Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the common myths about KiwiSaver, and the truth behind them. Hosted by Frances Cook.

If you don't do anything else for your financial future, sort out your KiwiSaver.

OK, it's not quite as simple as that, but it's close.

KiwiSaver has got so many goodies attached to it, including free money, and help for getting your first home.


But you do have to put in just 10 minutes of effort to make sure you're getting all the money you're entitled to.

I encourage people to send me their money questions so that I can answer them on this podcast. One that comes up over and over again is KiwiSaver.

Will the Government somehow steal your money? What on earth is the difference between all the different funds? And does it matter anyway, if you've signed up then you're sorted, right?

On that last point, signing up is only the beginning, otherwise you could be missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in free cash.

But luckily, figuring things out is actually pretty simple.

I talked to David Boyle from the Commission for Financial Capability for the latest Cooking the Books podcast.

We talked about all sorts of things, including what KiwiSaver actually is, what happens if you die or get divorced, how to pick a fund, and how to use it for a first home.

For the episode, listen to the podcast.

If you have any questions about this episode, or something else for a future episode, come and talk to me about it. You can find me on Facebook here, Instagram here, and Twitter here.

Don't forget to subcribe to the Cooking the Books podcast on the Apple podcasts app, or I Heart Radio.