Making Cents
The podcast for people who want financial freedom, without giving up their coffee.That means it's time to make the money world make cents. Join Frances Cook, best-selling author and award-winning journalist, to talk about the proven ways to invest your way to financial independence, buy your first home, or just get your spending under control.Every Monday we have the week's feature interview, with someone who's done something interesting with their money. From paying off a mountain of debt, or investing for financial independence, or starting a new business, these are the ordinary people making the extraordinary possible.On...
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“We’ve saved $80k, is it enough for our first home?” Mailbag episode
<p>Saving $80,000 should feel like a major milestone. But when you’re trying to buy your first home, it can leave you asking a very real question: is this actually enough?</p><br><p>In this Ask the Experts episode, a listener who’s fed up with renting wants to know whether they’re genuinely ready to buy, or about to take on more than they can afford.</p><br><p>They’ve built a solid deposit, but recent spending has shaken their confidence, and now they’re stuck between waiting longer or jumping in too soon.</p><br><p>So what do...
Three money psychology shifts that changed how I handle money
<p>Learning about money is one thing. Actually changing how you behave with it is something else entirely.</p><br><p>In this special episode of Making Cents, I’m pulling together three powerful money psychology insights that genuinely changed how I handle my own money. It’s not just that they were clever tactics, but that they finally helped me put good intentions into action.</p><br><p>Being “good with money” isn’t about deprivation or sitting on a pile of cash you’re scared to touch. It’s about deciding what kind of life you want, working backwards from...
What could a Santa Rally mean for our money?
<p>Fast Money with Jim Mora on Sunday Morning with RNZ. Talking the end of year GDP bounce, what a Santa Rally would tell us about 2026, how to control spending over the silly season, and the forecast for our Kiwisaver programme.</p><br><p>Links</p><p>Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Market Memo newsletter.</p><p > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.</p>
“I’ve got $1 million in the bank, what do I do with it?” Mailbag episode
<p>Hitting the milestone of $1 million in the bank should feel like financial freedom, but for many people approaching retirement, it’s the moment where the fear kicks in.</p><br><p>When a term deposit matures and you’re suddenly responsible for a seven-figure lump sum, the pressure to “not mess it up” can feel overwhelming.</p><br><p>That’s exactly the situation in today’s Ask the Experts episode. Our listener is 59, single, mortgage-free, and ready to retire soon, but unsure what to do with the $1 million they’ve worked their whole life to save.</p><br><p>EnableMe str...
NZ banking just changed all the rules, are you ready? Open banking with Pocketsmith CEO Jason Leong
<p>New Zealand banking just changed all the rules, and you could be forgiven for not having heard about it, despite the fact this could change everything about how you handle your money.</p><br><p>Open banking is now officially live in New Zealand, slipping in right at the end of the year with very little attention. But this isn’t just a tech update. It’s a power shift over who controls your financial information, and how it can be used.</p><br><p>That matters, because open banking has the potential to make huge parts of your mone...
Why investing got weird in 2025 - Webinar REPLAY
<p>2025 a strange year for money.</p><br><p>AI shot up so fast it started giving people Dotcom Bubble flashbacks.</p><p>Bitcoin lost more than a trillion dollars in value almost overnight.</p><p>KiwiSaver turned into an election promise.</p><p>Interest rates dropped, but didn’t truly soothe the money pain.</p><br><p>So if your money felt a bit off this year, you weren’t imagining it.</p><br><p>In this live edition of the Making Cents podcast, I’m joined by Stuff’s money editor Damien Venuto and AdviceFirst financial adviser Leon Leonardo...
“Do I really need a million dollars to retire?” Mailbag episode
<p>Nothing spikes the heart rate quite like seeing a headline claiming you need a million dollars to retire.</p><br><p>This week’s Ask the Experts listener is 47, the kids are nearly out the door, and retirement planning in New Zealand has suddenly stopped feeling like a ‘one day’ problem.</p><p>Which means the recent run of articles about retirement savings, retirement villages, or aged care costs are sending her straight into panic mode.</p><br><p>She’s heard the horror stories, of complex retirement village contracts, huge upfront costs, expensive aged care facilities, and now she’s wo...
Jenny-May Clarkson on leaving TVNZ, reinvention, and career pivots
<p>Jenny-May Clarkson is one of the most recognisable faces in Aotearoa, from her years as a Silver Fern to fronting the TVNZ Breakfast couch every morning.</p><br><p>She’s also living proof that starting over and reinventing your career is now incredibly common. And sometimes, incredibly public.</p><br><p>After quite quickly leaving the TVNZ Breakfast team, Jenny-May is now facing the same reality so many Kiwis deal with: when a secure job disappears, what happens next?</p><br><p>Because behind the lights and glamour, the truth is simple. People on screen rely on that pa...
Use the bank's money to pay off your mortgage? You bet.
<p>A quick and dirty update of mortgage tricks to get rid of the debt faster. Including using the bank's money, instead of yours!</p><br><p>Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to talk about it, replayed here with permission. </p><br><p>Links</p><p>Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Market Memo newsletter.</p><p > Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.</p>
“Are those ‘mortgage-free in five years’ hacks for real?” Mailbag episode
<p>Ever wondered whether those “mortgage-free in five years” hacks you see online are real, or just clever marketing?</p><br><p>With so many mortgage “shortcuts” floating around social media, it’s hard to know what actually works, especially in New Zealand’s property market.</p><br><p>In this Ask the Experts episode, we break down the truth behind mortgage-freedom shortcuts: the strategies that genuinely speed up your repayment timeline, the red flags to watch for, and the behavioural traps that can cost you thousands.</p><br><p>Financial coach Shelley Palman from EnableMe has tricks from smart mortgage str...
