Cooking The Books

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what to do when friends and career collide. Hosted by Frances Cook.They do say that it's not what you know, but who you know.When you're at work friends can be the people who make a long day go faster, or the people who save you when you're in a pinch. Whether it's the day to day grind or a full-blown emergency, it helps to have people in your corner.But friends aren't always a blessing.Keep in mind that we spend the majority of our waking hours at work. No matter how much you usually like someone, work politics can put a strain on even the best of buddies.Of course, not everyone will be your friend. When you've got enough people in a room together, some are guaranteed to rub each other the wrong way.You likely spend more time with your co-workers than your spouse, but you have absolutely no say on who those co-workers are.I called Rachel Morrison, AUT senior lecturer in organisational p

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why you shouldn't start living it up just because your house value went up. Hosted by Frances Cook.If you're anything like me, your jaw dropped when you heard the change in Auckland house prices.Between 2014 and 2017, average residential property values have jumped 45 percent. Your average house in our biggest city is now worth $1.07m.While hopeful first home buyers will be crying into their avocado toast at this news, those lucky enough to be home owners already are probably pretty excited.People tend to see things like a change in their house value, and lose their heads. They feel richer and start living it up.Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but you really shouldn't be. Just because your house is a millionaire, doesn't mean you are. And you certainly shouldn't start living like one just because your house value has shot, well, through the roof.There are both traps, and possible advant

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to make the most of your cash while you're young. Hosted by Frances Cook.When you're young is the best time to make the most money with the least effort.When you're young is also when you're the least likely to do it.The secret here is that time is the biggest and best ingredient for growing your money. If you stash away $10 in your twenties, it will do far more for you than $20 dollars in your forties.It's all down to the magic of compound interest, which is one of the most overlooked modern miracles.Put that $10 somewhere smart, and it can start earning you money. Every bit of money it earns you will then also get to work to earn you even more money, and it snowballs to give you bigger and bigger returns.Time and compound interest. They're the secret to doing well with the least effort from you.But hey, don't just take my word for it. After all, I'm just a person with a podcast who

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's working out what the fuss is about bitcoin, and whether you should be getting involved. Hosted by Frances Cook.Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency - whatever you want to call it, new digital currencies are making waves, enough for the average person to sit up and wonder whether they should be jumping on the bandwagon.At the end of each episode of Cooking the Books, I always invite people to send me their questions on things they want to know more about.To my surprise, questions about bitcoin have been one of the biggest requests. People want to know more about whether it's safe, how they can try it, and what it even is.Yet for all of this public interest, the New Zealand government and banks are holding these cryptocurrencies at arm's length.We're a country that usually loves to combine technology and money, even at the relatively simple level of how fast and enthusiastically we all star

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to invest your money ethically. Hosted by Frances Cook.Kiwis have shown over and over again that they’re fans of ethical investing.Take the scandal over KiwiSaver funds accidentally investing into tobacco companies and businesses that produced cluster bombs. While some might have seen this as the price of a good return, most New Zealanders were outraged and demanded a change.Plucky upstart Sharesies, that company that lets you invest in shares for as little as $5, has also found hot demand for ethical options.They opened for business in beta mode, actively looking for feedback from their customers.One of the biggest demands was for ethical funds.All of this is part of a sea-change happening in New Zealand investing right now. While there once was a bit of lip service to ethical options, many in the industry have overhauled their funds to get serious about the issue.Yes, it was partly

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what to stay alert for if you lend money to family. Hosted by Frances Cook.There's an old rule that says don't lend money to family, or friends that you're particularly fond of.Money is a weird thing, and it can change the relationship in ways you never expected.Maybe the person who borrowed doesn't pay it back, opening up a can of worms. Or the two sides have different expectations about how quickly it's paid back.Then you have the thorny problem of a loan from parents to a child, and a different sibling getting jealous about perceived favouritism.It's a thorny issue alright, but there's also a reason why people keep doing it.Money makes the world go round, and if you're wanting to buy a house or start a business, you'll need some of it. If you don't have enough of your own, then family who can help will almost always cut you a better deal than the banks.It's just this issue which credi

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what a capital gains tax would mean for the average person. Hosted by Frances Cook. Just the word - ‘tax’ - can be enough to strike fear into some peoples’ hearts. But go ahead and say ‘capital gains tax’, and people tend to start talking angrily about housing, whether they’re for or against. BNZ boss Anthony Healy has caused a bit of a splash by doing just that. He says there needs to be tax reform to stop the rising inequality between rich and poor. His biggest request to make things fairer? Please, bring in a capital gains tax. But for a phrase that strikes fear into the heart of some, and is a symbol of hope for others, there’s remarkably little talk about what it could actually mean for the average New Zealander. Would it destroy the family home some have worked so hard to create? Or help level the playing field for hopeful first home buyers? Maybe rein in greedy property investors?

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to supercharge your KiwiSaver without spending a cent. Hosted by Frances Cook.It's been ten years since KiwiSaver launched, and now it seems that the Financial Markets Authority is losing patience with how the scheme is being run.The FMA is the watchdog that makes sure you and I don't get ripped off when it comes to investing our money. So it's a big deal that last week they fired a warning shot a KiwiSaver providers, telling those running the default accounts that they need to do better.If you signed up to KiwiSaver, but never chose where your money went or what type of fund it went into, you're in a default account. Those default accounts are conservative, which means there's very little risk to them, but also much less reward.You could be missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars, when switching wouldn't cost you a cent.Those default accounts were never meant to be permanent

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to find out if you're getting paid enough, and what to do about it. Hosted by Frances Cook.If you're a regular Joe reading the news lately, you could be forgiven for feeling sulky about the state of your pay. Fonterra's CEO Theo Spierings has almost doubled his total pay packet to $8 million. Not bad if you can get it. Meanwhile our politicians are still wrangling over who will be in Government, and yet they're getting a raise too. It looks more reasonable on paper, at 2.5 percent, but keep in mind they're already paid a lot. In real dollars, that means even a lowly backbencher gets an extra $4,000. The Prime Minister, whoever that is, will get more than $11,000 extra. These aren't one off incidents either. Otago University research had found that between 1997 and 2015, chief executives’ pay packets have increased 228 percent. In comparison, the average worker's pay has gone up 91 pe

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what it takes to start your own business. Hosted by Frances Cook.If you've ever dreamed of ditching the nine to five and becoming your own boss, you're not alone.There's a rising tide of people choosing to strike out on their own, whether that's as a freelancer, a contractor, or an entrepreneur who starts their own business.Different people have different ideas of how this will look in the future. Research by Intuit in 2010 predicted that by 2020, 40 percent of the US workforce would be freelance. Forbes is going one further, saying that it will reach 50 percent by 2020.Whatever the number, the experts think it's going to be big. It's not just foolhardy young people either.Statistics New Zealand recently released figures showing the numbers of kiwis over 50 who are self-employed jumped 40 percent between 2001 and 2013. For people over 65, the numbers have doubled.It seems everyone wants

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's ten ways everyday people have cut their costs. Hosted by Frances Cook. Money experts are great, and can teach us a lot. Already on this podcast we’ve looked at starting investing, where you’re missing out with KiwiSaver, and how to save money renting, among a bunch of other topics.Those, in my totally unbiased opinion, are all great topics. I couldn’t have tackled them without talking to an expert. But when it comes to savings in our daily life, sometimes the experts miss. It’s easy to forget what life’s like when money isn’t your area of expertise, but instead just one of many things you’re trying to juggle. So, this week, my expert is you. I asked people on Facebook and Twitter to hit me with their best money saving tips, and tell me how they went using them themselves. I unleashed a tsunami of great tips and tricks, and picked out the best ones to create a list of ten ways to save a b

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what needs to change so that KiwiSaver works for those who need it the most. Hosted by Frances Cook.The idea of struggling through your twilight years in poverty is a scary prospect, as it should be. You work hard all your life, and you're absolutely entitled to kick back and enjoy the rewards before kicking the bucket.The problem is that to get the reward, you need to be planning from the moment you enter the workforce.A pension is not enough to live on by itself. If you're single, you get around $20,000 a year. If you're a couple, you get around $30,000 a year between both of you.It's especially bad if you haven't been able to buy a house and pay off the mortgage. You could easily blow your entire pension just keeping a roof over your head.Enter KiwiSaver, where you automatically save a bit of your pay every week, saving up a nice little nest egg for retirement. Problem solved!Except,

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's balancing the need to budget with still letting yourself have fun. Hosted by Frances Cook. You say budget, I say no thanks. The idea of budgeting makes me picture a flat, grey world, where I’m trapped in the house in worn out clothes, sadly watching my friends outside have fun without me. To say that budgeting has an image problem is like saying Donald Trump can be a bit impulsive sometimes. The thing is, it’s necessary. New Zealanders have hit record levels of debt, with 237 billion in housing debt, and 15 billion in consumer debt, as of June. Yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t have a budget and stick to it. The Commission for Financial Capability recently released a survey they did on people’s attitudes to debt. They found some pretty interesting results. First, was that a third of people felt they worked hard, so deserved to spend their money. Fair enough. But that also backfire

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's a new method for trying out the sharemarket, for those of us who aren't already rich. Hosted by Frances Cook.Regularly saving, even just a little bit, adds up.That's often the advice dished out to those trying to do better with their money, and there's a lot of truth in it.Unfortunately when it comes to investing, it's not so easy.I'm personally a huge fan of the share market, particularly for young people. It's riskier, but that's a good thing when you've got lots of time, as you can ride the waves to a bigger eventual return.But even if you know all of this, investing when you're young isn't so easy.When you're young is also when you're broke. You're still low on the job ladder, trying to pay off student loans, maybe save up a house deposit, and hey, having a life would be nice as well.Telling someone to chuck a couple of thousand dollars on the sharemarket when they're struggling to m

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. For the last three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person.Today is the last in the series, with Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy; who has the better understanding of it, how they're the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy's ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day-to-day level?Do our politicians remember what it's like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Do they have a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I had a chat to the freshly minted leader of the Labour

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. For the last three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person.Today, it's United Future leader Peter Dunne. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy; who has the better understanding of it, how they're the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy's ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day-to-day level?Do our politicians remember what it's like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Do they have a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I had a chat to United Future leader Peter Dunne, about how to use your KiwiSaver be

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. For the next three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party currently in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person.Today, it's Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy. Who has the better understanding of it, how they're the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy's ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day to day level?Do our politicians remember what it's like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Maybe even a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I had a chat to Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, about the im

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. For the next three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party currently in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person.Today, it's Prime Minister and National Party leader Bill English. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy. Who has the better understanding of it, how they’re the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy’s ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day to day level?Do our politicians remember what it’s like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Maybe even a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I had a chat to the Prime Minister and National Party l

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. But for the next three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party currently in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person. This week, it's the Greens. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy. Who has the better understanding of it, how they're the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy's ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day to day level?Do our politicians remember what it's like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Maybe even a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I sat down with Green Party co-leader James Shaw to get his best money tip to he

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. For the next three weeks we've gone political, asking the leader of each political party currently in Parliament for their best money tip for the average person. Today, it's Act. Hosted by Frances Cook.Politicians are always banging on about the economy. Who has the better understanding of it, how they're the person to get our economy running hotter, why the other guy's ideas are stupid.Which is all well and good, but what about on the day to day level?Do our politicians remember what it's like to be the little guy like you or me, and are they keeping an eye on the issues affecting our lives? How hard it is to make ends meet? Maybe even a few suggestions on what we can do for life to be a bit easier?Money issues touch every part of our lives, and I want to know what the people in charge think about it.So, I sat down with Act Party leader David Seymour to get his best money tip to help out the average person.