Cooking The Books

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's a bonus episode on how to stay calm, and access independent financial advice. Hosted by Frances Cook.Keep calm and carry on is all very well until you hit the sort of crisis we’re in right now. It’s a perfectly normal response to panic when you see your retirement savings losing thousands of dollars, or when you realise you could lose your job. Full disclosure I’ve also watched my KiwiSaver plunge over the last few weeks. On paper I’ve lost thousands, and I didn’t have all that much to begin with. But you can protect yourself from the panic with a few strategies, then make better decisions with a clear head.For the latest podcast, I talked to Tom Hartmann from Sorted. We discussed why knowledge is power, what to make of your KiwiSaver jumping around, and good places to get calm, independent advice. If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come an

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's a bonus episode on what financial help is available so far, and what might be coming in the future. Hosted by Frances Cook.Nothing like a pandemic to make a few weeks feel like a year. When I recorded the last podcasts you heard, I was about to take a bucket list holiday – I've since escaped from that while borders were closing around me, had a scare that we'd caught Covid-19, tested negative, and I'm finally back to work to help you figure out what on earth is going on here. And if you're struggling to keep up with what's happening, you're not alone. The Government makes new announcements every day of what type of support is available to help us get through this crisis together. While I'm glad they have so many programmes, it does make it a little difficult to keep up. So from wage subsidies to what happens if you lose your job to the rumours of what's next, I've roped in one of my political col

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why you can't just sign up to KiwiSaver, and leave it at that. Hosted by Frances Cook.KiwiSaver is great, in that it's helped those of us who aren't used to handling money put together investments for our retirement. But there's the risk that once you've got it, you think you're all done. After all, the government wouldn't spend all that time creating this scheme, and then not make it fit for purpose, right? Well, the problem is they designed it for the starting point to do the bare minimum, and after that, you can adapt it to your own personal situation. Yet many of us haven't taken that second step. Most people contribute just three percent of their pay into their KiwiSaver. Far better than nothing, but definitely not enough to avoid a tough retirement. Many say you should put aside at least 10 per cent if you want to enjoy your golden years. And then there's the fact that the default setting i

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what you need to check before signing a contract to buy a house off the plans. Hosted by Frances Cook.Buying a new house off the plans can be so dazzling, you forget to look at the fine print. And don't get me wrong, it's a great option for many people. They're often saving on building costs as they're done in batches, they're built to modern expectations of insulation and heating, and the architect's images often look stunning. But underneath all the dazzle and glamour, boy do you need to know what you're looking for. Hidden in the contracts can be a bunch of clauses that can cause you serious problems – including the possibility of losing your dream home altogether. For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Joanna Pidgeon from Pidgeon Law. We discussed common pitfalls including sunset clauses, what obligations a developer has to a buyer, and what protections a buyer has. If you have

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why your big expenses often slip under the radar. Hosted by Frances Cook. You'll often hear the saying, to watch your pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves. Well, I disagree entirely. Little expenses like takeaway coffees are easy to target because it's an expense that's right in front of your nose. But it's the bigger expenses that we take for granted, often assuming we can't change them, that have the most potential for being cut back. Cars are a notorious one, especially in New Zealand. It's not just the cost of first buying the car. It's then the cost of fuelling it, keeping it registered, insurance, your WOF, maintenance and replacing your tyres, car parks. This is what's called the true cost of your car, and it's much bigger than any small treat like a coffee. In fact, a conservative estimate from the AA is that even a small car is costing you more than $7,500 each year. For t

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why all investments need a certain amount of safety, and how to organise that. Hosted by Frances Cook.All but the most blinkered of politicians and property lobbyists admit we have a housing crisis in this country. Prices are climbing far faster than wages, and as a result some people worry they'll never be able to buy their own home. One interesting solution to bring prices back down is to increase prefab housing. Think of it like this. It's always more expensive to create something bespoke, in place, and bring all the workers to that spot to get it done. That's how most of our housing is done right now. Whereas prefab is exactly what the name says – it's pre-made, elsewhere, usually in a factory. The workers get into a groove, get most of the parts done in an efficient factory model, and then ship them to the housing site to be assembled. So why don't we have lots more of this happening? Well,

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the career advice you shouldn't listen to, and what you should do instead. Hosted by Frances Cook.Your career is probably the most lucrative asset you have. Sure, you might have plans to invest in shares, or property, or to do all sorts of other fun things with your money. But the place most of us start is earning that money, so we can invest it elsewhere. It is of course extremely difficult to save and invest if you're not earning much at all. So one of the best investments you can make is in your career, to make yourself more valuable, earn more, and hopefully enjoy your day-to-day life more as well, while salting away some of your earnings for the future. The problem is there's so much bad advice floating around out there. So today, let's bust some bad career advice myths, and focus on what you should be doing instead. For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Simon Rooney from Find Recruit

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why all investments need a certain amount of safety, and how to organise that. Hosted by Frances Cook.No matter where you're at in your investing journey, you need a mix of high and low risk investments. In a previous episode, I talked about the rule of 100 – the idea that if you take your age, subtract that from 100, what's left is the ideal percentage of high risk investments you should have your money in. That's because investing is always about time, and the more time you have, the more risk can help you make money while you sleep. But that also means that we all need a certain amount of low risk. Even if you're younger, and you're mostly going for wealth boosting options like shares, a little bit of low risk investment rounds out your options to be better in the long term. And if you're older, you might need quite a few low risk investments.Lower risk means you don't make as much money over

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to figure out what insurance is worth getting, and what's not. Hosted by Frances Cook.Insurance is one of those areas that gets murky even for the experts. There are lots of different things you can insure, from your stuff, to your house, even pets or your health. There's also insurance for your income, and one rather worrying statistic shows about 55,000 NZ households lose their main source of income each year, whether that's because of accident, illness, or unemployment. Most of us need that income to get by, yet only about 15 per cent of us have income protection insurance.But what's hard about insurance more generally is knowing when it's worth it. Insurance can cost a lot, and while it gives you peace of mind, you also want to be sure you get the benefits that make it worthwhile. There is a school of thought that says you should "self-insure" – otherwise known as making sure you have eno

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to stay ahead of the tax man if you're side hustling, or self-employed. Hosted by Frances Cook.One good way to grow your wealth can be to start your own business.Whether you're starting out with a side hustle, or jumping straight into it by launching a full-time business, it's a move that pays off for a lot of people.That's because if it works, you're not limited to your salary – your wealth grows as the business does, and you could even sell the whole thing one day.But all of that will backfire if you make an enemy of the taxman.Even when the IRD is trying to be helpful, it can be hard to figure out what to do, when, and how to file it.Not to mention, can you get any money back from them?For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Hnry co-founder James Fuller. We discussed what your tax obligations actually are, common traps, and the changes the tax system has gone through recently. If you

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to check that your retirement fund is only funding companies you're ok with. Hosted by Frances Cook.To say that New Zealanders care about ethical investing is a bit of an understatement.Research from Mindful Money shows the vast majority of us want guilt-free investing, and it's more of us each year.In 2019, 83 per cent of us said we expected our KiwiSaver to be invested responsibly, which is up from 72 per cent of us in 2018.The ultimate test, of course, is whether people will put their money where their mouth is. Again, most of us say that we would – two thirds of New Zealanders say they would move their KiwiSaver if they disagreed with what it was being invested into.It's not just customers either.The world's biggest money manager, BlackRock, has started pulling out of fossil fuels across the board.And just this year, New Zealand's own Institute of Directors said responding to climate-rela

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Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to stop a broken heart also breaking the bank. Hosted by Frances Cook.Just like finding someone to team up with in the game of life can have the happy side effect of boosting your wealth building, going through a split can have the opposite impact. It can be financially devastating. That's why the latest New Zealand Relationship Property Survey caught my attention. It found that people in their 40s are in the most danger of a split, and the 50+ age group is also on the rise. That's a time pretty close to retirement, and could make it hard to recover well enough to enjoy your golden years. So, is there any way the system should change to reduce the financial hit, if you really need to separate? And is there anything you can do when you first get into a relationship, to future-proof yourselves? For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Kirsty Swadling, chair of the family law section at the

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how your workplace could be helping with your money. Hosted by Frances Cook.Money and work are clearly closely linked, but we don't always talk about how one can hold you back from the other. Financial worries are a big problem in New Zealand, with research from the Commission for Financial Capability showing that 69 per cent of us are concerned about money. That's a clear majority.The impacts are wide-ranging, including creating problems in our personal relationships, or some people feeling physically ill. But the stress about money can also hurt our ability to make it, with a worrying 10 per cent of people between 18 and 34 taking regular days off work to deal with money problems. Other people are spending hours at work trying to fight personal financial fires, or are less productive because they're so stressed. Clearly this is impacting lots of us – so should employers step up to help, and how

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how the FIRE movement works, and how New Zealanders are adapting it to their own circumstances. Hosted by Frances Cook.Retiring decades early in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, sounds like something a millionaire would do. And yes, it helps to have a big stack of cash to get there, but you don't have to be earning millions in order to do it. That's the argument of the people who follow the FIRE movement, also known as Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea behind it is relatively simple. You work out how much you spend in a year to stay alive. You save and invest until you have 25 times that much. Once you hit the goal, you retire, and you only withdraw four percent of your investments per year. If you've invested well, that should be a safe amount to pull out for decades to come. To help get there, the FIRE crowd is a big fan of frugal living. It's a double whammy, because of course cutting back

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what's changed in housing, and what it means for you. Hosted by Frances Cook.This time last year when we tried to predict the future, the Herald’s money team was focused on instability. Particularly international instability was a theme, with worries that Trump’s tweets, tension with China, and ongoing Brexit problems would cause ripples to New Zealand. And yes, all of that turned out to be a big factor, one that led to KiwiSavers’ having some nail biting moments, and business confidence taking a couple of tumbles over the year. But this year the turmoil could be closer to home. We are heading into an election year, and the biggest thing every politician hopes to do is grab your attention by grabbing for your wallet. So for the latest Cooking the Books I asked Herald business editor at large Liam Dann and money editor Tamsyn Parker, what the crystal ball tells us this time around.If you have a qu

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why giving to others can give you a boost too. Hosted by Frances Cook.This podcast focuses a lot on how to fix your finances, but once you've got yourself sorted, should you be helping others? Well, yes. For starters, nobody succeeds purely on their own. Even when you work hard, there's usually some sort of family support, or a workplace taking a chance on you, or a social scheme that helps you get ahead. So once you're doing well, it's a good idea to pay it back and help out others who are just starting. But if you want to be really cynical about it, it turns out you might be one of the biggest benefactors when you decide to give back. Apparently our brains quite enjoy when we decide to be charitable.For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to University of Auckland psychology lecturer Dr Sarah Cowie. We discussed what we get from giving to others, whether there's a difference in giving time or

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why more New Zealanders are picking family time over presents. Hosted by Frances Cook.It's the most wonderful time of the year, or maybe the most stressful. Christmas is traditionally a time of big spending, but new research shows New Zealanders are getting sick of that. The Commission for Financial Capability has released research that shows what most of us really look forward to at this time of year. For 62 per cent of us, it's time with family. That's closely followed by enjoying the summer weather at 37 per cent, and time off work at 33 per cent. What we're enjoying least is the commercialism of the season, which annoys 36 per cent of us. It's closely followed by 35 per cent of us saying it's too expensive, and 34 per cent dreading the shopping. The worst part is that all of this stress may be for nothing, as one in four of us got at least one unwanted gift last year. For those of us who did,

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what needs to change to reduce financial abuse. Hosted by Frances Cook.They say money is power, and it's true. That's exactly why we spend so much time on this podcast talking about financial independence, and how to achieve it. But what if someone wants to take that independence from you, so that they can have the power over you instead? Financial abuse is a real problem. It can take many different forms, but the most basic idea is that someone is using money to control another person, maybe even terrorise them. Now researchers say we should be fighting back. For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to AUT's Dr Ayesha Scott. We discussed what financial abuse can look like, and what needs to change at both the individual and society level. 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:/

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what's changed in housing, and what it means for you. Hosted by Frances Cook.This year has been a huge one for changes to every New Zealander's favourite investment: property. Whether you're buying it to live in, or buying it as a rental investment, almost every Kiwi wants to buy a house and sees it as a path to wealth and security. So the changes we've seen this year could well have made your head spin. For those keeping track, we've seen: the Government scrap a proposed capital gains tax, and the Prime Minister promise she'll never bring one in; the loss of tax breaks for investment properties; KiwiBuild has floundered and is getting a reset; increasing focus on healthy homes standards becoming a legal standard; and our Official Cash Rate was cut twice, resulting in some of the cheapest mortgages in decades.That really is a lot. So with the OneRoof property report out this week, I was ready to