In personal finance, timing rarely feels urgent—until it is. Whether it is buying a home, refinancing a mortgage, reviewing insurance, or committing to an investment strategy, delaying decisions can quietly increase costs and reduce long-term financial flexibility.

After several years of restrictive policy bringing inflation under control and on a solid path to recovery, someone decides to go play in the sand and here we are with inflation back on the table as a direct result of cost increases in production and distribution brought about by fuel price increases.

The Official Cash Rate ( OCR ) was today held at 2.25% as largely expected amongst warnings inflation could hit 4.3% in the September quarter and return to the 2 percent target mid-point in mid 2027 hinting that adjustments may have to be made to the OCR in coming announcements to counter the effects of the Middle East conflict on inflation driven by fuel price increases.

In today’s rapidly changing financial environment, taking a “set and forget” approach to personal or business finances can prove costly. Conducting an annual financial review is one of the simplest and most effective ways to ensure financial arrangements continue to meet changing needs and goals.

Bridging finance can be a fast, flexible solution to secure property before you’ve sold your current property allowing you to upgrade with certainty.

So you have a mortgage and want to look at ways to reduce interest paid. Putting a portion on revolving credit and using offset accounts could be the answer.

So you’re near or retired, own your home, maybe an investment property, looking to release some funds for any amount of activities or projects.

As New Zealand businesses navigate increasingly complex cashflow pressures, tax pooling is emerging as a practical and often underutilised solution for managing provisional tax obligations.

With the distraction of another Gulf war and resulting fuel prices it’s easy to lose sight of the actual state of the NZ economy. Yes it costs more to fill up the car per litre however based on the number of litres the average person uses personally, the increase for 91 is still about a coffee every other day on the average monthly spend, not ideal but we’ve seen worse.

So you’ve had enough of fuel prices and decided to go electric, but need funding.

With the price of fuel out the gate, is it electrics time in the sun. We take a look under the hood.

With the volatility of the conflict in Iran developing daily as to how far it will escalate or not, its early days yet to determine the long term effects, certainly we’re feeling it at the fuel pump right now.

As New Zealand continues its gradual economic recovery, global geopolitical tensions are emerging as a significant factor that could influence the pace and stability of that progress.

While we’ve done a great job bringing down inflation and interest rates and generally setting ourselves on a path to economic recovery, the latest geopolitical events that are hopefully short lived highlight the need for flexibility, to that end its timely to take a look at options available if they’re prolonged.

Introduced in 2025 and designed to stimulate capital spending and support economic growth in the form of accelerated depreciation, the Gov’t Investment Boost scheme allows a further 20% depreciation on the purchase price of new qualifying assets in the financial year of acquisition, on top of standard depreciations that normally apply.

With the newly appointed Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman now settled into her role for the next five years and in tune with the heartbeat of the country, the Feb 18th decision to hold the OCR at 2.25% ushers in a period of stability with mortgage rates remaining largely unchanged since the announcement.

In a move set to boost access to affordable housing finance, ASB Bank has become a participating lender with Kāinga Ora, opening the door for more first home buyers to enter the property market.

The Reserve Bank today 18^th Feb 2026 decided to hold the Official Cash Rate ( OCR ) at 2.25%.

Taking a walk through the mortgage maze you’ll come across a few dead ends with twists and turns you can readily get lost in and guess what, it’s always changing. The Reserve Bank sets the rules and trading banks adhere to those rules each with their own criteria to meet. That’s where a good mortgage adviser can walk you through the process.

As New Zealand’s housing market evolves, first-home buyers and investors alike are weighing the benefits of new builds against turnkey options — each offering distinct advantages, particularly when it comes to financing and deposit requirements.