New Zealand Personal Finance Blog Feeds

Have you ever bought something from Costco only to find out later that the price dropped? Well, guess what? As ... Read more

Online shopping has become increasingly popular, and Amazon is at the forefront of this retail revolution. As a frequent Amazon ... Read more

Did you know that sometimes you can get some money back if the item you purchased at Macy’s goes on ... Read more

  No. Not this. No more. Something powerful happens when you reach that point of no return. When you have finally had enough. You aren’t going to bend and accommodate anymore. Trust. Your. Gut. Your inner knowing and inner voice. No one strategy works for everyone. Don’t feel like you need to follow a formula ... The post Protect your energy. Honour your sacred NO first appeared on NZ Muse.

Shopping at Nordstrom can be a delightful experience, especially when you find the perfect item at the right price. However, ... Read more

Shopping at Old Navy is always an exciting experience, with their wide range of fashionable clothes at affordable prices. There ... Read more

Dealing with price fluctuations can be a bit of a headache, but luckily, Kohl’s has got your back. They understand ... Read more

When shopping for your next outdoor adventure, it’s great to get the best deal possible on your new gear. REI ... Read more

Shopping at Madewell is always a delight, especially when you’re a Madewell Insider. As an Insider, you often get access ... Read more

Abercrombie is a well-known brand that offers a variety of stylish clothing options for men and women. As a smart ... Read more

Are you an Athleta shopper looking to save some money on your recent purchases? You’re in luck! Athleta offers price ... Read more

I chatted with Isobel and Sam for almost three hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon. As with all of these interviews, straight out of the gate, we were into the nuts and bolts of the financial lives of this 56 and 57-year-old deeply-in-love couple who are parents to three adult tamariki. Very handily, Sam had sent me a four page Vision Board of their financial and life journey. To sum it up I’d say they are creative planners who work as a tight team towards their goal of creating a really strong financial footing by the age of 60. He said that he is like a balloon, impulsive and trying to float off in random directions, while she is the rock who grounds him. They are finally hitting their financial stride as they work their way towards a retirement of plenty. Their intention is to reach what is referred to in the early retirement community as Coast FIRE, where your already invested money will take you to FI by itself and for Sam and Isobel, the age they will reach this point is 60.

Sharesies is one of the most popular investment platforms in New Zealand, and in late 2022 they announced their KiwiSaver offering, claiming that they'll be "reimagining the way New Zealanders experience KiwiSaver". As a result they generated a lot of buzz with tens of thousands of people registering interest in the scheme. Now on 29 November 2023 the wait is finally over, with their scheme officially open to the public! So let's take a look at whether Sharesies KiwiSaver lives up to the hype and whether they might be worth switching over to. Continue Reading...

In November 2023's What's been happening in the markets article we review a couple of new high interest savings products, dive into Simplicity's new Homes and Income fund, and examine New Zealand's newest investment platform Goldie which aims to be the Sharesies for real assets. Can they become a winner among Kiwi investors? Continue Reading...

  I’ve previously written about how I had started thinking about mindset work as my full time job. Let me amend that. When it comes to money and life, I’ve realised, regulating your nervous system (that’s brain AND body) is what supports you in making sustainable progress and simply easing the regular ups and downs. ... The post How to self soothe when you’re dealing with anxiety (financial or otherwise) first appeared on NZ Muse.

As a frugal person, I want to literally lose my mind when I hear some of the decisions people make at a young age. Not because I have some sense of superiority but how much long-lasting damage these decisions can cause.I've come across the most guilty pleasure

In this episode, I’m going to be sharing the experiences of Scott and Jane. This couple are from completely different backgrounds and also from different countries. Scott’s from New Zealand, in his late 20s and Jane’s from South America and in her mid-30s. They’ve been together about four years and have settled into life in the Central North Island. Today, I want to share how they have melded their lives together and where they are headed from here. Jane wanted to share their journey to home ownership in the hope of inspiring and helping other migrants who decide to make New Zealand home realise that they can afford to buy their first home if that is what they aspire to do. Birds of a feather do flock together, and although these two hail from completely different parts of the globe, they managed to connect with each other and build a life together.

Investment platforms and services that we all use are businesses. They need to charge fees so they can pay their staff, fund their operations, and in most cases make a profit. Therefore fees are an unavoidable part of investing. However, fees can be one of the most confusing aspects of investing. The wide array of fees that platforms charge can feel like a complicated jumble to investors. In this article we explain and provide examples of the most common types of fees so that you can better understand the charges you might be paying. Continue Reading...

Today I am really looking forward to sharing the financial ins and outs of Rachael, a wonderful wahine who has been listening to this very podcast for years. She enjoys this podcast because the stories I share are relatable because they are, of course, about everyday Kiwis in Aotearoa. Hers, as you are about to find out, is a cautionary tale that she hopes you don’t have to go through yourself, but you will come out more aware and informed having heard about it. Her partner of eight years, Tony, died suddenly in mid-2020. While coping with the shock and grief of this, she then also had to embark on a long journey of unravelling the financial side of his life, but because he died intestate or without a will, she had shaky legal rights to do so. These days, she is really focused on her finances and said she will squawk at anyone about them, particularly when it comes to retirement plans, end-of-life plans and the necessity of having a will. Coping with her grief was hard enough; sorting out the settlement of his estate made it doubly hard, and she wants you to avoid this same situation at all costs.

Hey folks, another month gone by and for many of you hopefully another step closer to financial independence. Maybe some of you are there? On this beautiful thing we call the internet, there are a lot of opinions. Luckily as a subscriber, you only have to listen to me because

  Have you ever worked with incredibly reactive people always on the brink of an emergency? How painful is that?! You just want to shake them and shout “Get a grip! Your failure to plan is not my problem!” I’ve been going through life like that. Reacting and panicking, getting caught up in other people’s ... The post I’m entering my villain era. Bring it on first appeared on NZ Muse.

  Deconstructing your individual money story, your unique flavour of hangups and hurdles along with triumphs, is something you’re probably going to eventually come up against (if you haven’t already) and is the key to sustaining next-level success. Buuuuuut when we really get down to it… what does that mean? Let’s make it real, let’s get raw ... The post Weeding out money demons and financial weak spots at the root first appeared on NZ Muse.

I currently contribute 10% to KiwiSaver, is it beneficial to lower this and invest elsewhere? I'm a first time wannabe investor in shares, where should I start? Should I pay down the mortgage ASAP or invest in shares? What was your reason for switching from Kernel's Global 100 Fund to their Global ESG Fund? These were some of the questions we answered in our 7th Ask Money King NZ Q&A held with our Instagram followers. Continue Reading...

I should take some time off more often it seems as I am happy to report that we've officially hit another investing milestone. (For all the new people, we take out a small percentage of money to reward ourselves every time we hit the next milestone) This one

In August 2023's What's been happening in the markets article we review New Zealand's newest fund manager, provide some updates on Sharesies and Kernel, and explore National's proposal to allow splitting KiwiSaver across multiple providers. Is it a good idea? Continue Reading...

Most people think of insurance as an everyday expense like rent, electricity, or petrol. But could it actually be a powerful financial tool, or perhaps it's just gambling? In this article we provide an introduction to the various types of insurance, explore the role insurance might play in your financial life, and look at things you might think about when deciding on what insurance to buy. Continue Reading...

The standout for me today is how quickly you can change your financial lot in life simply because you decide to. Helen and Scott are 45 and 42 respectively, and have lived a life common to many of us, with good bits, not-so-good bits and, to a large extent, following the crowd for whom managing money is a struggle. With five tamariki between them, they have known each other a long time, yet only became a couple a few years ago. Both carry the scars and financial lessons from previous marriages, including reliance on consumer debt and being excluded either willfully or unwillingly from handling pūtea, yet they both jumped in boots and all with their money in their relationship today. Working harder was always their way out of a financial jam, but finally, they are learning to work smarter.

I used to be great at making do. I didn’t make much, nor did I expect to. I got great at working with those constraints. Leaving that world behind, graduating into a new reality, was a slow burn. Picturing and projecting into the future. Figuring out where, if nothing much changed, things would be in ... The post Where are you making do? first appeared on NZ Muse.

In July 2023's What's been happening in the markets article we look at whether using KiwiSaver for rental bonds is a good idea, give our usual investment product and market updates, as well as check in on how the fight against inflation is going. Continue Reading...

Sam Stubbs, Simplicity's Managing Director and regular contributor to Stuff.co.nz, recently published an article titled Why you should open a KiwiSaver account for your kids. He says "When a child is born in your family, set up a KiwiSaver account for them as soon as possible, ideally in the first weeks of their life." Stubbs suggests that with regular contributions, and compounding returns from the KiwiSaver fund, your child could end up with $95,000 by the time they're 25 - something that could make a huge difference in their ability to afford a house or have a dignified retirement. But is KiwiSaver really a good way to invest for under 18s? In this article we explore the pros and cons of KiwiSaver for kids to help you make an informed decision on what's the best option for them. Continue Reading...

  One phrase that REALLY grates on my nerves is this: creating money. So too do creating clients, creating results, etc. Hello, cue brain scoffing… BUT you’re not literally printing/minting cash, are you? BUT you’re not literally bringing new humans into the world, are you? You’re not literally making cash out of thin air. You’re ... The post One word I just can’t stand (and what I’m replacing it with) first appeared on NZ Muse.

I’ve been corresponding with Kiri for about five years now. Those back-and-forth email conversations eventually led to me picking up the phone and chatting in person for the first time, and back in September of 2021, I released that episode: 60. First Home Buyers, where I detailed the rollercoaster that Kiri and her husband John had been on with their money and their life. That episode was all about the lead-up to buying a home. Today’s episode is what happened after that; it’s much less house focussed, much more life-focused, but it’s safe to say that the rollercoaster continues.

As life moves on I realise how interesting people can be. One of the many conversations I have is with Uber drivers. I’ve had some very insightful and sometimes strange conversations. From people telling me they hate South Africans before I reveal, I am originally from there to

In June 2023's What's been happening in the markets article we give a brief explainer on the recession we've just entered and what you might do in response, cover Smartshares' 5 new ETFs, as well as other market happenings. Continue Reading...

Should I be worried about using a bank with a BBB credit rating? What can be done to better incentivise KiwiSaver? I want to start investing and struggling to take the leap, any advice? These were some of the questions we answered in our 6th Ask Money King NZ Q&A held with our Instagram followers. Continue Reading...

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing the story behind how Tony and his wife Karen came to create a net worth of $2.8 million and retire aged 49 and 54, respectively. Now that I have your attention, you might also be interested to know that they own one home and have a large retirement fund which they built from always investing a portion of their take-home pay, about 10%, from their 20+ year careers in the New Zealand Police. Despite their success, there are still many unknowns as they try to work out how to structure their money to support them during their long and adventurous retirement. This episode shows how steady saving in a retirement scheme can build a substantial nest egg. I think it will be particularly useful to those interested in retiring one day, which, by my reckoning, is everyone!

  The better you feel, the better you do. You know I’m all about figuring out how to feel better about money, so you can do better with it. It’s a beautiful cycle. A worthy model. A virtuous flywheel. So, here’s a simple framework for feel-good money. Enjoy! Stack up the evidence Write your badass ... The post 3 steps to feel-good money first appeared on NZ Muse.

Well well well, look who’s back? Yes, it’s me. And it’s time for everyone’s favourite post? Well maybe you like the other ones but I’m writing this one so here it is. I’m happy to report we’

Lucy, Steve and their two teenage children openly talk about money in their family. It comes from them trying to make sense of their complicated financial upbringing and then joining their financial lives together at 19. When they were young, they made many decisions because their backs were against the wall, and they now know they want their children to head out into the world more prepared than they were. While I understand that failure is a good teacher, I just don’t see why you would willingly set your kids up to fail with money when it is far easier to do as this couple is doing and instead just teach your kids some basics from the get-go.

I feel like I covered off a big money update last month… so, time for a life update! I’ve shifted into a new, slightly different role that’s just the challenge I need. Dreamed up a new awesome freelance offer (I’m often referred to edit books and help put together online courses, and now I’m seeing ... The post Life lately… first appeared on NZ Muse.