NZ Herald 14 February 2026

ALucky daughter. Not everyone gets this support from their family.

Your letter raises a few ideas. But first, let’s look at the two options you’re considering. You’ve sort of answered the question yourself. You might as well hold on to the $10,000 and let it earn a return in the meantime.

I’m not discounting your “peace of mind” argument. But, given the lack of interest on student loans, I wouldn’t have thought borrowing would be a big issue.

By the way, under the current Fees Free system, your daughter would also have to borrow for her final year of study. She would get that money back only when she completes the course — although if she has run up a student loan, the entitlement would be used to reduce the loan amount.

But there’s another idea here. You could, perhaps, not merely delay using your money until your daughter has graduated, but delay it for several more years. Invest the money in the meantime, and perhaps give it to her later to buy her first home or to fund overseas travel or boost her KiwiSaver account.

Meanwhile, your daughter will have to gradually repay her student loan. Once she earns more than a threshold amount, currently $24,128 a year, 12% of every dollar she gets above the threshold will go into loan repayments. But as long as she remains in New Zealand, she will pay no interest.

Obviously, if she goes overseas, which means interest would start — or if the government stopped interest-free loans — it would be wise to use your money to reduce her loan then. But in the meantime, the $10,000 can grow.

Let’s say it earns 5% a year after fees and tax in a balanced fund. After ten years, it would total about $16,500. Inflation would reduce that value, but still.

On which investment to use, I would go for a non-KiwiSaver fund — conservative if you plan to invest for just a few years, or balanced if it’s for longer. Click on Managed Funds in the Smart Investor tool on sorted.org.nz, then click on Conservative or Balanced funds. Next, sort by “Fees (lowest first)” and choose from the half dozen with lowest fees.

Take little notice of the data on returns, as good performers can easily turn bad. But the other info should help you select a fund. If you’re concerned about ethical issues, check how the funds do on the Mindful Money website.

I also have another suggestion for you and other parents of teenagers 16 or over. Recent changes mean 16 and 17-year-olds can now receive the government contribution to their KiwiSaver account.

If they are not in the scheme, help them to sign up. You can choose a KiwiSaver fund using Smart Investor in the same way as described above, but click on “KiwiSaver” at the start.

The government KiwiSaver contribution has recently halved, to 25¢ for every dollar the member contributes to their account — up to $261 from the government if you put in $1,043 or more. But still, it all adds up, especially when you look at compounding growth on that money over the years.

Some young people will be making their own contributions to KiwiSaver from a part-time job. And, by the way, from April 1 their employer will also have to contribute if they are 16 or older.

But if that doesn’t apply, a relative or friend can contribute to the teen’s KiwiSaver account, and that money would be counted for the government contribution. Ideally, keep doing that until the young person has their own income.

AThank you so much for writing. It sounds as if your mother is no longer involved in this. Phew!

You’re quite right. It’s a scam, as are any other ads or messages on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or anywhere else that use my name or picture. I don’t have social media accounts, and am not involved in any schemes that recommend investments.

This is the second time this trash has emerged. The first was last August. With the help of the Financial Markets Authority, I think we’ve shut it down this time. But if it happens again, can every reader please note that anything like this using my name is always a scam.

In your email, you provided phone numbers and other details, which I’ve edited out. But first, I forwarded the email — and other similar ones that came in recently — to the FMA. They replied that the info you sent is really helpful, “particularly the links to group chats and the New Zealand phone numbers.”

Later the FMA reported, “We’ve now added the phone number mentioned in the reader’s email to our public warning, we’ve referred the WhatsApp account to Meta for removal, and we’ve passed the numbers on to the NZ Telecommunications Forum so they can be deactivated.

“Hopefully you’re seeing these emails slow down. We haven’t identified any more Facebook/Instagram ads impersonating you, so it does seem the scammers have moved on.” Another phew!

It was such a relief to get the FMA’s assistance, which couldn’t have happened without your and other readers’ emails. Thanks again to all.

The FMA suggests anyone who thinks they may have been scammed goes to the Report A Scam page on their website. Netsafe also offers support.

AThe price of bitcoin has certainly fallen fast lately — even more than silver and gold. Just a few days ago, it was worth just half its value early last October, in NZ dollars. Half!

Back in late November last year, this column included a Q&A about a reader’s partner who had invested a house deposit — soon to be used to buy a home — in bitcoin.

I said then that that the value of bitcoin had earlier risen enormously. “According to Yahoo Finance, $1,000 invested in bitcoin ten years ago would be worth close to $400,000 today.”

But, because of its volatility, it’s not a wise way to invest money you expect to spend soon. I suggested the partner switch to a term deposit or cash fund, where the value won’t grow fast, but shouldn’t drop. I do hope he did that. The price has fallen more than 30% since then.

If he didn’t reduce his risk, I’m horribly aware that perhaps the meanest four words in the English language are: “I told you so”.

Or, as Lord Byron more eloquently put it in a poem:

“Of all the horrid hideous notes of woe,
Sadder than owl-songs on the midnight blast
Is that portentous phrase ‘I told you so’.

But it would be great if every bitcoin fan — and for that matter every investor in precious metals or shares or a share fund or property — would realise this: Any investment that grows fast will — not “can” but “will” — sometimes lose value fast.

If you want to invest short-term fun money in higher-risk assets, knowing your fun might be curbed sometimes, that’s fine. But these investments are no place for serious spending planned within the next ten years, let alone the next ten months or weeks. What’s good for the long term is bad for the short term.

By the way, the mention of tulip bulbs refers to the mania in Holland in the 1630s. Speculation drove the price of a bulb to about six times the average person’s annual pay, says Investopedia. For a flower bulb!

“They were initially a status item that was purchased for the sole reason that they were expensive.” It seemed the price could only go up, and people borrowed to buy bulbs, planning to repay the debt when they sold at a profit. When the price plunged, many people went bankrupt.

AFunnily enough, the main message here is the same as in the previous Q&A, although they seem to be about entirely different topics. Your choice of investment depends on when you plan to spend the money.

For expenses over the next three years or so, a cash fund is good. For in-between money, use a bond or balanced fund. For ten-year-plus money, a growth or aggressive fund will give you higher long-term returns, as long as you can cope with some big wobbles along the way.

You could spread your money over all three, or stick with cash and balanced funds if volatility would worry you.

All these funds invest in many assets, so if one or a few investments go bad, others will usually make up for it.

Some are KiwiSaver funds, which would suit you well if you are over 65 and therefore can withdraw money whenever you want to. But most KiwiSaver providers also offer similar non-KiwiSaver funds, which anyone can access at any age.

Withdrawals typically take a few days. In many cases, you can set up regular transfers to your bank account of, say, $500 a week. And you can also take out lump sums whenever you need to.

See today’s first Q&A for tips on choosing a fund. You can learn more about KiwiSaver funds on the Retirement Commission’s website, sorted.org.nz.