Where’s My Money? Season 4, Episode 8
Season Four of Where’s My Money?, now a multi-award-winning podcast, has arrived and we will share all the insights covered across the episodes by host Reagan White and his guests.
enable.me partners with rova to bring this podcast to life and stimulate the conversation about finances with everyday Kiwis. Where’s My Money? follows the story of Reagan – a man chasing the Kiwi Dream but feeling stuck living month-to-month – and his discussions with the experts about what he may be doing wrong and how to fix it.
One man. One million dollars of debt. One podcast to find a way out.
In this Money Month edition of Where’s My Money?, host Reagan White dives into the unique challenges Māori and Pasifika face when trying to buy their first home and the creative ways people are overcoming them.
Mortgage adviser Moe Lewin, driven by a passion to support Māori whānau into home ownership, shares the cultural, historical, and systemic barriers that make the property ladder harder to climb.
We also hear from Lucyanne Laurenson, the first in her Pasifika family to buy a home, who reflects on the sacrifices made by her parents and grandparents, and how tailored financial advice helped her get unstuck and take control of her future.
Why the journey is different for Māori and Pasifika
For Moe, the first steps into home ownership came almost by accident and she quickly realised how little the topic was discussed in her own whānau.
“We just didn’t talk about it at home,” she says, “I think that’s a thing in Māori communities – for whatever reason, we don’t know why – but home ownership just wasn’t a thing for us.”
Māori home ownership rates were around 70% in the 1970s. Today, that number has dropped to about 37%. Cultural norms also influence how whānau live, often with multiple generations under one roof.
While this fosters strong connections, it doesn’t fit the bank’s “standard” lending model, which assumes each person has their own bedroom and discourages multi-family mortgage applications.
Moe now specialises in supporting Māori clients to navigate these barriers. From arranging four-way mortgage applications involving parents and children, to connecting clients with Māori-owned real estate agents, valuers, and solicitors, she’s building a network designed to help whānau work collectively towards home ownership.
Shifting the mindset
While systemic challenges remain, Moe has seen a shift in the younger generation. Many are earning high incomes, tracking their net worth, and making confident financial decisions.
The difference, she says, is they’re combining strong cultural identity with smart money habits, and they’re motivated to build collective wealth, not just individual success.
Her advice for whānau wanting to buy: set a clear goal, identify what’s missing from their plan (whether it’s a deposit or reducing liabilities), and map out the steps to get there.
“The biggest thing is around setting a goal, right? What’s the goal, what have you got, where are the gaps, and therefore, what do you have to do to work towards that?” Moe says.
“There’s always a way, you just need to kind of understand and navigate it. Just believe in yourself, is the biggest thing.”
A Pasifika first-home story
For Lucyanne Laurenson, home ownership was more than just a personal milestone, it was part of her family’s legacy. Her mum is from Samoa, her dad migrated from Niue and Tonga to give their children a better future.
Her parents worked hard to own their family home, her father as the main household income earner, with her mother supplementing this by baking and sewing goods to sell at local markets.
Lucyanne followed their example, buying her first home, but soon found herself “floating” and meeting the mortgage payments but making no real financial progress. A segment on Fair Go featuring enable.me’s Hannah McQueen prompted her to seek help.
Working with enable.me adviser Dianne Barlow, she confronted her spending habits, developed a plan, and set a path to achieve ambitious goals, such as purchasing the home belonging to her husband’s family so that they could have less financial stress.
The process was confronting at times, but Dianne tailored the advice so Lucyanne could keep the cultural priorities that mattered to her while still moving towards financial stability.
From survival mode to long-term security
With a clear plan, Lucyanne and her family have not only stabilised their finances but also created options for the future, from early retirement to helping their children into the property market.
Her advice for others? “One thing I regret is not doing this earlier,” she says, “Yes, it is confronting, it’s a long journey…there are sacrifices along the way, but they’re not big sacrifices. Like Dianne said, what’s important for you? We’re not going to cut that out. But we can make better decisions. So I think people just need to start.”
If you’d like to explore your own path to home ownership, book a consultation with an enable.me coach. The right plan, backed by the right advice, could put you on the property ladder sooner than you think. Listen to the full conversation to hear all the insights from Moe, Lucyanne, and Dianne.
Disclaimer: The Where’s My Money? podcast and the information shared by host Reagan White and his guests does not constitute individual financial advice. If you’re interested in receiving financial advice, you can book a consultation with an enable.me coach. Costs apply.
