r/PersonalFinanceNZ

Im wondering if anyone is actually hitting 35k points (Platinum+) on AIA Vitality without spending extra?

I’m trying to work out how realistic this is.

From what I can tell:

- Platinum is 30,000 points (and 35k+ gets max rewards)

- You can get ~$5/week in vouchers if you hit activity targets (so ~$260/year)

- Total rewards can get up around ~$500+ per year depending on status

What I want to know is:

Is anyone actually hitting 30k–35k points just through:

- steps / workouts

- app assessments

- basic free stuff

Or are people spending money on appointments to get to the $35k level??

Cheers

Hi all,

I've just found a fraudulent transaction on my credit card for a bit over a thousand dollars NZ. Did the usual thing, blocked the card, called the bank, went through the whole disclosure. They just came back to me and said, we'll dispute it but we can see that a CVV was used, so it must have been you. Nope, not me, I'm not in the states (as if) and I've not booked any accommodation or made any purchase from an accommodation provider this year. She got a bit snarky at this point and said, well you obviously gave your phone to someone - I was very clear, no, neither my phone nor my credit card has left my possession - but also, not a single person knows my log in details anyway - it's impossible. How am I going to prove this - or am I doomed to lose this money?

Is it just me or is 6-10% of rent an extortionate amount to pay a property manager to manage a rental I’ve inherited?

Does anyone have any feedback or advice for you about self-managing as a newbie landlord? What’s the worst part about it? How many hours will it take from me every week? I see MyRent is a popular tool although seems a little overkill. I have tenants lined up and I live in close proximity to the property

Thanks all

Well, here we go again. IRD is back with another "declare your cryptoasset income now" campaign. They reckon they've now identified around 355,000 Kiwis with crypto-asset activity, 57 million transactions, $36 billion in total value.

WTF I thought it was anonymous?

• NZ-based exchanges have been handing over customer data for a while now
• Most OECD countries have adopted the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which means offshore exchanges will feed info back to IRD through international information-sharing agreements

So the "blockchain is anonymous" argument is cooked. If you've ever done KYC anywhere, you're probably in the dataset.

One thing worth banging on about because it trips people up every single time. Tax isn't only triggered when you cash out to NZD. Every token swap is a disposal. BTC to ETH, ETH to wETH, ETH to an NFT - all of it. Whether fiat ever touched your bank account is completely irrelevant.

Don't panic

Genuinely, IRD are actually fine to deal with, and the sky is not falling. If you made money, you owe tax. If you lost money, you might be due a refund, or at least have losses to carry forward. Given the nature of crypto, most active investors have had a bit of both over the years.

The real issue is timing. IRD expects you to have declared this income in the year you earned it, so if you're only now sorting out your 2021 gains, use-of-money interest and late payment penalties have been quietly ticking away ever since.

A voluntary disclosure can get shortfall penalties (which range from 20% to 150%) substantially reduced or fully remitted, and tax pooling can take a decent chunk off the interest. Getting on the front foot is always materially cheaper than waiting for IRD to come knocking. Ignoring it is genuinely the worst thing you can do.

What to actually do

1. Load every wallet and exchange you've ever touched into a tax tool like Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator (now Summ). Both will surface your trades, cost bases, and the important bit, where your data has holes in it.
2. If your activity is simple (a couple of wallets, one or two major exchanges, no DeFi), clean it up yourself, stick the number into the "Other Income" box on your IR3, done.
3. If you've been across multiple chains, lots of wallets, any DeFi, NFTs, leverage, or several tax years at once, get an accountant who actually knows crypto. Your regular accountant almost certainly doesn't, and crypto is one of those areas where "close enough" gets very expensive very quickly.

I've done 100+ crypto voluntary disclosures and returns with IRD over the last five or so years, so happy to answer specific questions in the comments

Just wondering as I hear a lot of people finance cars but ive been taught from a young age that financing is stupid and only buy a car if you have the money in cash. In saying that my family go and spend 200-300k on a car in cash every couple of years, does this indicate wealth? But I see so many other people with way nicer cars worth double to triple so unsure where we sit are these people all buying in cash?

Hi all

Buying a rental home (my first). I will take over possession in a few days, the current owner advised they will disconnect the power on settlement day

I won't have new tenants until around a month. Should I sign up to a power company to keep the power on or let them disconnect it until the tenants move it?

I believe there's a reconnection cost it seems to be around $100?

Thanks!!

Hi, we have an owner occupied house (paid off) and are looking to invest. We have 350k in an offset so would be happy to convert some (maybe 50k) back into a loan.

Those of you who have done this - what do you invest in? Looks like there could be difficulty with funds like Kernel Global 100.

Any recommendations for broad etfs that are eligible for investing with borrowed money?

Ive had a Sharsies account for a couple years. Had some high highs and low lows but most of that was just good or bad luck. I wanna get into regular investing and long term growth. Ive heard about micro-investing where you take the rounded up cents from purchases and invest those in stocks. It probably would end up being more something like 5$ a week. But anyways just wanna hear your sharsies recommendations. Currently looking at the Smart US 500(nzx version), Smart s&p/nzx 50 and smart nz top 50

I have low 3 figure debts in traffic infringement tickets (under $400)

I need to figure out how to pay these because I have no savings and I haven’t been able to sell anything on Trademe (new fashion items) in about a month.

Has anyone had any luck bypassing these or am I going to have to offer a small amount like $10pw to get these paid off. As I can’t afford the afterpay either.

We’re hammering our mortgage pretty hard (most of my salary and living on my wife’s) but I keep seeing ads from a bunch of mortgage brokers and wondering what I might be missing and if there’s anything I can do to improve the strategy.

$523,599 mortgage, three way split with ASB:

Car loan (recently came off a 1% green loan)

$11,925

5.09 % floating

$1,183 / fortnight and throwing extra cash at it every week.

Fixed split 1 (renewal July 2026)

$260,775

6.55 %

$1,317 / fortnight

Fixed spilt 2 (renewal July 2027)

$288,935

4.92 %

$1,500 / fortnight

I’ve been with ASB about 7 years and we usually get about .25% off the advertised rate at re-fixing. Been quite a while since I last spoke to a broker.

Question: since the fixed split 2 comes up in July 2027, is there much point in running this by a broker now, or is it best to fix split 1 for another year and approach a broker before both come up for renewal next year?

Any advice much appreciated!

So I just got a Credit Score report emailed now & it says there are 2 things from Spark Telecommunications that is ruining my Credit Score.

Ive always bought everything with my own money.

Have never borrowed money from a lender, never financed anything, never had a phone plan.

How do I go about this? What do I do?

I honestly don’t know what to do or who to call.

I recently sold something on Trade Me and the buyer paid through Ping. It was my first time using Trade Me, so when I tried to withdraw the balance, I was asked to verify my identity.

I submitted that on Sunday, and now it’s Tuesday and I haven’t heard anything or received the money yet.

Is this normal? Does anyone know how long verification usually takes or what I should do next?

So yeah, not the holiday I planned. Got my MacBook, iPhone, AirPods, Garmin watch and a few other things stolen while in South America. I'm on the ANZ Airpoints Platinum card so I have travel insurance through Allianz and I'm trying to stay positive about it.

The tricky part is most of my stuff was bought at Auckland Airport duty free so I have no receipts. I've gone through my emails to track them down but I've come up empty. Already emailed Allianz asking what alternatives they'll accept and waiting to hear back, but would love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar situation in the meantime. The Macbook was purchased off Trademe (second hand) too.

Did they give you a hard time about proof of purchase? How did you get around the no receipt thing? Any tips on making the process less painful would be massively appreciated.

edit: I should note I am still overseas with an old borrowed cellphone and I need to get my Skinny esim access back lol anyone gone through this?

Does anyone have any recommendations for ways to invest offshore?

For example, Invest Now's Foundation Series funds are NZ-based so that's out. Currently considering investing in ETFs through IBKR.

Hi there, throwaway account.

I've recently moved on from a place I've worked for 15 years. I was always longing to try to start my own business. I have left already and currently have no income. (I have maybe 10 months of savings before I am at zero) I have been working on some side projects for the last few months and I kind of want to see if I can make those side projects into legitimate business.

I was looking at WINZ and looked at the Business Training and Advice Grant

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/business-training-and-advice-grant.html

It looked useful until I got to one section that I got really confused about.

>You may be able to get a Business Training and Advice Grant if you’re:
disadvantaged in the local labour market

Surely not right. I was hoping that because I have no income, I'll be burning through my mortgage payments. But a grant could at least cover some of my business expenses that I plan to purchase, or even provide me with a bit of survivability. I'm just a bit confused that in order to be get to get given a business grant you have to be struggling to get a job.

Am I crazy here or that doesn't make much sense to me? So the government cannot support upcoming business owners if they have job employability?

I'm hoping someone with some experience that knows about this that can help me. or anyone who has actually received the grant before, please let me know. I'd be really appreciative if you could provide any guidance.

TL;DR:
Quit my job after 15 years to start a business, currently no income (10 months savings). Confused why the WINZ grant requires being “disadvantaged in the labour market” - does that mean I won’t qualify if I’m still employable? Anyone been through this?