This week on The Panel, Tim Beveridge is joined by Infometrics CEO Brad Olsen and presenter Mark Crysell to discuss the biggest stories from the week that was. 

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We've started to see spots of what looks to be recovery in our economy over recent months. 

It's not consistent, but it's frequent enough to give us some hope for the year to come. 

Westpac is picking a whole lot of OCR hikes from the end of this year, and other forecasts seem to set a similar scene - a better economy is coming, and rates will have to reflect that when the time comes. 

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We've seen the data - the wait to get mental health or addiction support is getting lower and the system seems to be improving. 

But the system is still under immense pressure, and too many people will have a story about being let down by those who were meant to help them or family, but why? 

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Labour is hesitant to put their support behind an India FTA without the government meeting certain conditions. 

It says free trade is a net positive, but agreements shouldn't cause harm to New Zealand - which is what we risk with this FTA. 

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ACT Party leader David Seymour delivered his State of the Nation address this morning. 

He says this government is on track to produce positive change, but it's not happening as quickly as it could be. 

ACT says there are three ways to break our country's slump: equal rights, positive thinking, and a smaller government. 

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Many parents will be starting to feel the exhaustion from getting back into school and extracurriculars. 

We often go into the new year with high expectations of ourselves - like completely homemade school lunches, no takeout, keeping on top of house work - but quickly realise there was a reason we weren't accomplishing all that last year. 

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Westpac's economists are picking 6 consecutive OCR hikes from December - they're forecasting that it will hit 4% by the end of next year. 

The OCR dropped to 2.25% just before Christmas, which is where it stands now, but there have been rumblings for some time that we'd start seeing hikes soon, as all major banks lifted long-term loan rates. 

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This week on The Panel, Tim Beveridge is joined by Co-host of the Untidy Podcast Matilda Green, and Resident Builder Pete Wolfkamp, to discuss the biggest stories from the week that was. 

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Growing older is expensive - much more expensive than most people realise. 

When you or a loved one either decides to move into aged care or is forced to do so, the Ministry of Social Development will quickly swoop in to flip through all their finances. 

Any assets, gifted funds, trusts, even living rent free - it's all looked at and impacts their chances of government-subsidised care. 

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Getting fit and healthy is just about throwing on your running shoes and making a salad. 

The key to sticking with a workout routine, is finding the right sort of exercise for you so that you don't get sick of it. 

We've seen another wave of fitness trends recently, with Hyrox gaining popularity, 75 Hard, and cold plunges among others. 

We'll often overlook these as just being the current thing, maybe even a fad that will boost your dopamine for a week or two before fading into the abyss of the Ab Roller and other 'As Seen On TV' trends. 

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