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Making Cents episodes
- What Accountants Wish You Knew About the IRD
Many New Zealanders are overpaying tax, missing refunds they're entitled to, and leaving money on the table, simply because the system is confusing and nobody explained the rules.
In this episode of Making Cents, chartered certified accountant Baqir Hussain, founder Finex Accounting, breaks down exactly how to stop losing money to the tax system and start making it work in your favour.
We talk:
- The single biggest mistake Kiwis make with the IRD, and how it turns small issues into massive tax debt
- How New Zealand's progressive tax system actually works (and why you should always take that pay rise)
- Surprise tax bills: the most common causes and how to avoid them
- What salary earners can legitimately claim back, including income protection insurance, donations, and investment costs
- Working for Families: who qualifies, how to backdate claims up to four years, and how one family recovered $15,000 they didn't know they were owed
- Home office deductions for self-employed workers and contractors
- Why tax threshold creep means most Kiwis are quietly paying more tax every year
Whether you're a salary earner, raising a family, or running a small business, there are straightforward steps you can take right now to reduce your tax bill — legally, and simply.
This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to http://odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz
TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom
Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals
34 min - Why Being a Loyal Customer Costs You Thousands
Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to explain the loyalty tax costing New Zealanders hundreds of dollars a year on power, insurance and banking, and the simple habit that can win it back without even switching providers.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / Frances Cook - Journalist
Instagram / Frances | Money | Investing (@francescooknz) • Instagram profile
TikTok / Frances Cook on TikTok
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
7 min - What Actually Gets You a Better Price for Your House
You're about to spend thousands getting your house ready to sell. Professional staging. A photographer. Maybe a lick of paint on the fence.
But in a buyer's market with interest rates climbing, how do you know what actually moves the needle for getting the house sold?
Vanessa Williams from http://realestate.co.nz is back in the hot seat with the actual data on what's working right now.
We get into whether professional staging shows up in the sale price, which presentation upgrades are genuinely worth it and which ones aren't, what http://realestate.co.nz sees in listing performance when photos are good versus average, and whether the ROI on all of this changes when buyers have more choice.
If you're about to list and wondering where to spend and where to save, this one's for you.
In this episode:
- Does professional staging actually increase your property sale price?
- Which house upgrades are worth it, and which aren't?
- Does better photography get more home buyers through the door?
- How to sell a house in a buyer's market
- What sellers can do themselves vs where to spend the money
- The mistakes sellers make that cost them thousands
If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, send it through to [email protected] and you might feature on our next episode!
20 min - The Truth About NZ's Economy Right Now
Something’s off, and that something is the economy.
The latest drop of economic forecasting shows exactly what’s happening with the cost of living, your job, and your mortgage. It’s not looking great. But if we know what's coming, we can actually plan for it.
To help us make sense of it all, Massey University’s Christoph Schumacher is in the hot seat. He’s Professor of Innovation and Economics, Director of the Knowledge Exchange Hub, and more importantly, he can explain all of this like a real human being.
We cover:
- Why your money is feeling so tiring right now
- How much of this is the impact of the Iran war and fuel prices
- What rising inflation means for your mortgage, your job, and your everyday costs
- The NZ productivity problem, and which industries actually have a future here
- What’s happening with AI, and how AI will change your job
- When a real recovery might arrive, what it depends on, and what you can do to make life easier until then
This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to http://odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz
TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom
Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals
47 min - The SpaceX IPO Needs a Bright Red Hype Warning
As SpaceX hits the share market in one of the biggest IPOs ever, Frances Cook breaks down how IPOs actually work, why retail investors are getting an unusually large slice this time and whether that is as generous as it sounds.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / Frances Cook - Journalist
Instagram / Frances | Money | Investing (@francescooknz) • Instagram profile
TikTok / Frances Cook on TikTok
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week Newsletter sign up
11 min - How to Plan Your Retirement as If NZ Super Won't Be There
Retirement planning is stressful enough without governments constantly threatening to move the goalposts.
Means testing, wealth taxes, a rising retirement age; how much of it is real, and how much can you actually count on NZ Super?
Katie Wesney, National Coaching Lead at EnableMe, joins us in the hot seat to cut through the noise.
We get into whether the pension is a plan or just a foundation, what the actual numbers look like week to week in retirement, how KiwiSaver, property, and investments fit together, and why worrying about a wealth tax might be the most expensive mistake you make.
Plus: the one mindset shift that separates people who reach financial freedom from people who are still waiting for a politician to sort it out.
If retirement feels far away, close, or just confusing, this one's for you.
In this episode:
- How much can you actually rely on NZ Super?
- What does retirement actually cost week to week?
- How KiwiSaver, property, and investments work together
- Should you worry about means testing or a wealth tax?
- How to build a retirement plan that doesn't depend on government settings staying the same
If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, please send it through to [email protected] and you might feature on our next episode!
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz
TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom
Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals
16 min - The Investing Trap That Even the Experts Fall Into (And How to Avoid It)
Most investing mistakes don't look like mistakes when you're making them.
Chris Walsh from MoneyHub joins us to break down the most common investing traps New Zealanders fall into, and the simple strategies that actually work long term.
We get into why dollar cost averaging beats trying to time the market, what "invest in what you know" actually means (and how it gets misused), why borrowing to invest is riskier than most people realise, and what financial foundations you need in place before you start investing at all.
Plus: why 86% of active fund managers underperform the index, and what that means for the rest of us trying to grow our money.
If you've ever wondered whether you're investing smart or just getting lucky, this one's for you.
In this episode:
- Why dollar cost averaging works, and how to do it
- The problem with picking single stocks
- What "invest in what you know" gets wrong
- Should you borrow to invest? The risks explained
- Time in the market vs timing the market
- What financial foundations to have before you start investing
- KiwiSaver: are you leaving free money on the table?
- How to course correct if you've made investing mistakes
This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to https://www.odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz
TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom
Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals
43 min - 2 min
- You're On Your Own, Kid. Here's What That Means For Your Money
With the latest Budget signalling little relief for struggling Kiwis, Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to talk about what you can actually do to protect yourself financially when the recovery keeps getting pushed further down the road.
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / Frances Cook - Journalist
Instagram / Frances | Money | Investing (@francescooknz) • Instagram profile
TikTok / Frances Cook on TikTok
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week Newsletter sign up
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
7 min - Are Shoebox Apartments About To Take Over NZ?
Could the home of the future be the size of a carpark? The government is talking about scrapping minimum apartment size rules, and one Making Cents listener wants to know if that's a housing fix or a housing trap.
Vanessa Williams from http://realestate.co.nz has fresh data to help us figure this out.
We get into whether micro apartments could actually ease the housing shortage, what banks will and won't lend on when it comes to small apartments, and who this would most likely impact, from first home buyers, to investors, or students.
Plus: how New Zealand's apartment market compares to the rest of the world, and whether our obsession with the quarter-acre dream is starting to shift.
In this episode:
- Could scrapping minimum apartment sizes help first home buyers?
- What do banks actually lend on when it comes to small apartments?
- Are micro apartments a smart investment or a future problem?
- How New Zealand's property culture compares globally
- Who stands to gain, and who should be cautious
If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, send it through to [email protected] and you might feature on our next episode!
Follow me everywhere!
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz
TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz
Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe
Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest
#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom
Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals
17 min
About Making Cents
From the publisher's feed
The podcast for people who want financial freedom, without giving up their coffee.
That means it's time to make the money world make cents. Join Frances Cook, best-selling author and award-winning journalist, to talk about the proven ways to invest your way to financial independence, buy your first home, or just get your spending under control.
Every Monday we have the week's feature interview, with someone who's done something interesting with their money. From paying off a mountain of debt, or investing for financial independence, or starting a new business, these are the ordinary people making the extraordinary possible.
On Thursday we have Ask the Experts, where industry insiders answer your questions on the money world. From earning more in your career, to investing, or sticking to a budget, they'll help make money simple.
Every now and then you'll get a bonus episode too, but the fun of those is that you never know when they're coming!
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