Across the world young people in the workforce are staring down the barrel of their first major financial dip.
For those of us who were still in primary school during the last crash, the latest drop in many of our KiwiSaver accounts may come as quite the shock, because for years Gen-Zers have benefited from a raging financial bull market.
So today on the In the Loop Deep Dive podcast, hosts Katie Harris and Cheree Kinnear ask financial journalist, author and podcaster Frances Cook just what young Kiwis are in for.
Journalist, author and podcaster Frances Cook. Photo / File
What should young people know about living through a recession financially as many of our listeners would have still been very young in 2007 and 2008?
"Well you immediately make me feel old there because I was at university in the last recession, 2008, when everything came crashing down and a whole bunch of my friends graduated to their big boy, big girl jobs in the midst of a recession and I can tell you what, that kind of sucked for a lot of people.
"Whenever it comes down to a recession you come back to the fundamentals right, and so it's always, I talk about your money timeline a lot but it's you know if you need money now, if you need money in five years, if you need money in 10 years, that sort of thing is going to be what you guide your money strategies and your decisions far more than what's happening around you. A recession sounds really scary and it can be nasty, but as long as you're employed what's more important is what your personal plan is and what you're hoping to achieve and you base things around that."
NZ Herald reporters and podcasters Cheree Kinnear, left, and Katie Harris. Photo / Dean Purcell
As things get less stable in the markets, generally, should people stick around at steady jobs or look elsewhere for more pay?
"We're in a real perfect tipping point now where you could ask for a pay rise and be very likely to get one and conditions may or may not last, so from all of the really smart people I've been talking to now is really the time to ask for a pay rise, don't wait for your yearly review or whatever, we have very low unemployment which means most people have a job, which means when businesses are looking to hire people as many of them are at the moment, they are struggling.
"The ideal strategy is if you can, get a pay rise where you are, because your boss is probably more willing to work with you at a time like this and keep you. If a recession does come to pass then there could be job losses and if you've changed jobs to get a pay rise, which in normal times I'm such a fan of that, that's a really good way to get a pay rise, but if you've changed jobs and then there are layoffs, it's often last one in first one off."
• To hear the full interview, including discussion about what to do with your money during a dip, advice for first-home buyers and saving while flatting, check out the podcast on iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts.
• In the Loop is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes come out every Friday morning.
