Giving others a hand up rather than a hand-out, the perils of giving money to your kids and the highs and lows of our national airline: Here are our top four picks of stories that
have helped readers consider how to spend, save and learn from others.

Meet the ex-Mongrel Mob member helping teens build a new path to success

By Rebecca Macfie

“Tumana Sullivan has found himself with a boss who is not average; a boss who understands what it’s like to struggle, because he has been there, too. Taurus Taurima is the employer who gave him a chance, hiring him three years ago to learn civil construction skills. For Sullivan and other workers, he’s the bro who defied the odds and showed them that a difficult past need not define the future.

Taurima has built a business by hiring dozens of workers with little or no education, with criminal records, gang connections and drug and alcohol problems. He provides them with training and qualifications, pastoral care, financial and health literacy and support to kick their addictions.”

You can read the full story here.

Bank of Mum and Dad: The pitfalls of giving money to your kids

By Sarah Catherall

“Parents are increasingly dipping into their own savings to help their adult children with daily living costs – but that is only entrenching the wealth gap.

Although the Consumer research looked purely at housing assistance, economists point to a rising number of parents who are supporting their young adult children in other ways – allowing them to live at home rent-free (25% in the Consumer NZ survey), or helping pay their tertiary education, phone and car registration bills and even holidays.

While many do so willingly, there is a dark side to the phenomenon, says economist Shamubeel Eaqub – a growing gap between the haves and have-nots in New Zealand society.”

Read the full story here.

The truth about money: Sam Stubbs on how to live a rich life

By Paul Little

“Sam Stubbs, co-founder and public face of Simplicity, the not-for-profit KiwiSaver and fund manager, is in Oslo. He is not there to research possible investment opportunities for the fast-growing company, nor to examine how a socially progressive country tends its citizens’ finances. He’s there because he told his 18-year-old son, Ben, that if Ben applied himself to his studies, he would take him on a trip anywhere in the world. Consequently, the early morning Zoom call is backgrounded by Ben’s hunt for socks and a charger as he prepares to amble out for breakfast.

Stubbs and his partner, journalist Amanda Morrall, have a blended family made up of his two – Emma, 21, and Ben – and her two – Connor, 20, and Liam, 19. All are students. Morrall is one of Simplicity’s other co-founders, along with Andrew Lance and Amir Bashir.

It will probably reassure Simplicity’s 126,000 investors to know that the man overseeing their $4.3 billion in investments has their interests in mind, even on the other side of the world.”

Here’s the full story.

After a challenging few years, our national carrier has run into fresh turbulence

By Peter Griffin

“Our national carrier is hoping the worst is finally behind it. Air New Zealand is at least flying again after the Covid pandemic put planes into mothballs and forced it to jettison thousands of staff.

But it has had a challenging year, with a shortage of planes and extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods, playing havoc with flight schedules.

The company, which is 51% government-owned, had long enjoyed a reputation for quality and innovation, even if its tickets could be pricey. Now, it has a 1.2 star rating from 421 reviews on Trustpilot, one of the major online review sites. It manages just 5/10 on Airlinequality.com.

Even worse, some of its most loyal customers have turned to social media in the past year to vent about a poor-quality experience and long wait times to have issues addressed.”

Read more here.