Smart Money

We've started to see spots of what looks to be recovery in our economy over recent months. 

It's not consistent, but it's frequent enough to give us some hope for the year to come. 

Westpac is picking a whole lot of OCR hikes from the end of this year, and other forecasts seem to set a similar scene - a better economy is coming, and rates will have to reflect that when the time comes. 

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Growing older is expensive - much more expensive than most people realise. 

When you or a loved one either decides to move into aged care or is forced to do so, the Ministry of Social Development will quickly swoop in to flip through all their finances. 

Any assets, gifted funds, trusts, even living rent free - it's all looked at and impacts their chances of government-subsidised care. 

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Relationships cost money. 

It's not just about date nights at expensive restaurants, fancy shoes, or a new watch for Valentine's Day. 

It's moving in together, splitting the power bill, signing on to the rent. At what point in the relationship should you join your finances, and how should you go about it? 

Then there's the other side of the relationship - the part no one tends to plan for. The end of it. 

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As you get older, your health becomes more and more of a worry, so life insurance seems like a no-brainer. But is it? Do you really need it after the mortgage is paid and the kids are on their own?

And what policies are must-haves, against ones that are just nice to have? 

Financial Author Martin Hawes joins Tim Beveridge to give his insurance advice and explain the pros and cons of different policies. 

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Confidence in New Zealand's rural sector has really started recovering over the past year or so. 

Stabilising interest rates, great dairy results, and promising meat exports have formed a foundation for what will hopefully be a successful 2026. 

Confidence dropped slightly in the last quarter of last year, but it's still much higher than it has been over previous years. 

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Often trust have been seen to be province of the uber wealthy. But are they? And often people don't think about this issue until it is too late

So when should we think about these issues - our family. inheritances and what's gonna happen to our money when we aren't around to look after it?

Managing Director for New Zealand Family Trust Services Limited Janet Xuccoa joins Tim Beveridge to give her advice on trust accounts, and how t...

Queues at budgeting services are getting longer, and financial advisors are finding households with increasing incomes are seeking help. 

Kiwis with a household income of over $200,000 a year and likely with a mortgage are struggling to make ends meet. 

It feels like it was only a few years ago that being on a six figure salary meant you were fairly well off, but it seems it's barely enough to get out of living paycheck t...

Most of us have spent the past few days daydreaming about what we would spend $55 million on. 

Pay off the mortgage, book a holiday, send some off to charity, throw the rest in a term deposit.

Three lucky punters each one a share of the jackpot last night - $18.3 million each. 

Not many of us will have the chance to come across tens of millions in our lives, but most of us will at some point get a large some from inherita...

The Reserve Bank shocked a lot of us last month when it cut the OCR by 50 basis points down to 2.5%.

Analysts have said that the RBNZ was reading the room and giving kiwis a much needed breather after years of high rates. 

Early signs are showing it's starting to have an effect - with the GDP estimate for the September quarter pointing to 0.6% growth and many banks forecasting an optimistic remainder of the year. 

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Dame Noeline Taurua was stood down as the coach of the Silver Ferns in September due to 'significant issues' in the team. After many public statements and interviews, she was reinstated at the end of last month. 

Netball NZ, her employer, remained just vague enough that the public could allow their imaginations to run wild about what had happened. 

Andrew Bayly, MP for Port Waikato, resigned as a Minister after an 'animat...

Trusts are hardly mentioned outside of when wealth tax is in the news, or when someone mentions their accountant told them to get one.

One side of the political aisle seems to have a good list of reasons as to why someone would need a trust, while the other side seems to be convinced that essentially the only reason anyone would have one would be to hide assets. 

So what is the real purpose of a trust? 

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An interesting report came out this week about budgets: the average household spending has only gone up two dollars a week since 2023.

50-percent of respondents said they're actively seeking out discounts and promotions - and 30-percent downgrade brands.

It's one thing to be spending less on non-essentials, eating less, or wearing cheaper clothes, but sometimes that can chip away at our mental health and confidence. So how can we s...