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Voiceover by Te Kahukura: Welcome to How We Money. Brought to you by Māori Millionaire and ANZ. A six-part series designed to help you make better money moves and achieve your financial goals. Each month will drop a simple, practical episode to help you build confidence with your cash. Māori Millionaire and ANZ care deeply about financial wellbeing in our communities, which is why we want you to not just listen but to take action. If you do one positive thing after every episode, that's six powerful steps forward. Let's get into it.
Te Kahukura: Mauri ora e te whānau. Nau mai, hoki mai. Today we are talking all about KiwiSaver and why it should matter to all of us. Today we are sitting here with Aaliyah Tainui – nau mai haere mai e hua. Welcome to How We Money.
Aaliyah: Tena koe Te Kahukura.
Te Kahukura: Kia ora. I'm so excited for our wānanga today, but I thought it would be really awesome to just get started by introducing yourself – Ko wai koe? Nō hea koe?
Aaliyah: Kia ora my name is Aaliyah Tainui. I was born and raised in Kirikiriroa. I've got a small, tight-knit family, we're all super close. I spent a lot of my time growing up down in Kirikiriroa. Did a stint in Pōneke. And then I've been in Tāmaki Makaurau for maybe the last 3 to 4 years. Um, really enjoying life here in Tamaki. I've always said to myself that I wouldn't end up here. Yeah, here I am
Te Kahukura: Too much traffic.
Aaliyah: Yeah, exactly, here I am on the grind, but I'm really enjoying my job as an Investment Advisor for ANZ Bank. I've been here for just almost a year now and just really thriving.
Te Kahukura: Rawe, I'm really excited to talk about KiwiSaver. I think there's a lot of misconceptions about what KiwiSaver is. So, I guess let's get started with like, in simple terms, what is KiwiSaver and why should it matter to us?
Aaliyah: Āi, so KiwiSaver is a long term investment savings scheme. It is a government scheme, and it is also voluntary. So, we do say that it's a voluntary scheme, but I'm encouraging all the listeners, all investors to consider that they invest into the KiwiSaver.
Te Kahukura: Awesome. So, I think one of the biggest things that people don't really understand about KiwiSaver are the potential risks or the potential returns also of KiwiSaver. So, how? What's like a simple way to kind of understand it? If you're new to KiwiSaver, you know, what happens with all the money that you know, you put in your KiwiSaver account.
Aaliyah: Ai. So, KiwiSaver, the way it works is it's sort of an investment. It's a fund made up of lots of little different investments or what we would call assets. And when I refer to assets would you kind of understand what I would mean there.
Te Kahukura: Yeah. So, you know, things that grow in value over time.
Aaliyah: Yeah. So, the assets would be things that have the potential to grow much more than cash would, such as leaving it in a savings account with the bank.
Aaliyah: So, the KiwiSaver was made up of and we're talking thousands of assets in each of the funds, and you would have an ownership of a slice of each of those assets that we call them. And what that has the potential for is a much higher return over a cash and savings account. But also, it has that risk that it might not have returns or the risk of it going up and down over time. So, I can jump more into that if you like.
Te Kahukura: Yeah, definitely. I guess like for listeners who, you know, maybe this is their first time hearing about KiwiSaver. Like what are some of those assets that you speak about are, you know, they what are they.
Aaliyah: Yeah. Perfect. So, the assets are things like shares. So, for example a share is a slice of an ownership in a company. So, say for example I've got a share in Microsoft. So, I am now the rightful owner of a tiny little slice of Microsoft. However much I am wanting to buy into it. And in exchange for me buying a part of their company, they would pay, um, what we call dividends. So, they might pay a small amount to me. Um, that goes into my investments, and that's kind of the exchange that happens there. And with a share, you can have the ups, but you can also have the downs. There is potential that I'm sorry to drop Microsoft, but there is a potential that Microsoft might not perform for a certain period of time. And so, the price of that can also go down. Um, but we're all hoping that the price goes up over time.
Te Kahukura: Rawe. So, I think there's two, two different ways that, you know, you can get returns from investments. You know, there's the dividends. Um, are you able to speak to the other way that you're able to, you know, increase the value of those assets?
Aaliyah: Yeah, absolutely. So, with the shares, you can also get what we call capital growth. So, that's when when you're owning a slice of a company, they might do well over a long term. And so the value of their company is going to grow and grow. And so that slice that you own by, you know, by comparison is also going to grow.
Te Kahukura: What would you say the biggest incentive would be for people to, you know, do KiwiSaver because from, you know, for someone who's like listening and they're like, well, you know, it could go up, it could go down. It kind of seems a bit like, well, you know, at least if it's in my savings account, I can see it, I can access it. And I've heard a lot of people going like, oh, like it's locked up. You can't access it. So, like, why would someone want to put their money into their KiwiSaver if one, you know, you're not guaranteed going to get, you know, that capital growth or the dividends, you know. Are there other incentives within KiwiSaver that makes it enticing for people.
Aaliyah: Oh yeah, good pātai. There's a few things that I would comment on there. So, there are a few benefits with being in specifically a KiwiSaver. To start off with, you can get employer contributions if you are eligible. And so that means that if you are working for a company or an employer, they are they have a compulsory contribution that they have to make towards your KiwiSaver. As long as you're contributing an equal amount and every contract is different. So, I would encourage everyone to read their contracts. So, the other benefit would be the government contributions. So, with the government contributions they will be putting in a certain amount up to a maximum that they have agreed upon. So, it's basically free money as long as you're contributing to your KiwiSaver. They will put in a certain amount for you as well.
Te Kahukura: That's honestly one of my favourite things about it because, you know, when we think about investing, there's no guarantees when you invest your pūtea. But one of the things that I really love is that each and every year I know, you know, subject to the government changing potential at what their contribution will be. But at the moment, you know, if I were to invest $1,042 to get $261, a lot of people look at that and they're like, oh, it's only $200 bucks. But, you know, if I saw $200 on the side of the road, you know, like that's cool. You know, that's still a win. So, I feel like that's an awesome thing. But also, to have if, say, for example, you've got an employer match of, you know, 3% and say you're putting in 3%, that's 100% return on, you know, just that 3%. And I feel like that's nothing to like turn down. What? Why do you think some people do, you know, not get into KiwiSaver or avoid it?
Aaliyah: Yeah, that's a really good question. Like you said, there are, with the employer and government contributions, it's free money. Um, there aren't a lot of investments out there, and I can attest to that, that will double your money or, you know, give you 25% back on what you've put in. So, that in itself, should be a really good motivation. But for other people that are considering whether or not they want to go into a long-term investment, I think the thing that gets them the most is the risk. So, actually, I did really want to talk about this today is the, when we talk about risk and investments, it is slightly different to what we would talk about, you know, just risk in general. So, when you hear a risk, I mean, what would, what would you think? Immediately off the top of your head.
Te Kahukura: Something going wrong?
Aaliyah: Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, the house is burning up in flames. And, you know, something has gone terribly wrong. When we're talking about risk in investments, it really is just referring to the ups and downs that you might experience in your KiwiSaver or in whatever investment that you're in.
Te Kahukura: Like houses and other things as well.
Aaliyah: Yeah, property too. So, there is always the chance that it's going to go up and down. The risk side of things, so whether it's high or low risk is how frequent it will go up and down, and maybe how extreme. So, if you're in a lower risk fund in terms of KiwiSaver, they might have a conservative or lower risk fund. None of them are without risk. But that would have a lot less ups and downs and less frequent and then the higher risk ones you'd expect lots of ups and downs. It might make people quite uncomfortable, and that tends to be that risk part tends to be the reason why people might be a bit, you know, hesitant to go into a KiwiSaver or any other type of investment.
Te Kahukura: So, you know, in my own experience when I, you know, I’m looking at my KiwiSaver, there's different portfolios you can have, you know, you can have a higher risk one, you can have a medium one or a lower risk one. So, many different options there. What would you, you know, say would be the best way for someone to be able to find out? You know, should I be in a high risk one? Should I be in a low risk one? Because I think some people look at this and they go, high risk means like high growth. And I feel like that's something important to kōrero about – how does one identify what's their risk tolerance and which one they might consider being part of?
Aaliyah: Definitely. So, the risk tolerance would be dependent on so many factors. So, for the first part you would want to make sure that you know yourself. So, the issue with risk really is if you take too much risk and then it freaks you out. So, when you're thinking about should I go for the the high, high risk one and just chase the returns? Then you would want to think, can I handle the ups and downs, when it roller coasters and it's up and down? Am I going to be able to handle that or will I switch my fund out or, you know, sell at the wrong time? So, that is the the biggest issue. So, if you feel like you can't handle that then it might be worth thinking taking a step down. The other factor is the time frame and the goals that you have. So, for for example, for younger investors, if they have decades until retirement and it's locked in, locked in till 65, KiwiSaver. So, if they've got decades to go, they've actually got more time to wait out those ups and downs. Um, and for the fact that it's locked in, you can see it, but you can't really do much about it except for change providers or change the fund that you're in. So, those sorts of investors can afford to take a bit more risk, more ups and downs. Whereas someone who might be close to purchasing their first home, for example. So, KiwiSaver is available at your retirement at 65, currently. Um, or it's available for your first home withdrawal. So, that's another thing that Kiwi will use them for. So, if you're coming close to buying your first home as well, then going super high risk might not be the greatest, might not be the greatest idea for you because you're going to have more ups and downs when it's time to withdraw it for the house. If your Fund is not worth as much as you may be put in or as much as you need it to be, then you're going through that risk of having to withdraw it and it not being maybe quite enough or not being as much as you wanted it to be. So, that's another thing. The time frame is huge, and what your goals are, as to how much risk someone might be able to take or what fund they should choose.
Te Kahukura: This is so interesting. And for those listening, I've got an ANZ Fund Chooser Tool down in the show notes below if you guys want to have a look at that.
Te Kahukura: But I think that one of the things that people might struggle with is, okay, you know what? If they aren't investors yet, how will they know how they're going to feel if you know it goes down? So, if it's, you know, if this how you feel is like a component of this, of that risk factor, how do they know when they're just getting started? Maybe they've not made an investment yet. This is their first ever time investing. What would you say to them? Like what should they do if they're like, this is all a little bit crazy. This is all a little bit overwhelming. Like, what would that first step be for them to actually find out? Are they doing the right thing or could they be in a different fund that's better for them? What do they do?
Aaliyah: Oh yeah. No, that is a really, really good question. So, if you haven't previously experienced before, it's kind of a hard thing to imagine. Like you've put money into an account and all of a sudden, it's going up and down. That's not really a normal thing that you would experience. So, I mean, I could use an analogy of someone who collects those, you know, Pokémon cards or the baseball cards. This is something that I've thought about before. If you have pooled something that's worth quite a lot of money and you think, you know, I'm going to keep this for the long term, hopefully I can, I can sell it later at a later date and it will be worth a lot. And then something happens. Say we're talking about the baseball cards. The guy who you've got, the athlete, has gone through an injury, and all of a sudden, the the value of his card is no longer worth what it was worth before. So, maybe it's actually worth less than you paid for it and you need to sell it or get out. The analogy here is thinking would you then sell it and go, nah, I'm out. I don't want it to lose value any more than it already has. Um, you know, I made a mistake, but I'm just going to back out now before I lose more. Or do you think, you know, potentially he will recover from the injury, and I think things will be sweet. And his, you know, in his career will make a recovery.
Te Kahukura: Maybe he'll come back better than ever.
Aaliyah: Exactly. You know, maybe he goes to this whole marketing thing and then everyone loves him because he's just like.
Te Kahukura: Mindset game is on point. And he's just, like, changing the game.
Aaliyah: Exactly. Yeah. And then, you know, after a few years pass, it's worth way more than it was before. So that kind of is a situation that you might be able to put your, put your, you know, feet in those shoes and see how would I react to that. So, at the end of the day, it's if I opened my bank account, you know, on your app and you saw that your balance was quite heavily down, would you then freak out and panic? Would you feel uncomfortable or would you kind of go, yeah, this is part of the investments. You know, I listen to that podcast and and they were saying, you know, stay the course. So that's yeah, that's kind of a good way that you can picture yourself in those shoes.
Te Kahukura: I once had someone come to me and they said, oh my gosh Te Kahukura my like KiwiSaver is down like heaps of money, like what's happening, like why is this happening – what do I do now? You know, what would you say to people who are freaking out? Because I feel as though as much as this is a, you know, different people have different risk tolerances, I also feel like the more you understand KiwiSaver, the risk of you potentially getting very fearful if it were to go, you know, possibly down a little bit. If you understand how the markets work, then you're probably less likely to be as intimidated when things go down. For example, when I see mine go down, I'll go, you know, kei te pai, you know, these things happen. And as much as we can't guarantee future returns of things, I am of the mindset that I'm in this for the long, the long course. And so I don't really worry. I don't check it often, you know, and that's something that, I think previously I very much felt anxiously attached to it. So I would see it go down, I would freak out and I'd be like, what do I do? And now, I just understand that I'm in this for the long game, and so it doesn't impact me emotionally anymore. But if someone is in that state, where they are getting quite triggered or upset when it goes down, what should they think? What could they think about doing?
Aaliyah: Yeah. So, I mean, the panic is so real, it can be a really uncomfortable thing, especially if you've not grown up around a lot of money or if you know, you had some sort of a scarcity mindset, which is really common for a lot of people. And so it can be super scary when you see that balance go down. So, I mean, for example, I had a KiwiSaver during the Covid period and, you know, I was in the workforce and everything, and I had my nice little tidy KiwiSaver balance. And I, if I recall, it dropped by like $5 - $10,000. And at that age, that was a lot of money. And I, I kind of understood what was happening. But at the same time, it was it was very scary. I didn't make any changes at that time. And so I think for someone who is panicking and getting scared, yes, education is is part of it, but it's just knowing that with an investment, like we talked about assets before, everything is going to go up and down at some point because the the assets that you own will, say, if you had that slice in the company every day, they're going to perform slightly differently.Um, or refer back to the, the, the baseball cards. So, some the, the baseball cards is a good example because the market is made up of other people that want to buy your baseball cards. That is exactly the same with investments, is that the market is made up of all these other investors. So, as much as we don't like to think it, the market is tied to the human psyche and the human emotion like it's tied to the rest of the world. So, when we all panic, something happens in the news that, you know, triggers us, there's wars overseas, there's political turmoil, it makes us feel very uncomfortable. And for the majority, even if we don't want to, people start to panic and they feel very uncomfortable. And so that will change the value of the assets. What people want to buy, they might just retreat back into safety and security. And so when you yourself have seen a drop in the balance, all it is is a reflection of what everybody else is thinking. So you might be able to sort of change that mindset, have a little shift and think, can I, do I want to follow everybody else in their footsteps or can I just kind of, you know, sit here and wait and have a little bit of faith in the, um, you know, and how it will it'll turn out in the long run. Part of it going up and down and kind of freaking out and getting into that panic mindset. One thing I would really urge investors not to do is changing their fund at that time, because say that you're the price of all the assets that you hold in your investment or in your KiwiSaver, they will have all gone down and that's what's reflecting in your balance. That's why you're seeing less money in there. So, the time that you're looking at your balance and it's down, everything is actually on sale. If you want to just change the mindset there, everything that you own in there is on sale. So, what you would not want to do when something's on sale is sell it yourself. No one's going to buy it at the price it's worth. No one wants to, and they're going to make the most out of having the, you know, everything's on discount. Like when you would go to the store. So, similarly, what you could do is think you know everything, the price of everything is down, can I also consider buying more myself? Do I want to buy everything on sale? I mean, it's a good idea in, you know, in theory. That's something that I would recommend to investors is, similarly with like changing your fund, you can't withdraw it if it's in a KiwiSaver and it's locked in if you're ineligible. But changing your funds is also a way of, um, selling the assets that you own in there. So, if I was in a higher risk fund and then I wanted to change into one that was a little bit lower risk. All the assets that I owned and there do need to be sold. They need to be rearranged. And so what I'm doing is I am what we call crystallising the loss. You've set everything in stone, the time that you sell it, if it's down, but it's just in your KiwiSaver balance and you don't touch it, it still has the opportunity to go back up again.
Te Kahukura: I love the way that you, you talk about this because it makes it so simple and easy to understand.
Aaliyah: Speaking of, when people get into a panic and because things are at a lower price, it's very similar to the housing market. For example, if you had a house that you wanted to sell. Um, but there was no pressure to have to sell that. Like last year, the prices were at a low point. So, you wouldn't necessarily sell your house if you didn't have to. When everything's on sale, you would wait for a little bit and then hopefully the the housing market, the buyers that want to buy, the price would increase. And then you'd be able to kind of get what you put into it or get what you'd hoped for. Um, so it's very similar with the KiwiSaver and the investments that are underneath your, um, that are within your KiwiSaver.
Te Kahukura: So, just like, quite simply, what would those steps be for someone who wants to find out what kind of fund they might consider investing in?
Aaliyah: Yeah, definitely. So, every provider will have a range of KiwiSaver funds that you can choose from. And that's simply because, I mean, no, there's no size fits all approach for investing. Everyone has different goals, different time frame, different risk tolerance like we were talking about. And so you would be choosing between sort of a spectrum of funds. And so they would range from the lower risk to the higher risk, where the lower risk ones will have a little bit more, a little bit more of an exposure to what we call safer assets, um, income assets, a little bit of cash. And, you know, let me know if I'm diving too much into the detail here.
Te Kahukura: No, I love that. I think that this was important for people to know, because a lot of people don't really know what their KiwiSaver is actually invested into. So, I think that it's helpful information for people to, you know, what is what what, actually is in a lower risk fund, what actually is in a medium risk fund. So, I'd love to hear this.
Aaliyah: Absolutely. So, I'll explain the, the spectrum. You know, you'd have your safer assets that we like to call them, lower risk but also might have a lower return. And then on the other side of that spectrum, you've got the higher risk. So, it's more in the shares like I mentioned earlier, more in the type of assets that can go up and down over time, but the trade-off for the ups and downs is that you'd potentially have a higher return. So, down at the end to the lower risk spectrum there is. So, there's cash, there's cash equivalents. So, that's like a term deposit and then they're also made up of bonds. So, that would be a large majority of what's made up in those funds. A bond is sort of like a a bond is like a certificate that you would hold that shows that you've lent some money to a large corporation, like a government or a super large bank, um, or just a huge company. And in return they will pay you also dividends, like we mentioned before. So, they would pay you every, you know, every now and then what you've decided on with them. Um, and so that is less risky because you're kind of working with a government saying, what's the what's the chances that the government falls over or a corporation, so, a company that's very, very well established in the community in the country. So, the chances of them not being able to pay you is very, very low. And so that's what the, the lower side is made up of with a little bit of shares mixed in, a little bit of extra things mixed in so that you do have some growth. So, when you're sitting down to think which fund to go into, the risk tolerance comes into question.
And the time frame that you have is also another thing to consider. So, for example, if I am if I've already bought my first home so my KiwiSaver can only come out at 65 and I'm at the age I am in early 20s, then I would be, I would have, you know, decades of time to wait out some of the ups and downs that the market might present to me.
And in that case, I would, I can really afford to to see my balance go down. So, I would be looking towards the higher risk. And that's kind of personal to me. Um, and then someone who might be getting ready to actually buy that first home would look at the lower risk ones, because, like I said, the chances of it falling over was a lot lower. There are still some ups and downs, but you're not going to experience such a huge drop in the balance. Hopefully, before you need to withdraw the funds.
Te Kahukura: I've noticed recently a large appetite for people to be investing ethically and things that really matter to them. And I think some people are a little bit unsure of how they can be ethical investors. Do you think that within KiwiSaver there is the freedom to be able to ethically invest?
Aaliyah: Yeah, absolutely. So, a lot of providers will give to you a document, a very long, wordy document about their own responsible investing framework so that can detail that they don't invest in tobacco, they don't invest in firearms, and they don't invest in certain other things that people might not align with. So, it's very important that you would look into that yourself as well, because everyone is different. Some people are okay with investing in SkyCity. So, gambling and some people are very, very against it. So, it is up to the KiwiSaver provider that you go to. Some are very open about what they do. Very transparent. And if ethical investing is important to you, I would definitely recommend going towards the providers that have, you know, all the transparency. So, they have a framework. They might even have an entire list of what they currently invest in. If you're interested in that, it'll be a very long list. Um, but there are ways that you can make sure that you're not investing in things that you don't believe in.
Te Kahukura: What do you think are the most common mistakes people make when it comes to KiwiSaver?
Aaliyah: Yeah, this is this is a really good question to get into. So, there are quite a few things and I will just I'll dive into the first one. Is having your contribution rate too low is a big common mistake that people might make. So, when you first invest into a KiwiSaver, what you do is you opt in, maybe it's your first job or you've um, there was, you know, back in time when KiwiSaver was first introduced, you had to opt in yourselves. Um, and so opting in, you choose your rate that you want to contribute it, you choose the fund that you want to go into and then all all are set up for you. People then make the mistake of never revisiting this choice that they originally made. So, if you have invested at a 3% contribution rate, and then your income might slowly rise over time and hopefully your expenses don't raise too much with that. You've got a little bit of extra income that you can contribute to your KiwiSaver, and at the end of the day, that's your money that you're going to get when you retire or if you haven't bought your first home, then you'd use it then.
So, it's really important that people reconsider whether that's right for them. And similarly with the right fund type. Some people are on a default KiwiSaver scheme which just chooses for them. Some people choose what they feel comfortable with at the time, but things change. Um, you gain more education over time. You also will have different goals. Some people, you know, the things that should trigger this choice of checking in on your KiwiSaver fund is, um, you know, you've had your first kid or you're planning to have kids, you've bought your first home already. So, you know, is it now chance to increase the risk that you're exposed to because you won't be able to touch it until you're 65? Um, or are you coming up to retirement? Is it time to maybe go a little bit less risky? Make sure that you kind of preserve what you've already, you know, worked so hard to get to. Um, so those are a couple of things.
Te Kahukura: So, as opposed to like an annual check-in, you would say if there are significant life changes, someone could consider looking at revisiting it like, you know, but like annually might not be the right kind of frequency.
Aaliyah: Totally. I think the issue is checking your KiwiSaver too frequently, and some people can be really, you know, they're interested in it, or they like to check their money and it makes them feel comfortable when they know what's in there. But you also run the risk of looking at it at the wrong time and just freaking yourself out for no reason. And so the most important time that you would want to check it is when there are significant changes to your own situation, not what's happening in the market.
Te Kahukura: That's, that's really helpful. I had someone recently, they said Te Kahukura, is now a good time to be investing? And I said to them, every time, it's good to invest. You know, the best time to start investing was yesterday. And the second best is today. Would you say that that's the right mindset someone should have when they're considering investing?
Aaliyah: I totally, absolutely agree with that. One of the biggest things that I wanted to bring up was the the power of the compounding interest.
Aaliyah: Yeah, absolutely. Compound interest is one of the most powerful, um, most powerful things with your investment that is going to pay off in the long run. So, what it means is the interest that you gain over time is getting interest on your interest.
Te Kahukura: So, what's interest for those that don't know?
Aaliyah: Yeah. So, say I say I am investing $100 into an investment and to put money into an investment, I hope there would be some sort of return. So, in this example, let's say that I'm getting a 1% return. So, that's what I would refer to as interest. So, at the end of the first year I've got 1% return on my $100. I've got $101. The next year when, when all is done, I get another 1% on my on my current investment. And so, I'm getting 1% on $101, not on my initial $100. And that just compounds and compounds over time. So, you're not only getting interest on the first amount you put in, but also on on all the other interests that has gained over time. And so, the length of time that you're in it is a really, really powerful tool. So, you know, that's why starting early is so important.
Te Kahukura: So, when the rich talk about making their money work for them, is this what they're talking about?
Aaliyah: That's really what they're talking about. Yeah. The it's the power of like you haven't done anything differently. You know, you have not worked harder. You've not sweat harder. You've just you've just put your money there in a smart way where it's working. Yeah, it's working for you rather than the other way around.
Te Kahukura: I was speaking to a friend earlier today and she said, you know, it kind of feels like it's not it doesn't make sense. You know, she was like, I'm not working for this. Like, it doesn't make sense that it shouldn't. It should be. It should be harder. Do you think that we are kind of conditioned to believe that you know, I think, for example, one of the things I heard a lot growing up was that, you know, it's really hard to make a lot of money, but when you hear concepts like this where it seems rather simple, it can leave you feeling a little bit sceptical, like, is this legit? I remember when I was at high school, I told, you know, friends about investing and things like shares, and they were like, that sounds like a scam. So, you know, like, can you just for those who are like a little bit sceptical, this sounds like free money. Like, that doesn't sound real. You know, making money without working, making money off of money that you've made like that just sounds a little bit crazy to some people. Like, what would you say to those people?
Aaliyah: Yeah, no. And I totally understand where they're coming from. I definitely agree that we've been conditioned to sort of just just work hard. That's the only way you make money is you work hard and you save hard. But I'm kind of here to just debunk that, to be very honest with you. Um, it's just it's not entirely true. You should, you know, you should work hard for your money, but your money should also work out for you. It's not. It's not a scam. It's not a too good to be true. And those do exist out there. But in terms of things like compound interest, very, you know, simple kind of mathematical idea that time plus returns is just going to, you know, add up over time.
Uh, and yeah, just other things like taking on that little bit of risk or investing in things that have the potential to return more to you than cash. Um, those are the sorts of sorts of ideas that we have when we talk about investing. And that's the sort of the crux of investing and why I'm so interested and passionate about it is really changing, changing that mindset for a lot of people, because it can be really scary and daunting when, especially your entire, you know, you're in your entire belief system that you grew up with about money. Money is evil and money is bad. Um. And people who want money are greedy. It's felt like just completely changing that and relearning that there are ways that you can make your money work for you.
Te Kahukura: One of the things that I believe about pūtea, is that money doesn't change you, money amplifies who you are. So, if you, you know, are a if you're a bad person and you have more money, you could potentially do a lot more, you know, bigger bad things with more money. However, if you're good, if you have a heart of manaakitanga, if you care about your people, then with more pūtea you're able to, you know, amplify that. You're able to give more, you're able to help more. So, that's my my way of kind of reframing, because I heard that a lot of rich people are greedy and all of that kind of stuff. So, I think that, money in and of itself to me is a neutral thing.
Te Kahukura: Very quickly e te whānau if you are enjoying today's podcast episode, make sure to share it to your story and tag us. All right, back to the show.
Te Kahukura: I was very fortunate to have a mama who instilled in me at a young age. You know, KiwiSaver is a good idea and you should, uh, you should optimise this. And so when I got my first job, she told me that if I put it on the max contributions, if my first job is at the max, I'm never going to feel a full pay cheque. And so, she was like, if you get used to it when you're 13, then like when you're, you know, 22, it's not good. It's just going to be the same. You've you've never had 100% of your pay. But in saying that, you know, I've shared this with other people and I've been making some content lately about KiwiSaver and one of the biggest things that I've seen in the comments is like, no, KiwiSaver is a tax. Like it's just crazy. The government takes your money, you can't access it. Um, what what do you say in response to that?
Aaliyah: Oh absolutely not. KiwiSaver is not a tax. It's money that you're saving right now, and it's locked in for your benefit. That's the thing I want to share with people is that it is annoying that something could be locked away from you, but it's for it's sort of for your own benefit, right? If you can't access it until 65, there's no way you're going into it to buy that fancy car or to buy the new, I don't know, like gaming rig or whatever you're into. It's for your wellbeing when you're elderly and it's for all those sorts of it's for expenses and costs. Like it's not super exciting, but the government is not taking it off you. They're giving to you, they're giving it to you. They are literally contributing to you. So, yeah, I would definitely debunk the fact that it's a tax. Um, I mean, you can treat it as, you know, uh, out of sight, out of mind. I don't think about it. I don't need to see it, but it's. Yeah, it's not a tax in that sort of way.
Te Kahukura: So, we've heard from a KiwiSaver expert herself, e te whānau it is not a tax.
Te Kahukura: If, for example, you go to school and you learn about financial literacy, but you go home and your parents say, no, it's a scam, you shouldn't do this. How do you think this impacts us when we're thinking about things like KiwiSaver and whether or not we should do it, and what are some ways that we can change this mokopuna like for future generations? How can we shift this narrative so that more Māori and more Pasifika, more of everyone, are participating in something that supports us long term and generationally?
Aaliyah: You bring up a really good point about the disparity, the gaps in the KiwiSaver when we come to retirement. Um, so I recently attended sort of a seminar with Te Ara Ahunga Ora the Retirement Commission. They're doing a lot of work and they also have a lot of research behind them that supports the claims that, you know, Māori, Pasifika, um, women and elderly have a bit of a gap, quite a significant gap when we come to retirement in comparison to, in comparison to the others. So, there are a lot of reasons why that would be. Māori and Pasifika tend to be less likely to seek financial advice. Same with women and any other minority groups. It's just not something that they often consider or think about. And so it's really important that people, you know, expanding their knowledge and just seek the financial advice.
I mean, we're really lucky. I'm really lucky in the job that I do. We don't charge fees to our clients, but there is a lot of information out there. There's a lot of people willing to help, and you just have to go out there and make the first step. It's daunting, but it will help in the long run. You know people who do well with their money, they go to seek financial advice. You might think they're good with their money, so they don't need the advice. That's not how it works. They're good with their money. And so they upskill. They learn more, they go to a professional. Um, and even myself as a financial advisor, I would still go to a financial advisor because finance is so behavioural. Um, humans will always try to avoid, avoid, you know, pain and seek pleasure, and that often comes with making terrible financial decisions at the wrong time. Um, and, you know, they may become overcome with these fears. And so having a third party who's completely objective, um, is not in your shoes, they can just tell you what's up, and then you can make the decision from there. So, you know, rely on the third parties, rely on the professionals. Um, all it will do is help. What we can do as as people is educate ourselves and educate our friends and our whānau. So, you know, being in this role for me is very special. I can make sure that all my whānau are making the most use out of their KiwiSaver, ensuring that they're, you know, making sort of sound decisions and also not falling into the sort of scams and the the get rich quick. Um, I talk about KiwiSaver not being too good to be true. If there's something that gets you rich quick, it might be too good to be true.
Te Kahukura: It probably is, yeah?
Aaliyah: Um, these sorts of things take time, and that's why they're so powerful. What we can do, people like you and I, and people who find interest in it and have a passion for it, is just share your share your knowledge, share the mātauranga. It's just really important that everyone that's around you that you care about has access to the same information that you have. And going back to the to the rich, greedy conversation. Just imagine what their money can do for you in retirement. It can give you time away to take care of whānau members. It can make sure that you know, you keep the roof over your head, that you have a sense of community and everyone has looked after. It's it's not just about having money and sitting on it like, um, Scrooge McDuck. It's just like, we're not here to just hold it all for ourselves. But it will come a time where, you're no longer able to work. You don't have the physical strength to be able to bring in an income. And then at that point, you really if you haven't made the right choices along the way, you might start to, you know, have some regrets or and that's another side of risk that that people look at a KiwiSaver or some other investments, and they hear the term high risk. Um, but it's really the, the risk of the ups and downs that you might experience, or it's the risk that you get to retirement, and you can't live the life that you want to the fullest. And so I find that a really important thing to pass on to investors and people in general. And yeah, the the gaps unfortunately do exist. But all we can do is share and for example, with a, uh, a gap with wāhine, by the time they get to retirement, there's a few, there's a few things that come into play when we talk about this. So, it could be that women tend to be more conservative, more security based. But there are a lot there's a lot to prove that women make more sound financial decisions. It's true. They tend to, you know, think rationally when it comes to money, but they also tend to be more conservative. So, you know, make sure that you're in the right fund. Make sure that you've got your contribution rates to a point where you can afford it. Like you said. Um, there was a point in time before my partner and I purchased our first house last year, and for the majority of my working life, I had my contributions at 10%. So, I had done that because I am naturally a spender. I wish I could change it, but I just, you know, these things that you work on. But that's my personality at the base level. So, I just thought if I can't see it, I can't spend it, which worked, which so worked in my favour. It's paid in. You know, it's paid tenfold. And we were able to get a house last year with. And I was actually able to contribute something to that, and I don't think I would have or I wouldn't have been able to do that if I hadn't thought of the contribution rate at the right time. So, it's so, so important.
Te Kahukura: Congratulations for getting into your first whare. That is absolutely amazing. One of the other things I think when it comes to wāhine is that, there are a few things, like disproportionately earning less than our male counterparts. Even if you're you've got the same level of experience and credibility. Uh, or Māori and Pacific and other minority groups who disproportionately earn less than other people. And so if your income is less, then even if you're contributing 3%, that's still going to be a smaller contribution than those other counterparts. What would you say we could do? You know, if if there are biases that we can't control outside of us? What are some other things that you think we could potentially consider when it comes to to investing. And I think the other one too is wāhine are more likely to take time out of the workforce to raise our tamariki, to look after our elders, our kaumātua. And, you know, I've spent a lot of time being a being one of the caregivers for my kuia and so I've, you know, looked into this research I've experienced and I see other I know, you know, going through the same things. So, we understand the data, we understand the disparities. But I'm very much of the mindset that ka pai kei te mohio tatou, we understand that. But what are some solutions for us? Like what could we do differently? Uh, is it like potentially negotiating pay rates, or are there any other things that we could look at doing to to change these?
Aaliyah: Yeah, really important question. I mean, some of it is definitely out of our, or at least out of your yours and I, yours and mine hands um, it's at a governmental level and that sort of thing, which the Te Ara Ahunga Ora are doing a good job at, at that. At an individual and a whanau level, uh, especially when it comes to wāhine taking time off. So, underemployment. Um, and when I say underemployment, that means the comparatively lower hours having to take time off to look after your tamariki. Um, and like you said, looking after the elders as well, it's like a they called it the sandwich generation for a bit, but I think it happens to the majority of women. Um, is that if you're like. Planning is so important. Planning is everything, and not everyone wants to do it. It's not, you know, it's not fun or exciting. Um, but if you're coming up to a point where you are planning to have tamariki, then you're potentially your partner at that time where you are taking leave and not making an income, your partner might be able to contribute to your KiwiSaver at an equal rate that they are also contributing to their own KiwiSaver.
That kind of keeps things afloat for that sort of middle portion there while you're not making income. Um, it's not the easiest thing to do either. It's quite admin heavy, but these little things that planning over the long like will pay us off over the long term. Um, and simply education. Um, having community is very important, of course. Um, and same with what we call the, you know, minority communities and Māori, Pasifika do have a lot of sense of community. Like it takes a village to look after your, kaumātua, to look after your tamariki. But, um. Yeah, sharing. Sharing the knowledge between each other is something that we can all help to do. Um, and just ensuring that you're not taking. Yeah, that you're not being too conservative with all those choices.
Another thing that individuals can do that they have power over is even if you are experiencing, uh, lower income, if you're taking time off to care for people, etc. then a good thing you can do is just make sure that you're making the minimum contributions to get that government sort of match. So, that comes through around $20 a week that you'd be putting away. And you get that, what we're calling free money for up to $261. Um, that is a good way to make the most out of your KiwiSaver just despite your circumstances.
Te Kahukura: Rawe. So, you know, your contributions are on, you’ve checked your funds. You understand your risk tolerance. Now it's time to, I guess, maybe have a look at your KiwiSaver and check how things are going. When you open up your, you know, your app, your website and you have a look at the numbers. What are some things you should look at and what does it all mean? You know, like I think some people look at the numbers, they see all these numbers on a screen and it's like, okay, what does this mean? You know, there might be the green, there might be a red, like, what is it? What does it mean? And what should someone think about when they're looking at that.
Aaliyah: ANZ for example, has a, your KiwiSaver calculator. Um, and so what that can do is you can just play around with the numbers so you don't have to be a Financial Advisor, you don't have to be an investment expert. You don't even have to crunch the numbers. There's just calculators like this are so user friendly. So, you can go in and check. What if I increase my contribution rate from 3 to 4? How is that going to affect me over the long term. And you'll see that the difference is quite staggering. And then what if you increase it to, you know, 6 or 10.
And then you could go down and see what if I, changed my fund type that I'm in if I'm not in the most aggressive one, you know, what does the the most aggressive fund look like over the long term? And you get this, like, beautiful visual in front of your face. A bit of a numbers breakdown of the difference. And then the beautiful thing with those tools is that it also can take into account inflation and what that would look like when you come to retirement. Um, because it's a long, long time away. And, you know, no one really knows what the rate of inflation is going to be. We aim to keep it, at a certain level, but the the tools themselves make really good assumptions to just let you know kind of what your money might be worth. Um, in that 40 years or 20 years, however long that you might need it.
Te Kahukura: So, I'm going to include that KiwiSaver calculator in the description. But are you saying, for example, if you know, it predicts what, say, for example, $100,000 could buy you today, would it, you know, show you that, you know in future money what like so that you can think about it like okay, if this amount of money buys this amount of stuff today, would the numbers reflect that? So, that you look at it and you go, oh, like I could buy this amount of stuff.
Aaliyah: Correct. Yeah. So, I mean, very simply, the inflation is the way that the value of money changes over time. Um, just for anyone who's listening and that can negatively impact a lot of people. And I've seen it, you know, I've seen it in practice. Some people just want $1 million and that number makes them comfortable and happy. But that $1 million might not be worth what it's worth today. So, $1million, I mean, in Auckland can buy you a house. Just, whereas in the future, it might only be worth $800,000. So, those inflation calculators will show you roughly what you could expect and the impact that that's going to have on your money over the long term.
That way you can sort of plan for how much you might want to contribute over time, what fund you might want to be in. Um, and, you know, it all comes down to what level of retirement do you want? Some people are very, um. Some people are very simple, and they want the no frills lifestyle. You know, rural, they've got some livestock, they've got their gardens. And they only come into town once a month or something like that. Um, and, and their house is all paid off and debt free. And then, you know, the whanau just come and see them every now and then they kind of stay where they are. And then some people, um, will be on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. They have just finished working. Um, they're ready to, like, go travelling. They're ready to let loose. Yeah. They'll go on those like three month cruises or, you know, they'll do the travel overseas business class. And so all of that is there's only significant to you. It's relevant to you. So, you want to think about you know what what is important to you. Is it whānau or is it going on those travelling trips with your your partner or making memories with your adult children? Um, at that time, it's just those are the sorts of things that you take into consideration, and you can use those calculated as a such a powerful tool to go how far away am I from it? Am I needing to, you know, put in a little bit more? And don't forget, with KiwiSaver you can also contribute voluntarily. You could just throw in some money in there if you think that's going to help you get closer to your goals.
Te Kahukura: When this episode comes out roughly around April, there are going to be some changes to KiwiSaver. Would you be able to explain for whānau what are those changes and what is this going to mean for people using KiwiSaver?
Aaliyah: Okay, so the changes that are coming up 1st of April 2026 will be the increase from the minimum employer contribution rate from 3% to 3.5%. So, that means that it will now be compulsory for them to to provide 3.5%. Um, that will also be true for the individual investor. Um, and then there will be kind of their releasing changes as they go.
And in the 1st of April 2028, that minimum will go up to 4% and so that over the long term is going to reflect very well on your balance. So, they have decreased the government contribution, so you still have to contribute the same amount per year, but they're only paying $0.25 on the dollar, not $0.50 on the dollar.
But if you look over the long term, the increase of the rate is like much, much more powerful than than the the government contribution. Both of them are great factors. But the increase in percentage that, like we were talking about compound interest, just every year is going to add up and add up. So, it is a, it is a benefit for for Kiwi. Another awesome change that the government has made is that KiwiSaver, government contributions and employer contributions are now eligible for 16 and 17 year olds. So, like we say, starting earlier is going to pay off in the long run. It's really awesome that, um, you know, the most people I know start working around 15, 16, if they have an opportunity to. And so those younger people are also eligible for the contributions that free money.
Te Kahukura: When it comes to timing the market, so many people are like, oh my gosh, like, you know, things are down at the moment. Like I'm going to hit the jackpot, like and kind of thinking of it and kind of like a gambling type way, which I would not encourage people to do. What I do myself is dollar cost averaging. So, I am not a wizard. I don't know how to predict the market, but I like to dollar cost average in the market, putting the same amount of money in every single week. It's an automatic payment for me. Um, would you say that for most people, dollar cost averaging would be a simple way to do it? And if so, what is dollar cost averaging for those that don't know?
Aaliyah: Absolutely. So, yeah, um, a lot of people, like you said, they try to time the market and historically it is near impossible to actually guess what the market is going to do. Like I mentioned earlier, it's people, people are making the decisions. The majority of the market is made up of investors. So, you never really know what's going to happen, to be very honest. And so the the idea behind dollar cost averaging is rather than waiting for that perfect time, you know, I'm going to invest on the 5th of March 2026 because that's when I, you know, that's when I'm guessing everything's going to drop and it's going to be at its cheapest. Instead of doing that, I'm just going to buy every week or every fortnight and over time, what's going to happen is I'll have the high prices and the low prices, and I'll be paying average cost for whatever I'm buying those assets. And with KiwiSaver it's automatically dollar cost averaging for you, which is great. So, you're contributing your 3% to 4%, um, onwards every, every time you get a pay cheque. So, every fortnight, month, week, whatever it is for you, you are buying into those assets every time you contribute. And so, over the long term, the the price that you're buying everything out is going to average out. And it's just it's much better to try and do that or to do that than to try and time the market.
Te Kahukura: So, I guess for those who, like, have never heard of this concept of dollar cost averaging, I like to think of it in a way of like say for as an example, if a share is $5 this week and it's $10 next week, and then it's $15 the week after, and let's say it repeated on that, like on that cycle of five, ten, 15, then the average would probably be around $10. Like obviously it's not going to be like perfect like that. It doesn't go up by five, ten and 15. But just throwing random numbers, you know, the market does go up. It does go down. And so investing the same amount, you know, weekly can, or fortnightly, whatever your pay cycle is that can help you to just average it out.
Aaliyah: And it just takes the the stress out of trying to plan those sorts of things and making sure that you're reading every single news article that you can on the asset that you're going to buy. Psychologically, it's a better idea. Financially it's a better idea. I really support a dollar cost averaging, and KiwiSaver you're automatically doing that.
Te Kahukura: I guess I just wanted to touch on that too, because someone might look at perhaps increasing their contribution from, say, 3% to 6%. So, they're contributing double the amount. Does that potentially mean that their investment is going to be worth double or, due to compound interest, is it going to be, could it potentially be worth even more than just double? Like if you're contributing double is it going to just be double or is it going to be more than that?
Aaliyah: Āe. So, I mean, there are like we said, there's the ups and downs of the KiwiSaver investments in particular. So, with the with the power of compound interest, you could expect it to move kind of on a, on a curve upwards. So, it has the potential to return more than double. That's the power of the investing for a long term and all those other things that we've talked about.
So, it's definitely worth. It's definitely worth considering if it's something you feel that you can afford coming out of your income. Um, and like we said before, the most part, you don't even notice that it's going out. Yeah. Like you're going to get your paycheque. Um, regardless. So, if you have set it up from the beginning, you've never had your full pay cheque, then you sort of get used to it over time, knowing that the future you is going to look back and be so grateful.
Te Kahukura: So, those people who, you know, think, oh, it's a tax. Like, maybe if we actually just pretend like in our brain, if we think, oh, you know, it's just kind of like tax then like, and it's kind of out of mind, you know, we're not really feeling it every single time. Like, if you are in the financial position to perhaps increase your contributions, then longer term that could help you during times like, you know, when you bought your first whare or during retirement, it could be a really helpful thing. And I feel like sometimes it can be like, oh, it's so far away. You know, perhaps buying your first whare or retiring. You know, I've got a lot of friends who are like, oh, that's ages away. Like, let's worry about that later. But, you know, I still think by contributing a little bit, it's going to pay off in the long run.
And when I, you know, achieve these different milestones or when I hit retirement, I think that, you know, I'm going to be grateful that, you know, 14 year old me decided to delay gratification, decided to, you know, postpone, you know, potentially buying some fun things as a teenager or as a young adult.
And I'm able to have that pūtea at the end. And I think some people, a lot of people are struggling at the moment. There's a, you know, cost of living crisis. A lot of people are looking at things like KiwiSaver and they think, oh, cool, you know, um, you know, for example, I don't have tamariki. So, like, you know, I can I feel like there's a lot more of the, of a budget for me to be able to contribute to those things and perhaps when things like, you know, raising tamariki happen. Things might change for me and I completely recognise the privilege that I have in that space.
So, for whanau who maybe they have a lot more of expenses. They've got tamariki, maybe they're caring for their kaumātua, their kuia. I've had a lot of comments from, I would say, an older generation. To me, people who are, you know, potentially in their 40s, 50s, 60s and like, is it too late to start investing for retirement? What is your whakaaro on this?
Aaliyah: Kia ora. No, it is never too late to start investing. Like we talk about, the earlier you start, the better it's going to be because of compound interest. But we don't always have that. You know, we don't always have that opportunity. A lot of people are learning about investing. It's becoming a little bit more of commonplace talk amongst friends. And it hasn't always been like that. And so people are only learning now coming into retirement. And so no, I have a lot of clients that, they have worked so hard over their lifetime, and now they've got their, their nest egg. And they're not entirely sure what they should do with it. And so, you know, these people are around 60, 65 and sometimes a little bit older. And they will go into an Investment Fund or a KiwiSaver in this in this case. And that will then tie them over. Because if you think about it, some people think, you know, oh, I'm going into retirement like this is it, you know, life's over. Yeah. But there's on average I mean, with the average lifespan, there's still 30 years left. That’s, you know, three decades. It is a lot of time not only to live life, but also for investment sakes. So, it's never too late to start investing and know it can feel daunting. And it's a little bit, um, out of scope for someone, especially if they're not used to. Yeah, especially if they're not used to investing and all the, the sort of ins and outs of that.
But I just, I think it's, it's very important to consider doing it. Inflation will still be applicable over a 30 year time frame. It will still be applicable over a ten year time frame. So, you need to be making sure you're making the right decision for yourself. And it becomes a little bit more, um, it becomes a lot more crucial as you're into retirement because you're your income source is now gone in most cases.
Yeah. And like you mentioned before, with your, you know, some of your friends or other younger people that you know, that go for retirement is like ages away. I've got so much time to save up. Um, you know, I just urge them to think I'm in my 20s, you know, it's it’s a chunk of my paycheque. It's a pretty hefty chunk. But with the power of compounding interest, I'm making this money over the long term. Is it better for me to, you know, take on this sort of, uh, take on this sort of sacrifice before I have kids, before I have huge responsibilities, and then before I'm older and there's not as much time for it to compound on its own.
So, that's, you know, the money working for you sort of thing. So, you might end up sacrificing a lot more when you're 50, which is not nice. Um, not nice in most cases. So, it's worth them thinking, you know, a little bit of sacrifice here, and then you might be able to maybe sit back and take a bit of a relax. If you do end up having tamariki, um, or your situation changes or, you know, like sort of in your situation, what if someone wants to start their own business. And so um, they've got that period of time where they're just working through things. Um, so yeah, it's really important to, to consider at least and try not to wait if, if possible. And the other thing that can be really painful for some people, like you spoke about, people are struggling at the moment. I wouldn't even call it a cost of living crisis anymore. It's just the way it is. And, I mean, crisis is usually end. Um, and so it can be really scary to to look at your KiwiSaver and see all this money going out. And also, I wish I just had that money right now. Um, but it's a, it is a willpower and a mindset thing of going, me at 65 is also going to need that money. At least now I do have an income. Um, and things might be tight, but it's better that, you know, it's better that I'm looked after in all stages of my life.
Te Kahukura: I also feel like when we're younger, it's more, I guess, socially acceptable to, you know, not have the nicer things, you know, for example, people look at my waka and I get a few giggles. But, you know, I'm very intentional about like, at this point in my life, I don't see the point in having, you know, a big, nice waka. I don't have tamariki. And so, um, that I'm able to like, cut costs in certain areas. And so I think that maybe when I'm older it's a bit, it's going to be a bit different and it's going to be possibly more challenging to like, make those types of things. Not saying impossible, but I think that's part of it. But the other thing that I think about a lot is that, you know, um, I remember, you know, being a kid and there was the ‘08 recession and then, you know, there's like Covid, then there's, you know, the cost of living crisis at the moment.
Then, you know, if it's not Covid, there could be Ebola. There's the, all of these different things. And I feel like across our life, there's always going to be things happening that are external of us. So, if there is a way to be able to consider doing a small amount, like, I think, you know, ahakoa he iti pounamu, even if it is just a little bit, it will support you in the long run. So, for our whānau, who are struggling, like I very much empathise with our whānau and and it's sad to see, but if there is the opportunity, even if it's literally like $5 or, you know, $20 a week over the year will help you in the long run. Um, and as I said, like, if it's not this, then it's going to be another thing next year.
There's probably another thing, like, there's always going to be something external of us. That is, I feel like this is just life. It's not always rainbows and sunshine. It's just there's always something. And if we look at history like always, there's always something going on.
Aaliyah: And it's important you preserve yourself and your whanau and the people that matter to you. And in those decisions, even though they had, yeah, like you say, just a little bit per week or whatever you can spare. Um, yeah. It's going to make a difference in your future.
Te Kahukura: Yeah. I think one of the biggest benefits of that is like being able for someone else to be able to reflect your blind spots, you know, sometimes you can't see those things and someone else can go, oh, did you think about this or did you consider that? And I think the other part, too, is so many people don't understand, obviously, that there are financial advisors that can support you free of charge.
And I know ANZ has a free 15 minute call that you can jump on. So, you know, the details for that will be down below. But I think that that can really help whānau to get that personalised advice. I've really, really enjoyed our time together today and I just wanted to really celebrate you for the mahi that you're doing, because I think it's really important for our whānau to see Māori in these spaces and to, you know, when you see someone who looks like you, who sounds like you, who talks like you, it's more it's easier to put yourself and go, oh, like, you know, she's one of the sisters.
You know, I can do it too. So, I really celebrate you for the mahi that you're doing. And, you know, I think about making sure your contributions are on, delaying gratification, making sure that you check what fund that you are invested in, you know, trying not to check it. You know, you don't need to check it every single day, but maybe doing a check when your circumstances change, you know, using the fund calculator tools in the description down below. Are there any kind of like final things that you wanted to just encourage our whānau to think about or consider when it comes to KiwiSaver?
Aaliyah: Kia ora. I would just kind of to summarise the conversation, just encourage people to talk about it. It's so it's so good to see these days that investing is becoming more less of a taboo. You know, people are talking about pūtea, they're talking about their there's your hauora, but they're also talking about finances.
And they're now but it's still not as common as I'd like it to be. You know, like, talk with your sisters, talk with your brothers. If you have learned something about investing, share it with people. I mean, you know, within, within reason, share the right things.
Te Kahukura: Share, share this episode.
Aaliyah: Yeah, share this episode.
Te Kahukura: Actually, I want to put the tono out to whānau who are listening to this episode and think about how many people are in your network, how many friends, cousins, mums, aunties that you have like send this episode to them all and think about, even if they don't even listen to the episode, it might just be sitting in the back of their mind and they might come back to it later.
So, if you listen to this and you're like, that's interesting. Like it's been explained simply, thank you. Please like send this out to your to send it out to everyone. Just just send it out – send out to everyone you know, everyone in the industry. Share it on your story.
Aaliyah: No, absolutely. That's the only way we're going to break through stigma, break through other issues that you know, that can arise from from financial stress and financial turmoil. It's just, you know, sharing that knowledge is going to be a huge impact on everybody.
Te Kahukura: Tena Koe! I'm so grateful for your time today, and I've very much valued this and lots. So, I'm really grateful to have you here today. So, thank you for being here. Thank you.
Aaliyah: Ngā mihi, thank you.
[Text on screen: ANZ logo, Māori Millionaire Presents How We Money]
Voiceover by Te Kahukura: Your money move today. Check out your KiwiSaver fund type. Is it the right fit for your goals? A quick check can make a huge difference later. If you want to have a chat, ANZ have a free KiwiSaver check in with a KiwiSaver specialist. I've linked it in the show notes for you. Book in today and take that first step towards money confidence and your future self will thank you. If you found value in today's episode, make sure to send it to a friend, whānau member or on your story. Make sure to tag us too.
The information in this podcast is for general information only and isn't financial advice. The views of the host or guests are their own and do not represent ANZ. ANZ and Māori Millionaire does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the content and isn't liable for any loss arising from its use. Please seek personalised advice before making financial decisions.