It’s been just over two months since automating buying Bitcoin (BTC) without creating a costly mess of small transactions.  If you’re a Kiwi looking to dollar cost average (DCA) into Bitcoin regularly, you may have come across the same issue that I did: how do you automate purchases without ending up with hundreds of tiny, expensive-to-move Bitcoin fragments?

My first foray into buying crypto was back in May 2022 with Easy Crypto (now Swyftx). The process was simple: sign up, complete KYC, provide a wallet address, buy Bitcoin, and done, it lands in your wallet. I didn’t buy a huge amount at the time, and the initial intent was to make regular buys whenever I had some free cash. Well, life lifed, and that didn’t happen.

I left it like that for a while and possibly missed out on massive gains had I just stuck to making regular buys. This is a good example of how not taking action right away leads to… well, inaction. 

Just over a couple of months ago, I decided it was time to DCA into Bitcoin with a clear goal: automated, regular buys, low fees, straight to a self-custody (cold/hardware) wallet.

The UTXO Problem That Changed Everything

With all things involving money, it pays to do some research before diving in.

On the surface, the most logical option would have been using EasyCrypto’s auto-buy feature. But before setting it up, I thought back to a podcast (can’t remember which one) that touched on “Bitcoin dust”. This led me down a rabbit hole of research on unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs).

What Are UTXOs (And why should you care)?

UTXOs are chunks of Bitcoin in your wallet. Think of them as having a physical wallet with different denomination notes, eg. a couple of $5 notes, a $10 note, 3 $20 notes, a $50 note and a $100 note. When you want to spend Bitcoin, your wallet combines these UTXOs to make up the amount you need. When you spend BTC, your wallet combines UTXOs to make up the total amount needed. 

Here’s the catch: each UTXO in a transaction adds to the transaction fee. So if you’ve been making lets say a $35 Bitcoin purchase every week for a year, you could end up with 52 separate UTXOs. When you eventually want to move or spend that Bitcoin, you’re potentially paying fees on all 52 pieces.

To get a more in-depth explanation on UTXOs and why they matter, take a look at this video from Trezor:

Hopefully the video made UTXOs make a bit more sense and why many UXTOs can become a headache later down the line. Two main issues stood out for me:

• If network fees go high, very small UTXOs could become unspendable (the fee to spend them is more than the value they hold)
• If you have to transact with a bunch of smaller UTXOs, it pushes up the total transaction fee (each one comes with its own fee which all add up)

This left a big question: how do you set up a DCA workflow that avoids ending up with a high number of small, potentially costly UTXOs?

Finding a New Zealand Friendly Bitcoin DCA Workflow

I asked around in various NZ and overseas crypto communities. The consensus? Buy on an exchange, let the balance build up, then transfer to cold storage in larger chunks.

I asked around in various NZ and overseas crypto communities. The most frequently suggested method was: buy on an exchange, let the balance build up, then transfer to cold storage in larger chunks.

Simple in theory. But that opened a whole new can of worms:

• Which exchange has the best rates for Kiwis?
• What’s “large enough” for a transfer?
• What about network fees?
• Which cold storage wallet?
• And about a dozen other considerations…

After comparing Binance, Pay It Now, Lightning Pay, and Swyftx (with their various fees, security features, and NZ accessibility), I landed on this workflow:

Lightning Pay NZ → Strike → Trezor

Let me break down why.

Lightning Pay NZ (The Entry Point)

Lightning Pay is a NZ financial service that lets Kiwis buy Bitcoin with funds sent directly to your Lightning wallet. Because transactions happen on the Lightning Network (not Bitcoin’s main network), fees are tiny.

The numbers: 1% fee + $0.20 bank fee (if using Akahu). Compare that to Swyftx’s third-party payment provider fee of 1.99% + up to 4% spread (as at [current date]). For regular DCA, those percentage points add up fast.

Strike (The Aggregation)

Strike acts as a Lightning wallet. Since transactions on the Lightning Network are very cheap, this is where my small, regular DCA buys aggregate. Strike is custodial, so it’s essentially acting as a temporary exchange until I withdraw. Strike has an auto-withdraw feature which is triggered once your balance reaches a set threshold.

The goal is to let the small buys accumulate here until the balance is big enough to justify the final, single on-chain transfer to my cold wallet. This on-chain transfer is unavoidable but should ideally be done during low fee periods (always check Mempool for network conditions).

Trezor (Cold Storage – Final Destination)

For my ultimate storage solution, I chose Trezor for a bunch of reasons which include:

• Self-custody: Not your keys, not your coins (as the saying goes)
• Cold storage: Full control, offline security
• Open source: Transparency builds trust
• Reputation: World’s first hardware wallet, still going strong
• Ease of use: Important when you’re dealing with serious money

If you’re ready to embrace true self-custody and put the SET & FORGET plan into action, you can get 10% off your first Trezor order via Trezor (and yes, that gives me a small reward too, win-win).

Since setting it all up, it has been a SET & FORGET thing. The only time it comes to mind is when I receive emails and notifications from Lightning Pay NZ and Strike confirming the autobuy and payment receipt. 

This workflow solved my DCA problem: regular Bitcoin purchases with minimal fees, no UTXO headaches, and secure cold storage. It took some research to figure out, but now it’s ticking along just fine.

Are you dollar cost averaging into Bitcoin? What’s your workflow? Have you run into the UTXO issue? 

Share your setup in the comments!

Disclaimer: This is not financial or investment advice. I am not a licensed financial adviser. I share my own experiences and research for informational purposes only. Always do your own research before making financial decisions and, if needed, seek professional advice from a qualified financial adviser in your country.

The post How to DCA Bitcoin in NZ with low fees and UTXOs appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETF). These ETFs give investors exposure to Bitcoin price movements without actually holding the cryptocurrency. Even though there are core investment principles that stand the test of time, the investing landscape is changing. Portfolio diversification is one of them and with the future in mind, adding an asset such as Bitcoin could be a way to go (not investing advice).

Spot Bitcoin ETFs essentially operate just like any other ETF in that they operate on the stock exchange and track the price of Bitcoin in real time. 11 ETFs were approved from the word go and they are: 

While these funds are U.S.-based, Kiwi investors who don’t want to hold their own Bitcoin can readily participate in the market through New Zealand investment platforms.

Investing in Bitcoin ETFs through NZ Investing Platforms

Luckily, New Zealand does have investment platforms that Kiwis can turn to in order to invest in spot Bitcoin ETFs. With all things involving money, it pays to do some research before diving in. This also applies to the platform that you chose to invest through. Some considerations to take into account include but aren’t limited to:

• ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)
• Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)
• Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust (FBTC)
• Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
• Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI)
• Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO)
• iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
• Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR)
• VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL)
• WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW)

Fees – Platform fees and management fees – Platforms will charge a fee to buy into ETFs (this may include a forex fee since you are buying in USD). The ETFs themselves will also come with their own set of fees (expense ratio) which cover costs such as administration and operating costs. At the time of writing, these range from 0.19% (EZBC) to 1.50% (GBTC).

Majority of the fund managers are offering fee waivers of up to 12 months with some limitations; for example, IBIT’s fees are listed as 0.25% but, as per their website; 

BlackRock will waive a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee for the first 12 months commencing on January 11, 2024, so that the fee will be 0.12% of the net asset value of the Trust for the first $5.0 billion of the Trust’s assets. If the fund exceeds $5.0 billion of the Trust’s assets prior to the end of the 12-month period, the Sponsor’s Fee charged on assets over $5.0 billion will be 0.25%. All investors will incur the same Sponsor’s Fee which is the weighted average of those fee rates. After the 12-month waiver period is over, the Sponsor’s Fee will be 0.25%.

Security – security should always be top of mind with any online accounts and even more so for financial services. An encrypted platform that keeps your data and money secure. From a user’s end, beyond a strong password, you’d also want the option of being able to use two-factor authentication (2FA) in case your password is compromised. 

User interface – a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate allowing for seamless transactions (buying units), auto-invest for set-and-forget dollar cost averaging, and various order types such as market, limit & stop-loss orders.

Customer support – the level of customer support such as availability and how responsive they are to queries.

Three platforms that Kiwis can invest in Bitcoin ETFs through include Hatch, Sharesies and Tiger Brokers. Take a look below for a quick comparison of the three platforms:

Fees	$3 USD (flat fee)	1.90% (capped at $5 USD – on ‘Pay as you go’ plan)	$2 USD* (flat fee)
Currency exchange fee	0.50%	0.50%	0.35%*
Security  – Encryption	Yes	Yes	Yes
Security  – 2FA	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto-invest	Yes	Yes	Yes
Market, limit & stop-loss orders	Yes	Yes	Yes
NZ based customer support	Yes	Yes	Yes

With regards to fees, the above are ‘regular fees’. On occasion, platforms offer sweeteners to get retail investors on board. 

Tiger Brokers’ fees have an * next to them because they are currently offering $30 NZD to new users to kickstart their investment. This also comes with 4 free trades and zero forex fees for exchanging up to $2000 NZD every month for life. 

Hatch and Sharesies also have sweeteners which are as follows:

Hatch – $10 NZD top-up (when you sign up with and make an initial deposit of $100 NZD or more within 14 days of signing up)

Sharesies – $5 NZD top-up (when you sign up within 30 days of clicking the link)

All three platforms are good options if you are considering investing in any of the ETFs. As with anything in the world of investing, due diligence is highly recommended. Do a bit of research on the platforms, consider what features you are looking for and go with one that ticks your boxes. 

If you don’t know much about Bitcoin, get to know more about it. Bitcoin’s price movements are very volatile and the price fluctuations are to be considered in relation to your risk tolerance and investment strategy.

The post How to invest in a spot Bitcoin ETF from New Zealand appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

If you follow investing news, you will more than likely know about the spot Bitcoin ETF. This has seen Bitcoin’s meteoric rise and starting out the year at just over USD $45,000. This has caught the attention of many investors. But, the ETF begs the question, should you just buy and hold your own crypto or go through a fund manager?

What is the spot Bitcoin ETF?

Simply put, a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a financial instrument through which regular investors can get exposure to Bitcoin via brokerage accounts. In this instance, the underlying asset is Bitcoin as asset managers buy Bitcoin directly and it makes up the fund’s underlying asset.

Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins

When you dive into the world of cryptocurrency, “Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins” is a phrase that you will very quickly come across. Without going into too much detail, cryptocurrencies as stored in wallets which contain public and private keys. The public key is the address assets are sent to (like a bank account) and the private key gives you access to the funds to do with as you please. The phrase refers to the private key.

That said, when investing in a Bitcoin spot ETF, you get a digital record (for lack of a better word) to say that you have claims in a fund that has claims to Bitcoin (on your behalf). You don’t actually own any Bitcoin.

One thing that all funds come with is fees which may include trading fees (or brokerage fees depending on which terminology you prefer to use) when buying and selling and expense ratio (which includes management fees and operating costs).

If you are thinking about investing a spot Bitcoin ETF, the above should be taken into consideration. Do you want to be able to do what you want with your Bitcoin whenever you want? Do you want to be paying fees on something that you can hold yourself at no cost?

On the other side of the coin is buying and holding Bitcoin yourself. For someone new to it, it may seem complicated and daunting but is it really? 

Learning about cryptocurrency

Just like most things in life, if you are interested in something new, you’ll more than likely have to take some time to learn about it. There are several ways of learning new things which include but aren’t limited to researching online, enrolling in a course, and talking to people already doing whatever it is. 

Buying Bitcoin in New Zealand

A safe and easy way to buy Bitcoin in NZ is through EasyCrypto. They are a trusty NZ-based platform whose founders don’t hide who they are and what they are all about. The platform is not an exchange so when you purchase Bitcoin it is sent directly to your wallet. They have a simple and intuitive interface which streamlines the path to owning Bitcoin.

EasyCrypto has a wealth of resources on all things crypto. They have NZ-based (mostly) customer support if you run into any issues as well as a very helpful and supportive community (a Facebook group that they’ll direct you towards in a welcome email when you sign up). As already mentioned, one good way to learn something new is to surround yourself with people who are doing it. The Facebook group is a perfect place to ask anything and everything crypto; there really are no ‘silly’ or ‘newbie’ questions, and the community is always willing to help

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Easy Crypto makes it easy for you to buy, sell and exchange over 160+ cryptocurrencies

Get Started with Easy Crypto

At the end of the day, the choice between a Bitcoin spot ETF and acquiring Bitcoin through EasyCrypto comes down to autonomy and accessibility. 

Depending on where you are in your crypto journey, direct ownership may mean investing time in learning. It’s either you get stuck with you past knowledge and stay where you are in life. Or, you could make up your mind, take a risk, sign up, learn, apply learning, test out the waters, experience it, maybe make mistakes (also a great way to learn), learn as you go and see how you go. 

There’s no harm in giving self-custody a try. Sign up to EasyCrypto, buy a small amount of Bitcoin and see how you go. 

The post Bitcoin investing in New Zealand: EasyCrypto or a spot ETF? appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

Travel is something many of us love and find ourselves doing. One of the things that comes with international travel is the need for money, specifically the foreign currency that is legal tender in the destination country. Depending on the destination, you may be able to get away with almost exclusively using a card to transact. In other destinations, it’ll be a mix of cash and card and in others, it’ll almost exclusively be cash (which is not the safest option but sometimes there is no choice).

In the interconnected world that we live in, it is easy enough to manage finances whilst overseas. But, there is a monster waiting to eat up all your hard-earned money, foreign currency fees.

For the most part, your day-to-day debit and/or credit cards may seem like a convenient and easy option when travelling. But, as already mentioned, the banks will be ready and waiting and more than happy to charge transaction fees, exchange rate markups and ATM withdrawal fees, just to name a few. All of these added up can amount to a lot.

A couple of ways to get more bang for your buck and keep costs at bay are to get some cash or get and load up a travel money card before you head off on your travels.

Buying foreign currency cash in New Zealand

Buying foreign currency in NZ is a relatively simple and straightforward process. Foreign cash can be purchased either online via service providers such as No1currency, money changers (bureau de change) which you can find in malls or other obscure locations and banks (do note that some banks no longer provide foreign exchange cash transactions; If they do provide foreign cash services, this in some instances is only available to their customers).

Providers such as Travelex have branches in various locations around the country and the major international airports. If you land on Travelex as your go-to for FX, an airport branch may seem like a convenient last-minute option but you will not get the best rate. A Travelex representative at an Auckland mall confirmed that the Auckland Airport outlets were more expensive.

Below is how much USD$250 would have cost you on 25 October 2023.

Reserve Bank New Zealand dollar (NZD) exchange rate compared to United States Dollar 25 October 2023 – 0.58585

USD$250 (as at 25 October 2023)	Rate: 0.5614 NZD$445.32	Rate: 0.5686 *NZD$439.68
Fees	Yes ($7 Delivery fee)	Yes (1.8% surcharge for debit or credit card orders)

*if paying via debit or credit card, 1.8% of the total order amount. Your card issuer may charge a separate cash advance fee or international transaction fee.

Tip: If ordering online, opt for a bank transfer or an option like POLi to save. Debit or credit cards may attract an extra fee.

Travel money cards

A travel money card as the name suggests is a card onto which you can load a range of currencies. With the currency of your travel destination loaded on the card, you can spend that money like a local and not have to worry too much about fees. Using travel money cards when travelling has a number of benefits compared to debit or credit cards (that you use day to day in NZ) and cash (it’s easier to lose cash and once it’s gone, it’s gone!).

Some of the benefits include but aren’t limited to:

Cost-effective currency conversion

Many travel money card providers offer rates that are quite competitive and use rates that are close to the interbank rate (or mid-market rate as some call it) (the interbank rate is the rate at which banks trade currencies with each other). When it comes to consumers, banks will charge a margin on the rate hence the varying rate between financial institutions. This is something to keep in mind whenever you see a service that offers 0% commission or fees.

Low fees

Range from zero fees to very low fees on transactions which include but aren’t limited to loading funds onto the card and converting between currencies. ATM withdrawals are free in some instances or may be free up to a certain limit and or fixed number of transactions per month after which fees are applied. See the table below for a comparison of features and fees on travel money cards available to Kiwi travellers.

Budget control

Saving enough money to spend spend when you travel is one thing, sticking to budget is another. Travel money cards are prepaid so your spend is limited to what is on the card. With that in mind, you may be a bit more inclined to be mindful of spend.

Security

Travel money cards are not connected to your main bank account meaning that if the card is lost or gets stolen, your accounts are safe. Most of them will come with an app where you can quickly and easily block and replace the card. And, moving around with and using a card for transactions is a better option than having a few hundred dollars in cash.

There are a range of card options for Kiwis to choose from. Below is a comparison table of some of the travel money cards available to Kiwi travellers. Namely, Wise International Debit Card, Travelex Money Card, Westpac Global Currency Card, Cash Passport and Air New Zealand’s OneSmart card.

Dollar $ amounts are in NZD unless otherwise specified.

Provider Features/Fees This information is correct as at 25 October 2023
Rate $1NZD To USD	0.5844	0.5691	0.5644	0.5630	0.5627
Number of currencies	40	9	9	10	8
Payment network	Visa	Mastercard	Mastercard	Mastercard	Mastercard
New card issuance fee	$14	1.0% of initial load/reload amount or $10	Free		Free
Currency conversion fee	Variable: From 0.43%	Mastercard rate plus 4.00%	Mastercard rate plus 2.95%	5.95%	2.5%
Bank transfer load fee	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
Debit card load fee (% of amount loaded)	1.48%		1.5%	0.5%	1.5%
International ATM withdrawal fee (some ATM operators may charge fees independently)	Free (2 or less withdrawals – Less than $350 per month – 1.75% of the amount over $350) $1.5 per withdrawal (3 or more withdrawals per month – $1.5 + 1.75% of amount over $350)	Free	Free	Dependent on country: AUD3.50, EUR2.20, USD2.50, GBP2.00, JPY300, CAD3.50, HKD20.00, SGD3.50, AED 9 (or $3.5 in countries not mentioned above)	Dependent on country: 3 Free per month then: $3.00, GBP1.50, AUD2.50, HKD20.00, CAD2.50, JPY250, EUR2.00, SGD3.00, USD2.50
Domestic ATM withdrawal fee	Free	2.95%	$4	$4	$2
Monthly fee	$0	$4 Inactivity fee	$0	$0	$1
Card closure (cash out) fee	Free	$10	Free	Free	Free
Receive money internationally/Number of International Bank Account Number (IBAN)	Yes 9 currencies	No	No	No	No
Transfer money internationally	Yes	No	No	No	No

Wise – the best travel money card for Kiwis

Having used a couple of the cards above, Wise is the best option for travellers. It not only functions as a card that allows users to spend around the world, users can also transfer internationally and receive money from abroad. Without going into too much detail, some of its features include but aren’t limited to:

• Quick and easy account setup
• Favourable rates and fees
• Hold money in 40+ currencies
• Fee transparency
• Easy loading options
  • Bank transfer (From experience, this has taken 2 to 4 hours)
  • POLi
  • Debit/Credit card
  • Apple Pay/Google Pay
• Contactless payment and chip & pin transactions
• Worldwide ATM withdrawals
• Ability to transfer internationally (not available with other providers)
• Ability to receive money from abroad (not available with other providers)
  • You can receive money via local bank transfer or by SWIFT from certain countries in some instances in the following currencies: AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, NZD, MYR, PLN, SGD, USD, RON, HUF, TRY
• Easy account management via app or online
• No minimum transfer amount

As with all travel, it pays to be organised and planned out before you depart. With foreign currency, you might as well get that out of the way as soon as you book your travel. It’s never too early to have that all sorted, it’s one less thing to worry about. Even if a planned trip gets cancelled, if it is on a travel money card, you can hold it in your Wise account until you need it.

At the end of the day, it is up to you which service you choose to use. Make sure it is trusted, safe & secure, isn’t going to cost you an arm and leg to transact and is easy to use and manage whilst on your travels.

The post The best travel money card for New Zealand travellers: Wise appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

I first got to know Kernel Wealth existed when I signed up to and attended an insightful event, Money moves to make in your 30s and 40s in Feb 2020. The event was presented by Hatch and Kernel and featured Kristen Luman (Co-founder & GM at Hatch), Dean Anderson (Founder & CEO at Kernel), Darcy Ungaro (NZ Everyday Investor podcast host & Financial adviser), Tom Hartman (Managing Editor at Commission for Financial Capability) and hosted by Frances Cook (Cooking the Books podcast host, columnist for NZ Herald & author).

At that point in time, I had taken more of a keen interest in my (our) personal finance. It was time to get more proactive, to improve my money mindset and relationship with money. With this came increasing my financial literacy and capability which is all a work in progress.

What Dean had to share about his thoughts on money and investing piqued my interest in Kernel. I took a look at what Kernel had to offer and at the time, they had 3 local funds. I didn’t feel it was in my best interest to invest in any of them as I had just started investing in the Smartshares NZ Top 50 ETF (FNZ) through Sharesies. The justification behind my decision was the fund overlap and therefore a reduction in diversification.

They hinted towards launching new funds and in July 2020, they launched 3 global funds: The Kernel S&P Global 100 Fund, The Kernel S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Fund, and The Kernel Global Infrastructure Fund. After reading through the Product Disclosure Statement and doing a bit of research, I settled on The Kernel Global Infrastructure Fund.

What is infrastructure?

The world population is coming close to the 7.8 billion mark and every one of us needs some sort of infrastructure to live our daily lives. The New Zealand Treasury refers to infrastructure as ‘fixed, long-lived structures that facilitate the production of goods and services, including transport, water, energy, social assets, and digital infrastructure such as our broadband and mobile networks’.

Kernel divis infrastructure out into 5 general sectors namely:

• Water – pipelines and treatment plants
• Energy – gas and electricity transmission, distribution and generation
• Transportation – toll roads, airports, seaports, rail
• Communication – broadcast, satellite and cable
• Social – hospitals, schools and prisons

NZ Treasury talks about access to adequate, fit for purpose infrastructure that can withstand the various pressures put on it by an ever-changing population. A fair proportion of it is ageing and needs renewal, replacement or something completely new. This requires a significant amount of investment over several years (for example, the Auckland City Rail link which is due in 2024 at a cost of $4.419 billion). This is something that is happening all over the world where businesses and governments are spending big on infrastructure.

Why invest in Kernel’s Global Infrastructure Fund?

The Kernel Global Infrastructure Fund tracks the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index. It measures the performance of pure-play infrastructure companies from across the globe where at least 70% of their revenue is from infrastructure and at least 70% of cash flow is from those lines of business. At present (August 2021), it is made up of 106 constituents (companies) across 20 countries.

The top 5 countries that the fund invests in by weight are:

• United States 48.9%
• Canada 15.6%
• Spain 6.8%
• Great Britain 6.5%
• Hong Kong & China 5.5%

The top 5 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) weighting for the fund are:

• Oil & Gas transportation 22.9%
• Specialised REITs 19.8%
• Multi-Utilities 11.5%
• Gas Utilities 11.3%
• Electric Utilities 9.8%

The top five companies as a percentage of the fund’s net asset value are:

• American Tower 10.22% (USA)
• Crown Castle 6.64% (USA)
• Enbridge 6.48% (Canada)
• Vinci 4.13% (France)
• National Grid 3.90% (United Kingdom)

If investing in this sector was of interest to you, it would probably take you quite a bit of time and cost you a bit in fees and so on to buy shares in each of the companies in the index. Not to mention foreign exchange fees and tax implications (Foreign Investment Fund tax, withholding tax and tax treaty benefits) and so on and so forth.

With Kernel you don’t have to worry about any of that. You get access to a global fund with all transactions in New Zealand dollars. When it comes to tax, Kernel’s funds are registered portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds.  This means that you will generally pay less tax (maximum rate of 28%) and they can take care of the tax obligations (so in most cases, no need to file a return). For more information on tax, visit A beginners guide to tax and investing.

A benefit of investing through Kernel is the relatively low cost. There are no transaction fees when buying units, and their fund management and member fees are set out as follows:

• 0.39% – Under $25,000 invested
• 0.29% – Over $25,000 invested
• $3 – monthly member fee (on total portfolio balances of over $1,000)
• $1 – minimum investment (low barrier to entry)

I invest via a weekly auto-invest (I get paid weekly) which is easy to set up. A weekly set autopay goes from my bank account to Kernel which is then auto-invested into the fund. This is a nice and easy set and forget setup that works well for me.

A quarterly distribution (dividends from companies in the funds) is paid out to investors. You can choose to either get a cash payment or have it automatically reinvested. I went with the automatic re-investment option and buy more units in the fund.

Diversification is something you will hear a number of industry experts talk about. As I was already invested in NZ, it made sense to look at options outside of NZ. With what was on offer, Global Infrastructure was the next logical step because of stability of the assets, long-term contracts (I’m in this for the long haul) and a hedge against inflation (generally do well in high inflation environments).

Kernel Global Infrastructure Fund performance

As at 24 August 2021 fund returns are as follows:

• 3 months – 6.14%
• Since inception (15 July 2020) – 10.26%

The index returns are as follows:

• 3 months – 6.35%
• 1 year – 13.31%
• 5 years – 8.46%
• 10 years – 11.85%

Given the global situation over the past year and a bit, there has been some fluctuation in the unit price. My guess is probably because a number of projects were put on hold due to COVID. But, the price has been generally trending upwards. Do keep in mind that all investing comes with risk. This particular fund has a rating of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being lower risk and 7 being higher risk). 5 makes it a high-risk investment and generally speaking, higher risk could mean potentially higher returns.

Signing up to Kernel Wealth

Signing up is a quick and easy 5-minute process with the right information at hand (ID, IRD number, bank account details). After signing up I also got in touch with Kernel about setting up accounts for my kids. They were very responsive to my messages and even though they didn’t have (and still don’t) kids accounts, they came up with possible workarounds.

If you are looking to start investing or if you already are and are looking to diversify your portfolio, take a look at what Kernel Wealth has to offer.

Disclaimer: This is not financial or investment advice. I am not a licensed financial adviser. I share my own experiences and research for informational purposes only. Always do your own research before making financial decisions and, if needed, seek professional advice from a qualified financial adviser in your country.

The post Investing in The Kernel Wealth Global Infrastructure Fund – review appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

The journey eventual got to a point where (with Blogger), I couldn’t really get the right look and feel and functionality. After doing some research and weighing out the pros and cons of various content management systems, I settled on WordPress. This meant amongst other things, registering a domain name.

That said, I went with GoDaddy to register my first domain name. At the time, they were running an offer of US$8.67 for the first year. When the time came to renew the domain, the price had gone up to US$16.99 for a year and ever since, it has been slowly creeping up. Once upon a time, discounts codes for renewals were available and could be used to bring down the cost by a decent amount. But that is no longer the case.

To add to that, a couple of my domain names have privacy protection which used to come at a cost with GoDaddy and that just about doubled the cost of renewal. A large portion of registrars now offer free privacy protection so GoDaddy had to follow suit in order to stay in the game. But, they added another product, Full Domain Privacy & Protection (which comes at a cost), a product that I am not convinced is worth the while (and cost).

Moving on from that, Google Domains has been up and running for a while now (the start of 2015) and was only available in a handful of countries at launch. A handful more have been added over the years and it finally became available in New Zealand earlier this year in February 2021.

The NZ launch came at the perfect time as three of my domains were up for renewal soon after at the following cost:

• 1 x .COM Domain Renewal 1 Year $26.99
• 1 x .NET Domain Renewal 1 Year $26.99
• 1 x .COM Domain Renewal 1 Year $26.99 with Full Domain Privacy and Protection – Renewal 1 Year $12.54 Subtotal (NZD) $39.53
• Subtotal to renew all three domains with GoDaddy = $93.51

With Google Domains, the cost came to $23 per .COM and .NET domain for one year for a subtotal of $69.00. This resulted in a saving of $24.51. Yes, for some, it may not seem like much, but, it is hard-earned money that I get to keep. It is essentially a LOYALTY TAX that I am no longer paying. Loyalty tax is something I will get into in a later post.

Why Google Domains

Yes, there are other cheaper domain registrars that I could have gone with but I went with Google for a number of reasons. These include but aren’t limited to:

• Under my Google account (one less password to remember and two-factor authentication for added security)
• Built-in integration and verification with other Google services such as Search Console and Workspace
• Free privacy protection
• Email and domain forwarding
• 24/7 support
• and more

I still have two more domains to transfer from GoDaddy where if they stayed with the current registrar, the cost would be:

• 1 x .COM Domain Renewal 1 Year $26.99
• 1 x .COM Domain Renewal 1 Year $26.99 with Full Domain Privacy and Protection – Renewal 1 Year $12.54 Subtotal (NZD) $39.53
• Subtotal to renew domains with GoDaddy = $66.52

Transferring these remaining domains will save me $20.52.

All in all, transferring all of my domains away from GoDaddy to Google Domains means that I don’t have to give away $45.03 for nothing. The money saved will be diverted towards other purposes be it paying down debt or investing.

If you have domain names, it might pay to look at your domain registrations costs and ask yourself;

• are you getting your moneys worth?
• are you paying for extras that you don’t need to be paying for (or could get free elsewhere)?
• is there a better and more cost effective option out there

Note: This is not to say that you should 100% stay away from GoDaddy for domain registration. As mentioned above, they often offer good deals to new customers. If for example, you want to test something out online, you are bootstrapping and need a domain they may be an option. Sign up for a year and if after a year, your venture is still going, simply transfer the domain just before it expires. If this is you, get going with up to 70% off a domain (for the first year) with GoDaddy.

The post Transferring domain registration from GoDaddy to Google Domains NZ and saving money appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

A couple of years ago or so, we set up a home office to be used for day job working from home and side hustle work. This meant getting furniture, some hardware, equipment and some tinkering to get it working just right. One thing that we left ’till later’ was an under desk cable management tray or anything to organise the mess of cables.

Having a mess of cables sitting on the floor beside or under the desk was something that we put up with for a while but wasn’t ideal. To add to that, cables under the desk is a safety hazard. We just couldn’t find a way of hiding away the cables neatly and safely.

When we got to the point of finally looking for a solution, an online search returned results ranging from $2 AliExpress items through to about $60 OfficeMax/TheMarket items. There are also overseas options such as the Scandinavian hub Under Desk Cable Tray on Amazon. But, overseas options come at a cost when you factor in shipping.

We were just about to settle on a OE Elsafe Prodigy Cable Basket Single Tier 750mm White from OfficeMax for $37.38. But, buying it, I wondered if there was a cheaper option out there. The original search then extended to DIY options on Google images and Pinterest. It’s at this point that I came across people who using basic wire baskets hung under desks or fixed under a desk in some way shape form.

The plan was now to look for a unit to easily attach to the desk modesty panel. This lead to a trip to Mitre10 and Bunnings to see what basket options they had. Whilst slowly walking through Bunnings, I came across a spice shelf (or shelf as they have it listed) that looked like it would do the trick.

Measuring 38.5×10.5×7, the spice rack was just the right size to hold a powerboard and tuck some cabling into.

Attaching DIY under desk cable tray attachment

Attaching the spice shelf to the desk was a quick and easy process. Tools needed for the job included a drill, appropriately sized drill bit and phillips head screwdriver and 2 x 15mm screws.

Side note: our desk is 25mm thick and the screws that came with rack were about that length too. This meant buying screws that weren’t going to go through the desk. Zenith 6G x 15mm Zinc Plated Sheet Metal Screw – 40 Pack ($5.10 at Bunnings) (that’s 12.75c per screw).

From there, it was a matter of following a step by step process as per below:

1. mark out where to place the tray
2. mark out screw holes
3. drill screw holes
4. screw unit into place with screwdriver

The end result:

So there you have it. That is our DIY under desk cable management solution for under $10. A little thinking outside the box lead to a saving of a few dollars to put towards the future.

This action resulted in saving some money. Instead of spending it, it will be split between regular savings and investing (and putting it to work!). I invest through Sharesies (sign up today and get $5 to get you started) and Kernel Wealth. to our financial future!

The post DIY under desk cable management tray for under NZ $10 appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

This week marks my one year Sharesies anniversary! On 10/1/20, I started my investing journey with Sharesies with a $5 sign up bonus. (you too can get a $5 sign up bonus via THIS link).

My first buy was units in the Smartshares NZ Top 50 Fund (FNZ) (an index fund of the NZ Top 50 weighted based on market capitalisation and capped at 5% per company. It is different to the NZX 50 whose weighting is based purely on market capitalisation).

Since then, I haven’t been super active in the sense of buying up shares in bunch of companies or funds. From the start, I decided to adopt a dollar-cost averaging approach where I invest a fixed dollar amount each week. So, each week, a set amount is automatically transferred from my bank account into Sharesies where I’ve set a DIY order auto-invest.

The beauty of the setup above is that it’s SET & FORGET! However, I’ll admit that at the start, I spent a lot of time ‘checking-in’ to see how things were going. This was even more so the case come March 2020 when COVID hit and markets across the globe dipped sharply! As traumatic as it was for many, it was a little of the opposite for me. If anything, there was some excitement to see how the markets were going to respond to the Coronavirus Crash.

One lesson I drew from the crash was the meaning of risk tolerance. I saw a handful of my colleagues panic and make changes to their investments when the markets were low. They thought they were making quick and smart moves but they moves only saw them locking in losses. The thousands they lost is a story for another time.

The amount that I started off investing was something that we could afford to let go off without breaking the bank. In the second quarter of the year, I upped that amount ever so slightly. During the Coronavirus crash, I made a couple of adhoc buys which was me essentially timing the market. This is something you will hear a number of people speaking out against.

Along the way, there were a couple of initial public offerings (IPO) and share offerings in New Zealand. In October 2020, Rua Bioscience Limited offered investors the opportunity to buy ordinary shares for $0.50 NZD. I work in pharma (not medicinal cannabis) and have read up on the benefits of medical marijuana. After doing a bit of research on Rua and the industry, I decided to dive in. I think weed is the future!

All it took to apply was filling out a quick and simple form and depositing the dollar amount of shares I wanted into my Sharesies wallet. The good thing about the application process is that Sharesies didn’t charge a transaction fee. The day after the application deadline, an email came through informing me that the application had been processed. But, due to strong interest (total amount applied for was more than what they had to allocate), all applications were scaled back by 27%. Example, $100 application = $27 worth of shares. The remainder of the money was credited back.

Day one on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, RUA debuted at $0.70! That’s a 40% premium on the issue price. Since then, it has had some ups and downs but is still tracking above its IPO price.

As at the writing of this post, my investment in FNZ50 is +17.95% and RUA is +14%. But this is something that can change just like that! So all in all, things are ticking along just fine. I have learnt some things in the last year and there’s still a LOT more learning to be done.

Lessons learnt investing using Sharesies

Some of the main things I’ve learnt include (but aren’t limited to):

• Dollar cost averaging
• Risk tolerance
• Fees – something that you really have to take into consideration with ALL investing. Some of the fees charged may look like relatively small and insignificant amounts. But, they are eating into your returns and over time, could make a big difference. Read Investment fees and the difference 1% can make by Nick Carr, a financial adviser based in Wellington.
• Participating in an Initial public offering (IPO)

The turn in world events in 2020 made it a bit more of an interesting time to start being more active in investing. It was somewhat good to have gone through a market crash as it added to the learning experience. In the year ahead, there will be more learning and maybe slight adjustments to my investing strategy.

All in all, my first year with Sharesies has been a positive one. Their interface is nice and easy to understand and use. They do their best to educate users in the world of investing. This starts off with a handful of emails after sign up. They also send out regular updates with market information, webinars (which you can find on Crowdcast or YouTube). There’s also a Share Club Facebook group where you do have to take most if not all of the discussions on the group with a pinch of salt.

One feature that they currently don’t have that would be a plus is an automatic dividend reinvestment option. Dividends are paid into your wallet meaning that if you want to reinvest, you need to login and place a manual order. Having the option to have it done automatically means less logging in and making it more set and forget.

Invest in NZ, US and Aus companies and funds through Sharesies.
Sign up today and get $5 to get you started.

The post One year investing with Sharesies – a quick review appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

Google has a whole bunch of products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nest Mini smart speaker, Nest Cam, Pixel smartphones, Wi-Fi and more. Not all of what they have to offer is officially available in New Zealand except for Chromecast and more recently, the Nest Mini.

One of their products, Google Wi-Fi has been around for a while. You can get your hands on it at handful of retailers in NZ. Across the ditch, they can get that and more directly on the Google store.

One of their products, Google Wi-Fi has been around for a while. You can get your hands on it at a handful of retailers in NZ. Across the ditch, they can get that and more directly on the Google store.

When you sign up to a broadband plan, your internet service provider (ISP) will more than likely include a modem/wireless router. More often than not, the hardware that they provide gives average performance. Depending on the size and shape of area that needs to be covered, poor performance and dead zone areas may come to light. Whats more, households have more and more bandwidth-hungry IoT devices all over the place.

What Google Wifi and other similar devices do is that they create a mesh network that essentially blankets your house with fast and stable WiFi. They are a life changer in spaces where there are dead zones or areas with degraded performance.

About a year ago, we invested in a TP Link Deco M4 (2 Pack) AC1200 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System (a product similar to Nest Wifi) and it has made a huge difference. We have gone from having the ISP provided router at one of the house (leaving the other end with patchy areas) to having two wifi points (one on each end of the house).

The installation, among other things,

• covered the entire house with a strong Wi-Fi signal
• allowed for seamless simultaneous streaming of high definition and 4K content
• dramatically increased network speeds (much faster than the ISP’s router)
• brought safety and sanity with parental controls
• easily set up a guest network

Google’s Nest Wifi works in the same way as the Deco M4 mentioned above and comes with the following features:

• Network controls
• Parental controls
• Device prioritisation
• Smart speaker with Google assistant
• Security

Free Google Nest Wifi

Nest Wifi can now officially be purchased in NZ from your favourite electronics retailer with the base unit (1 pack) currently retailing for $299.

But, you can get your hands on one for FREE. Orcon is giving them to new customers who sign up to either their Fibre 100 or Gigantic Fibre plans on a 12-month contract. If you are in the market for a new ISP or looking to switch, consider Orcon.

For an easy way of comparing all the ISP options out there, https://www.broadbandcompare.co.nz/. Its an awesome broadband comparison website that lists out all available offers. This can be narrowed down to specifics such as the cheapest, fastest, best customer service and more.

The post How to get Google Nest Wifi for free in New Zealand appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

Most if not all of us work with retirement in mind or at least think about it periodically. The aim of the game is to build a nest egg to afford us a comfortable lifestyle in the later years of life. KiwiSaver is one of the mechanisms that more and more Kiwis are invested in to secure their retirements and of course New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super). How much you have available come 65 depends on a number of factors such as your contributions, type of fund and so on (it would be a good idea to speak to a certified financial adviser for s solution that could work best for you). There are a number of avenues through which people can build retirement nest eggs. One of them is AMP’s New Zealand Retirement Trust (NZRT).

What is The New Zealand Retirement Trust (NZRT)

NZRT is an employer-sponsored saving scheme where your employers make contributions towards your retirement pretty much the same that they would with KiwiSaver. You make contributions to your member account and your employer makes contributions to your account too. Contributions are managed by investment professionals who work to maximise returns on investment.

I’m lucky enough to work for a company (we’ll call it XYX for the purposes of this post) that offers NZRT as well as KiwiSaver. XYX employees become eligible to enrol from their second year of service. If you aren’t enrolled in KiwiSaver, but wish to enrol in NZRT, the employer makes contributions at a rate of 8% of annual earnings. If enrolled in KiwiSaver like I am, and you would like to enrol in NZRT too, they do offer that option. In this instance, contributions are split with 3% going to KiwiSaver and 5% going to NZRT.

Note: This may vary from company to company. The percentage contributions stated above are those offered by my current employer and may vary amongst companies that offer NZRT.

AMP offers a range of options into which funds can be invested. These include Diversified funds, Goal-based funds and Single Sector funds within which are 27 investment options. These include but aren’t limited to:

• AMP Aggressive Fund
• AMP Growth Fund
• AMP Balanced Fund
• AMP Moderate Balanced Fund
• AMP Moderate Fund
• AMP Conservative Fund
• AMP Global Multi-Asset Fund
• AMP Income Generator Fund
• AMP Cash Fund
• AMP New Zealand Fixed Interest Fund
• AMP International Fixed Interest Fund
• AMP Australasian Shares Fund
• AMP International Shares Fund
• AMP Passive International Shares Fund
• AMP Property Fund

In the case of my investment, 100% of XYZ’s contributions are invested into the AMP Conservative Fund. This is a default set by them and cannot be changed. I have full reign over my member contributions and can invest them into one or more of the available funds. I have mine spread across a couple of different options.

NZRT fees

As this is a managed investment option, it does come with fees which in some cases can be quite up there. The fees vary depending on what funds you are invested in. As a start, there is an annual member fee which at the time of writing is $107.52. Other fees charged include, an investment management fee, service fee, administration fee and other costs and expenses. The fees vary from fund to fund and finer details can be found in the New Zealand Retirement Trust Product Disclosure Statement.

For example, in the case of the AMP Conservative Fund, the fees are as follows:

• Investment management fee – 0.35%
• Administration fee – 1.4925%
• Service fee – 0.80%
• Costs and expenses (estimated) – 0.19%
• Total annual fund charges (estimated % of net asset value) – 2.83%

In my case, some of the fees are covered by XYZ which is a win because to be honest, who likes paying fees? And, depending of how much you are paying in fees, it could have a significant impact on returns down the line. A couple of percent or so now may not sound like much but over time, it all adds up.

What happens to NZRT when you leave your employer

As already mentioned, this is an employer-sponsored savings scheme and thus such, doesn’t have the same restrictions such as with KiwiSaver. The biggest one is that the funds are NOT ‘locked in’ so to speak until you retire. When you leave your employer, AMP transfers your membership to My Super. My Super is an NZRT personal plan that works along the same lines as the employer-sponsored scheme. You can make regular or one-off contributions towards your savings and you have access to the savings whenever you like.

If you don’t want to continue with NZRT, you have the option of taking all your money out and doing with it whatever you please.

You are also entitled to employer contributions provided you leave employment in good standing. If you are dismissed for serious misconduct or resign to avoid such, there is no entitlement. The amount that you get from the employer account is also dependent on your complete years of service. In my case, the entitlements are as follows 1 year – 20% of employer account, 2 years  – 40%, 3 years – 60%, 4 years – 80%, 5 years – 100%.

Why join NZRT?

A big and really simple reason to join NZRT is, INVESTING IN THE FUTURE! When you factor in employer contributions which is pretty much FREE MONEY, it is a win-win situation.

I have been enrolled for 5 or so years and the balance has grown to a considerable amount. Without going into the details of how much it is currently worth, it is above the 2019 average KiwiSaver member balance of $19,426 but below The average NZRT member balance of $84,343.29. It isn’t bad for a regular contribution that doesn’t break the bank and one that doesn’t cross my mind. I just get on with life.

It is different to KiwiSaver in that, funds are not ‘locked in’, so to speak, until you reach retirement age. As mentioned above, when you leave your employer, even if it is well before retirement age, you can do whatever you like with the contributions.

As far as returns go, these will vary depending on what funds contributions are invested in. Take the Conservative Fund for example, from 2011 through to 2020, the average annual return was 3.58% (after deductions for charges and tax). This is more than what you would get for money sitting in a savings account or term deposit. When invested in other funds, the potential returns could be a lot higher. You would have to do some homework to figure out what fund works best for you.

What bemuses me is how so many of my colleagues have chosen not to join the scheme. Some see it a waste of time and money. Others see it as XYZ finding an excuse to not pay you everything that you are owed come payday. Groupthink has gotten into many of them and they see it as the XYZ screwing them over (actual words spoken) with their pay. Then there are the few that don’t believe in KiwiSaver or anything that resembles it. someone told them that schemes like them FAIL and they will lose all their money. To the non-KiwiSaver believers, everyday banking and savings account are the way to go. If only they could have a good think about it and realise the potential! But hey, each to their own right?

I on the other hand am a believer of it. Admittedly so, I didn’t sign up when I became eligible but I really should have; as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It took me a couple of years or so to get there but I’m glad I did get there.

So, if you were to ask me if you should join NZRT, my answer would be a very quick, YES!

The post Why it pays to join the AMP New Zealand Retirement Trust (NZRT) savings scheme appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

Instagram has 1 billion active users, of which 500 million visit Stories on a daily basis and 130 million click on shopping posts once a month. To add to that, 70% of shopping enthusiast turn to the platform to find products. That said, it kinda make sense for businesses and brands to be on the platform engaging with existing customers and showing potential customers what they are all about. Compared to traditional e-commerce, social commerce purchase journey is more efficient and has a higher ROI.

A number of brands have picked up on this making Instagram quite a saturated platform. There is high competition in a number of product and service categories. If you are in a niche space, this is something that shouldn’t be too much of a concern. All that said, that is not to say that you can’t make the ‘saturated space’ work for you. The key would be to set up a presence that people take notice of and to differentiate yourself. Differentiation could be Stories, authentic targeted content (imagery and video), thought-provoking captions and unique brand colours.

Having a solid strategy in place goes a long way towards realising meaningful results down the line. Getting a presence up and running and growing an audience takes a lot of work. Regardless of your goals be it increasing brand awareness, social commerce, driving traffic and so on, a lot of time and effort is required.

One of the keys to success on the network is posting regularly. On the native app, this means taking time out every day (or whatever frequency fits your strategy) to post updates. Posting manually is time-consuming and that is time that could be spent on other business-essential tasks. This is where smart automation becomes your friend to help you free up time. Tailwind is one such tool.

Scheduling to Instagram with Tailwind

Realising meaningful results takes work and automating part of the process will make social marketing efforts a little easier. There are a host of scheduling tools out there to choose from and one of them is Tailwind. Tailwind’s core features include Auto-Publishing, SmartSchedule and Hashtag Finder. Auto-publishing works to automatically post content to straight Instagram. SmartSchedule is an algorithm that works to pick optimal post times for the best engagement. Hashtag Finder works to come up with hashtag recommendations for each post.

It also hosts a range of other useful features such as publishing hashtags as the first comment rather than stuffing captions with hashtags and making them look spammy. A recent addition to their features has been Unsplash stock photos for the occasions when you don’t have the perfect image to post. It may seem a little weird posting stock photos to Instagram but here is a good explainer: Yes, You CAN Use Stock Photos on Instagram! Heres How.

The new and improved Tailwind

In addition to some of the above-mentioned features, Tailwind has had a bit of makeover and are now aptly calling the tool an Instagram Smart Assistant. The makeover has brought with it not only a new look but a bunch of new features as well. These include but aren’t limited to:

• New-and-improved UX – larger grid preview making it easier to visually create and plan out content making it easier to see what your grid will look like. The update also makes it easier for you to find and edit posts if need be. 
• Content plans – these work to help keep content consistent and in line with your goals. Tailwind helps out in generating a plan with suggestions on post types by first of all asking what your business is all about such as, online seller, content publisher and so on. Recommended post types include Promote, Educate, Inspire, Connect and Repurpose. You have the ability to further customise the order, frequency and post type recommended to you if you feel the plan needs a bit of tweak.

• Mad-lib style caption – these work hand in hand with content plans when it comes to writing out captions. Caption templates for the type of content you are creating for, makes the job a little easier if you find yourself stuck on what to write. Coming up with relevant hashtags if you are stuck isn’t too much of an issue thanks to suggestions presented to you in the editor.
• Drag and drop calendar – once you have your content set but aren’t 100% happy with the way it is laid in the grid preview you can simply drag and drop content. This includes drafts post giving you a full picture of what your 9-grid looks and making sure it is just right before posts are sent out. 

Social commerce with Tailwind

As far as winning at social commerce goes, Tailwind isn’t a silver bullet. But a good strategy and effective use of the Smart Assistant can work towards reaching desired results. Some features to pay particular attention to with regards to social selling are:

• Hashtag Finder – having the right hashtags can go a long way towards getting your posts in front of your target audience. Having more eyes on posts and stories could lead to more people buying what you have to offer. Make sure to do good hashtag research and use the tool for recommendations.
• Smart.Bio – this nifty feature lets you create a branded landing page where you can put links to content that you want to direct traffic to. This means when promoting content and/or selling products, you add relevant links to your Bio profile as a button or link in post (which will appear in your bio profile once published). An added bonus of this feature is that you don’t have to constantly change your bio link to direct users to the most relevant content.
• Caption formatting – this tool lets you add bold, italic, bold-italic, Serif and cursive fonts to captions. With it, you can make certain phrases and keywords stand out which for example, if you are promoting a product, help users quickly zero in on the main benefits.
• Analytics – Tailwind comes with analytics which lets you take a look at and analyse performance. With this information at hand, you can see what strikes a chord with users and going forward, give them more of what they want.

So there you have it, in a nutshell, Tailwind’s Smart Assistant works to make creating and scheduling engaging content effortless. An hour or two each month or even less time if broken down into weekly time slots spent on Instagram marketing with Tailwind could see you hitting your goals.

If you haven’t already done so, start a free trial ( no time limit, no credit card required) which will let try all the features and schedule up to 30 posts on Instagram.

Bonus tip: If you end up deciding that it is right for you, tell your friends and send them a free month of Tailwind as a gift. If they then decide its right for them and they upgrade to Plus, you get a free month too. If you refer 5 or more people, you get a $25 Amazon gift card in addition to the account credit. Just look for the pink gift box in the top right of the dashboard. Everyone wins!

The post Winning Instagram social commerce with the new and improved Tailwind appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

Right smack bang in the middle of last year, we decided to book a family holiday to Southeast Asia. This would have seen us travelling to Bali and beyond for a few short weeks from the middle of this month. As soon as we booked our flights, we got ourselves travel insurance through Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI). Travel insurance is something we always make sure to have when travelling come rain come shine.

At the beginning of the year, COVID-19 began to show its face. As time went by, it became evident that the getaway was not going to happen. Travel advisories started getting put on in place for China and a couple of other parts of the world. Before long, Kiwis were advised to not travel at all and soon after that, the whole world went into lockdown.

With everything being put to a halt due to the pandemic, we started the process of looking at our options for cancelling flights and accommodation. We booked our flights directly through Emirates and they have extended the validity of the tickets for 24 months. Accommodation providers were kind enough to cancel the reservations without penalty.

Cancelling a travel insurance policy

Before cancelling our travel insurance, we first made sure that we weren’t going to be left out of pocket from flight and accommodation cancellations.

After taking a quick look at a handful of travel insurance providers, most have a 14-day cooling-off period. It allows policyholders to cancel within 14 days from the date of purchase and get a full refund (prior to the start of the journey). After the cooling-off period, some providers offer refunds, and some don’t. For example, TINZ does not refund and Cover-More states that they may give a partial refund.

In the case of SCTI, cancellations after the 14 day period are entitled to a refund less a $35 cancellation premium. This is on the provisor that cancellation is made prior to the start date of the journey and that no claims have been made.

Cancelling a SCTI single trip policy is a quick and easy process. All that you need to do is fill out a very short form where you provide the policy number, your date of birth, last name and email address. The next step is confirming the cancellation of the policy (if you are eligible). 2 to 3 days later a refund is issued.

We cancelled our policy well after the 14-day cooling-off period but got a full refund with SCTI stating the following in an email:

Under usual circumstances, when a single trip policy is cancelled more than 14 days after your start date of insurance, (but before your start date of journey), a cancellation premium of $35.00 is deducted from the amount refunded. In recognition of these extraordinary times, we are waiving this cancellation premium. No cancellation premium applies to the Annual Multi-Trip policy.

Why would I bother to write about this you may ask? We had friends and family who were going to spend time with us in Asia. They too had to cancel but a couple of them did not seem bothered about cancelling their travel Insurance policies. They were going to leave them as-is and not bother cancelling because it was going to be ‘too hard’. This just didn’t make sense especially if the provider that they went with was willing to give a refund. 

After explaining this to them, they bothered to take action and got their money back. If they had left them as is, they would literally have been giving money away. Money that can go towards, savings, investing or other revenue-generating activities. 

The post Cancelling travel insurance and getting a refund due to COVID-19 appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

For more than a while now, the thought of getting into investing has played on my mind. What held me back was me coming up with excuses with the main ones being, ‘it is hard to get into it’, and, ‘I don’t have enough money to get started’.

Last year, I started coming across more and more articles about investing mostly on personal finance and FIRE blogs. The more I read, the more the thoughts turned into something that I needed to act on.

I already save a small percentage of my salary with that going directly into a bank separate from the one we use for everyday banking. I have it set up where every time I get paid, my employer transfers a fixed amount into the savings account. It’s an automatic set and forget setup. We pretty much forget that we have that account and leave the money in there to do its thing.

The 2% interest that some of it was earning wasn’t the best in the world but it was better than nothing. I say some as some of that money was periodically shifted into a term deposit with an interest rate of what was 2.8%.

I say ‘was’ above because in Q4 last year we got an email from or savings bank that they would be reducing their Premium Saver interest rate from 2% p.a. to 1.75% p.a.. The drop in the Official Cash Rate in August 2019 from 1.50 to 1.00 may have had a part to play in many banks reducing interest rates on savings account and term deposits.

All of this got me thinking even more about finding a way of making some of our money work a little harder for itself and earn decent returns. Que investing!

Investing in New Zealand

Reading through some content reminded me of the fact that I’m already an investor. I contribute towards Kiwisaver (and someone else does the work of investing that money) and I’m also part of an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). This is also set and forgot hence it not registering as investing. I am also lucky enough to be work for an employer that offers employees that chance to sign up to The New Zealand Retirement Trust (NZRT). NZRT is something I will expand on at a later date.

With my mind just about 100% settled that I was going to divert some money into investing, came the hunt for information on how to go about it in New Zealand. 

I came across a post by Kelvin (Money King NZ) on 9 ways to invest in New Zealand. It outlined various ways in which people can invest and included bank deposits, shares, funds and property just to name a few. Each investment type comes with varying degrees of difficulty and potential risks and return.

There is a need to educate yourself and have a strategy in place that best suits your circumstances. For my current circumstances, shares and funds is it.

Investing through Sharesies

There a handful of platforms and fund managers out there that make investing easier for ‘everyday people’ so to speak. They include Sharesies, Hatch and Kernel, just to name a few.

There are various schools of thought on what the best one is and some of the people who have reviewed them put forward good arguments for what they feel is the best platform. For example, Nick from Your Money Blueprint, whose opinion I value, is of the mind that Sharesies is no good for beginners.

But, after taking in all the information on the platforms that I could find and after taking a look at what they had to offer and most of all my CURRENT circumstances, I settled on Sharesies. The word ‘current’ is in caps because later on down the line, circumstances will change and at this point, another platform may be more suited to my needs. When that time comes, I will make necessary adjustments then.

But, for now, it is Sharesies, (heavy on index funds) where I’m auto investing a small amount on a weekly basis.

Invest in NZ, US and Aus companies and funds through Sharesies.
Sign up today and get $5 to get you started.

The amount that we currently save per week is staying as is. The money that is being put towards investing is what is left over after all the needs and wants are met. Despite their comparably low returns, savings are safer compared to the share market. Markets can be up by a lot one year and down by a lot the next.

Start investing today!

Yes, I may have started a little later in the game (I’m almost 40!) but better late than never. If you are thinking about getting into investing, there is no time better than the present to take the plunge. The earlier that you jump in, the more time there will be for the investment(s) to grow.

I have a lot of learning to do but that is something that I will do along the way.  I will do a little write up in six months time on how things are going.

Invest in NZ, US and Aus companies and funds through Sharesies.
Sign up today and get $5 to get you started.

Update: here is a review of how things have gone after one year; One year investing with Sharesies – a quick review

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Black Friday is here and there are plenty of deals for across a range of categories for people to take advantage of. The deals on offer aren’t limited to consumers. There are a number of offers out there that for small business owners, freelancers, bloggers, creatives and side hustlers to take advantage of.

These offers are running for a LIMITED time. If you come across a deal that you want to take advantage of, make to do so there and then.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. 

Accounting and finance

FreshBooks

• Accounting – double entry accounting that gives an accurate calculation of profit and loss (and you can invite your accountant to FreshBooks and make tax time a breeze)
• Invoicing – create professional looking invoices in no time at all
• Expenses – track all expenses in tax friendly categories
• Time tracking – get to know how you are spending your time (and an accurate time log to invoice clients)
• Payments – let customers pay directly through invoices and get paid 2x faster

Lead generation

OptinMonster

• Exit-intent technology – converts visitors who may leave a site forever into email subscribers
• Lead capture popup forms – build an email list or share a targeted message
• Page-level targeting – using behaviour personalisation to create page specific campaigns for more leads
• Countdown timer – an easy way to create a sense of urgency for visitors and boost conversions

Learning and development

Udemy

Other awesome and unmissable deals

HostGator

Stay tuned for more offers or follow me on Twitter for updates on various offers as they go live!

The post Black Friday deals for small business owners, freelancers and side hustlers appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

In the recent past (December 2018 and March 2019) FreshBooks ran flash sales on their cloud accounting software. This gave business owners the rare opportunity to get their hands on a solution that takes the hassle out of accounting for a steal!

Small business owners, solopreneurs, freelancers, you name it, who use FreshBooks have come to know and love it for a number of reasons. These include but aren’t limited to easy invoicing, expenses, tracking time and the ability to accept payments directly from invoices, just to name a few. All of the features work towards saving you time, looking professional and getting you paid faster! 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

FreshBooks continually builds on their product and adding more functionality to meet the expectations of their customers’ accounting and bookkeeping needs. One of the more recent and bigger enhancements was the addition of double-entry accounting. The addition gives business owners even better control of accounting and bookkeeping. With access to industry-standard reports business owners can easily sift through the data that they need to make decisions that shape the future of the business. This makes FreshBooks not only simple to use but fairly robust cloud accounting solution.

The FreshBooks Big Fall Sale

If you have been sitting on the fence about signing up to FreshBooks, there is no time better than the present to do so. They are currently offering new users up to 70% off. This means you get access to it and to try it out for an extended period of time for a fraction of the cost.

The details of the offer are as follows:

• All plans (Lite, Plus and Premium) are 60% off for the first 6 months for new users who skip the 30-day free trial and opt to ‘buy now’
• New users who opt for the yearly package get 70% off for the first 6 months

That’s it! No codes or coupons required!

The sale ends October 23rd at 11:59 PM EST so make sure to get in quick and get FreshBooks from as low as $4.50 per month.

So, head on over to FreshBooks now and take advantage of this offer before it ends!

The post The FreshBooks 60% off discount offer appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

An invoice is a critical document for all businesses big and small and freelancers alike. It tells clients what they are being billed for, how much to pay, how to pay and any other relevant information. An invoice seems like something simple and easy to put together. But, putting one together from scratch can be a tedious and time-consuming process. This is time taken away from running and growing the business.

The easiest way to make sure that you start on the right track is with an invoice template.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

Invoice content

Invoices must be accurate and contain ALL the information that clients need to make payment. Effective invoices contain a number of key elements which include but aren’t limited to; company details (for both parties), invoice number, invoice date, item description(s), invoice amounts and terms of payment, just to name a few.

Having a professional-looking invoice with all the right information goes a long towards you getting paid quickly. Now comes the question of where to get professional-looking templates? FreshBooks, the cloud accounting solution that makes running a business a lot easier offers free invoice templates.

Free FreshBooks invoice templates

FreshBooks has a range of free invoice templates available for download. The templates which are simple and easy to use are customisable so that they suit your particular needs. Editable sections include company name, invoice number, description, applicable taxes, invoice total and payment terms. All that you really need to do is fill out these sections to make it yours.

They come in a range of formats which include Word (.DOC), Excel, (.XLS), .PDF, Google Docs and Google Sheets. You will be sure to find a format that you are not only comfortable working with but one that suits your business too. Each invoice format has clear instructions on filling it out the sections all the way through to sending it to clients.

FreshBooks doesn’t just offer one generic template. They’ve gone one step further, and offer industry-specific invoice templates for download. They include the following:

• Graphic Design
• Contractor
• Photography
• Web Design
• Video Production
• Hotel
• Attorney
• Auto Repair
• Painting
• Construction

That’s not all, they drill down even further with more specific invoice templates than include:

• Self Employed invoice
• Freelance invoice
• Hourly invoice
• Business invoice
• Services Rendered invoice
• Blank invoice
• Printable invoice

Some industries may have elements that need to be incorporated into an invoice and only apply to that particular invoice. This may explain the range of options. At the end of the day, they are there to make your life easier.

If you are looking for free invoice templates, do give what FreshBooks has to offer a try. Remember, an invoice is a critical document that you should take seriously and have 100% correct and looking professional right from the get-go. Give your clients a reason to want to pay you in full and on time. Think about it, if you can’t get your clients to pay, do you still have a viable business?

Images courtesy of FreshBooks

The post Free invoice templates from FreshBooks appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

The monitor has 75×75 VESA holes which are located at the bottom of the screen right above the hinge attachment for the stand. 

The VESA plate on the Brateck monitor arm comes in a 75×75 and 100×100 configuration. Owing to the 100×100 configuration, the hinge attachment got in the way of the plate sitting flush with the back panel of the monitor. If however, the arm only came with a 75×75 plate, this may not have been an issue.

At this point, I was stuck with a problem of how to remove the hinge attachment.

Removing the Samsung LED monitor stand hinge attachment

After getting over the annoyance and disappointment of not being able to set things up as quickly and easily as hoped, came the task of finding a solution.

Google and YouTube searches returned some interesting results. In one instance, a user cut the hinge off with a power tool. In another, a user left the hinge in place and opted to power file the bottom of the plate until it fitted in place.

With the tools I had at hand, the best option for me was to disassemble the monitor to remove the hinge. To do that, I took the following steps:

• Disconnect all cables and place the monitor (screen side down) on a blanket on the floor
• Update: as per Matt’s comment below, remove the screw near the HDMI outlet on the back of the screen. Unfortunately, Unrealize (comment below) ‘busted’ his screen before realising the screw was there (totally my fault for not updating the post soon enough)

• Pry the back panel off  – place a flat head screwdriver into the small inserts on the bottom of the monitor and slowly pry the back panel off. Work along the bottom, sides *and top* until the panel comes off (be very careful to not damage the screen or any of the circuitry).

• Remove the hinge – using a Phillips head, unscrew the hinge via the two screws that keep it in place
• Carefully put the back panel back in its position and snap it back into to place by working your way around it

You should now be able to mount your monitor where and how you want.

Using a spudger tool to remove back panel

Removing the hinge was an easy enough thing to do with screwdrivers as mentioned above. But, when prying the back panel off, there was a point where I did hear a small cracking sound. I thought I had damaged the unit but decided the carry on nonetheless. The sound got me slightly panicked as I thought I had damaged the unit but after a quick inspection, I could not see any visible damage. 

If you don’t want to go through the same experience and want to make sure that you don’t damage your monitor, consider getting a spudger tool kit. You can get one for a very reasonable price on Amazon or eBay.

Hope this helps to get your monitor VESA mountable.

Note: just before publishing, a quick YouTube search returned a video pretty much showing what I did:

The post How to remove a Samsung S24F350F 24″ LED monitor stand hinge to make it VESA mountable appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

I keep myself busy with a bunch of personal projects. Some of them take up a few short hours of work a week on a laptop. The beauty of a laptop is being able to work from anywhere around the house, be it the couch, dining room table or on the floor of the lounge. Ideally, the best-case scenario would be to have a dedicated workspace for increased productivity. To add to that, my other half has a 9 to 5 which offers some flexibility and the ability to work from home. 

Both to these situations (more so the latter) necessitated the need for a home office space for a desk and everything else that comes along with it.

Finding office space

After deciding to set up a home office, the next step was settling on a space. We had a spare room that wasn’t getting much use apart from being storage. It’s at times like these where you amaze yourself at how much stuff that you don’t use (some may call it junk) you have accumulated. 

• Zealand Desk Coastal Elm (1500w 600d x 725h) – good quality desk with a good amount of space and legroom
• Jasper J Advance Chair Black – comfortable AFRDI Level 6 certified adjustable office chair with good lumbar support
• Samsung S24F350F 24″ LED Monitor
• Logitech K780 Multi-Device Wireless Keyboard (also available on Amazon)- a perfect solution to easily connect to 3 devices
• Other accessories such wireless mouse

This setup worked okay for a little while. But, as you can see, to get the ergonomics to work better, the monitor sat on a stack of books. This wasn’t ideal for a couple of reasons, with the monitor not being height adjustable the ergonomics were off. Secondly, the space felt a little cluttered with the stack of books that acted as a temporary riser. 

Brateck monitor arm

With a suitable and permanent solution to the temporary riser fix needed, the quest began. It was a toss-up between a riser and monitor arm. After doing a bit of research and looking at the pros and cons of both, we settled on a monitor arm. One of the main reasons for choosing an arm was its versatility with adjustments not only being able to made to height but angle and depth too. After searching for locally available options, we ended up getting a Brateck counterbalance single monitor desk mount. 

The monitor arm, a Brateck Aluminum Interactive Counterbalance Single Monitor Desk Mount Bracket for 13-32 Inch Curved & Flat Panel TVs or Monitors with USB Hub – 1 to 9kg, was the perfect solution for our needs because of its features which include:

• height adjustability
• tilt, swivel & rotation of +90°~ -90°
• 75×75/100×100 VESA
• cable management

To top it all off, we got it for a steal ($57.10) from Elive.co.nz where at the time of writing this is on sale for $124.10 ($44.90 off RRP).

Improved ergonomics and increased productivity

The end result was a solution with greatly improved ergonomics. The versatility of positioning thanks to the adjustable chair and monitor arm brought better posture which aid in increasing productivity

The monitor arm with its cable management feature made the space less cluttered. Having less clutter makes the space feel more organised, effective and efficient.

To add to that, we also did a bit of decluttering and got rid of the desk file sorters. Most of what was in them was stuff we hardly used or looked it. We either got rid of it or filed it away. 

If you do a lot of work from home and haven’t set up a home office, you should consider it. It’s well worth the investment.

The post Maximising home office desk space and increasing productivity with a monitor arm appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

We are now just about halfway through the year which brings with it a good time to take stock of how things are going with the goals. Unfortunately, more often than not, it doesn’t take long before plans that are set at the start of the year become pipe dreams.

Where do you currently sit as far as the financial goals you had laid out for the year are concerned? 

If things aren’t quite where you would have wanted them to be or you completely fell off the wagon, there is no time better than the present to reset your financial goals.

Here are goals to consider (from Chime) when setting out your plans:

Save 10%

A lot of literature out there says you should save at least 10% of your income. Depending on your circumstances, this may or may not be possible. If 10% is a bit of a stretch, put aside whatever you can and with the passage of time, work towards increasing the amount. If you can afford to put aside more than 10%, then go ahead and do that.

Set up automatic transfers (so that you essential set and forget) to a savings account and leave it to grow.

Reduce debt

If you have debt, make a plan to pay it off as quickly as you can. Interest is a killer and the longer you are in debt, the more interest you will be paying thus increasing the cost of the debt.

Take a look at your spending habits, highlight leakage spending, plug those leaks and divert that money towards paying down balances. 

Increase credit score

Here is New Zealand, credit scores aren’t something that people talk about too much because there really isn’t a national credit score database. As at the writing of this post, credit reference agency, Credit Simple is the only company that provides credit scores. 

Your credit score is based on credit history. Your credit history includes a range of credit transactions such as credit cards, mobile phone contracts, hire purchase agreements, home loans and so on and so forth. It essentially looks at your history of repaying debt.

Having and maintaining a good credit score is a good idea as it will keep lenders happy and go well in your favour if and when you have to apply for some form of credit.

To keep up your scores, pay bills on time!

Save for retirement

Kiwisaver, New Zealand’s version of the US 401(k), is a voluntary work-based saving initiative. It is designed for you to maintain a regular saving pattern towards your retirement. Contributions are taken straight out of your pay at a rate (that you choose) of either 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%. To add to that, employers (in most instances) have to make compulsory contributions equal to 3% of your pay.

Over time, this all adds up to a decent amount of money that will hopefully see you retiring comfortably.

If you are currently contributing towards your retirement, have you considered contributing a little bit more?

Invest

Depending on your personal circumstances and risk profile, investing is something you may want to consider.  Investing puts your money to work and could see you earning good returns. But, this does come with it risks as markets go up and down like a yo-yo. There is no telling how much your investment will be down the line but the hope is that it will be on the up. 

Investing is a long term game and if you are going to get into it, you should not only be prepared to slug it out, make sure to educate yourself as much as you can about investing (enrol in an investing course on Udemy – get up to 95% off).

Are you on track to meeting your financial goals?

The post Are your financial goals for the year on track? appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.

FreshBooks is a great tool for carrying out certain business functions such as creating professional looking invoices, managing and organising expenses and tracking time, just to name a few. These types of features work well for small businesses and for the most part, fulfil their requirements from an accounting standpoint.

But, as a business grows, so does the need for more functionality, data and easy access to relevant information.

Now, let’s take a step back and take a look at the accounting equation:

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

Assets = Liabilities + Equity

This is an equation that you want to ensure is balanced as far as your business accounting is concerned. Now cue, double entry accounting.

Double entry accounting

The accounting equation is the foundation of double entry accounting which ensures that the balance sheet remains balanced. Every business transaction will involve two or more accounts in order to comply with the accounting equation. So, for every debit entry, there will be an equal credit entry. You can also look at it as a way of making sure that everything adds up.

It can take a minute or two to get your head around if not an accounting professional but it’s good to know the basics if you are in business.

FreshBooks double entry accounting

Image courtesy of FreshBooks

Since its inception, FreshBooks has been a really good cloud accounting option for small business owners. But, it did have its limitations especially for rapidly growing businesses needing more functionality and data. That said, FreshBooks has just added more functionality to its software and now offers double-entry accounting and bank reconciliation. This is a big win for growing businesses that need this added functionality.

The new features make FreshBooks a more robust cloud accounting solution and it comes with the following industry standard functions:

• Accountant access: create a profile for your accounting professional and give them access to only the relevant tools
• Chart of accounts: A list of all accounts in a business’ accounting system used to record transactions
• Balance sheet: a snapshot of financial position at a given time
• Bank reconciliation: a checklist for matching lines imported from financial institutions to those in FreshBooks
• General ledger: a record of all transactions from all accounts
• Cost of goods sold (COGS): the direct costs for delivering a service of producing a product
• Other income: other income the business is bringing
• Trial balance: a list of closing balances on general ledger accounts

For more in-depth explanations on the functions listed above, visit: FreshBooks’ Double-Entry Accounting Glossary

Is FreshBooks double entry accounting right for your business?

FreshBooks is pretty straight up about who they feel would benefit from double entry accounting. If you are a one-person business with few expenses and are getting on just fine using (what were) their regular tools such as invoicing, time tracking and reporting functions, you don’t need to worry about double entry accounting.

The businesses that they see benefiting the most are fast-growing small businesses, those primed for growth and simple sustainable ones. The main theme for the benefit of double entry accounting across the three types of businesses points towards data! FreshBooks gives business owners (and accountants – who will be especially happy at tax time!) easy access to information. Having easy access to the right data gives users a complete view of where the business has been, where it currently stands and where it could be going. Having this kind of insight can go a long way in helping to make decisions that shape the future of the business.

More often than not, a small business owner is a jack of all trades and usually short of time. The last thing that they want is to over complicate life with all sorts of tools that are a necessary evil. FreshBooks endeavours to take the pain away from bookkeeping with an easy to use full feature cloud accounting software.

Sign up for a FREE 30 trial today and see if it is right for your business.

The post FreshBooks cloud accounting now even better with double entry accounting appeared first on Ninetynine Ways.