Money stress still a problem for higher-earning households

Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Debbie, her partner and their two kids have about the average household income in New Zealand – near $100,000 on a good year.

They live just outside Dunedin and have a mortgage of about $400 a week. But money is a source of significant stress. 

To get through winter, they've turned off the hot water cylinder, instead relying on the wetback, and have cooked on the fire since May, boiling a kettle for coffees.

They recently decided to upgrade to an electric car to cut down on transport costs - it used to cost $8 every time they had to travel into town. But the transition has been an expensive one.

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'We're paying off [the car] for the cost of the petrol we were putting in our old car, plus the electricity to drive it. We were spending around $75 a week on petrol, going up $1 a week for a while with prices sky-rocketing. With all the care I take with power, our power bill is still over $300 a month, getting up to $340 recently,' she said.

'We struggle to stay in the black. I worked our budget, we need about $64,000 a year after tax to pay our required bills. We have $62,000 after tax, usually. And that's without achieving our dreams. We don't holiday.'

She said her partner had cashed in his holiday in previous years, rather than taking time off.

Research from Perceptive shows many New Zealanders are in a similar position. Even those on higher incomes reported stress about their finances.

The researchers said while those who earned less than $30,000 a year were the most worried, once incomes rose past that level, there was little change.

'High-income homes, over $130,000, aren't any less stressed than other New Zealanders, indicating that having money doesn't necessarily lead to a less stressful life, provided you have a reasonable household income to live from.'

Households earning more than $130,000 ranked their stress about their ability to save at 5.15 out of 10, more than the 5.12 ranking given by those earning between $70,000 and $100,000, and 5.07 for people earning $50,000 to $70,000.

They also worried more about their quality of life than those earning less.

The highest-earning households rated their stress about spending power at 4.75 out of 10, only just behind 4.79 for those earning $50,000 to $70,000.

Financial adviser Liz Koh said it was something she encountered with some of her clients.

Some people could live comfortably on very little, while others struggled on a higher income.

'People who don't have a lot need to manage their money carefully and they do so; they buy clothes at op shops, watch every penny. They're careful about where their money goes, they try not to get into debt. But people who earn significantly more, it's not that they are careless but easy come, easy go. They spend more because next pay day another chunk will come in to replace it.'

She said, the more money there was to manage, the more stressful it was to keep tabs on.

'Every dollar is going off in a different direction. It's like managing sheep. If you have a small flock it's easy to keep them under control but if you have a lot of sheep, they tend to fly off in different directions.'

Budget adviser Maureen Little, of Presbyterian Support Northern, said she often saw people come in for help who were earning a decent income.

Often it was their level of debt that caused problems, she said.

'Some solo parents manage well on what they get but others are paying off a car and haven't thought about the total of all their debt and are left with not enough for food.'

Housing costs were another factor that made a difference to how well people could manage, she said.

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