The pressure of the cost-of-living crunch has been felt by most of us for a few years now.
Many of us hope that the more we earn, the less we have to worry about bills, unexpected costs and living week to week.
This week though, Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau revealed she’s had to sell her car - in order to help pay her bills.
So if a mayor on a salary of just under $190,000 a year is finding it tough – can you really earn enough to avoid financial pressure?
Today on The Front Page, we’re joined by Katie Wesney, head strategic coach at EnableMe, to discuss how to survive the cost of living and why those on high salaries are struggling as well.
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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Susie Nordqvist
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills
Cyta. I'm Susie Nordquitzt and for Chelsea Daniels. And this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by Benny Zealand Herald. The pressure of the cost of living crunch has been felt by most of us for a few years now. Many of us hope that the more we earn, the less we have to worry about bills, unexpected costs and living week to week. This week, though, Wellington Mayor Tory Farno revealed she's had to sell her car in order to help pay her bills. So if Amia on a salary of just under one hundred and ninety thousand dollars a year is finding it tough, can you really earn enough to avoid financial pressure? Today on the Front Page, we're joined by Katie Wesney, head strategic coach. It enable me to discuss how to tackle the cost of living Katie. When did a six figure income suddenly become not enough?
There is so much pressure at the moment economically for people. Interest rates are higher than they have been for a very long time, inflation, we have an incredible amount of pressure from a cash flow perspective. If I'm really honest with you, though, This is not a new problem and I think that often in New Zealand, the thing we think that will fix our personal financial situation is that we need to earn more money. And in all reality, the more that we earn, the more that we spend, and the more we disconnect from our finances. And I think the average household income of I think it's about one hundred and thirty thousand in New Zealand at the moment, means that some households will really struggle in terms of level of debt they have their lifestyle, and others will be very comfortable being able to invest, et cetera. So it's horses for courses in terms of personal situation.
Speaking to the lifestyle creep, is there an element of people falling into a trap of feeling like they have to keep up with the jones is? And if so, what would you say to them?
To be honest, that's the basis of capitalism. Again, the more that you earn, the more that you spend. And it is not what you earn get through your head, it's what's left over. And there is a balance to be had of living a great life, but you have to balance that with making progress otherwise, often you feel like you are just maintaining a system, and that is exhausting. And I see lots of examples every day in terms of the clients that I see who are very clever, They are earning much more than average, but that is not translating to the financial press that they know that they deserve, and there's often a sense of almost shame around that. And I actually think it's really brave to acknowledge that you have an issue, and it's about calling out what do I do about said issue?
Could you single out a particular worst case kind of scenario that you're seeing at the moment.
There's lots of studies and it all gives you the same kind of metrics and information. I was reading the other day that fifty six percent of kiwis worry about money daily or weekly. So I think my key messages if you are worried, you are certainly not alone. But worrying doesn't solve anything. It's well, what are the actions or strategies that can put in place to be better and do better. I think that stats from the Financial Services Council financial Resilience indexed in April, and fascinatingly, I think This is shocking. Forty two percent of US have credit card did and thirty one percent of us have buy now Pay later did it?
So seventy percent of New Zealanders are worrying about money daily, weekly, or monthly. That's pretty alarming. You know how many people are going to bed at night going can I pay my credit card bill? Can I make my mortgage repayment? Do I need to make trade offs? Are there any things that I need to do? What are people most concerned about? Inflation is nuts? Eighty nine percent are really concerned about inflation in twenty twenty four, interest rates not far behind about seventy five percent, and house prices. You can start to see that cooling.
I can give you a client example. Lovely clients that I saw this week. They have a household income double that or more than double that average household income. So their income household was three hundred and fifty k, so working incredibly long hours, very clever people. But in the same breath, they have one home with a one point one million mortgage and at seven percent interest, that means eighty eight thousand is just gone per year on one line item. In terms of that accommodation piece, and when they came to see me, we really feel like we shouldn't be in the situation that we are, Katie. We are honestly living paycheck to paycheck. We just don't know where we're going wrong, and really hard to say that, really brave to come along. They have to have a plan, and they have to have a better structure and a system in place from a cash flow perspective that sets them up for success in the future, so they're not reliant on the uncontrollable often of having to earn more or pedal faster, because often you feel like you're just a hamster in a well. You know you're peddling really fast, but the system has got so big that you're just not getting ahead.
Is that what a lot of people are feeling like at the moment, that they are hamsters on a wheel?
Unequivocally but really interesting because I get I think you get to a spot that there's always been enough money coming in that you haven't really had to think terribly hard around what you do, and with all due respect, most people get comfortably inefficient in that they aren't doing what needs to be done. Things are a little bit loose, so they end up paying more interest back to the bank, and we have really profitable banks in New Zealand in terms of interest rates and fees. And you get what you focus on. And if you are focused on doing better, there are rules around all of this. You understand them, you execute on them, and then you do better.
Okay, where were those high income earners you spoke about going wrong with their finances?
They're just spending everything they earn. It's that lifestyle creep that they've bought a house that felt doable from a mortgage perspective when rates were two three percent less so at seven so they've over extended themselves. They are buying more expensive cars than they should, and I think there is grace in reading that some people are getting to the point where they're like, Oh, do I really need that car? Can I sell that car and alleviate a bit of pressure build in a little bit of a buffer in my situation, because that is absolutely critical, getting that really strong foundation in terms of being able to call upon reserves if something goes wrong, because things will always go wrong, and I think we're naive to think that it wouldn't. There's a really interesting stat that I read, what is it over two million New Zealanders and not prepared for loss of income of the main income earner, which actually scares me, that stat And that's the first piece we put in place for our clients is to make sure they have that really strong foundation in terms of resilience. So they have a buffet that they can draw upon. Do you know what that might not even necessarily be savings. If they have a mortgage, that might be a line of credit available to them, so if anything goes wrong, they can hold their line and their hand is never forced. And I think that's really important in terms of that foundation piece of that strong plan into the future.
You spoke before about people having flashy cars than they need. I'm not saying too had to flash a car then she needed. But are you surprised to hear that she had to sell her car despite her high salary and having one lotto two decades ago.
No, I'm not surprised at all, to be honest, And I say, good honor for acknowledging that, you know, if you find yourself maybe in a little hole, and obviously we don't know the backstory, well good on her for looking at her position and saying, well, how do I free up cash flow, How can I be more purposeful? In my mind, cars a depreciable asset. They get you from A to B. But for some people they're important. But you live below your means and that's a non negotiable, and sometimes you can get a little carried away. Things can change and you focus on the controllables. And if you are looking at getting a little bit leaner, well good on them for looking at that and doing that.
What are people increasingly going without? That might surprise some.
It worries me often that the first thing people sometimes go and cut is that insurance protection, which does worry me because again futures promised to no one and it can just leave you really exposed. In my experience, from an inefficiency perspective, often you can find money elsewhere, more accessible, with less risk to cut back on, to make a real difference. Again, coming back to what we know to be true in New Zealand, we frit are about fifteen percent of our net income, a little bit of overspending, a lot of pain, too much interest to the bank. So that fretter piece or inefficiency is where I look at first for my clients versus exposing them to more risk. Than they really need to if they lost their job, for example, if something happened in terms of natural weather events. I mean it's a very rocky road in New Zealand just in terms of risk. So again I would be looking and suggesting that people look first at that almost lazy money that can so easily slip through the cracks, spending too much on food, often a little bit of entertainment piece looking at subscriptions, etc. Ay of itself seems minuscule, but it all adds up and you think fifty you do the math. Fifteen percent of your net income generally is not used to give any more benefit in terms of enjoying life. If you find that and put that to better use, your whole financial trajectory shifts in effect. And I think often the focus has been on that income side, but actually living a purposeful life certainly not living a miserable life. There's always a balance to be had, but again finding those in efficiencies around mortgage, around cost load that can make a huge difference in terms of financial momentum and where you land longer term from a wealth creation perspective.
That there have been periods when I considered dropping health insurance because I seem to be living a pretty healthy life and not really needing to make any claim. But this is the interesting thing. As my health insurance got more expensive as I got older, the value of great health outcomes from the treatments that I or my partner had outweighed the additional cost. It's a funny ottle game health insurance. But I'm so glad that we kept at it.
Do you think budgeting being taught in schools could help address some of these issues that you're seeing?
Unequivocally, unequivocally, it's a really good start. I think though we have a response ability. I have three children as parents to role model that behavioral element ourselves. It's a really important pillar for all of my clients who have children, that we are creating financially independent children and how you do that while you sort yourself out and they do what you do in effect from a behavioral perspective, and that budgeting piece, I call it a spending plan, but that cash flow and getting that right that is the engine room of what comes next. And that budgeting piece. It's a really good first step. But you've got to also layer that with a strategy. Knowing that people can't save themselves to wealth. It's what they do with what's left over. But you've got to have something left over to start with.
Certainly, is it a case of if your parents were bad with money, you were likely to be bad at handling money yourself.
It's definitely aallenge because generally speaking, we start learning about money from the age of three and you replicate the behaviors that you see. But all is not lost though, and what I know to be true from all of my clients who I see again, what they've done in the past is no indication of what they can do in the future. But again it's making sure that they have a better structure and that really strong foundation. I don't use credit cards. Make sure they have a really good goal, make sure they're being efficient, so they have a really good bank account structure, and they've got goals to clear a mortgage, to look at where they need to be in retirement, and that we're tracking to be where we need to. That really makes a difference. And again, if our children are watching us on that journey, they're going to be better off. And I know for my kiddies again twelve fourteen and sixt it's going to be harder for them. They have to hit the ground running, and we have a duty of care to make sure that they know what needs to be done and if they're doing that by watching us as well. But yeah, great, great start in schools, certainly.
And just finally you spoke to the amount of credit card debt that we have. Should we be cutting our credit cards up and throwing them away?
Yes? Please, yes, please? And I can get then arguments around this point. But we know from a behavioral economics perspective, people spend about fifteen percent more than they would otherwise by using credit cards, just because it's a less transparent form of payment. You know, you can have I paid who knows who cares? You never quite know where you're at. You always do better when you work in the constraints of what you have.
Certainly, that's a really interesting stat Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up?
I would really encourage people if they are struggling, and it's just not an adding up. You know, you feel like you know you're a good salary. You are certainly not alone, but understand where you're at, even if it's going through your bank statements for the last you know, a few months, cash in, cash out, what's left over. If you're going backwards or holding your ground, I think that's unacceptable. You need to be looking at leavers to do better. And if it's all too hard, please reach out for support, speak to a qualified financial advisor. They're there to help. And it's a crying shame. I personally think that only twenty percent of New Zealanders take professional financial advice because when they do, that is stronger and again, they understand the rules and they make sure how hard they work, they make the financial progress they deserve. And that's what we lean into going forward.
Thanks for joining us, Katie. That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at zherld dot co dot enzet. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sills. Patty Fox is a sound engineer. I'm Susie Nordquist. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.