Cooking The Books

Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what your KiwiSaver is trying to tell you, and how to use it. Hosted by Frances Cook.It's been a trial by fire lately, as the market nosedived, giving many KiwiSavers or young investors their first taste of what a market downturn can look like. So you might expect these less experienced investors are quaking in their boots. Happily, for the most part, no. Research from the Financial Markets Authority shows 71% of New Zealanders are optimistic the pandemic will pass, and markets recover. In fact 23% are even planning to increase their investments in the next year. This comes as at a time when changes to you KiwiSaver are taking place, in the hopes of making it make more sense. These changes include a new way to predict how much you'll have by the time you hit 65 and can cash out. Sure, some providers have had that prediction before, but now everyone is singing from the same song sheet, being asked to use the same