http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.moneyworks.co.nz en-us Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:40:46 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/157652/kiwisaver-2040-where-the-system-could-be-heading--and-what-that-means-for-you/ Over the next 15 years, KiwiSaver is likely to become a far more significant pillar of New Zealand's retirement system. Several converging trends, demographic, political, economic and technological, will reshape how people contribute, invest and ultimately draw down their savings.The biggest change already signalled is the proposed gradual rise in default contribution rates, reaching 6% each for employees and employers by 2032. This shift could double the long-term balances of today's younger me... Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post157652 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/160130/spending-is-changing-what-does-that-mean-for-your-investments/ Recently, I signed up to a spending monitoring and budgeting app for $120 a year. I did it partly out of curiosity, and partly because I wanted to test it properly before ever considering whether it might be useful for clients. What I did not expect was how quickly it pushed me into thinking more broadly about consumption, not just at a household level, but at an economy-wide level.At the same time, I have been reading more research from fund managers about how people are spending their money no... Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post160130 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/159398/when-self-enrichment-and-corruption-are-openly-defended/ This is the second post in a series looking at how ethical concern is changing. The first explored why many people have broadened their focus beyond climate alone.Over the past year, a different discomfort has started surfacing more clearly in conversations. A sense that behaviour which used to be hidden or excused is now being openly defended.Under Donald Trump, and led by the US White House, the idea that it is acceptable to use political power to make yourself richer has been brought into the... Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post159398 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/158981/why-doing-nothing-is-sometimes-the-right-financial-decision/ There’s a lot of pressure around money to do something.Change funds. Switch strategies. React to headlines. Tidy things up. Fix whatever feels uncomfortable in the moment.Doing nothing can feel lazy, or worse, irresponsible.In reality, doing nothing is often one of the hardest financial decisions to make. It requires patience, confidence, and the ability to sit with uncertainty without trying to solve it straight away.We tend to see this most clearly when markets are volatile. Prices move arou... Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post158981 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/159397/why-concern-about-climate-change-has-shifted-not-disappeared/ This is the first in a short series of three blog posts exploring how ethical concern is evolving and what that means for how people think about money.At the Mindful Money Awards in June 2025, when I was announced as Ethical Financial Adviser of the Year, I made an off-script comment in my acceptance speech. I said that many of the people I work with care deeply about showing up on climate change, but they are also tired. Not tired of caring, but tired of being told that individual effort can so... Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post159397 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/157651/kiwisavers-growing-pains-the-issues-emerging-as-the-system-reaches-adulthood/ KiwiSaver has moved from scrappy teenager to central pillar of New Zealanders’ financial lives.With nearly 3.3 million members and rapidly growing balances, it is no longer a nice extra. It is a critical part of how people get into homes, survive financial shocks, and fund their retirement.But as the system reaches adulthood, a set of structural and behavioural problems is starting to show through.One of the most visible trends is market concentration. Over time, acquisitions, mergers and defa... Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post157651 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/158137/carey-and-susie--my-journey-in-mastering-ai/ I didn’t really get AI for a long time. Not because I wasn’t interested, but because everything I tried either didn’t work very well or didn’t actually make my work better.When ChatGPT was launched in early 2022 I was excited about what it might mean for our business. I started by asking it to create images for my blog posts and newsletters, which is always the hardest part of writing. The results were terrible. They were stereotyped and clumsy. When I asked for a non-European New Zealan... Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post158137 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/157444/kiwisaver-vs-australian-superannuation-two-systems-two-philosophies-two-very-different-outcomes/ KiwiSaver and Australian Superannuation are often compared as if they were two versions of the same idea, but in reality they represent completely different philosophies about how people should prepare for retirement.One is built on voluntary participation and behavioural nudges; the other is built on compulsion, tax incentives, and scale.The outcomes reflect those choices — and the differences are far larger than most New Zealanders realise.Australia’s compulsory system began in 1992, more ... Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post157444 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/158485/time-for-a-subscription-detox/ The quiet money leak most of us don’t noticeYou may be like us, we love a good tv series on Netflix, or Prime, or Apple, or TVNZ… we share notes and love to find out about new interesting programmes.But, I recently read a New Zealand Herald article that made me pause, not because the numbers were shocking, but because they were so… normal.According to Westpac data, New Zealanders are now spending almost $400 a year on TV streaming subscriptions, with the average household paying about $33 ... Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post158485 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/post/158057/is-there-an-ai-bubble-in-investment-markets/ You may have heard (or read) that there is speculation about whether there is an ‘AI bubble’ in the investment markets at the moment.  Some people are comparing the current situation with the ‘dot.com bubble’ at the turn of the century, but we believe that this time it could actually be different (but there are still risks in areas of the markets).This article is designed to give you a framework to think about whether there is a bubble – and help you with understanding the varying... Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.moneyworks.co.nz/blog/#post158057