Cooking The Books

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to look after your KiwiSaver now that everyone's talking about possible recession. Hosted by Frances Cook.Those who like to keep a close eye on their KiwiSaver have probably been having heart palpitations lately, with balances going here, there and everywhere. What's behind it is the sharemarket, as almost all KiwiSaver funds have some amount in shares. This is great for growing your retirement nest egg in the long term, but it does mean it can go sharply up or down in the short term. So just last month when the US-China trade war escalated, you might have seen your KiwiSaver take a tumble. Then this month, the New Zealand sharemarket was giving with one hand and taking with the other. Dividend stocks did well, while the traditional growth stocks didn't. So it really depended where you were invested, and most KiwiSavers don't have that level of control. It can all sound complicated, and frank