Where’s My Money? Season 4, Episode 1
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.
It’s a deep-seated fear that languishes at the back of many employees’ minds, that all of their hard work and progress will be erased by one word – redundancy.
In this special, two part episode, host Reagan White tackles this tricky topic by talking to Mike McRoberts, one of the many journalists, presenters, and employees who were impacted by the public end of Newshub in 2024.
In part two Where’s My Money? brings in enable.me financial coach Matt Buckeridge and AdviceFirst National Insurance Lead Willie Moala to provide practical advice on what to do if you find yourself in this position. Recruitment pro Tim Slyfield adds his two cents about making yourself employable throughout the job-seeking journey.
When the journalist becomes the news
Mike McRoberts has four decades of journalism behind him and 20 years of being a public-facing newsreader. From warzones to the 6pm bulletin, even with this level of ‘famous in New Zealand,’ Mike still found himself facing redundancy with the shock end of Newshub.
He says, “people think that just because you’re well known, you’re financially bulletproof. You’re not. I still have a mortgage, I still have responsibilities. This was a huge change for me financially.”
The Newshub team had four months left to work out their contracts before they could claim redundancy. Mike shares that he walked around the newsroom and said to his coworkers, “we need to make sure that we are still putting out the best product we can. Because when we leave this place on the 5th of July, we want to leave with mana.”
Changing the narrative
Mike managed to get ahead of the story for himself, announcing a career pivot to focus on one of his passions – Kaupapa Māori – so much so that media reports changed to say he ‘resigned’ rather than being made redundant. It’s a powerful reminder that you can control your narrative, no matter how public the story becomes.
His is a story of triumph. Drawing on his journalism experience, his passion for te reo Māori, and strength from his family, he managed to score plenty of work engagements. He accepted a newly created role as Te Ao Māori Editor at NBR, alongside other speaking and writing engagements – successfully diversifying his source of income.
“I went from nearly unemployed to over-employed pretty quickly,” he says.
His advice for an everyday Kiwi? A whakatauki he cherishes from his exploration of te ao Māori: He ponga I no wai? In English, it means the anchor that holds you – Mike says when the seas rise up and try to pull you down, know what your anchors are.
“When things get rough, you need anchors: your whānau, your partner, your skills, your identity outside of work. That’s what keeps you above water when your income disappears.”
For Mike, it was a tough time – but also strangely freeing to not feel tied to just one role and one aspect of his identity any longer.
“It sounds strange, but I found an immense freedom once I stepped away. I get to work on what matters, say what I want, and build a future that isn’t tied to one job.”
