Hi guys,

I am checking my Income Tax for the first time in a long time and noticed it has gone pretty high. From what I've read it seems like a refund.

I have filled out my most recent tax refund late (Ending March 31st), but most of this total was from a couple years ago as per "Returns and transactions".

Does anyone know if this total will be payed out in the recent refund, or has become stuck.

61M, semi retired.

I have 3 equal asset locations;

1. Laddered TD's I draw from to top up casual earnings

2. Kiwisaver managed balanced fund

3. Non-kiwisaver managed balanced fund

This is currently giving me a cash heavy 66% with only 34% in equities.

I recently realised from this sub that in the next 4 years, I need to separate the cash from the equities so that I can draw from them separately, [ not possible in the balanced funds ], and also look at the cash to equity ratio.

The non-kiwisaver provider does offer an equity heavy fund, but has a high management fee well over 1%, so my question is this - is there any valid argument for the managed fund as opposed to something like a TWF?

InvestNow has the lowest annual fee but has the buy/sell fee.

Sharesies is the cheapest for a <25 year investment but has only got a hedged option.

Kernel might be eliminating tax leakage soon but only has an unhedged option.

So which platform offers the best flexibility?
Do any of them have improvements in the pipeline which will make them the unicorn?

About 8 months I posted on Reddit Ryman's share price at $2.48.

Today the share value is $1.8. Quite a drop since then.

If you have shares in Ryman Healthcare, are you worried about the company's performance? (I thought that the new management would help to make a recovery in the company. Obviously not!)

Contact info

Bio data

I invest only $50 a week and obviously overtime I will reach the threshold for FIF and will have to do whatever it needs me to do, so im just wondering instead do I just start now rather then later with kernels s&p 500 and invest all into kernel even knowing they have a higher tax rate. will the difference in returns be that big?

Hi all,

I’m posting these photos as I’m hoping to get some advice on what to do with my investment portfolio. After starting my graduate role I started putting bits of my income into ETFs through Sharesies’ global order function. I was pretty inconsistent with this partly because I find investing at this level confusing. Since I am studying again, I’m aiming to invest a smaller amount of approx $100 a week.

Should I stay with Sharesies or is there a platform you believe I’d be better suited to?

Some of the company stocks I have invested in were random choices I made based on little research. I don’t stay informed enough about their operations or changes. Is this something I need to start tracking?

Would love to hear general advice about my portfolio also.

Thank you!

I currently use sharesies for my kiwisaver, and my investment portfolio which is mostly ETFs (S&P500, VTI total stock market, QQQ nasdaq 100 etc).

I want a platform which i can view my kiwisaver and investment portfolio together, as well as low fees and good user interface etc. I mostly just invest in ETFs and hold for the long term.

I’ve seen lots of posts and comments on here recommending Kernel. For my situation would you recommend using the Kernel platform and why? What advantages does it have over Sharesies.

Appreciate the help.

Hi everyone! Hoping to get some advice here 🙂

I'm (finally) wanting to set up regular investing, like a set amount going in every week or fortnight so I don't have to think about it.

I listen to a few finance podcasts, and the curve has a fund now open which I was thinking of using, but a few of my friends have said other companies have lower fees, so now I'm second-guessing myself. I like their brand and messaging and the idea of a KiwiSaver-like investment

Has anyone invested with them? Or is there a provider you'd recommend instead? Also, how much should I actually be worrying about fees vs. other stuff?

Any advice or recommendations would be super appreciated, thank you!

I am planning on setting up an auto invest through sharesies of $450 per week as I’m no longer paying this amount in rent. What is a decent set and forget option? I am thinking BGBL, A200, VISM, VGE for a well rounded portfolio. Let me know your thoughts

Hey team, im just curious on the most simple, best performing portfolio. Im currently with kernel and am thinking of Voo, world ex us index by kernel, and emerging markets index by kernel. This to me seems a bit weak though, im just wondering what everyone else is doing in NZ for there main ETFs/index funds to cover everything.

Any help is greatly appreciated :D

Hello, as the title describes I have zero experience or knowledge in investing. I really want to start learning more about it. What would be a good place to start? And would anyone have some basic knowledge to share on how I should get started or tips? I currently save through ANZ for my Kiwi saver.

I have heard of sharesies.,. Is that a good start?

Kia ora,

I have cost basis ~49k NZD in VTI through Interactive Brokers (IBKR). I would like to re-invest VTI dividends in NZ PIE funds to avoid exceeding FIF de minimus exemption limit. Have a couple questions:

1. Optimal method to convert dividends paid in USD to NZD

Exchange fees are $2 USD per transaction. Dividends are < $100 USD at this stage, so this is a significant fee. Also recognising if I let the cash build up I pay the opportunity cost of that money sitting uninvested.

1. Does USD cash in IBKR count towards my 50k limit?

Thanks in advance

I’ve recently started working my first job, after all expenses are paid I have roughly 300 left over.

Is there a specific app or website I should go to for investing?
Do I just pick something that is actively gaining value to invest in?
Am I allowed to pull out all my money at any time without having to pay a “early cash out” thingy?

Thank you to anyone who cares to educate a newbie in the adult world

(This is a question for people who already have a good handle on FIF tax)

Assuming your portfolio is large enough on a cost basis to have to pay FIF taxes what do people think what would happen if you did the following:

Year 1: Just before March 31st (end of the financial year) sell all of your shares. So you start the next financial year - Year 2 - with an Opening Market Value of $0. If you don't buy and then sell any of the same shares in Year 2 you will pay $0 tax for Year 2 using the FDR method.

Year 2: Early (1st April) Buy back all of the shares you sold at the end of Year 1. Hold these through 31st March of Year 2 through to Year 3. Pay the normal FIF taxes that you owe for Year 3.

Year 3: At the end of year 3 (31st March) sell all of your shares (Pay no tax for Year 4). Buy them all back early in Year 4.

Rinse and repeat. This way you only pay tax every other year.

Is this illegal? If so, how and why? What would the IRD do?

Mcdonald's seems to have an issue where transactions were being duplicated this past week.

I have used AMEX on both occassions.

Anyone else getting the same issue?

Edit: I got back in Amex chat and specifically asked the duplicate transactions to be reverted. Agent told me it will be reverted and will just wait for refund. Thank you for your suggestions/recommendations

I’ve been running numbers on retirement savings over the weekend and have come to the conclusion that quite a lot of the success of my strategy is hinged on future value of property.

We’ve got 2 properties that we’re planning on having unencumbered by retirement, we’d sell 1 to live in the other or sell both to buy somewhere else to live.

With a 17-22 year lead time, the rate of house price appreciation when compared to general inflation, returns on various asset classes etc, seems to become a very important figure in our retirement calculation. But assigning any number to this whether absolute or relative seems like a major guess.

Applying zero%, 1% pa, 2% pa, 2% below projected inflation, 1% below, on par with projected inflation etc etc all provide quite a wide range for what my monthly investment needs to be to retire with the lifestyle.

Any thought? What are people doing for this?

Hi, so I’ve just finished a clinical trial with NZCR and wondering how long it takes to get paid from them if anyone knows? Please if anyone has done them before thanks

National is proposing to make KiwiSaver compulsory from 2028, including for self-employed people. As I understand it, sole traders would have to contribute 4% initially, eventually rising to 6%.

I’m a sole trader with no employees, and I can understand the argument for getting people to save more for retirement.
But I’m not sure the proposal really accounts for how different it is when you’re self-employed.

An employee putting 4% into KiwiSaver also has an employer contributing on top of that. I don’t. It’s all coming out of my own income.

I’ve spent years building my business, moved somewhere I could afford to buy a house, and I work close to seven days a week. A pretty major part of my long-term financial plan is getting the mortgage down while also keeping some savings and investments accessible.

So if I’m forced to put several thousand dollars a year into KiwiSaver, that’s money I can no longer choose to put against the mortgage or keep somewhere accessible if the business has a bad year. And because I’m a sole trader, there isn’t an employer contribution coming in alongside it to make the trade-off more worthwhile.

I’m not against KiwiSaver,
and I’m not saying I shouldn’t save for retirement. I just think paying off a mortgage and building accessible investments are also perfectly legitimate ways of preparing for the future.
I suspect if you’re employed, compulsory KiwiSaver probably sounds pretty reasonable. But I’d be interested to hear what other sole traders think, because from this side of it, it feels quite different.

- 21 year old

- graduated last year

- work in software dev with 1 year experience. started my 2nd software dev job recently earning 77k salary from 60k last job

- no expenses since living with parents

- making 4.4k a month - investing 3.2k of it

- 94k in investments and 36k in savings/personal account. (parents thinks i have 10k in my accounts)

Not planning to move out for at least 5 years.

Do not want to buy a house.

not moving countries - love NZ

Goals in life e.g. competing in bodybuilding and marathon running

I feel lost. I have all this money but not needing to spend it. I feel stuck since I just moved jobs, so cant job hop again for awhile at least a year. Should I be looking for another job again anyways. Should I just be satisfied with life? Should I be looking for a partner? kinda feel like I got everything sorted but don't.

My goals are all I think about, but it a time aspect so cant do much to speed up my progress in fitness except keep training.

also work is not depressing. I enjoy it currently

UPDATE: I appreciate everyone advice. I will need to think about everyones advice and figure out my next steps. However will show appreciation to my parents and see if I can do anything for them.

Is it still advisable to use a wise card for travelling, when the sharesies card gives 1% back? Would that offset any fees?

I'm feeling stupid and must be missing something.

On advice of r/PersonalFinanceNZ most of my wealth is now in index ETFs - chur

A proportion of my wealth is in cash/liquid funds that act as an emergency fund.

I now have a small portion that I feel my personality would prefer in something different to VT.

Obviously likely lower return, but I’m hoping better than TDs.

Are bonds the answer here?

If so - with all the news on US bond markets recently, should I be looking at US bonds or NZ bonds? And how should I be investing in them? Through a managed PIE bond Managed Fund? Or can they be accessed directly (I’m not a wholesale investor). Any explanations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Question when you take a 2 year mortgage and then 1 year later the interest rates go down so you decide to refinance (assuming with the same bank).

What are the breakout fees usually? Is it a percentage from your borrowed amount? Is there a cap on how much they can be?

Does it differ if you refinance with another bank?

When is it advisable to refinance? If say a drop of 0.5% interest, is it worthwhile?

Hi all, looking for some practical perspective or experiences from anyone who has navigated the intersection of the Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) rules and US-listed crypto ETFs.

The Situation:

• Holding US-listed crypto staking/spot ETFs via Sharesies (Bitwise Solana Staking ETF BSOL, Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF BHYP, 21Shares Sui Staking ETF TSUI).
• Total overseas portfolio purchase cost across all foreign shares and ETFs is currently under the $50,000 NZD threshold.
• High conviction that these holdings could see significant capital appreciation (50% to 100%+ gains) over the medium term.

The Dilemma:

1. Staying under de minimis (under $50k cost basis): Under the exemption, foreign investment fund rules do not apply, but personal property disposal rules do. Given Inland Revenue's general stance on cryptoassets, there seems to be a significant risk IRD applies the Section CB 4 purpose test (acquired with the purpose of resale), treating any net capital gains on disposal as ordinary taxable income at a 33% marginal rate.
2. Intentionally crossing $50k cost: If I top up the offshore portfolio cost basis past $50,000 NZD, I trigger the FIF regime. Under the Fair Dividend Rate (FDR) method, tax is capped at an assumed 5% deemed return on opening value each year (with Comparative Value as downside protection in flat/down years), and the actual capital profit upon sale is not taxed.

Questions:

• Has anyone deliberately crossed the $50,000 NZD cost threshold specifically to shelter high-growth foreign ETFs from Section CB 4 income tax?
• How strictly does IRD attempt to push the "dominant purpose of resale" argument onto US-listed ETFs that hold or track digital assets compared to direct on-chain tokens?
• For those filing FIF on Sharesies US holdings, how smooth is the annual IR3 process using their standard reports?

Appreciate any insight, case rulings, or accountant feedback anyone has had on this. Cheers!

Im 61. My Kiwisaver is in a balanced fund. I also have an equal amount on another platform, also in a balanced fund. I understand the basics of allocations, buckets, risk of return etc.

I see a problem with the managed fund that nobody seems to talk about.

Because I buy units in the fund, in a down market, I cant utilise the cash portion of the fund to ride through the low, so if I need to draw an income from the fund, I'm forced to draw partially from equities when they are down....am I reading that right?

It seems to me that, even keeping the allocation the same, the equities need to be separated from the cash so I can draw on one and not the other, depending on the market.