{"id":451905,"date":"2026-05-30T00:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T00:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/451905\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T00:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T00:26:17","slug":"the-budget-made-one-thing-clear-we-all-need-to-prepare-for-more-tough-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/451905\/","title":{"rendered":"The Budget made one thing clear: we all need to prepare for more tough times"},"content":{"rendered":"

OPINION: The Government said it would be no lolly scramble and they weren’t kidding. With another treat-free year<\/a> on the horizon, Frances Cook shares tips on how to best prepare. <\/p>\n

I keep hearing that we need to save for a rainy day, then looking around me and seeing a lot of people already standing in the rain. At this point, I just want them to start handing out the umbrellas. Because we\u2019ve all been getting damper for quite a while.<\/p>\n

\"Tova<\/p>\n

Tova O’Brien with finance minister Nicola Willis on Breakfast yesterday. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

Nicola Willis challenged on no cost-of-living relief in Budget 2026 \u2013 Watch on TVNZ+<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Remember \u201csurvive to \u201825\u201d? The unofficial slogan of 2024, where the business community at large hopefully told each other that they just had to get through that one year, and it would be better after. <\/p>\n

Then it became obvious 2025 wasn\u2019t much better, and the quip changed to \u201cwe\u2019ll get a fix in \u201926!\u201d<\/p>\n

Erm. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been told over and over that things will get better \u201csoon\u201d, and like chasing the end of a rainbow, that \u201csoon\u201d just keeps getting further away. <\/p>\n

Budget 2026<\/a> landed a couple of ago, and if you were expecting some cost-of-living relief, something concrete, something you’d actually feel, I think we can agree that it wasn’t there.<\/p>\n

To be fair, they warned us. No lolly scramble, even in an election year. They weren\u2019t kidding.<\/p>\n

Warnings to heed<\/p>\n

There was though, in the economist predictions that accompanied it, some warnings that you shouldn\u2019t be holding out for things to get much better soon. Treasury’s numbers paint a bit of a grim picture on the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Inflation is likely to go up from 2.7% last year, to 4% this year. A huge chunk of that is fuel prices<\/a>, courtesy of the war in the Middle East that has choked global supply. <\/p>\n

The rest is the economy doing what economies do when costs are high and growth is slow.<\/p>\n

There was, at least, an acknowledgement that that situation could keep dragging on, and the Government should plan accordingly. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s now an emergency fund of $450 million set aside to protect government agencies and essential services if the fuel crisis gets worse, itself an acknowledgement that that is increasingly likely.<\/p>\n

Unemployment predicted to peak at 5.5% this year before gradually easing. <\/p>\n

The problem is that a lot of this grim-but-it-could-be-worse analysis is based on Treasury\u2019s rather rosy assumption that the fuel crisis will be short-lived, and the conflict in Iran is resolved. <\/p>\n

Given how unpredictable Trump has been on this so far, that may be an optimistic basis for these forecasts. <\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has been unpredictable with regard to the situation in Iran. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s getting better soon, hey? I feel like we\u2019ve been here before. The finish line has moved again, we\u2019re all tired, and the government has made it clear there\u2019s no umbrellas in the hallway closet to be handed out. <\/p>\n

So if there\u2019s no cost-of-living measures coming, it\u2019s up to us to take shelter from the rain, and not just hope that it\u2019s a sun-shower. <\/p>\n

So. What do you actually do with all of this? We take note of the hope fatigue we\u2019re all feeling, and give it a smack on the head. <\/p>\n

Because when we\u2019re tired and anxious, there\u2019s a real risk of throwing our toys, and making a bad money move. Sell the investments. Raid the KiwiSaver. Do something, anything, to feel less out of control. And that impulse, while completely understandable, can end up hurting your financial future just as much as the rest of what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

So how can we take some power back, and control the things we can control, now that we\u2019ve got the official \u201cyou\u2019re on your own, kid\u201d? <\/p>\n

Well, based on the new predictions of where the country is heading, here\u2019s where I\u2019d focus. <\/p>\n

\"Interest<\/p>\n

Interest rates could be set to rise again this year. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

If you have a mortgage<\/p>\n

The Budget boffins are letting us know the time of falling interest rates are done for now. <\/p>\n

Treasury\u2019s new house price prediction is partly built on that. Back in December they said house prices would probably go up 6-7% over the next year, now they\u2019re predicting a much humbler 3-4%.<\/p>\n

And with inflation heading up, so will interest rates. <\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re coming up to a mortgage refix, and were hoping to hold out for one more drop\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t hold your breath. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth making an appointment with your bank or mortgage adviser, now-ish. <\/p>\n

Brace for more fuel pain<\/p>\n

At the very least, higher fuel costs don\u2019t seem to be going anywhere fast, and they might actually get worse. <\/p>\n

The Government finally biting the bullet to put in place a $450 million contingency fund tells you everything you need to know about their confidence that this resolves quickly. <\/p>\n

Build higher fuel costs into your actual budget now, as a line item, not as a temporary annoyance you’ll adjust for later. Because later might be a while.<\/p>\n

Protect your job<\/p>\n

If unemployment does as predicted, and peaks at 5.5% this year, that means an already tough job market is getting worse before it gets better. <\/p>\n

Stories are everywhere of people who\u2019ve been looking for work for months, and getting no bites. <\/p>\n

\"Now<\/p>\n

Now might not be the best time to advertise your dissatisfaction at work. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

So a solid strategy is making sure you\u2019re putting in extra effort when you clock in, and doing some personal financial prep, just in case the worst happens. <\/p>\n

No need to catastrophise, but do think about building up some emergency savings, and stay across what\u2019s happening in your industry. <\/p>\n

If you find an opportunity to upskill or make yourself extra useful to the boss, it\u2019s probably a good idea to take it. <\/p>\n

For investments and KiwiSaver<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let anxiety push you into action for action\u2019s sake. <\/p>\n

Most of the worst investing decisions happen when people let the headlines push them into reactive mode, and they feel like any action is better than doing nothing. <\/p>\n

Doing nothing can be the hardest strategy of all, but it\u2019s often the best call at times like this. <\/p>\n

Get financial foundations sorted<\/p>\n

Avoiding debt, building up savings, and staying calm, are the strategies that none of us want to hear but all of us need to do more of. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit like the \u201cget more sleep, drink more water, take a walk\u201d health advice. It\u2019s annoying, feels too simple to work, but often has a bigger impact than other, more complicated strategies. <\/p>\n

And certainly, making sure the basics are locked down, are one of the few things we can be doing when it\u2019s been pointed out the storm is going to continue for a bit longer, no government-supplied umbrellas in sight. <\/p>\n

Plan accordingly.<\/p>\n

Adios ‘survive to 2025’, let\u2019s nix the ‘fix for 2026’.<\/p>\n

Maybe just a little ‘pray to heaven for 2027’ \u2013 but then I\u2019m going to just focus on controlling the things that I can. Because Government-sponsored rescue is clearly off the table. <\/p>\n

The information in this article is general in nature and should not be read as personal financial advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OPINION: The Government said it would be no lolly scramble and they weren’t kidding. With another treat-free year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,2114,244,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-451905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-personal-finance","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}