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 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