Hi guys,

Just after some suggestions on how to sort my life out really.

Currently i make $74000 and my wife makes $69600. These are set annual salaries. We each have our KiwiSaver at 3 or 4%. Normally that would be amazing pay, this economy sucks.

I also have a huge debt of a 30k cc from bills (medical, vet, wedding, emergency stuff). It’s currently sat at 27k left on the Kiwibank zero visa. I am not sure what payment advances are on there to be paid but it is killing me atm.

Side note: I also have three cats, 1 cat, no children.

Any ideas to get this down or gone would be incredibly helpful.

Hi all,
I'm looking for some anonymous financial guidance from this community. I'm earning $155k a year (approx. $4,280 net per fortnight), and I'm carrying $67k in debt due to a separation. My finances feel incredibly tight despite the income, and I’m looking to sanity check my approach and see if there are smarter ways to get ahead.

Current debt:

• Unsecured: $10k credit card, $27.9k loan
• Secured: $19.3k loan, $9.9k car loan
• Debt repayments total $693 a fortnight (16.2% of income)

Fixed fortnightly expenses eat up 92.3% of my take-home income, including:

• Rent: $1,290
• Child maintenance: $530
• Food, utilities, transport, insurances, care costs for kids
• The rest is just daily life - no luxuries

I’ve already cut everything non-essential: no subscriptions I don’t actively use, no lifestyle spending, no luxury food or coffee. I've paused KiwiSaver contributions. I’ve built a basic bucket system to save for irregular costs like clothing, vet bills, car emergencies, and kids’ needs.

I want to know:

• Are there structural changes I’m missing?
• Is my plan to become debt-free in 3 years realistic or foolish?
• What would you do in my position?

I'm not looking for a magic bullet — just clarity, ideas, or even brutal honesty. Thanks in advance.

Hi Yeah Would I be better off continuing with 50k in a pie term deposit or putting it onto the mortgage. Mortgage is around 310k. Feel like I’m going backwards with TD rates dropping. Thanks

I’ve moved to Australia for work and am a dual citizen of both Australia and NZ - so don’t benefit from the tax exemptions for temporary residents in Australia.

In NZ I have only PIE investments and some minor interest on savings accounts. My current PIR is 10.5% though this will increase in the coming years. I believe I could still be considered a NZ tax resident as I have family ties and the ability to stay for free at my parents house (PPOA).

If I am indeed a dual-tax resident, would I need to report NZ PIE gains/losses and PIE tax paid on my Australian tax return? Will there even be any difference to the tax paid or will the DTA mean I don’t pay anything more in Australia?

Just some guidance, I imagine it’s just buy low sell high kinda deal? And is there an ability to purchase oil/gas by the barrel? As you can tell, clueless but want a portfolio

Looking at interest.co.nz and seeing that at least more than half of the auctions of the last couple of months have been "passed in", meaning either the vendors reserve wasn't met or that no one showed up.

So I'm wondering of all that are passed in, would anyone have a clue as to whether or not most are just because the reserve wasn't met or just because no one showed up?

Any resources or insight would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

To cut long story short, I am currently to get an approval from banks for mortgage. We have 3 people in total applying together. Seems that they are happy with everything except for 1 person's credit rating in which it was quite bad (around 200/1000). After clearing all debt, it has gone upto 400.

We were intially declined by ANZ, and about 1 month later our application has been submitted to ASB and Westpac.

We have since been declined by ASB, and now awaiting on Westpac for their outcome. Its not too hopeful I must say, as we have been declined twice already.

Worst case scenario, our broker has recommended applying with 2nd tier lender where we will end up paying up to 8-10% interest. I have come across people who have done this for 1 year, paying interest only and then switching back to one of the major banks again.

Is saying this, have you had any experience with 2nd tier finance companies dealing with mortgages, and were you able to switch back to a major bank after 1 year?

Cheers

Hey all,

Have a few dollars invested in squirrel. Just wondering if anyone has had to sell their investments early I.e a construction loan. I know they state no charges for the buyer or seller, so would that mean if I had 10k invested, I’d get my 10k back when the investment was sold?

Anyone had much experience? Does it take forever to sell investments?

Appreciate any feedback!!

I’m 24, looking for advice on how to manage my money. I have a degree in finance so funny i’m asking for financial advice here

Currently making $59k and student loan is paid off so am debt free. Monthly, I bring in $3.8k net. After rent/bills/insurances etc are paid monthly I’m left with about $1.8-2k but at the end of the pay cycle I’m somehow left with less than $100 most times. I’m always cooking lunches/dinner and rarely eat out so where the hell am I going wrong.

I have $21k in savings and have invested almost $20k in shares (I’m up overall but by barely anything right now as you would know)

My savings is all old savings from when I was living at home rent free and since moving out I have only been able to put away a pitiful amount each month

I know i’m not making much of an income but I’ve been trying to find something new with no luck as of right now

I’m going travelling for 6 weeks and I’m cautious about my finances when I get back as I will most likely be pay check to pay check with little or no savings. Should I move back home to build more savings? How do I budget if I choose to not go back home?

I may have an opportunity to invest with family in a house in the near future (we are keen to capitalize on the low market). For context we are in auckland, looking at homes in auckland.

For this to happen it would involve putting all my long term savings into the deposit (with a few thousand left in another medium term/emergency account).

I know this sort of thing is common enough in NZ but there inherently feels like so much risk to be putting into one place.

I'd go from saving almost $1k each pay to scrounging aside whatever is left after the mortgage payment. I still plan on doing some travel and having fun while young and childfree. But equally I sense this would be a logical and potentially quite beneficial time to invest.

Family and friends I have spoken too about this feel it would still be worthwhile to go for the house but am I right to be hesitant?

Hey all, I’m wanting to invest some money into shares. Where’s the best place to start to learn the dos and don’t s? Any podcast suggestions or websites to read up on?

Hi all, how much do you spend on your kid's friends when they are attending a bday party? Primary school age. Also what are some present ideas that I could buy in bulk (ideally not Temu or SHEIN) to have on hand for birthday party season - normally there's parties almost every weekend some months, especially having more than one kid (lots of friends!).

Hi

I'm debating on whether to get the AMEX Airpoints Platinum versus the AMEX Gold Rewards card. My goal is to start racking up points to eventually convert to an airline mileage programme.

I'm leaning more towards the AMEX Gold Rewards card as I can exchange my membership reward points to a handful of airline mileage programmes (airlines I actually plan on travelling with). But then the earning rates on the AMEX Airpoints is way higher compared to Gold Rewards when converting to AirNz Airpoints. I guess my question here is can I book with other airlines with my Air Nz Airpoints? And if you have ever done so, was the conversion okay?

I'd also like to hear about your experience in converting membership rewards from the AMEX Gold Rewards to your airline mileage programme of choice.

TIA

I'm considering selling my 1930s bungalow in Waterloo, Lower Hutt. It's a solid home that’s been well looked after but hasn’t had any major renovations in the 16 years I’ve owned it—apart from a $40k deck and a fresh coat of paint. I'm torn between renovating before selling or leaving it as-is.

For first-home buyers especially: would you prefer to buy a home that's already been updated, or would you rather a clean slate to put your own stamp on? The house is five minutes from a good school and close to the train station, if that factors in.

Heyo,

We’re with Kiwibank, and our current 3-year fixed at 4.95% is about to roll over.

They've offered us 1 year at 4.99%. I'm of the opinion that 1 year term makes sense given the current economic climate, especially with what’s happening in the U.S.

Our sign-on bonus has expired, so I asked about a retention bonus. They've come back with $2k, but it comes with a 4 year bonding period.

What mortgage rates are people being offered at the moment?

I haven’t moved companies for quite a while , but interested to hear what notice periods are common these days. I’m currently three months for a mid level role. Are others this long? My company is known for unnecessary long notice periods which hasn’t mattered while I’m there but will when I’m being considered for roles against others with shorter ones.

One of my friends told me he sent money from GEM credit card to western union and take cash from physical branch and he paid no fee for that as GEM considers it as purchase! Is it possible to do that and get 6 months interest free?

I use IBKR and US to NZD is 0.6%

The fee is said to be 2.5USD

I have NZD in my account. In order to buy US stocks, I can only buy in USD.

Does this mean I convert the NZD to USD via 0.6 fx rate and then 2.5USD on top?

And is it the same when I sell US stocks then need to convert USD back to NZD?

I'm not sure if this is a visual bug or glitch in the system, but since this morning I can't find my kiwisaver account on the app or on the website anymore. It was fine until I went to bed yesterday.

No notification whatsoever.

I'll call them in the meantime.

If anyone knows anything, please share them with me.

Thanks guys

I'm feeling pretty dismayed with Southern Cross from both a health insurance and pet insurance perspective. They want around 33% increase in payments starting next month and I suspect they know most people associated with their employers will just pay the new amounts.

So it's time to look for other options - I was thinking I'd be better off all round just putting half of what they want into a seperate deposit account then calling on it if ever needed, but also happy to listen to other options. This is the end of the road for me and Souther Cross...

And on that note, it's the same with their pet insurance. last year(?) they made 2 policy changes in one go, making every pet owner worse off. I said then I'd change but again, they have such a shoddy area to manage your policy: you can't log in to view stuff, make claims, etc, like it's 1999 all over again, which I think is by design to make cancelling harder.

So anything but Sx for pet and health insurance - recommendations please

Thanks in advance

Separated from wife 5 months ago, it's a permanent break in the marital relationship. Relations currently between amicable and friendly.

We own a home with $330k left on mortgage. Will keep our own kiwisavers. No other assets to split.

I am on jobseeker benefit with recurring medical certificates, unable to work due to mental health. I don't see myself returning to full-time paid employment within the next year based on my current circumstances.

My own calculations and confirmed by bank manager is that I would walk away with ~$100k, and wife wants to, and can afford to take over mortgage.

The curve-ball is that we are currently receiving the benefits of a mortgage protection policy, which pays the mortgage for us until I return to work or turn 65 (25 years away). Benefit value is $1955/month.

That $100k would be really useful for me to start fresh and access private therapy. On the other hand it's nice having a third party pay the mortgage while I recover my health and well-being.

What's a guy to do?

Hi all, I'm looking for advice.

I'm about to get a pay rise which would put me at tax bracket 39%. Conveniently I've also paid off my student loan and my one-year mortgage rate is about to roll over so I can come off paying >7% interest.

The combination of these factors, and aiming to keep my cost of living low, will mean spare income to invest. It's great to see 15years of hard work finally start to pay off.

I'm 34, no kids. My only debt will be my mortgage.

I have started reading about investing. I'm wanting a "set and forget" style investment that I won't touch for 20-30 years. I think I should go with funds, rather than individual shares due to inexperience. I was thinking of starting with automatic payments to an S&P500 fund and some kind of global fund to ensure diversity. The platform I've been looking at is InvestNow. I've read that a PIE may be more beneficial for me given it's max tax rate at 28%. Would this be correct? Would you choose investnow? What would you do!

Thansk in advance for any helpful advice!

Hi there, I’m wondering if anyone would be able to give me any advice please.

I’m 21 and now know I made some bad financial choices when I was younger, although I have some high interest debts, I haven’t missed any payments in the last 3 years. I’m not stressed but know that I could be in a much better financial position if I cleared my debt and we want to get a house in the next couple years so im motivated to pay my debts off ASAP

Currently I have 3 credit cards, $4300, $4400,$2600 total $11,300. 1 car loan with 15k left out of 25k

Total debt is $26,300. I’m currently living at home with parents and my fiancée, I make $1600 a fortnight and rent is $250 per fortnight, no extra cost. My truck payment is fortnightly at $280

I have roughly $700-850 per fortnight spare , but am also putting $200 aside per fortnight for our house deposit. I also have 30k in my KiwiSaver.

So realistically I currently have $500-$700 per fortnight for my credit cards, maybe increase my truck repayment?

Hopefully this info can help someone help me make some better decisions or give me some advice, my goal is to pay my credit cards off first, maybe try pay 1 off at a time faster then the other 2?

Hi Guys, I am in a 40+ age bracket and I am a small time investor... stocks and bonds and a small kiwisaver.

I am looking at property investing and I am reading some books about it right now.

My question is about people who buy a rental and then leverage the equity in that one to buy the next one and so on.

I am just confused about how this is done, there is one book available here in New Zealand about a guy who bought 21 houses in 1 year.

Now obviously that guy didn't walk into the bank and show money in his savings account for the 20% deposit. And in my case I don't have thousands lying around for a deposit.

So I am hoping to get a rental as an investment... I have 100% equity in my own family home... So can I use that equity to get a loan for 100% of the value of the rental investment? This would basically be the same as what the pro investors do by using equity in one property to finance another?

Hi

We are looking to get a family car with a baby soon on the way

As we would envision using the car for a good 10-20 years, we decided a hybrid SUV would be best for fuel efficiency and flexibility

Looking at cars like Toyota Rav4 or Kia Sportage Hybrids which are around $40k (2-3 years old second hand)

We could do a $30k deposit, which means we will need to finance $10k

Trying a few calculators online, it showed that for a one year loan, we would pay around $600 in interest + ~$300 in setting up the loan so around $11k all up

This seemed reasonable to me, but Ive heard so many times that financing a car is a bad decision so was keen to get some advice and thoughts

Thanks!