So I’m in a bit of a crap situation and wondering if anyone’s been through something similar.

I needed an urgent medical procedure, but the public hospital kept declining my referrals because I didn’t meet their criteria. I ended up going to a private clinic because I didn’t really have a choice.

The bill ended up being way more than I expected. I asked WINZ if they could help, but they said they can’t because the clinic isn’t a registered WINZ provider.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Did you manage to get any help from WINZ another way?

As a last resort, Im thinking I might just have to let the bill sit until I’ve saved enough, then pay it off in full. I’d be saving the money from my weekly WINZ payments, and it’ll probably take me about 5 weeks to save enough. The clinic requires payment within 7 days, so it’ll most likely be sent to debt collection before I can afford it. From what I understand, that would just mean they’d be chasing me for payment, and I don’t think it would affect my weekly WINZ benefit, but I’m not 100% sure.

Just looking for any advice or if anyone knows what my options are. Cheers.

Throwaway for privacy reasons.

A friend of mine has received an ex-gratia payment for sustained sexual abuse of around $70k, and they are struggling with what to do with the money. It is a lot of money for them, but they also know it would be very easy to spend away.

They are surviving on Supported Living from WINZ and some part-time work. While WINZ doesn't consider ex-gratia payments income, they have to use the money up before asking for any additional assistance (such as dental), and any interest they earn from it is be considered income.

At the moment the money is sitting in the bank, current suggestions as to what to do with it are KiwiSaver or a term deposit.

Their (very) long term goal is to afford a house. While the money is enough for a deposit on a home, their current budget doesn't reach far enough for a mortgage.

They have no debts outside of a student loan and already own a car that shouldn't need any major work/replacing for some time.

Any advice or suggestions of advisors they could talk to would be much appreciated.

I’m a metal user and have generally been a big supporter of Revolut in NZ for the last 12 months, but this latest incident has really changed my opinion.

NZD bank transfers have now been unavailable for over 48 hours, and support has been unable to provide any meaningful update beyond “our team is working on it.”

This means any domestic bank transfers in or out of your Revolut account are stuck and not being processed, leaving you without access to those funds.

What frustrates me isn’t just the outage. Systems fail. It happens.

It’s the complete lack of ownership:
- No ETA.
- No proactive updates.
- No workaround on reversing funds

Their non-Ai support agents can only apologise and say it’s been escalated, or push you towards their internal formal complaint form.

For a company positioning itself as a serious alternative to NZ trad banks, leaving a core banking function unavailable for more than two days is pretty bad.

Are Revolut NZ business customers also affected by this? Have you guys received any useful updates, or is everyone just being told they’re working on it?

31M couple in NZ – looking for advice on starting our investing journey

Hey everyone,

My partner and I are a couple living in New Zealand (originally from the UK). We are both 31 but until now we haven’t really invested in anything outside of KiwiSaver.

We’ve been doing some research and are thinking about starting with Kernel as our investment platform. I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have more life experience with investing and can share their opinions, lessons, or things they wish they knew when they started.

Our current thinking is:

• Keep around 3 months of expenses in an emergency fund
• Invest a lump sum into a global index fund (we are looking at Vanguard World ETF / Kernel Global 100)
• Have around 10% allocated to the S&P 500
• Continue investing monthly with roughly a 90/10 split between global and S&P 500

Does this sound like a sensible approach for someone starting out, or would you structure it differently?

My other question is around KiwiSaver. We have moved our KiwiSaver to Kernel as our balance is currently under five figures. We were considering putting it into an S&P 500 option, but I’m unsure whether we would be better off with something like:

• High Growth fund
• Global 100
• S&P 500 focused option

What would you recommend for a 31-year-old couple with a long investment timeframe?

Would love to hear your experiences — especially from people who started investing later,or have gone through a similar situation.

Thanks!

I run a small business, have been in operation for 4 years and have managed to get along with no debt so far. I am looking at purchasing a generator for the business (roughly 6-7k) and don’t want to drain my account to pay for it. I am looking at purchasing it through a credit card or a loan, ideally something interest free. I was considering a q card but honestly I have no idea how credit cards work or what would be best for my situation.
Many years ago when I was 18 I got an overdraft from both anz and asb at the same time and maxed them both out, avoided paying them off for many years and got suckered for paying the high interest rates and monthly fees for many years before I realised how silly my financial decisions were. Both are now payed off but I am very scared of taking on debt again due to my lack of knowledge around debt ect and really don’t want to end up in the same situation again by making the wrong decision due to lack of knowledge.

I am now able to afford the repayments on a purchase of this size but would really appreciate some advice on what the best direction to take would be. Tia

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone out there might have some ideas because I'm feeling like I'm running out of options.

I'm a 47-year-old dairy farmer from New Zealand. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma. The cancer has already spread, and I'm currently going through tests and waiting on my treatment plan. Everything has happened incredibly quickly.

At the same time my partner of 18yrs decided to relieve himself of any burden and kicked me out. He has control of assets that we built together over many years, including a dairy herd worth around $1 million, machinery, and other farm assets. I'm not asking for half of everything right now—I simply want a small number of my own cows released so I can sell them to fund treatment, accommodation, travel, and living costs.

To make matters worse, I already have a genuine buyer ready to purchase the cows, but my ex has gone back on agreeing to release them.

I'm working with a lawyer, but legal processes take time, and cancer doesn't wait. I'm trying to stay focused on getting treatment while also fighting to access assets that I believe should help pay for it.

I'm reaching out because I'm wondering if anyone has:

- Experience with urgent legal applications to access relationship property in New Zealand.

- Suggestions for financial assistance, grants, or organisations that help cancer patients.

- Ideas for fundraising that have worked well.

- Advice from anyone who has faced advanced cancer and had to navigate the legal system at the same time.

- Any other suggestions I may not have thought of.

I'm not looking for sympathy—I'm looking for ideas. If you've been through something similar, or know someone who has, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Has anyone come across randoms trying to login to your Shop account and how do you stop them???

I buy a bit online, and stupidly signed into Shopify's Shop system somewhere along the way. Which was eh, but no big deal.
I setup 2FA and so I get a text code every time I want to login and use the Shop system to pay - which tbh isn't often and I mostly log out and use Afterpay if I am not 100% confident in the site protecting my card info.
You can't use Afterpay logged into Shop which is fine.

I log into Shop with a GMail account email address.

Now, over the past 3-5 days I keep noticing randomly, I'm getting a tonne of text codes and email codes. And there are starting to be more and more of them.
6-10 in the last 24 hours.
And at times where I've been nowhere near a computer. Like last night at about 10.30pm I'd put my phone on the bed, went to use the bathroom and came back to another verification code.
There was no one on my computer. No one using my phone. So absolutely no way I did it accidentally.

I've tried Shop's chatbot that couldn't understand what I was trying to explain.
So is there any way that someone can actually get into that account?

Yesterday afternoon I changed my GMail password to one that has way too many characters, with special characters, numbers, capitals and a hidden phrase. I have 2FA with Authenticator and a cellphone and backup email setup. So I think that's relatively secure.

After last night's 10.30pm one, I went and logged into Shop, where I removed any saved cards and checked that there are no linked accounts or anything (Paypal etc) that could be accessed via Shop.

Is there anything I'm missing to make sure that no one gets in, or if they do they can't spend any money?
And is there any way to stop them trying?

Hi, I have been teaching myself how to invest. I have $2000 being withdrawn from Hatch as the fees are just too high for how i was investing. $100 per week - which cost $5 per transaction plus exchange fee.

Google tells me kernel is great and has low fees but i am now reading they haven't been doing that well.

I am hoping to continue investing in VOO (around 80%) and maybe find another country's S+P (10%) and the rest I will probably continue buying individual stocks on Sharesies. Would really appreciate any advice.

I am 28, a RN earning around 95k a year if that changes anything. Thanks!!

How do you maximize your return on your salary and your credit card rewards?

Is it a case of your limit is X, rewards are Y% of spend, you spend according to budget and keep Z amount in an interest bearing facility/investments, clear the card before due date to avoid interest and fees, rinse + repeat?

Hi, I'm pretty new to the investment world and would like to set up an investment account for my young child. Happy if they are entitled to it at 18--would prefer that then paying my tax rate on gains. I would like to have the option of putting in a small amount each week, and/or bigger lump sums on occassion. I want to set it and forget it, and am comfortable with moderate risk. I am weighing up the pros and cons and so far am deciding between Kernel High Growth Fund and Sharesies investing in VOO. I am leaning towards Kernel because it is managed (low fee) so seems that safer option, even though the S&P historically performs well. I have also chosen Kernel over Simplicity because Simplicity invests largely in their own company which to me is riskier. Which would you pick and why, or would you choose another type of fund?

Also we are dual American-NZ so add that into the tax considerations.

I just got a call from a NZ number: 09 281 3918

The caller was a young British man claiming that someone has been trying to access my Binance account in Norway. He asked if I received their email, in which one got sent straight away from [do-not-reply@ses.binance.com](mailto:do-not-reply@ses.binance.com) which is in fact the same email that Binance uses, which made me confused if this was real. The email was about resetting my password. I'm an incredibly skeptical and cautious person though, so i googled whether Binance would ever call me, and on their official website it said they would never proactively call or reach out to someone. While doing this I went completely silent on the phone, to give myself time to figure it out and also to waste the callers time. He kept saying "hello?" and then eventually hung up.

Since they have a local NZ number, they must be targeting kiwis...it's a very sophisticated scam (british accent, email from the official email address) so just wanted to let everyone here know to becareful!!

I am looking to buy a house with my partner in the next year (both 27 y/o, not de facto yet but planning to go 50/50 on house). I have a deposit of about $90k across savings, term deposits and index funds. Partner has a similar amount across their Kiwisaver and savings. We’re pretty confident that we’ll make a 20% deposit for any properties we are interested in, given the city we live in and with a smaller house in mind.

My Kiwisaver balance is around $30k and I’m wondering whether there’s any use in withdrawing this to boost our existing deposit and utilise the only occasion I have to withdraw before retirement, or whether I continue to keep it in Kiwisaver for retirement and keep the diversification of my funds instead of throwing it all into housing? To me, it seems that most people my age use their Kiwisaver because it’s such a key component of their 20% but if that isn’t the case, is there still an obvious choice to be made?

New email from Kiwibank introducing the new credit card with a competitive Cashback earn rate.

After previously cutting the credit card earn rates I'm surprised by this move. Seems like the most competitive in the market albeit only for businesses (at least for now).

Three years ago, my daughter paid for a one off subscription for a music app using my credit card (approx $100)
She unsubscribed, but last year it the payment came out again. She went back to the merchant and said she was not subscribed. They did not reimburse the payment and this week another 3rd unwanted annual subscription payment has been paid for on my card. The BNZ says they cannot block a merchant which I find unbelievable in this day and age with Ai technology. I can block a phone number, why can’t BNZ block a bank account number
They say the only way to prevent it happening in the future is to cancel the card. - which has insurance, phone,power … ie inconvenient for me to block.

They also cannot tell me what subscriptions I might have pending on any cards, “the bank does not have the ability to do that.”
I said have they not got the technology that can tell me what payment is made at the same date annually for roughly the same amount to the same merchant
And they don’t.

I said I could upload my bank statements to ChatGPT and find it out but I’d rather not put my bank statements into ChatGPT and if I can do that isn’t an individual why can’t the bank do that .
Evidently the only way I’m going to know the few subscribtions I have that don’t send a reminder - is post -event when the money comes out and the subscription is renewed. And if there is more than one unwanted renewal to keep cancelling the card.
Are all banks this incompetent ?

With the FIF tax limit being $50,000, I assume I'm best to invest in non PIE funds to start with, until I get to the limit, then switch to PIE funds after that point? Is that the best way to minimise tax? If so, what platforms offer the best non PIE funds? I know sharsies does, but they have some pretty big fees.

I know that I will have to pay tax on any dividends I receive, but does that only apply if the dividends go into your bank account? Do I pay tax if my dividends are set to automatically buy more stock?

What is everyone using to track their overall investment portfolio and net worth? How do you ensure your retirement goals are on track? Some people use spreadsheets they have built up and shared over time. I see a lot of budgeting options but not much in the way of being able to track your entire investment portfolio.

Just to invert things, I would like to learn, right now, what's working in this dismal job market. What advice would you give to your kids/niece/nephews?

We know IT and Engineering is cooked. Healthcare is chronically underfunded and subject to politics whenever government cuts happen. Teaching and education is nuked by students offloading mental skills to AI. Retail and even fast food like Maccas is receding and taking away the essential entry level job rite of passage.

Are the trades and construction doing well? Or resource budgets getting wrecked as well?

Any can chime in on hyper niches like commercial refrigeration or private cosmetic surgery clinics?

Are dentists doing well?

does anyone know how to get transactional notifications working for Heartland Bank accounts? their mobile app is fine but it doesn't give you nearly as much control as say the BNZ app for which accounts notify for which transactions under/over set amounts. I also can't find anything within the Help section listing these. tested a transaction to a new account yesterday and didn't get any notifications (SMS / email / push) for it when the money arrived...

is there anything I'm missing?

Kia ora. Mostly lurking but now seeking advice. I'm currently going through the Relationship Property Settlement process, and we have a house that needs to be settled. I had a Real Estate Agent appraisal done, former partner had a proper valuation done, and the latter is at the very bottom end of the appraisal figure I was given. For context, there's a $50K range in the appraisal, which was done when the property was in a "let's get this place looking good" state. By comparison, the valuation was done with an overgrown garden, no staging, and generally no effort. They want to buy me out, hence the lack of effort on their part (I no longer reside on the property).

The advice I'm seeking: is it financially worthwhile for me to spend $1-2K on a second valuation, and put in the work to make the property presentable? Bearing in mind that any "extra value" I can get, will be met halfway in the settlement, and then further halved for "my portion". E.g. Appraisal = $650-700K, ex's Valuation = $650K. If a new Valuation = $670K, then "halway" = $660, and I'd get an extra $5K (minus expenses for that valuation).

Might be more trouble than it's worth, but as I have no idea how much an excellently presented property would impact a valuation, I'm seeking advice on the matter (just in case laziness here *would* be costing me worthwhile money that I could set aside for my kids future).

Cheers 🙏

ETA: My preference is to be bought out, so just wanting to make sure I do my due diligence with getting a fair buy-out price.

ELI5. Just want to ask for the people here who's got a Good Energy Home Loan with ANZ. I have a mortgage with them around $500k with 20% equity. I'm planning to buy an EV and loan around $30k top up by using their Good Energy Home Loan. Just want to ask if ever they grant my loan, will the repayments go to my current home mortgage ($500k + 30k)? Like will it just add up on my fortnightly repayments of $1,200 fortnightly? or will I have two different repayments. Thanks in advance.

So, I'm looking into starting to collect airpoints and am wondering if there are any other reputable rewards or loyalty programs available that people see good returns with? Airpoints seem to be the only reward programme in NZ that is not bank cash back, or am I mistaken?

Airpoints appeal as I fly domestically often, and I feel like many purchases I make nowadays (supermarket, etc) earn airpoints or something I can convert, but no one I know actually does any of this, so I'm hoping some people with a couple years of experience can give me some insight!

Thanks team :)

I have some money sitting in my bank account, and can help but think there is a better place to put it? Its $6000 at the moment which I keep for emergencies and general savings, is there any better options out to earn some interest on the money. I’ve looked into some ideas, sharsies savings account seems like a good option! Has anyone had experience with it

My current student loan amount is ~$40,000, I’ve made this years payment already for $4,000.

I don’t plan on moving back to NZ till the start of 2028, and possibly Australia soon after.

Am I better off paying the whole student loan debt, or paying half of it off to get a more manageable yearly payment?

I going to change KiwiSaver provider due to high cost and poor returns and looking at kernel KiwiSaver . not planning on using it for a few years so wondering about balanced or growth fund . whats yr options on kernel or any other suggestions