The OCR is widely agreed to drop 0.25% on Wednesday.

What was not expected was a 20bps drop in the swap rates caused by the tariffs last week. I do not know if that will stick because no one seems to know if the tariffs will stick, least of all America.

However, if the swap rates do stick or continue downwards, there may be room for movement in home loan rates because the swap rate drop was not expected or priced in.

Do not make decisions on this, it's just info. Do watch the swap rates though over the next period of time if you have a refix coming up soon. It could be very interesting.

Hey guys, throwaway because I'm quite embarrassed about this. Apologies in advance if this is not the right subreddit for this; if so please guide me as to where I can go.

I'm wanting some advice on what actions / steps my family can take to reduce their financial burdens and devise an actionable plan to help improve our financial situation. For context, I am a 23 year old medical student living at home with his two immigrant parents that are approaching retirement age with little to no retirement savings and no home ownership (renting for the past 20+ years).

Mum has been an owner-operator of a small shop that has not been doing too well since COVID and is planning to sell it in the foreseeable future. She is currently what one can consider the "breadwinner" as she brings in most of the money to pay for utilities, bills, groceries and rent.

I don't even really know what dad does, but he earns around $2000 a month doing what I think is self-employed online marketing and import trade with small companies in South Korea. He also works at the shop with mum to reduce labour costs (wages) and help with accounting and advertising.

My brother and sister, both living away from home, are doing well in their STEM careers and have excellent paying jobs so I am not worried about them at all. However, they do the best they can do help support my parents financially from afar.

My biggest trouble is that we've been on the financial backfoot for so long and I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by it as I grow older and face the reality of our situation. It's been a multiplex of events that have led to this current situation (dad selling the house to save his failing business ventures with multiple failed ventures in the following years --> mum having to start working to feed the family --> dad becoming comfortable living above his means and living in denial).

Mum and dad have become quite socially isolated out of embarrassment of their situation and rely heavily one each other for support. They feel as if they've become stuck in this situation and don't see any way out. Day-to-day comfort masks the true reality of the situation, which is that assets and cash are not growing with time and that the only way to keep living is to keep working until the end of time.

Although we're not at the point of worrying if we will be able to eat or pay off important bills, my mum especially is becoming very worn out as she works tirelessly and she can't keep this up forever. Dad is stuck in a perpetual loop of promising that his work projects will pay well only for them to fall through, living above his means (European car that is expensive to maintain, expensive groceries, buying random things online that he doesn't need).

I feel unable to address these issues with my parents as the youngest sibling of three so I feel quite stuck.

The questions I have are:

1. what can I personally do to help them out? household duties?

2. practical ways to save money on groceries and utilities as a family?

3. how I can approach my parents to devise an actionable plan for retirement and beyond?

4. is home ownership even worth it at this stage?

Thank you in advance.

My apologies if this is a weird/complicated question. I can't find the answer anywhere.

I'm currently self-employed and 25-26 will be my first year paying provisional tax. A company which gives me the bulk of my work currently pays schedular payments on my behalf. Aside from this, I declare all my income from other work.

When it comes to paying the provisional tax this upcoming tax year, will I need to foot the bill completely based off my other work? Or will those schedular payments count towards the amount owed?

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light on this.

Hey guys , I’ve got my KiwiSaver with ASB right now in a balanced fund with 1800$ in there. I’ve been thinking about switching maybe to ANZ, but I’ve also heard from a bunch of people that Kernel’s growth fund is really good. I’m also considering changing my fund type to a growth fund overall. Just not sure what the best move is. Anyone got suggestions or experience with this?

Hi, I’m currently planning to invest $200 NZD into IBKR weekly (VOO) via recurring trade. I’m wondering if that’s the best way to do this, as the reason i’m asking is because i’ve seen mixed information regarding fees. Planning to do this until I reach $50k because of FIF tax, then switch to foundation series.

For example, i’ve heard if you just let IBKR auto convert NZD to USD it’ll not charge you the minimum $2 (i think?) fee.

What’s the best way to maximise profit and minimise fees? Should I deposit less often into my IBKR account less often, maybe once a month ($800), or should I still transfer $200 weekly.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

GF and I looking as FHB in the WLG market. We're a bit clueless but learning as we go. We would love to get somewhere in the Eastern suburbs but prices can often be 1M+. Ideally would love a 3/4 place and rent a room out. We're both 35 - collectively earn 251K a year and have around 190k for a deposit 30 of which is cash. My parents are comfortably retired and are very fortunate to own 2 properties, both mortgage free. I am thinking of approaching them about potentially having them act as our guarantors. This would give us access to better rates and likely increase our borrowing power. Has anyone got any experience with this scenario recently and is my understanding correct ? Would really appreciate people's thoughts/perspectives/experience about going down this path.

Does anyone know what is the what is the lag in being allocated the units (number of days from purchase)? In particular the SMART US ETFs? TIA

Currently stock market indices are a sea of red and alarmingly this is seen as likely to continue. Many seasoned investors and advisors are really not sure what will happen. This time it is different it seems.

With interest rates unlikely to fall much now, an outflow of kiwis to greener pastures, rising unemployment and a shrinking kiwisaver, what do people see as likley for the property market over the coming year or 2?

Im predicting more falls, but have a bias as keen to buy in the near future. Would like to hear others thoughts.

My situation:
I'm a single buyer and a first home buyer (FHB) I have $200k in savings (including KiwiSaver). I'm looking to buy a 1–2 bedroom standalone house in the Wellington region, in the $500–600k range.

I haven't checked with the bank for pre-approval yet, but I've heard that single buyers are usually expected to have a larger deposit.

After reading through many helpful posts in this thread (thanks everyone for your insights!), I have a question:

Let’s say the house price is $500k, and I need a loan of $300k.
Since the bank requires a 20% deposit, I would use $100k from my savings as the deposit.

My question is:
Can I apply for a mortgage offset account using the remaining $100k from my savings? If yes, is this a good plan?

I know it all varies by what a home is worth to you, building reports etc. Owner said he has turned down multiple offers, and real estate agent said offers need to be around $800k to even be considered. We love the place and can see a lot of potential (we're FHB and very new to this as you can see from my last post). I was doing bit of research, and it sold in April 2024, for $650k, and hasn't had much work done to it (I found old photo listings), so this kind of threw me off a little bit. Have asked my mortgage broker to do a Valocity report so just waiting on that. Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask! Just curious to get some feedback.

33 Trotter Avenue, Waiomu, Thames-Coromandel - For Sale - realestate.co.nz

What share trading platforms are people using to invest in markets outside of NZ/US? And which markets are you focused on, when aiming to diversify beyond US?

Keen for something trusted, simple to manage, reasonable fees, ideally to access both ETFs / index funds and individual stocks for other markets (EU? Asia?)

Hello,

I've just had an IRD payment reminder for a student loan payment. Logged in to see that I have approx $1,100 due this assessment year. Confused as to why it is an extra payment as I have been paying the 12% from my PAYE at my job. Anyone have any insight here?

Thanks

Hey there, does anyone have a viewpoint on the tax efficiency of Australian domiciled ETFs (such as VTS and VEU) compared to NZ PIE funds investing in global shares?

On the one hand the Aussie ETFs tax capital gains within the fund, however the NZ PIE funds also are subject to FIF tax using the FDR method.

I’m sure there are other considerations concerning dividends and tax withholding credits etc.

Greatly appreciate any insights!

Hi there,
I'm currently researching the FIF (Foreign Investment Fund) rules, particularly in relation to tax optimisation for a FIF portfolio above the $50,000 threshold. I'm looking for a good tax adviser who can help with this. Does anyone have any recommendations for an adviser around Wellington?

Im 30/F and currently going through a seperation. Ive been living in my own place with my ex for 3 years and flatting before that.

When we purchased our house i foolishly got a small dog. Thinking this would be our forever home. Now that im going through my seperation im looking at rentals or studios that would allow me and my dog and theyre so far out of my budget its insane.

By the time we sell the house we will probably have around 40k each. I have a small car but im seriously consdiering buying a van and just living in that.

Do i have to rehome my dog in order to find somewhere? Has anyone else been in this situation.

I dont have a friends or family to support me. Ive just worked minimum wage jobs and i was planning on starting my first degree in July. But that looks very unlikely now.

How/what do people do to survive?

Bought a house with my ex 2 years ago, both names on the mortgage. We split, she’s keeping it, but nothing’s signed yet. I’ve moved out and now pay rent + mortgage. Skint.

Can I just stop paying? Don’t wanna screw my credit or get sued, but can’t afford both.

• Will the bank come after me?
• Will it hurt my chances if we go to court later?
• How do I push her to refinance faster?

From interest.co.nz yesterday:

“Today the one year swap rate could be at 3.20% and that takes them back to April 2022 levels. And back then, the OCR was 1.50%, one year home loan rates were 3.95% and one year term deposit rates were 2.50%. Just saying ...”

From todays article:

“The UST 10yr yield is now at 3.99%, down -5 bps from yesterday at this time. A week ago it was at 4.25%. The key 2-10 yield curve is steeper at +34 bps. But their 1-5 curve is inverted by -19 bps, holding the sharp deepening. And their 3 mth-10yr curve is very much more inverted, now by -37 bps.”

“The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.35%, and down -8 bps from yesterday at this time. A week ago it was at 4.66% so a -31 bps dump since then. We should also note that wholesale swap rates tumbled yesterday by about -10 bps, and after today's news are likely to fall sharply again on Monday.”

Lower mortgage rates when??

53M 1 child, no partner. Recently inherited 150k. I also have 60k in savings. Also have 36k in debt. The field I work in is somewhat poorly paid- as all good work is I guess.

How would anyone out there suggest I make the most of this windfall? I’m assuming the stock market isn’t the place after this week and I’m not the most financially literate fellow in the world so realistic advice is appreciated.

I rent an apt at 630 pw- two bedrooms, kid too young to chip in on rent and I’m not eligible for Working for families due to custody arrangements

Let’s hear it. Thanks in advance.

I offer 500k for this property (as an example), which is lower than the estimate, is the agent obliged to present this to the seller?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/auckland/auckland-city/point-england/listing/5235983073?srsltid=AfmBOoqqZZEi7rFZ8pnIBSwcprQqKyxrd0jDgKcyx01EsVbjorb9Nt9f

Very surprised doesn't seem to be much posting on tariffs and the market meltdown - the largest drawdown over 2 sessions since the GFC - in this sub.

Value investors I follow are firmly still on the sidelines. Prices are cheaper but the P/E ratio in the US is still well above historic averages and now we need to factor in v high recession riks and declines in corporate earnings.

I'm still on the sidelines.

Hi team

I’ve tried to browse this and other subreddit to work out the answer but have had varying responses.

I currently own my own home and have it in a trust. I’ve owned it for four years.

My partner and I are looking at buying a house together in the coming 12 months as we will have to move cities for work. She has never bought a house before and hence has a reasonable amount in her KiwiSaver.

I’m wondering if we were to buy a house 50/50 together would she be able to use her KiwiSaver towards the deposit? (Or because she’s buying it with me, it would not be able to) Would this change if I were to use some of the equity in my house towards the deposit?

Thank you

I need to buy a new iPad and other tech, wondering if prices are likely to rise or fall given the international trade situation? Cheers for any advice.

Thought I would start this thread so people can understand how much car ownership is for differenet cars, the depreciation and amount spent on maintenance.

- What car did you buy?

- When did you buy your car?

- How much did you pay? (Incl ORC)

- How much did you sell your car for?

- How much was on the odometer when you sold the car?

- How much did you spend on your car? (Maintenance, servicing etc)

EDIT - Here is an interesting table predicting cost of ownership between a brand new in 2021 $66,000 Mazda CX9 versus if I had purchased a $30,000/$32,000 used car in 2021.

https://imgur.com/a/J1gbOGZ

Very interesting, so effectively it's an extra $3000 or so over 4 or so years to get a brand new car over a second hand (few year old) car at the time.

Hello everyone

I'm wondering is it good to put money on the hedged foundation series instead of in IBKR when NZD is as weak as it is now? Or will the 0.5% on buy & sell in foundation series make it worse long-term?
I have investments in IBKR now, luckily a lot of them were purchased when NZD was stronger than it is now. I'm just thinking should I continue in IBKR with the unhedged accounts. Or is this Foundation series wrapper a good thing.

Thanks in advance!