Cooking the Books: Why self-employed workers need a different plan for retirement

James Fuller, chief executive of Hnry.
Each week, BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast tackle a different money problem. Today, it’s how sole traders can still protect their future finances in a tough economic environment. Hosted by Frances Cook.
The sole-trading, self-employed community is one I’m a huge fan of.
About 20 per cent of those who make up New Zealand’s workforce have the courage to go out on their own, taking the risk of flying solo, in the hope of getting the reward of a higher pay packet.
But the financial aspect of it can be tricky and hardly plain sailing, particularly in the current economy.
Tax service Hnry recently surveyed their members and found 44 per cent are feeling uncertain about their retirement prospects.
38 per cent of them say they’ve never put money into KiwiSaver, with many saying there isn’t enough cash to do it.
This is a worry because financial stability is pretty important for keeping that dream of being a sole trader alive, and even just for living a happy, less stressful life.
For the latest podcast, I talked to Hnry CEO and co-founder James Fuller.
For the interview, listen to the podcast here.
• If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you’d like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I’m on Facebook here, Instagram here, and X here.
• Listen to the full interview on the Cooking the Books podcast. You can subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.