The insurance council has blamed rising regulation and increased costs driven by the Canterbury earthquakes for a 60 per cent jump in insurance.

An unemployed man who went to bed with 90p in his bank account claims he woke up the next morning to discover he was £1.2 million (NZ$2.1m) overdrawn.

COMMENT: Many people seem to freeze like a possum in the headlights at the idea of reading their insurance policy.

COMMENT: Laddering means you'll always have some cash available.

A growing number of Kiwis are earning six figure salaries and struggling to pay off debt and get ahead.

The tax department has shut down its online payment service, contact centre and front of house service, causing problems for people.

The amount of money invested in KiwiSaver has topped $36 billion despite a turbulent end to the year for markets.

Retirement giant Metlifecare has been hit by leaky building issues at four villages, and some elderly residents have had to leave their homes.

Auckland and Hamilton house values are not only rising more slowly, but they are now dropping in some parts of the city.

Pressure on employers to boost workers' wages is not going to be enough to cover the rising cost of mortgage rates, warns an economist.

The collective value of the two homes soared $550,000 in less than a week.

Kiwis are putting more on their credit card than ever before, raising concerns about how quickly that debt will be paid back.

It's a radical transformation: from protected heritage ex-Auckland Council's headquarters into new apartments. The first visuals

Music streaming service Spotify has increased its prices by $2 a month due to a New Zealand tax introduced last year.

Fixing a mortgage will cost you more this year than it did last year.

Billionaire New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel has been reported to be President Trump's potential ambassador to Germany.

The IRD recently released information regarding income distributions of NZ individual taxpayers from 2007 to 2015 which makes interesting reading.

An Auckland businessman jailed for failing to pay his taxes knew his obligations, says IRD.

Spontaneous purchases and splurging on avoidable items such as booze and cigarettes are hindering household budgets.

Wealthy Americans are preparing for a potential doomsday by buying property in New Zealand.

Unusual feature of new $15m heritage apartment project revealed

Breaking his campaign promise, Donald Trump will not be releasing his tax returns - so WikiLeaks said they will instead.

KiwiSavers could be missing out on higher returns because of the tax impact of their providers' offshore structures.

Auckland's worsening housing affordability could be eased by freeing up more development land, one business leader says.

Auckland has gone from the world's fifth least affordable city to its fourth, now behind Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver as the least accessible housing market.

COMMENT: Kiwis love a good freebie. In the cut-through world of credit cards banks fight hard to grab our attention with juicy perks.

Giapo, Auckland's radical icecream business, is on the move.

Peter Alexander, chief executive of NZX listed landlord Stride Property, is optimistic about the upcoming general election.

COMMENT: We all like to think that when our children grow up they will have a better standard of living than us.

Connal Townsend, Property Council chief executive, gives his take on the year ahead.