Cooking The Books

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the forces behind house prices, and what's likely to happen next. Hosted by Frances Cook. If you've paid even the slightest attention to the news lately you'll know house prices have spiraled up past even the most optimistic expectations. It's led to intense bidding wars, buyers offering tens of thousands above asking price just to secure their spot, banks reporting backlogs of mortgage applications … frankly, it's a housing feeding frenzy. Now while house prices are something that makes people feel rich if they already own a place, I do feel for the frustrated first home buyers who struggle to keep up with this flurry of activity. Another issue is that when there's this level of emotive buying in a market, it tweaks my spidey senses. Emotions and money are a bad combination, and can lead to bad outcomes in the end. So how can you make sense of what's going, and what's likely to happen next? For the latest podca

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to figure out the new rules of a low interest rate environment. Hosted by Frances Cook. It may sound unsexy, but interest rates are actually the secret sauce for understanding your money. That little percentage determines how much debt costs you, and how much an investment will make you, as well as a bunch of other things. So when you're making decisions about your money, interest rates play a huge part. The problem is they're acting a little weirdly right now. As governments both here and around the world pump cash into the economy to try and keep us going through that whole pandemic thing, interest rates are historically low. That means that the usual advice for how to pay off debt, and when to start investing, has changed a little bit, at least for now. For the latest podcast I talked to ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown. If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's where to start if you're wanting a job change. Hosted by Frances Cook. We all know 2020 was a lot, not least because many of us found our working lives totally changed. It was a split situation, with industries like aviation and tourism hammered, but others like tech, financial services, or deliveries, doing well. The latest overall stats on this are, happily, quite encouraging. New figures from job website Seek show job listings are continuing to bounce back. For the last quarter of last year, job ads were up 19 per cent quarter on quarter. Compared to the same time a year before we're still down a little, but not that much, with a dip of 7 per cent. Healthiest sectors are information and communication technology, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and trades and services.But underneath all of that, other sectors are still struggling. Even if your own situation is doing okay, having so much change all arou

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the financial independence movement, and whether normal people can give it a try. Hosted by Frances Cook. Financial independence is something you might have seen floating around, and been curious about. On the face of it, it sounds too good to be true. Save and invest hard, and you build up enough investment income that you don't have to work anymore. Surely that's something that's only possible for rich people? It's open to more people than you might think. Here's the maths behind it. The idea is that you work out how much you need in a year to live the life you want. So you might be happy living a very frugal lifestyle, which always makes things easier. Or you might enjoy some of life's nicer trappings, and want to keep them. Whatever that number is, you need a nest egg of 25x that, then the idea is that you can withdraw 4% of it each year, in order to live that lifestyle you like. For the latest podcast episo

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to handle a split and the financial fallout. Hosted by Frances Cook.January has a fun nickname in the lawyer world – "splitting season". After being cooped up with each other through the holidays, the stress of Christmas and family expectations, it turns out a bunch of us decide, we've had enough. But of course, like everything else in the last 12 months, Covid-19 is making it worse. Plenty of lawyers have been speaking out, saying there was an increase in demand for their services even before we hit January, because of the lockdowns and stress of this year.Now divorce is obviously very tough, and it's also one of the worst things you can do to your money. Even worse is when through the course of the relationship, one person has simply trusted the other to take care of the financials. When it comes to the split, you're suddenly on the back foot. So how do you handle it to come through this as best you can? F

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what to expect from the year ahead of us. Hosted by Frances Cook. Goodbye 2020, don't let the door hit you on the way out. What a year that was. If you're feeling burned out and sick of the uncertainty, I don't blame you.So as we take a beat, and digest the last of the Christmas cake, it's time to think about how we want to prepare ourselves for 2021, and whatever that might have in store for us. Now if 2020 taught us anything, it's that predicting what will happen next is a fool's game. But still, there are known knowns, and the known unknowns, that we can use to give ourselves a bit of a steer. So I've pulled together the Herald business team to peer into the crystal ball with me. For the latest podcast I talked to business editor at large Liam Dann, and personal finance editor Tamsyn Parker. If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about i

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what we can learn from how New Zealanders responded to Covid-19. Hosted by Frances Cook. If you wanted to find out if New Zealanders are financially resilient, then 2020 was one heck of a trial by fire to keep an eye on. Well the Financial Services Council has done just that, spending the year tracking how we're all doing, in response to one of the most significant challenges of our times. Some of the results of their Financial Resilience Index are a little surprising. New Zealanders have stayed reasonably financially confident through the year.Despite the madness, more of us have decided to give things like investing a try. Which you might think is chaotic timing, but actually makes sense when you think about this year as a wakeup call, and the need to make sure we're looking out for ourselves. Less good, but also not at all surprising, is the increase in people worrying about job security. That went from 30% o

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's whether a tiny house could be right for you. Hosted by Frances Cook. With our housing market officially running way past hot and right into scalding territory, people are looking for creative solutions. One that's getting renewed interest is tiny homes. The appeal is clear, at least to me – a smart, efficient use of space, exactly as big as you need and no more, that you could build yourself if you want, and that you can move to different locations if you suddenly need a beach break. But there are a couple of other things you need to consider too. Housing is how a lot of New Zealanders build their wealth, but really, that wealth comes from the increasing value of the land underneath the house. Tiny homes usually don't come with land. So you're going to needs to make a different plan for how to take care of your money. There's also the lifestyle factor of living tiny. Can you keep it up forever? For the latest po

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the allure of bitcoin, and whether it's an investment you should consider. Hosted by Frances Cook. Once you've started to dip your toe into the investing world, it can be surprisingly boring. Far from the movies of men in suits shouting over each other incoherently, for most people the investing experience is about regularly putting some money into an account, spreading it across a wide range of assets, and then letting it do its thing. For some people, that's a relief. For others, it's a little less exciting than they'd hoped for. So I've been getting increasing number of people sending me messages, asking what I make of some of the less mainstream investments, especially bitcoin, and gold. Now full disclosure, I'm not convinced by them, for reasons we'll talk about in this episode. But another thing that can make life boring is if we all agree with each, so I've found an investing expert who thinks a little di

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to start talking money with your partner, so that you can work together better. Hosted by Frances Cook. Talking to your partner about money is more important than ever. The economy is having a rough time, people are losing jobs, and then Christmas rolls around with the expectation that you spend a bunch. If you're not talking to your partner about how you're handling these things, you can end up accidentally undermining each other. But then, it can be a tricky conversation to have. Egos get in the way, people have different ways of handling things, and conflict crops up. The solution doesn't have to be that you ignore it and hope for better, though. You can have a better conversation, with a bit of strategy. For the latest podcast I talked to money mentalist Lynda MooreWe discussed at what point in the relationship you should talk money, the low-pressure ways to start the conversation, and how much you shoul

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to take control of your credit score. Hosted by Frances Cook. Credit scores are important, but it can be hard to figure out how important they are in our part of the world. A lot of personal finance advice comes from the United States, where their credit system is entirely different. Trying to copy that here could see you spending a lot on credit card fees, with no reward. So for the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Tom Hartmann from Sorted, about how to understand our system. We discussed what a credit score is used for, how you can check yours and whether you really need a credit card in order to have a good score.If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/F

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to use your money to provide a safety net in a crazy world. Hosted by Frances Cook.This year alone, we've had major wildfires in Australia and the US, we've had elections which caused big disruptions in some countries, and of course, who could go past the pandemic which has changed all of our lives in major ways. There's still time left in 2020 of course, but I don't want to tempt fate.To say it's unstable right now is an understatement, and it's causing many of us to rethink a few things. One of those is of course, our money. When handled right, your money can provide a buffer between you and some of the scarier parts of the world. It can cushion you, from the worst of the shocks. Our guest today has written a book all about how you could do that, combining philosophy with personal finance advice for a truly unique perspective. For the latest podcast I talked to Richard Meadows, financial columnist and auth

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the options for your financial future when houses are just too expensive. Hosted by Frances Cook.OK, if you're feeling a little frustrated by the housing market, you're not alone. It's daunting if you're a first home buyer right now. When Covid-19 first hit, all of the economists were predicting house prices to slide, as a knock-on effect of our economy getting a hammering. Instead our country has handled the virus remarkably well, the economy is much better than expected, and house prices, well, they're racing away. The latest OneRoof Property Report shows that in the time from August to October alone, Auckland prices jumped a shocking 2.8 per cent.So, does this mean you should give up? No. Does it mean you should put yourself in worrying amounts of debt, so that if one single thing goes wrong the bank takes the house back off you? Also no. There are other ways to boost your wealth to give you financial securit

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the different money moves you should make at different times in your life. Hosted by Frances Cook. It's all very well to know the basics of what you need to do with your money, but if you're just starting out, it can be hard to know the first step. After all, you might want to pay off debt, start investing, and get a good savings account going, but you only have a certain amount of money. That decision paralysis of where to make those first changes can be what stops many of us from making the easiest changes. Or if we start with the wrong thing, it can blow up in our face, and we get discouraged. No worries though, we've got some simple steps to figure out where you're at in your financial journey, and what you should be focusing on next. For the latest podcast I talked to Tim Fairbrother from Rival Wealth. We discussed what to do first if you've never paid much attention to your money before, saving versus payi

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to pay off debt faster, and pay less overall. Hosted by Frances Cook. There's quite enough to be feeling nervous about these days, with the Covid-19 situation changing every five minutes, and regularly throwing curveballs to the economy. So if you've got some debt you were meaning to deal with, it's probably making you feel a bit vulnerable. The problem with debt is it's one more thing that makes everything else worse. If you lose your job it's another bill to keep paying off, or if you are trying to save some money for emergencies, it's another thing soaking up your spare cash. But don't despair. There are ways to pay off debt faster, so that you pay less overall, and get that monkey off your back. For the latest podcast I talked to Kate Reddington from Sorted.We talked about how covid-19 has changed the debt stress, the techniques to pay it off faster, and what to do if a debt collector is involved. If you

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the best ways to make extra money, without wasting your time. Hosted by Frances Cook. Well, it turns out that you guys really want to talk about side hustles. When we talked about paying off debt using side hustles a few weeks ago, I was inundated with questions about finding more ways to earn extra cash, and which ones were worth the time. Which is a very good question. You don't want to invest your time, or even worse your money, into something that only gives you a little bit back. So today we're maximising your spare time so that you can get the most cash for it, to put towards whatever your goals are. For the latest podcast I talked to Chris Walsh from MoneyHub.We talked about how to make the most from digital platforms, which old-fashioned side hustles are still worth doing, and whether you can make much from online surveys. If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the astonishing rise of DIY investing since lockdown. Hosted by Frances Cook.This year has seen a spike in new investors. Since the first Covid-19 lockdown back in March, the Financial Markets Authority estimates 120,000 New Zealand investors have joined local online investing platforms. That's a seriously big jump for a small country like ours. For perspective, the big platforms Sharesies, InvestNow, and Hatch, now have about 250,000 clients between them. My first reaction to this news is absolute happiness. More Kiwis taking control of their money, and investing for their future, is awesome. I hope that even more people join the investing journey in the future. But with so many new investors coming in at the same time, there is the potential for things to go wrong. No worries though – let's talk about that, and make sure that Cooking the Books listeners are the ones ahead of the curve. For the latest podcast I

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the mistake being made with KiwiSavers, and how to fix it. Hosted by Frances Cook. KiwiSaver is really important, not only for our long term futures in retirement, but also our short term futures of buying first homes. Figures from the IRD show this year, in July alone, $125 million dollars was pulled out of KiwiSavers for first homes. In fact, research from Canstar shows about half of 18- to 29-year-olds are putting money into KiwiSaver purely to get that first home. So that's a pretty major factor. However, that same research also showed something a little worrying. Those same 18- to 29-year-olds are quite confused by the different fund types, and how to use them. That's crucial, because the fund you use could mean you put in the exact same money, but get something totally different at the end. For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Jose George from Canstar. We discussed what the Canstar research shows,

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to have a conversation about pay rates that works for everyone. Hosted by Frances Cook.It’s a little awkward to talk about pay rates at the best of times, but there’s nothing like being officially in recession to make it even more awkward. The problem is, it’s also more important than ever. Whether you’re a contractor or freelancer hoping to get a good rate on a new project, or a full-time employee who hasn’t had a raise in a while, the reality of having bills to pay and the need for a fair pay rate, doesn’t stop. However, we all know some businesses have it tough right now, so it’s delicate. Here’s how to start that conversation, and hopefully find a solution that works for everyone. For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Simon Rooney from Find Recruitment.If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook h

If you like Cooking the Books, you should also check out The Pivot Pod. It’s my other podcast, focused on helping small businesses through the carnage of Covid-19. Whether you’re a side hustler, a small business owner, or you just find that area interesting. Come and have a chat with me and industry leaders, on how small business can not just survive, but thrive, through a weird time. The Pivot Pod. Available everywhere you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.