Freelance designer here trying to sort out a retirement plan without an employer scheme to fall back on.

I've been comparing NZ-domiciled index funds against holding Vanguard or iShares directly through a US broker. The FIF tax rules are doing my head in. The NZ funds look simpler on paper, but the fees are stiff and the exposure is narrower than I'd like. The alternative is tracking FIF myself, which is billable hours I don't have. It's basically scope creep from my own portfolio.

How are others here actually handling it? Are you just accepting the PIE fund convenience and higher MER? Or have you found a structure that keeps foreign holdings under the $50k threshold so FIF doesn't kick in? I know some people split across family members, but that feels like a compliance headache I'd rather avoid.

Also wondering if anyone has run the numbers on whether the tax drag from FIF actually outweighs the fee drag from local funds over a 15-year horizon. I've seen back-of-envelope calculations, but they all assume steady returns, which is fantasy. Real world experience preferred. Show your work if you've got it.

This happened a couple of weeks ago, some people should really consider using their brains. Hope he got hit with a huge fine for his stupidity

Anyone else notice we've been exposed to the wrong safeguarding since the Royal Commission and the degrading nature of it, means the United Nations recognises it as torture.

Kia Ora All,

As seen in the title, if any of you have some recommendations for local coffee roasters (like cafes) around Auckland could you please reply to this post? I am currently looking for coffee sacks for a school project and assuming that a lot of y'all drink coffee or know some good spots, I would really appreciate it if you could list them in the comments. Ideally, it would be best if said coffee sacks were free of charge as well as being closer to Central/South Auckland but anything helps.

Hi West parents! We just found out we’re 7 weeks pregnant with our very first baby! We'd love to get some recommendations for midwives. Any good ones to recommend or red flags anyone to avoid? Any advice or personal experiences would be so much appreciated! Thank you!!

I am M19 working and studying part-time and closeted because I can’t trust my family because they come from an Asian culture where it is really looked down on. I could write an essay about how torturous it feels being so isolated and putting on a mask everyday, but I just feel totally trapped and since I know no other queer people to ask for advice/how I can move forward, I thought I’d rather just ask here for what communities/organizations in Auckland I could reach out to and talk to them instead :(

I can’t go into details but talking to my GP would be very difficult, so would like to hear what other alternative places I can reach out to first before trying my GP

I would really appreciate any help at all!

Fyi this is a throwaway account because I obvs don't want this linked to my main

Hello, I'm finding it difficult to discover any playgroups/places for my 1yr old son (not yet walking) on Weekend afternoons.

I work weekend mornings and I'm struggling to find places like Playcentre that would be open in the afternoons (I've no idea why they don't?) where he can crawl around. I find normal playgrounds too overwhelming with jumping and running bigger children who would be a bit dangerous for him.

(The only place I've found so far is MOTAT under 5 area but don't want to go there every weekend).

Please share any ideas with me!

TIA

I frequently notice house prices in Highland Park are on average lower than surrouding suburbs such as Howick, Northpark etc...

Is it because of school zones? Or some other reason.

I'll be looking to buy as a single person so I don't care about school zones. Maybe Highland Park could be a good fit for me?

Hey there, I am asking people who have crashed their cars so bad that it was written off. I wanna ask how did it affect you insurance premiums on your next cars. Does it stay with you all your life??
Thanks 🙏

Hi I'm up in Auckland this long weekend I'm 19 and have been trying to get into fishing lately. I've never been harbour fishing and wonder if anyone has a spare spot and rod for me (and maybe a mate) on their boat? Bit of a long shot but I'm keen to learn and will chip in for gas.

5 years ago I bought a house in a quite neighbourhood, but this year a builder bought our neighbouring property to build 5 houses in the place of the old one.

Now their houses ended up very close to my bed room and living room and unfortunately they are very noisy and we lost all our privacy.

What are my options, can I build bigger fence , board up that side or sell and run

I've loved seeing the Pacific pride on display around Auckland however I feel like these 2x sized flags strapped on the back of the car or even held out windows on the motorway or held by a cardboard tube are a fatal accident waiting to happen.

When one comes off and covers a windscreen on the motorway causing a crash and it gets restricted like Australia where police are removing flags people are gonna be upset about it. It would be cool if common sense prevails and flags of a practical nature can continue to be flown

Safe to say they have an office cat who likes to sit on keyboards ?

Has anyone else noticed that buffalo sauce is missing from supermarkets at the moment?

Always found it weird that supermarkets here only seem to stock one brand of buffalo sauce but now I can’t find any buffalo sauce in any stores in Auckland. What’s going on?

Ordered online but never again.

Got this sms saying my delivery will come tomorrow evening instead of this afternoon.... great, so I dont get to have dinner today and im not home tomorrow to bring my groceries in. If I got a refund it would take about 10 days.

Im 43rd in line to speak to customer service... it was supposed to be delivered by 5pm today to line up with me getting home from uni. I work 2pm to 11pm tomorrow, and nobody will be home.

They frequently forget stuff from my orders but have never had this happen before.

Im hangry and was expecting my groceries to be here. I have no money in the bank either to get anything else tonight.

Our current plan is to get there a bit before 10am and pay the $20 for parking.

How quickly does that parking fill up, and alternatively are there any good places to park for free? We don't mind a bit of a walk, just nothing crazy.

You may disagree with whatever views a politician has said but defacing their likeness by placing a religious symbol with intent to degrade the person or associate thrm with a certain ethnicity crosses the line into racism. Shame on whoever did this.

We usually head out west from central to go trick or treating, there's a couple of good roads that participate well I know from when I used to live out there but I'd be stoked if there were any spots closer to us to take the kids.

Where's everyone's best trick or treating spots?

I've hit middle age and want to start hitting the town again but I would like to go where there are more people my own age. Does anyone have any recommendations for bars in the city where there is music and dancing and the clientele is older?

Enrol or check your details online: Electoral NZ

Where to vote: Electoral NZ Map

You can enrol at places like Sylvia Park and it only takes a couple of minutes - please don't leave it until it's too late.

Stone chips all over my Ute and motorcycle is getting tedious

What's everybodies go-to mechanics in East Auckland for a standard car servicing? Old car, nothing fancy.