Keep The Change

This time of the year can be where the new year's energy has died down, and we waver from goals, or we realise we didn’t do what we said we were going to and now there is no point. For some inspo, I asked some KTC listeners what it was like to ‘think they can’t’ but ‘do it anyway’ and what they noticed. Perhaps NOW is the time. What do you need to start doing? Hey thanks for listening! Please take...

Most Kiwis are overthinking wealth building. They're waiting for the perfect election result, the right market timing, or the ideal economic conditions. Meanwhile, they're missing the simple fundamentals that actually work. James Blair from Lighthouse Financial breaks down why money is actually straightforward: earn as much as you can, don't spend it all, pay down debt, buy shares, buy property. T...

Sign up to Money Mail for free weekly emails to improve your finances: https://www.keepthechange.co.nz/moneymail Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well here we are again. More volatility + vulnerability and a sense of not knowing how long this could go on. I am not going to explore that too deeply, but I do want you to reflect on 2025. Because if you want to invest, you have to accept risk and therefore understand that risk is not a bug in investing, it’s part of the process. Markets are constantly reacting to something. Hey thanks for liste...

Most people misallocate their time worrying about share platform fees when they should be asking their boss for a raise. They're trying to optimise $3 in fees instead of increasing their income by $10,000. Luke and Mikey break down the hierarchy: time allocation first, income allocation second, capital allocation third. We cover why when you're young, time is your capital, and when you're older, c...

Let’s run the numbers on someone earning $35 an hour trying to “get ahead” in NZ. Full-time is roughly $72,800. After tax, ACC, KiwiSaver (3%), you’re left with roughly $55k take-home. Here are the real costs one person shared (good starting point: 29, single, no kids, flatting): Rent: $350/week Food: $150/week Fuel: $45/week Insurance (car, contents, health): $60/week Gym (CrossFit): $50/week Pow...

In accounting, one of the most important reports is a ‘profit and loss’. This report shows you the total sales, less the expenses, which equates to profit. In a world of ‘I do a million a year’ they typically mean they have sold $1million worth of something. ‘How I made $1million in 2025’ was probably $1mil of sales. There are always expenses to create the sales. Sales - expenses = profi...

Cameron Ward runs 62 Anytime Fitness gyms across New Zealand and has seen what separates successful franchises from failures. The stats are brutal: 1 in 20 gym franchises fail within 2 years, but 1 in 5 independent gyms don't make it. Cam breaks down what it really takes to succeed in franchising: follow the systems religiously, have proper capital (not just for setup, but working capital too), an...

6 expensive headwinds of New Zealand 🇳🇿 1. New Zealand has an ageing population. Cost = super + healthcare. 2. Health issues rising. I.e. Obesity and point 1. Cost = system strain. 3. Infrastructure deficit. Cost = rebuild or maintenance bill. 4. Brain/worker drain. Cost = lost taxpayers to fund the above. 5. Capital stuck in property. Cost = low productivity and low risk tolerance. 6. Education s...

“It’s a write-off that’s why businesses do it”. You’ve seen it online where non-business owners and non-accountants suddenly educate you with 100% confidence on business ‘write-offs’ and how business owners pay no tax. So let’s clear this up. Because a tax write-off is not free money. It’s not a refund. And it’s definitely not the IRD wiring you back the full amount. Hey thanks for listening! Plea...

Conner grew up on a council estate where people end up stuck in the same system. He came to New Zealand with $2,000 in his pocket and is now running a successful landscaping business in Queenstown. Conner breaks down his journey from addiction and destruction in England to finding purpose through running and gardening in South America, then building a business in New Zealand. We cover why he's los...

They want to earn more. They want to start something small. They want to build skills and income outside their job. But then they look at tax and it kills the motivation. They won't be the first or last Kiwi to get p!ssed off by this. However, maybe the bigger risk isn’t paying 33% the bigger risk is not exploring where you could end up with another income stream. Hey thanks for listening! Please...

New Zealand's economy is patchy, spending fell 0.5% in December, Boxing Day sales down 12%, and job ads are still 30% below pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, electricity is up 12% and gas up 16% - the highest increases since the late 1980s. Brad Olsen from Infometrics breaks down what's really happening and why the economy isn't magically turning around like everyone hoped. The biggest challenge? We...

That’s according to the comment section of just about every social platform I use. The sad thing? Many of these people leaving comments so desperately want to be right. ‘I told you so’. Cool bro. Now what? Nothing. They won’t do anything, just like they never have before. Some of the people most worried about a stock market collapse have $0 invested. Make that make sense. Let's try... Hey tha...

Most first home buyers are back with low deposits and record-high debt, often borrowing with less than 20% deposit. Luke and Mikey break down the reality: people are stretching themselves thin with low equity loans that cost more in interest. We cover why you need to understand the true cost (not just the mortgage payment), the risks of buying with minimal deposit, and what happens when house pric...

Today marks 300 episodes of KTC Money Mail. 300 editions ago I was sitting in my one-bedroom apartment during lockdown, getting started. Hitting send on edition one. Today this will go to tens of thousands of people across various platforms. So how to we summarise the 300 editions? Let's try! Hey thanks for listening! Please take some form of action from this content, don’t just be a consumer, bec...

Amy breaks down why most people feel confused about money... They know what to do but don't do it, they can't articulate what they actually want, and they're stuck thinking "we want to create wealth" without knowing what for. 80% of people know what's good for them but don't follow through. They want passive income but can't explain why. They want to build wealth but haven't defined what success l...

These words stood out to me and should for you too. “It’s been a slog, and I've made many mistakes, but I have grown so much I feel like I'm a completely different person’’. That’s the real win. Becoming the version of yourself that you know that you could be! So HOW did they do it? Hey thanks for listening! Please take some form of action from this content, don’t just be a consumer, become a prod...

2026 is going to be wild. AI will start eating jobs, currencies might collapse, and New Zealand has an election that could get divisive. The question is: are you ready? Luke and Mikey break down how to dominate 2026: take action now while others wait, build psychotic belief in yourself, and use AI as your unfair advantage instead of fearing it. We cover why the people who prepared in 2024-2025 wil...

As we close in on Week 300, I want to share with you an email I received recently and some of the key principles. ‘’For a long time, I let my lack of education and some really destructive self-talk become my narrative. I spiralled into a lot of debt - managed to rack up over $100k worth of the stuff and I have no one to blame but myself. I was spending money recklessly and committing my future wea...

2025 was a strange year for investors, but 2026 could be even stranger. Generate's Greg Smith breaks down what every Kiwi needs to know. We cover the investment trends shaping 2026: why diversification matters more than ever, emerging markets and the political chaos that's coming with Trump's new policies. Plus the New Zealand outlook, why our market hit record highs but still disappointed compare...

Sign up to Money Mail for free weekly emails to improve your finances: https://www.keepthechange.co.nz/moneymail Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour recently announced a 28% capital gains tax on rentals, batches and commercial properties. Politicians say it'll make housing affordable, but the data says otherwise. Luke and Mikey break down why this won't work: no country has ever lowered house prices with property taxes, wealthy people will just borrow against assets instead of selling, and the revenue projections are fantasy. To get $96...

‘If no one knows you, money won't flow to you’ - simple but confronting words that stopped me in my tracks a long time ago. Unfortunately, for many, many Kiwi people we are allergic to getting known. But you’re getting in your own way, over complicating it all. All you have to do is be good at something and have people know that you are. That’s all it is now. Keep it that simple to win and pr...

Everyones favourite to predict...and get wrong! See what happened in 2024 and 2025 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTvtdNmI7gU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.