Diana Clement: Five things to do in Money Month

If you have a mortgage and you’re worried about interest rate rises, talk to a financial adviser.

August is Money Month and that’s the time that we can all focus on our finances and come out the other side in better shape.

As a general rule, Kiwis are bad at money. We spend too much, save too little, and can end up in a pickle all too easily.

So I’ve come up with five things that everyone can do this month whether they’re just starting out, mired in debt, working their way up the housing market, or putting their feet up in retirement. No one is perfect with money. Our brains weren’t built that way.

Get on the Tools

Go onto Sorted.org.nz’s Tools section and get stuck into one of them. It might be the goal planner, the KiwiSaver calculator, investor profiler or one of many other tools. You’ll know where the holes are in your financial life, or the areas to brush up on, and therefore which is most important to do. There are two new calculators this year. The Money Personality Tool, and the Mortgage calculator. Just doing one is fine. I tend to find that once I’ve done one, I move onto more. Remember, getting started and doing something is always important. Even if you can’t finish, you can save and resume when you have time.

Attend an event

Money Month has a series of events online and around the country. Personally, I prefer in-person events for learning. But webinars can help and the Retirement Commissioner has them on the first four Tuesdays in August at midday. The topics are everyday money, debt, savings and KiwiSaver. Even if you can’t find a Money Month workshop to go to, consider other community events. Westpac and ASB offer community workshops on financial topics, and other organisations offering financial literacy training include CAP (Christians Against Poverty) and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

ASB offers community workshops on financial topics. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Have a kōrero

Talk is good. We don’t sit down with our loved ones and talk about money often enough. It’s taboo. Take a deep breath, plan to set some time aside and talk with your partner. Talk to your children about the basics of money management. If you have a mortgage and you’re worried about interest rate rises, talk to a financial adviser (broker). Talk to your colleagues and if you can stomach it and share what you’re earning. It may be that you should be talking to your employer about a pay rise.

Do something new for a month

Doing something every day for a month creates habits. I can think of more than a few that I could benefit from. It may just be as simple as checking your bank account daily or weekly and moving money into higher-earning accounts. It could be making lunches. Or use the month to get into the habit of going to the supermarket once a week or fortnight, instead of every time you need a single ingredient, which usually results in overspending. Figure out how to shop your fridge and pantry on those other days.

Scam-proof yourself

First, scam-proofing yourself is actually impossible, albeit a good ambition. Talk to Netsafe or the Banking Ombudsman and they’ll tell you that smart people get scammed. Scams are getting harder to spot and that’s only getting worse with AI technology, which will take away the grammatical errors and even produce voices that sound like someone you know. If you haven’t already, watch the entire series of You’ve Been Scammed by Nigel Latta on TVNZ+. Download Sorted.org.nz’s Little Black Book of Scams. Read as much as you can about scams. Make sure you read news articles as well. They’ll alert you to the latest scams. Please don’t put all your money in one investment ever. It could be a scam. And never click on links offering investments. Always locate the organisation yourself on the internet and double-check it’s not a fake copycat site before you enter private data and passwords.

Money Month only comes around once a year - and used to be a week only. Just like joining the gym in January, or going dry for July, use August for your finances.