Psychology of spending: How to create good spending habits and avoid keeping up with the Joneses – Mary Holm
I’m not saying that applies to every purchase. We can all look back on certain holidays or concerts with great pleasure, or point to items in our homes that we’ve loved for years. But those are the standouts. So much of what we buy just becomes the new ordinary. Next time you buy a treat, […]
Heat wave health risks: How to spot heat exhaustion and heat stroke
Heat stress occurs when we produce more body heat than normal. Jim Cotter, a professor at the University of Otago school of physical education, says “we’re physiologically designed to deal with heat better than any other species”. “When we produce more, or it’s difficult to get rid of it, or we get a bit added […]
How to protect an inheritance from break-ups – Mary Holm
I would think about it as a retirement fund, which would immediately benefit you because you would no longer have to save as much for that purpose (keeping the KiwiSaver contributions going, of course, to the extent they are matched by your employer or Government). The original writer should of course get legal advice of […]
How to tell good debt from bad debt before you borrow to invest – Mary Holm
A: I haven’t read anything by Thomas Anderson. But I note that he has an MBA from the University of Chicago. I do too, so I’m guessing we may have been taught many of the same basic messages about debt. In my columns and podcasts and books, I often distinguish between good debt and bad […]
How to cope with heartbreak while travelling
Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in a scene from the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. According to psychologists, a breakup is one of the biggest stressors a person can experience in their life. Divorce or separation is measured as the second-biggest life stressor following the death of a loved one in major studies […]
How to access KiwiSaver funds after separation – The Ex-Files
If you were contributing to KiwiSaver before the de facto relationship started, the simplest method is to take your KiwiSaver balance at the end of the relationship, subtract the balance from the start of the relationship and the difference is the amount attributable to the relationship. Alternatively, you can calculate the amount attributable to the […]
Ex Files with Jeremy Sutton: How to protect your inheritance during relationship troubles
The best thing you can do to protect your inheritance is to open a new bank account and have the inheritance paid into that account. No other transfers should be made into the account to ensure there is no intermingling with any relationship property funds, and it is important to be aware that any money […]
How to avoid being scammed by artificial intelligence – Diana Clement
People will find themselves being blackmailed with fake videos. How would a partner, or employer know that the compromising video of you was real or AI-generated? Blackmailers already know to keep their financial demands realistic so the victim will just pay, to avoid the pain of refusing, said Sean Lyons, chief online safety officer at […]
How To Be Wrong – A crash course in startup success
We were watching Ferrit, Telecom’s online shopping mall, turn into a slow train wreck – all while they spent millions on billboards, TV ads and even banners on Trade Me (we were happy to take their money). We were keeping a closer eye on Zillion, the first credible local Trade Me competitor to get any traction. Our […]
How to rediscover joy at work in 2025
Our increasing levels of work disillusionment are correlated to a growing consciousness that we have more choices. What is harder to explain is what stops us from finding more fulfilling work. We found that the crux of being trapped in what we’ve dubbed a “Groundhog Career”, was a growing gap between the diversity of opportunities […]