Cooking The Books

Each week, BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackle a different money problem. Today, it's the opportunities for your money in a high interest rate environment. Hosted by Frances Cook. Talk about interest rates is everywhere right now, and for good reason. They're the secret sauce that changes everything in the money world, even if you don't see the direct impact at first.  Most recently, the Reserve Bank has yanked rates up again by an unprecedented 0.75 per cent, the most they've ever increased interest rates in one go.  In the last 18 months, the Official Cash Rate has increased from 0.25 per cent to 4.25 per cent.  The Official Cash Rate is how the Government influences interest rates elsewhere, but what happens to those interest rates depends on if it's your mortgage, a credit card, or a savings account.  It's all different.  While we know this will cause financial pain, with any form of debt becoming more expensive, there are actually opportunities here, too.  Savings, investmen