Hi! I'm moving to New Zealand as a new resident. My spouse has a job lined up, and I'm still looking.

How do you compare compensation for contract positions vs. permanent placements?

Let's say a permanent position pays 100,000 salary per year. How much more money would you want for the same job on a limited contract basis?

In the US I'd expect to have a much higher hourly rate as a contractor. (The considerations are a higher tax burden, no benefits, no paid time off, etc.)

Are there similar things to keep in mind in New Zealand?

Just got my annual statement from Milford. Some context, I recently saw the light this year and have moved to Kernel, which is why the balance shows as $0 now.

I always knew Milford had preference fees on some of there funds, but it was never clear that it could go up to 2% in total for the Active Growth fund, that's nuts if I'm understanding this correctly.

https://preview.redd.it/2d74m2uc1wzc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7499c5d3dfe4f97d3d49c0d261d242518f103e2

Does anyone have any examples of how their digital life is set up for when they die? Things like password management, key documents like will/life insurance, access to photos.

I've heard of people using a safe and password management master keys. I'm also conscious of cloud security risk as well.

This might not be the right sub for this topic, but I'm sure others here will have thought about this.

For context m33, married with a newborn. One property, mortgage and investments in private companies.

Hi,

I have been asked by bank to close off my credit card as a condition on my mortgage approval. Is it possible to get one after my settlement from any other bank or gem or purple visa card?

Or it will get declined?

Thanks

We're a married couple in our early 40s with two young kids, a mortgage, and two professional incomes.

We're working with an insurance broker who's saying we should be spending ~$12k/yr on premiums for life, income, and health insurance (combined - not including home and contents insurance).

I am always skeptical of brokers because they benefit from selling us something. Obviously insurance scales to your individual orientation toward risk and there's no one right answer, but this seems like heaps to me - is it in the range of normal? How do we decide how much insurance to buy?

Hi everyone would Live some ideas from this sub.

Married M35 F31 three kids, we have just sold our family home and moving to a smaller unit in a different suburb to be closer to better schools, we want to travel as a family in a year so it wanting to buy a new place yet. Plus we already own one rental with another being built this year. Our business is doing well and will carry on while we travel, but taking time off from developments until we return.

We have 600k from house sale and business profit and wondering what I should be doing with this, have looked at Milford asset management and unsure if companies like this are secure, or is there something better I should be doing, as like everyone looking for a good return with minimal risk, first time researching this and looking online, this is not my field of expertise really.

Thanks

Looking for some advice/opinions on buying a phone outright vs using a telco's interest-free pay monthly plans.

After owning my current Samsung S9+ for 6+ years, it's battery is shot and it hasn't had a security update for a couple of years. Thinking of upgrading to the latest model (S24+). Realistically, I can comfortably afford for buy the phone outright but hesitate to spend the ~$1650 upfront (new baby, mortgage, life, inflation, etc...).

I'm leaning towards getting it on Vodafone's interest-free pay monthly plan. Works out as $43.05 per month over 36 months (totals $1,648.80 inc. $99 deposit). Seems like a no-brainer to me, but maybe I'm missing something? Are there any downsides to this option?

P.s. also have the option to trade-in the current phone for up to $172 depending on their assessment of condition.

Edit (additional info): No outstanding debts/money owing.

Question: Will have this 'loan'/monthly payment affect anything like re-fixing a mortgage, or applying for other credit, etc...?

After 2 years on 5.19% with ASB I’m about to refix $880k mortgage in 2 months. My current mortgage advisor who I’ve been with the last 3 years checking in with me. 3 years gone means I can leave ASB (as I had $2k cash back in year 1 at 2.19% but not in the last refix for 2 years at 5.19%) and MA without any strings attached. Another MA is also ready to help since last year and I wouldn’t mind giving him a chance this time. Should I tell them that whoever comes back with the best deal from the market I’ll go with them? I’m after 1% cash back (I saw ASB advertised min $5k cash back with $200k or more for new customers so why not existing ones who refix) and 15-20 cents less than bank’s advertised rate. I guess this is not unachievable.

Burner account but I'd really appreciate input from this sub.

42M and 36F, no kids, buying a new 3 bedroom townhouse off the plans for $870k.

Deposit is 33%, so loan will be approx. $590k.

Kiwisaver and other investments worth $130k. Emergency savings of $22k. Student loan of $5k but no other debts (credit card paid in full each month).

Income: 160k and 20k. My wife is studying and only working part time. Our income potential is "pretty good". I'm in a fairly secure public sector job (previously private sector), but it isn't exactly my passion and I don't want to do it forever. In the next 5 years or so I would like to transition to something more fulfilling, but very likely will pay less. My wife has struggled to land full time work since the pandemic, so is back at uni for two years. The plan is she transitions back to full time once study is finished, in a field where she could earn 60k-70k.

We are good at managing money nowadays, but we are late starters. Plenty of travel and impulsive purchases in our 20s, nasty relationship breakup for me in early 30s. But we budget quite well now, while setting aside some money to enjoy ourselves, for charity and gifts etc. Frugal but not completely anal about it.

Basically, I hate the thought of having a large mortgage. 590k makes me feel sick in my stomach sometimes, but this is what homes cost in NZ. We know we can't really avoid it.

We aren't aiming to be multi millionaires, we enjoy hobbies that aren't overly expensive and won't be having children (medical and other reasons). But we'd like to have enough financial freedom to pursue creative and charitable interests, without worrying about money.

Thoughts on the best strategy to achieve this?

Thanks in advance

Hi PFNZ,

At the end of this year my (30m) partner (30f) will have saved approximately 100k from working overseas. We are looking to move back to NZ and have children. We will also have 20k in an emergency account.

We earn 180k combined per year before tax

I am wondering what you would do with 100k saved? I currently own a home already and have been renting it out. With 400k mortgage.

My parents have always been into property investments and have suggested buying another house for future income.

Is this a good idea or should we put it into a ETF account?

Thanks for your comments

How do I go about trading in my car. We really need a bigger car as we have a baby now. I am still owing on it and was wondering if I could get some pointers.

This may have an obvious answer (avoid debt whenever possible), but I’m looking for opinions and perspectives. Thanks!

Situation: we are looking I buy a first home in Auckland. Due to one-time circumstances (moved from overseas, sold home before moving) we are very liquid and could (possibly) make a cash purchase. Or we could find financing and go about investing our cash. Or we could split half and half. What would you do?

So my life insurance application was declined due to some mental health related things.

What can I do instead to help support my family, if I were to pass away?

My partner and I have a house, large mortgage, 3 kids. I pay most of our bills.

I just changed jobs, and have received a lump-sum of my employee+employer contributions (from my employer's staff-only super not Kiwisaver).

I don't see anything in IRD that shows this as income this year, so I'm assuming it was considered in previous years and I don't need to pay any additional tax?

Kia Ora,

I'm 23, working full time and I've currently got 30k in my bank savings account.

Not interested in looking at shares or investing, just want to know if it's best to leave my savings in my bank account or move it into my Kiwisaver.

Currently with Simplicity on Growth fund, my goal for Kiwisaver is to either buy my first home later in the future or if that doesn't work out then just as a retirement fund.

Sorry if this is a stupid question and TIA

How much would rich people generally keep in a savings account, compared to the amount they invest?

When inspecting a house, what does everyone look out for prior to progressing to a builders report? What are your must see, must knows to ask the real estate agent?

All ideas welcome

Does anyone here live in there own home with an interest only loan, will a bank even provide that?

Property seems to be a good investment compared to index funds when you can buy with leverage via a morgage and since I live in NZ and will have to pay for accomadation for the rest of my life I want to have exposre to this in my portfoilo via owning my own home, I still want to maintain a diversified portfoilo though and invest mostly in index funds.

As you pay off the equity of the morgage the benifits of leverage lesson so wouldn't interest only with the remaining going to your other investments result in a more diversified portfoilo and less risk because of the more diversified portfoilo.

Hey team,

I’m listening to Rich Dad, Poor Dad for the first time and the author talks about the importance of positive cash flow from “assets” to fund your chosen lifestyle.

I feel like in NZ we are taught to buy growth properties that set us up for a good retirement but we don’t necessarily focus on the now.

I’m in my late 20’s, have a good income but intense job, and own two “growth” properties which in this climate require top ups.

I’m thinking of changing things up and focusing on high yielding properties so I can use the positive cash flow (rental income) to enjoy life (travel etc) instead of focusing 100% on retirement.

Disclaimer: the purpose of this post is to raise a discussion on growth vs yield properties, I like to think that I’m quite well read when it comes to finance and investing therefore I understand that diversification and planning for retirement is important. Also, that previous tax laws incentivised us to buy new builds (which is now changing).

What’s everyone’s views?

Cheers

Let's say you had a mortgage rate of 5% and a term deposit of 6%. Wouldn't it be better to pay off the mortgage as the interest is calculated daily while you only get the 6% at the end of the term deposit?

I have come to a decision that I will not be slaving away everyday to save up for a house deposit to get into around 1million of debt. I find this to be such a hard goal to comprehend and reach. I'm 33, I don't have a crazywell paying job and I don't have alot of expenses, I'm single. I'm living in a small house and paying cheap rent as my parents own it. I don't have a feeling of being stressed out that I won't have somewhere to live now or in the future. I don't see myself having kids till mybe early 40s but I also may never have them at all. I've got 40,000 in my kiwi saver and a few thousand in savings. I've been into cars my whole life and they are a huge part of my life. Racing/drifting etc. if I save reasonably hard for the next 5 years I will be able to afford it outright and my dream car I will own. The car cost around $150,000. Is saving hard for 4 years a smart way to achieve this goal? I'm not focused on obsessing about making millions, and I'll have cheap and secure accommodation hopefully for the rest of my life and I am contempt with my job. Is there a better way to get this Car? I know this isn't everybody's normal goal. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Seem to be doing well according to morningstar. High fees but seems to be offset by high returns.

Currently with simplicity growth and looking into a more aggressive fund.

I'm a self employed mortgage adviser and have recently been offered a job working for a bank. I'd initially said no but after a bit of thinking I'm seriously considering it. I'm curious to know what people are getting paid in their roles and if they enjoy there job? Right now I find my job quite stressful and my work often leaks into the weekend/evenings.

Hi everyone - a few questions about this around the tax and treatment of increasingly popular notice savers. Here's a new guide:

https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/best-notice-saver-accounts.html

Some notes:

Heartland rates look 'big' but if you're a 33% or 39% taxpayer, Westpac and Kiwibank can be 'in range' when it comes to net.

I'll add some more insights once we send this out to our newsletter readers and get their comments, but if you having anything to share, let me know.

Thanks,

Chris

Wanting to get into sharsies. Know nothing about it. What’s the best ones to invest in, how much to invest? How does it work? How do I make money? Just a brief summary would be great! Thanks all!

Hey Team, I am aiming to set up a weekly contribution towards some investment option for my child. I do not think it will be accessed in next 15-20 years but would like an option to be able to use it in case of emergencies.

I am not super experienced with investment options, I have had managed/index funds and some shares here and there in the past but liquidated everything for house/investment property and mortgage offsets.

Admins, feel free to delete if this is posted in the wrong sub.

I recently sold a bit of my sealed Pokémon collection, totalling to <$6500 NZD.

I bought all these products at retail price a few years ago, for my personal collection. Had no intent to sell at the time.

The international buyer paid through Wise (low fees) and I’m kind of hesitant to withdraw it, as I understand it you don’t need to pay income tax if you’re not actively buying and selling products, what’s considered “active” though? I have sold/traded physical products to other collectors in nz over the years, nothing of a substantial amount though. Biggest “transaction” up until this was around $750 but I bought more Pokémon cards with that lol.

Please help a cardboard addicted friend out!