Personal finances

Waikato people take steps to get sorted this New Year

The My Goals worksheet on sorted.org.nz can help you get on track, and you can also sign up for TXT or email reminders, to help you keep on track. The budget calculator will also help you get ahead. Sorted.org.nz also has calculators to help with other aspects of financial planning, including managing debt, saving and investing.

Getting sorted in Otago this New Year

The My Goals worksheet on sorted.org.nz can help you get on track, and you can also sign up for TXT or email reminders, to help you keep on track. The budget calculator will also help you get ahead.

New Year a good time to get your finances on track

Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan says this week many Kiwis are planning their New Year’s Eve celebrations, and it’s a good time to also make some financial plans for the year ahead.

“Make getting financially sorted one of your New Year’s resolutions. By taking a few simple steps to sort your finances out, you could finish 2009 better off than when you started.”

More kiwis sorting their personal finances

The findings are from the Commission’s Annual Report, which is tabled in Parliament today.

In the last 12 months there have been 488,000 unique visits, a 100 per cent improvement on the year before, to the Retirement Commission’s Sorted website, which helps New Zealanders work out how to get in control of their personal finances, to be better prepared for retirement.

Official Cash Rate rise a trigger for families and individuals to sort finances

Ms Crossan says interest rate rises are going to have significant impacts on people’s financial position and may impact on their ability to save or opt into KiwiSaver.

“Home loan rate rises will sooner or later affect even those on fixed rate mortgages. And the increased costs of the repayments could well affect their ability to afford putting 4% of their income toward KiwiSaver,” says Ms Crossan.

Finish 2008 better off than when you started

Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan says the New Year is a time when many people take stock and set goals, and she wants more people to add financial planning to the mix.

“To kick-start 2008, we want New Zealanders to know they can easily access information to help them make choices about budgeting and savings.”

Now is the right time to get Sorted

“While some people say they will have to spend any extra on the increasing costs of power, petrol and food bills, for others it will mean more disposable income.

“Regardless of which category people are in, now is the right time to take a look at your finances.” said Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan.

Ms Crossan said there are five very simple things to consider:

Kiwis take action to get and keep their finances sorted

Since sorted.org.nz was launched in 2001 there have been nearly five million unique visitors to the website. Each of those visits represents someone accessing information for more than five minutes.

The Budgeting, Mortgage repayment and Quick KiwiSaver calculators are the most popular parts of the website.