Where’s My Money? Season 7, Episode 4
Where’s My Money? is back for Season 7 with a fresh new look and more money content to help Kiwis work through their finances and make considered moves towards financial freedom.
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 episode of Where’s My Money?, Jon Duffy, Chief Executive of Consumer NZ unpacks the Consumer Guarantees act and explains how to make sure your rights as a consumer are respected. Towards the end of the episode, enable.me financial coach Shelley Palman returns to the podcast to answer another listener question in the Hotline segment.
Jon Duffy from Consumer NZ shares how you can enact your rights when buying products and services
First up in the episode, Jon Duffy sat on the Where’s My Money? couch to talk about some of the work Consumer NZ does, and Reagan shares some recent “wins” he has had when he spoke up.
In their conversation, the pair covered:
- The history of Consumer NZ from their initial funding in 1959 to now
- Consumer Magazine and their membership services
- The hot topics that come up often: energy companies, the telecommunications sector, marketing techniques
- AI complicating advertising and the resulting AI advice misleading consumers
- The three pillars of consumer protection: The Fair Trading Act 1986, The Privacy Act 2020, The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
- Myth-breaking common misconceptions about legal consumer protections
- Reagan’s experience of fighting for his rights recently with a faulty television
Where’s My Money? Hotline with enable.me financial coach Shelley Palman
Each week in Season 7 of the podcast, Shelley answers a listener’s question as part of the Where’s My Money? Hotline segment.
Shelley’s first response is not to rush out on a reflex and do things like “lift up the repayments,” or “make a lump sum payment,” when that isn’t always the best strategic move for everyone. It’s best to have an understanding of your own individual circumstances first and then think how that lump sum could be put to best use.
Shelley’s main message: “We want the mortgage to be paid off faster, but we want to do it in a particular way that we’re embedding flexibility in the case of an emergency.”
And an important piece of that puzzle is “building financial resilience,” Shelley says.
Financial resilience “looks like 6 months of your expense load accessible to you.” Whether that’s through savings, or something like “the revolving credit product,” that the listener mentioned, which can help keep flexibility in your budget.
Though it is something to “be careful with,” and there’s likely to be a “full application,” to access a revolving credit product from the bank, in the right circumstances it can be a great way to maintain liquidity in your finances.
Shelley puts it well, “you also want to have the ability to access credit without necessarily having to jump through flaming hoops of fire.”
Reagan reflects on the importance of getting professional financial advice. He says, “this is why professional advice is so key because this is the stuff you might forget under pressure or just not know at all. It’s that long-term view that some of us, most of us don’t have.”
If you’re in a similar position to this listener and deciding how to restructure your mortgage, consider booking a consultation with an enable.me financial coach (costs apply). They’ll help you diagnose your starting point, create goals you’ll feel motivated to work towards, and set a strategic financial plan that can help you achieve them.
Watch Jon’s interview and the full listener Hotline segment below:
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.
