Become Wealth's Blog

Real financial guidance for New Zealanders, from professionals advising on over $1 billion in client funds. Independently ranked a top 50 worldwide finance and investing blog.

Listed Property and REITs: A Guide for NZ Investors

Listed Property and REITs: A Guide for NZ Investors

A practical NZ guide to listed property and REITs: how they work, recent performance, and how they fit in your portfolio.
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High-Income Skills That Boost Your Earning Power

High-Income Skills That Boost Your Earning Power

The skills driving six-figure salaries in NZ, what they pay, and practical ways to develop them: from tech and trades to sales and healthcare.
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Are You Over-Insured? How to Cut Insurance Costs Without Losing Cover

Are You Over-Insured? How to Cut Insurance Costs Without Losing Cover

Spot the signs you are over-insured and learn practical ways to reduce premiums without losing meaningful cover.
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Why Spending Your Kids' Inheritance Can Make Sense

Why Spending Your Kids' Inheritance Can Make Sense

The case for spending your kids' inheritance, with NZ-specific numbers and a practical framework to do it safely.
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When Adult Children Move Home: A Financial Plan for Both Generations

When Adult Children Move Home: A Financial Plan for Both Generations

How NZ families can set boundaries, structure finances, and use adult children living at home as a wealth-building period for both generations.
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Do You Really Need a Financial Adviser?

Do You Really Need a Financial Adviser?

When a financial adviser is worth the cost in NZ, when you can go it alone, and how to check credentials before engaging.
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What To Do With Investment Property in Retirement (NZ Guide)

What To Do With Investment Property in Retirement (NZ Guide)

A decision framework for NZ retirees weighing whether to sell, keep, or transition investment property, with worked numbers and tax angles.
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Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI) in New Zealand: How It Works and How to Improve Yours

Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI) in New Zealand: How It Works and How to Improve Yours

Learn how NZ's DTI ratio works, what debts and income count, the RBNZ rules, key exemptions, and practical ways to lower your ratio before applying.
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Fixed or Floating Mortgage NZ: How to Choose When Your Term Ends

Fixed or Floating Mortgage NZ: How to Choose When Your Term Ends

How to choose between fixed and floating mortgage rates in NZ, with cost comparisons, term guidance, and the split approach.
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Peer-to-Peer Lending in NZ: What Happened and What to Do Instead

Peer-to-Peer Lending in NZ: What Happened and What to Do Instead

NZ's P2P lending experiment is over. What went wrong, what investors learned, and the alternatives worth considering now.
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Why the Rich Get Richer (and What You Can Do About It)

Why the Rich Get Richer (and What You Can Do About It)

The wealthiest 20% of NZ households hold two-thirds of all wealth. What drives the divide, and what you can do to close it.
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Sold a Property? How to Put the Proceeds to Work

Sold a Property? How to Put the Proceeds to Work

Sold a property in New Zealand? The common mistakes, tax considerations, wholesale investment traps, and how to put the proceeds to work.
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Inherited a Large Sum? What to Do Next

Inherited a Large Sum? What to Do Next

Practical NZ guidance for people who have inherited a significant sum. Covers tax, relationship property, wholesale traps, and building a portfolio to last.
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Sold Your NZ Business? What to Do With the Proceeds

Sold Your NZ Business? What to Do With the Proceeds

Practical guidance for NZ business owners deciding what to do with sale proceeds. Covers tax, trusts, wholesale traps, diversification, and the questions worth asking.
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The FIF Rules: A Plain English Guide to Taxing Overseas Investments in NZ

The FIF Rules: A Plain English Guide to Taxing Overseas Investments in NZ

Most investors hit the $50,000 FIF threshold without realising it. How FDR and CV methods work, and how to reduce your tax bill.
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The 31 March Deadline: An EOFY Checklist for NZ Business Owners

The 31 March Deadline: An EOFY Checklist for NZ Business Owners

The tax timing decisions, balance sheet checks and wealth moves every small business owner should make before financial year end.
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Should You Borrow Against Your Home to Invest?

Should You Borrow Against Your Home to Invest?

Debt recycling turns your non-deductible mortgage into a tax-deductible investment loan. How it works, the risks and when it makes sense for Kiwis.
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Seven Financial Secrets Your Spouse May Be Keeping From You

Seven Financial Secrets Your Spouse May Be Keeping From You

Common financial secrets in relationships, plus practical steps couples can take to build financial trust and what NZ law says about hiding assets.
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Hayden Mulholland

Hayden Mulholland

Adviser spotlight: Psychology meets portfolio planning.
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Jonny McNamee

Jonny McNamee

Adviser spotlight: Jonny McNamee, the adviser who loves a good puzzle, a clean fairway, and the feeling when clients finally exhale.
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Making Retirement Drawdown Work for You

Making Retirement Drawdown Work for You

Learn how to draw down your retirement savings with purpose, so your money lasts and supports your lifestyle throughout retirement.
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The Best Ways to Unlock BOMAD (the 'Bank of Mum and Dad')

The Best Ways to Unlock BOMAD (the 'Bank of Mum and Dad')

Understand the pros and cons of the Bank of Mum and Dad in NZ, from deposits to protecting retirement and relationships.
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Property Investment Strategies Every Kiwi Should Know

Property Investment Strategies Every Kiwi Should Know

Buy and hold, renovate and sell, and the fundamentals NZ property investors should understand before committing capital.
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Joseph Darby: CEO of Become Wealth

Joseph Darby: CEO of Become Wealth

Meet the CEO of Become Wealth, Joseph Darby, a financial adviser with experience helping clients across New Zealand.
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What Happens to Your KiwiSaver When You Separate?

What Happens to Your KiwiSaver When You Separate?

How KiwiSaver is treated in a NZ divorce or separation, the three settlement options, and rebuilding your retirement savings after you split.
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Total Money Makeover: How to Reset Your Finances in New Zealand

Total Money Makeover: How to Reset Your Finances in New Zealand

A practical, NZ-specific guide to overhauling your finances, from cash flow audit through debt clearance to long-term wealth building.
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Josh Copeland

Josh Copeland

Adviser spotlight, meet Josh Copeland, a financial adviser who is passionate about helping people achieve their financial goals.
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Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before a Major Purchase

Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before a Major Purchase

Do you want it now, or would you rather have three times as much later? The questions and simple arithmetic worth running before any major purchase.
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What Is Deflation and Why Should New Zealanders Care?

What Is Deflation and Why Should New Zealanders Care?

Deflation means falling prices across an economy. It sounds harmless until it crushes wages, inflates the real burden of debt, and stalls growth.
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Vinessa Orsbourn

Vinessa Orsbourn

Adviser spotlight: Vinessa Orsbourn, the longest-serving financial adviser at Become Wealth, focused on family protection and long-term security.
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Self-Insurance: When It Makes Sense and When It Doesn’t

Self-Insurance: When It Makes Sense and When It Doesn’t

When does self-insurance work, and when is it a costly gamble? A guide for New Zealanders.
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Stock Market Crashes Can Change Your Life for the Better

Stock Market Crashes Can Change Your Life for the Better

Stock market crashes feel awful but create opportunity. Why the evidence overwhelmingly favours staying invested and treating lower prices as an opportunity.
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Separation and Divorce in NZ: Your Financial Roadmap

Separation and Divorce in NZ: Your Financial Roadmap

A step-by-step financial roadmap for separation and divorce in NZ, from immediate triage to long-term rebuild.
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Do I Still Need Life Insurance?

Do I Still Need Life Insurance?

When to keep life cover in retirement, when to drop it, and how to decide based on your actual financial position.
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Mortgage Cash Back in New Zealand: How Much and Is It Worth It?

Mortgage Cash Back in New Zealand: How Much and Is It Worth It?

NZ banks offer cash back on new or refinanced mortgages. How the payments work, what clawback rules apply, and whether the lump sum is worth it.
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How to Kick Your Grown-up Child Out of the Home

How to Kick Your Grown-up Child Out of the Home

Adult children still at home? The financial cost to parents, the NZ Super trap, and practical steps to help them move out without breaking the family.
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The Best Investments for Under-65s in New Zealand

The Best Investments for Under-65s in New Zealand

A practical guide to the best investments for under-65s in NZ, covering KiwiSaver, managed funds, shares, property, and building accessible wealth.
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Credit Card Benefits: How to Actually Come Out Ahead

Credit Card Benefits: How to Actually Come Out Ahead

Credit card rewards, travel insurance and purchase protection can work for or against you. Here is how to extract real value in New Zealand.
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Early Retirement Risks in New Zealand, and How to Avoid Them

Early Retirement Risks in New Zealand, and How to Avoid Them

Retiring early in NZ? The financial, social, and emotional risks, and practical steps to plan around each one.
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Trading vs Investing: What New Zealand Investors Need to Know

Trading vs Investing: What New Zealand Investors Need to Know

Why long-term investing outperforms trading for most NZ investors, backed by research on outcomes, tax, costs and risk.
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