Making Cents

Dr Brad Klontz, co-author of the new book Start Thinking Rich: 21 Harsh Truths to Take You from Broke to Financial Freedom, shares how money beliefs can hold you back.

Most of us have been there - you know what you should be doing with money, but you’re not doing it. 

Why? 

Well there’s a whole bunch of wiring deep in our brains that can trip us up and sabotage us. 

That doesn’t mean it’s all a lost cause … it means that you need to take control of your mind, before you truly take control of your money. 

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Welcome to Ask the Experts, where each week we talk to people in the industry to get the inside word on what’s happening right now, and what that means for the tactics that you should use to make the most of your money.

This week I’ve partnered up with realestate.co.nz, who has kindly leant us their expert Vanessa Williams, and we’re talking about house versus apartment.

There are some key differences between these property types, and it can seriously impact your money.

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Pepper Raccoon, artist and merch designer, shares her tactics for creating a proper living out of being an artist.

There’s a common belief that when you’re making career choices, you have to choose between doing what you love, or making money.

While that’s sometimes true, it’s doesn’t have to be true.

Even creatives, the ones most famous for becoming starving artists, can find systems to make a living without selling out to the man.

It does, however, take a strategy. After all, if it was easy, everyone would do it.

Well one such creative was nice enough to take time out of her day to walk me through exactly how she makes a good living as an artist.

Wellingtonian Pepper Raccoon has been going for seven years now, working as a fine artist who makes pins, t-shirts, and other merchandise.

It’s going so well that she’s even had to upgrade from being a sole trader, to a registered company, a big milestone.

Here’s how she makes it work.

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Frances Cook shares listener tips for being money smart over Christmas, for everything from presents, to food, and bringing in extra cash to fund it all.

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Nick Carr, financial analyst from Your Money Blueprint, shares why he regrets paying off his mortgage early, and the numbers behind why he would have invested into shares instead.

Paying off the mortgage early is a good thing… right? 

Well, one New Zealander worked hard to do that, and then decided, he’d actually shot himself in the foot. 

When a big accident happened, the money he’d sunk into the mortgage wasn’t available, when he could have done with some cash savings to get through a tough time. 

Meanwhile, he later discovered investing into shares, and on looking back wished he’d put more money into those investments instead. 

So when is paying off the mortgage early a good idea, when is it not, and how do you balance it all? 

Here’s how he would handle it now if he had his time over again. 

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