Guides
The basic building blocks of money, explained. Pick a topic or life event, and read on!
BROWSE ALL GUIDES
The basic building blocks of money, explained. Pick a topic or life event, and read on!
BROWSE ALL GUIDES
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It's important that you know just what you can and can’t do with a loan, and what the costs are,...
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Losing a partner is no time to have to deal with money issues. Yet there is quite a lot to...
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The uncertainty that comes with losing a job or redundancy is a challenge, but leaving one role always opens up...
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Separation or divorce is a stressful and upsetting time. It also unfortunately negatively impacts any wealth that has built up...
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One of the best things about starting work is the freedom that comes with earning our own money! It’s a...
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These are the choice years, when we’ll finally have the time and freedom to do all those things on the...
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No-one likes fines, but the quicker we pay them the better off we’ll be. Unpaid fines can end up costing...
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Studying can be an investment in our future. Interest-free student loans seem like easy money, but borrowing too much could...
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Sharing a flat is a big step towards being independent, but it also means we have to get used to...
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The longer we take to pay off debt, the more it costs us. So if there’s room in the budget,...
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Why do we need a will? People mainly use them to write down family members they want to provide for...
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Decisions about retirement villages are important; they tend to have a long-term personal and financial impact. Buying into a retirement...
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When we buy a share, we're buying a small part of a company and a share in any profit the...
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Getting into a first home takes careful planning and, for most of us, serious budgeting! These tips for first home...
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One of the best habits we can get into is “paying ourselves first” and making it automatic. The more we...
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Partnering up brings new opportunities to build wealth that we wouldn’t have on our own. Moving in together or getting...
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Ask anyone who's retired and they will say to start saving as soon as you can! Even if it seems...
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Finding out we’ve got a little bundle of joy on the way is an exciting milestone! A new arrival is...
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Statistically we’re living much longer these days. Seeing that we could be retired for more than 25 years, we’re going...
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If we’re partnered up and planning, both sides need to be involved in the process. It’s all about getting on...
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The current rates of New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super) below give a broad idea of how much the state pension...
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New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super) is the government pension paid to Kiwis over the age of 65. Any eligible New...
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Simply put, net worth is the difference between the value of what we own and the total amount that we...
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There are many types of mortgages, each with its own interest rate, fees and flexibility. Each of these things affect...
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Budgets help us plan where our money should be going, but it’s also important to track where our money actually...
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It can feel good being a home sweet homeowner! But – and there is “the but” – we still need...
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Lots of New Zealanders own rental property – it has been a popular form of investment over the years. The...
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When it comes to investing, there are some key fundamentals. Think of them as a cycle to come back to...
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Investing is all about buying things that put money back into our pockets. Sound intimidating? It’s really not. Those of...
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A house is often the biggest purchase of our lives, and a mortgage (also called a home loan) is typically...
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When we’re fit and healthy, it’s hard to imagine life changing. But what would happen if we couldn’t earn an...
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Since a home will probably be the biggest asset we own, we’ll need to protect it in case something unexpected...
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Borrowing to study can be a great opportunity, although it’s important not to borrow more than we need.
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Life is full of risks of things that could happen – the house burning down, the car being stolen, illness...
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Sometimes things go pear-shaped. If an earthquake strikes, our house burns down, our car is in a crash or we...
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With an HP we can take home a product and use it while we’re paying it off. It can seem...
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Here’s the first step to sorting our finances: working out where we want to be moneywise and what our priorities...
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People use personal loans to pay for all kinds of things – weddings, renovations, holidays or consolidating their debts. They’re...
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Instead of investing directly and doing it all ourselves, we can invest in a managed fund where our money is...
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The idea with a family trust is to protect the ownership of our assets. Here’s how these work: we transfer...
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An enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a legal document giving someone the power to act for us if we...
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KiwiSaver is easy to join, and keeps ticking along in the background. But to make the most of our savings...
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Debt comes in many forms – credit cards, hire purchase, car loans, personal loans, mortgages, student loans. There's no shortage...
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We’re getting identified more and more by our credit reports these days. When businesses decide whether to lend us money,...
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KiwiSaver is a great way to get ahead financially. There are some key choices to make, however, to get the...
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Einstein called it the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. He was talking about compound interest, which supercharges our savings and...
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‘Consolidating’ debt means taking out a new loan to wrap all our existing debts together and pay them off at...
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Credit cards are an easy way to pay for things with a quick swipe or tap, but they can be...
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KiwiSaver is an easy and affordable way to save for retirement. Most of us can benefit from joining, if we...
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To be successful with investing, it’s important to figure out what type of investor we are, which is sometimes called...
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Most vehicles – unless they’re classic cars – quickly go down in value, not up. So borrowing to buy a...
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Investing is the best way to grow wealth and get our money working for us – but how? There are...
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‘Budget’ doesn’t have to be a dirty word. It’s just a simple plan showing what money we expect to receive...
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The amount we can borrow for a home depends on a couple of things: how much we can afford to...
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When we buy a bond, we’re lending money to a government, council or company. In return they promise to pay...
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Still keeping a stash of cash under the mattress? Savings accounts and term deposits with a bank, credit union or building...
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Ready to start investing? The next step is to make sure we do a good job of it and get...
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Advice on investments is widely available. Financial planners, insurance companies, sharebrokers, banks and financial advisers are all more than happy...
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Managing money can be challenging – not all of us have the skills to sort out the more complicated stuff....
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Protecting your assets is important, from insuring your house to making a will. Learn more about the different types of...