, uh, seeing the joy that you get personally from winning a deal, from getting it across the line, makes me so happy. Like you bring so much joy to the team. And and when you come in and you go, Oh my god, you know, I got this client across the line, and I've been working so hard on them since pretty much since you've started over the last six, seven, eight months, to see that success as contagious. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

I do like chipping, just chipping away. Chipping away at things.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

It's it's great, it's absolutely great, and I think clients feel that. I think clients know the difference between feeling treated like a transaction, yeah, or really building that relationship.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yeah, and I'm certainly never gonna be a transaction type of person. Like I'm I don't know, the old I've got a client that calls me up quite often now, and uh and they always say, Oh, I'm really sorry for calling you. Is this a good time? I'm like, dude, this is my job, just call me whenever you want. You know, it's oh totally okay. But that's what I want them to do, right? The this process of buying a house is bloody complicated for somebody who hasn't done it before, and it changes. Every deal's different, and actually every lawyer is a little

House Buying Is Complicated

SPEAKER_01 12:01

bit different, and every bank is assessed a little bit different, every lender's a little bit different. So it's and every building inspector I'm laughing about a building inspector. Um, but yeah, there's so many different things to to take on board, so you've got to get keep in contact in contact with us and ask ask those questions.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Final message.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Well, I'm really looking forward to next year. We're gonna just smash it out of the park next year. I'm already feeling it. I mean, it's been it's been a pretty pretty interesting first year for me. But I feel like I've been doing it I don't know, I already feel like I've been doing it a long time.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

You feel natural in this role? You don't seem like someone that's still trying to peddle really hard against the current. I think you've just riding

Looking Ahead To Next Year

SPEAKER_00 12:52

that wave as it comes, you just hop on your board and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I take a long term. Um I'm take a long-term perspective for things. So I mean just I like you know, I'm used to working for myself. So yeah, and I love the markets. So there's a lot of commonality between what we do with our clients and and those sort of interests. Yeah. And I love counting money. When I was really little, I used to it's just gonna sound terrible. I used to steal my family's money if it go into their piggy banks and put it into my piggy bank and then I'd go and count it all. And uh when I was like five or six and make it out, make out like it was all mine.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

It was all yours.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah, and I was just every day I used to count my money. I'm not quite like that now. I'm not stealing your money.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

I love it. You just reminded me Monopoly. We played Monopoly last night with the kids and Zara pretty much like oh no, it was Amir. I think it was Amir, my my third child. You actually remind me of Amir a little bit, that naughty, joyful child of mine.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

You can get away with a lot.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Yeah, and he kept stealing my cards of the houses that I bought because I wasn't looking properly because I was looking everywhere else. And then I suddenly looked at him and he had all this extra cards. And because when I buy a house, I also buy hotel, so every street I breathe.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Aggressive, eh?

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Oh, very aggressive. Um, I won, by the way, just say my poor children. I don't bow down to them. I'm like, you gotta, you know, you gotta level up as mama. But he he kept stealing my cards and he kept making it make me pay rent for the ha for the streets I owned. So nice. Very smart, very smart. So you reminded me of him. But um, James, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure having you this year, and I'm

Long-Term Mindset And Money Memories

SPEAKER_00 14:34

really, really looking forward to see what the next year brings for us. And I think clients that have you are very lucky to have you. And I've read some of your reviews on Google and Trustpilot, and they're all glowing. This is this is actually our end-of-the-year performance review. You know, I did this with Kounch. We had a bit of a laugh. So uh yeah, so this is your end-of-the-year performance review. James, you did really well, but don't expect any pay rises because the economy is still not doing that well.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Hey, I thought it was picking up, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

I love it. I love it. Thank you. And for those that don't know much about James, go back and listen. We did some episodes with him when he first started, and it'd be really good for you to recap that. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Thank you, Zivanisu.