Frequently Asked Questions

EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is a paid, one-to-one online financial education, coaching and mentoring service. We help you understand where you are financially, untangle what’s happening, build your knowledge, identify your goals, develop a plan and start taking practical steps forward.

It’s about more than information. We want to help you turn “I should really do something about this” into “I’ve got this. I know what I’m doing next.”

No. EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is financial education, coaching and mentoring. It is not currently an EMPIXO regulated financial advice service.

We can help you understand financial concepts, organise your financial picture, explore goals, build knowledge and prepare for future financial decisions. We don’t currently use EMPIXO Mentoring to recommend specific mortgages, KiwiSaver funds, investments or insurance products. When the conversation reaches the point where personalised regulated financial advice is appropriate, we’ll make that distinction clear.

Learn About Mentoring vs Financial Advice →

Because knowing something and actually doing it are two very different things. There is an enormous amount of financial information available online. The challenge can be working out what applies to me, where do I start, what’s actually important, what should I do first, who should I talk to, and how do I keep moving.

That’s where mentoring can help. We help you turn information into understanding, understanding into a plan and a plan into action.

Sometimes you’re simply not Advice-Ready yet. Before paying for specialist advice, it can be valuable to understand your financial position, organise your information, clarify your goals and know what questions you need answered, covering your income, spending, assets, debts, goals, timeframe, and financial knowledge gaps.

Then, when specialist or regulated advice is required, you can enter that conversation better prepared. Get Advice-Ready. Then Act.

No. They’re different services with different purposes. Mentoring can help with education, organisation, planning, financial capability, confidence and accountability. Regulated financial advice becomes relevant when personalised recommendations about particular financial products or advice decisions are required. We believe the two can work very well together.

Absolutely not. You might be experiencing financial difficulty, but you might also have a good income, own a home, run a business, have KiwiSaver or already be building assets. You might simply be thinking “I’m doing okay, but I know I could be doing better.” EMPIXO Mentoring is about helping you improve from your starting point.

A lot. Depending on your situation, mentoring might involve cash flow, saving, debt, emergency funds, income, banking systems, home ownership preparation, understanding borrowing, KiwiSaver education, investment education, property, financial resilience, retirement thinking, family finances, business finances, financial habits, preparing for professional advice, building your professional network, or simply untangling several things at once and deciding what needs attention first.

Yes. In fact, untangling complicated financial situations is a big part of what we do. You don’t need to organise everything before contacting us. We’ll help slow things down, separate the issues and identify what’s urgent, what’s important, what can wait, what you need to understand, and what’s the next move. Clarity before complexity.

Yes, from an education and mentoring perspective. We can help you learn about concepts such as compound growth, risk and return, diversification, volatility, investment timeframes, asset classes, regular investing, long-term wealth building, and how investing broadly works.

What we don’t currently do through EMPIXO Mentoring is recommend that you personally purchase a particular investment or financial product.

We can help you better understand how KiwiSaver works and the concepts around it, for example contributions, investment timeframes, risk, broad fund concepts, compounding, or questions you should be asking. We don’t currently provide personalised EMPIXO regulated advice recommending a particular KiwiSaver provider or fund through Mentoring.

Yes. There’s a lot of preparation that can happen before you need a particular mortgage recommendation, including building savings, understanding your spending, reducing debt, understanding borrowing concepts, thinking about your deposit, getting financially organised, preparing documentation, building good financial habits, understanding terminology, and knowing what questions to ask a mortgage adviser. The goal is to help you become mortgage-ready and Advice-Ready.

Absolutely. Financial progress isn’t only about spending less. We can explore your thinking around income, career progression, skills, business opportunities, side income and other legitimate ways of strengthening your overall financial position. We won’t promise that we can increase your income. But we believe sometimes you need to work on the top line too.

It’s a conversation, not a lecture. We’ll listen, ask questions, help you untangle things and explain concepts. We may share screens and work through numbers, calculators, resources or systems together. We’ll identify practical actions and look for progress. You should leave feeling heard, valued and clearer about what happens next.

That’s one of our goals. We want every meeting to build your financial capability. Compounding, debt, investing, cash flow, growing income, financial risk, a free resource available to you, a new tool, or simply a better way of thinking about a financial problem. Learn Something. Keep Something. Do Something. Win Something.

Not every financial goal can be achieved overnight. Building wealth, buying a home or preparing for retirement can take years. So we look for smaller wins along the way. Finally opening the banking app, setting up an automatic payment, understanding something that’s confused you for years, making an overdue phone call, finding $50 in your weekly budget, starting an emergency fund, getting your debts onto one page, or having a financial conversation with your partner. Small wins create momentum. And momentum compounds.

Maybe, but we prefer to call it action. You might need to make a call, find a document, try a tool, change a system, research something, have a conversation or think about a particular question. The purpose isn’t to give you more work. It’s to keep the plan moving.

No. If you have relevant information available, that’s useful. But don’t put off getting help because your financial world isn’t perfectly organised. You can arrive saying “I don’t know where to start.” We’ll start there.

Once school finishes, the traditional report cards eventually stop. But another kind of report card becomes increasingly important: your Financial Report Card. It’s not about judging you or measuring your worth. It’s about looking at different areas of your financial life (cash flow, debt, emergency savings, income, KiwiSaver, investing, housing, protection and retirement) and identifying what’s going well, what needs attention, and the next opportunity to improve. You don’t need top marks everywhere. We work on improving your financial position one area at a time.

We don’t believe financially successful people need to know everything themselves. Smart people build good teams. Your Tight Five is the trusted network of professionals and people you build around your financial life, potentially including a Financial Mentor, Accountant, Lawyer, Mortgage Adviser, Financial Adviser, Insurance Adviser, Business Mentor, Tax professional, or another specialist. Your team may change over time. The important thing is knowing who’s in your corner and who to call.

Yes. EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is currently delivered one-to-one online. This means we can talk face-to-face, share screens, work through numbers, use calculators and explore resources together without you needing to travel to an office.

Not for EMPIXO Financial Mentoring. Our mentoring service is online and can work with clients internationally, subject to the nature of the service and applicable local requirements. You might be a New Zealander living overseas, an expat, someone preparing to move to New Zealand, someone managing financial commitments across different countries, or simply someone who connects with our practical Kiwi approach to thinking about money. Kiwi roots. Global outlook.

Yes. EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is supplied by a New Zealand business, and GST is charged on our services regardless of where in the world you’re based when you book. The GST-inclusive price shown on our pricing page is what you pay, no matter your location.

Potentially, yes. Moving countries can mean learning an entirely new financial environment. You might want to better understand New Zealand banking, KiwiSaver, everyday money terminology, borrowing concepts, saving, housing and the types of professionals you may eventually need. Mentoring can help you understand the bigger picture, get organised and identify the questions you need answered. Where New Zealand tax, immigration, legal or regulated financial advice is required, you’ll need the appropriate qualified professional.

Learn About EMPIXO Expat Financial Mentoring →

Yes, potentially. Financial Mentoring can be particularly useful when you’re trying to manage your financial life across countries or thinking about eventually returning to New Zealand. Because mentoring is online, you don’t need to be physically sitting in New Zealand to work with EMPIXO.

No. Our global mentoring proposition should not be confused with regulated financial advice in overseas jurisdictions. Tax, law, lending, insurance, investments and financial regulations differ between countries. Where you require regulated or specialist advice in another jurisdiction, you should work with an appropriately qualified professional for that jurisdiction.

Plan is where our financial education, mentoring, coaching, planning and accountability services sit. This is available now.

Act is our developing regulated financial advice capability. The intention is for Act to support eligible clients with New Zealand financial matters in areas such as mortgages and lending, KiwiSaver, investments and insurance, subject to the appropriate licensing, scope and regulatory requirements. Learn → Plan → Act.

Potentially, depending on the financial matter and the applicable requirements. Living overseas doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve stopped having financial interests in New Zealand. You might still have New Zealand property, borrowing, KiwiSaver, investments, insurance or other financial matters back home.

The future EMPIXO Act service will be New Zealand-focused, and whether we can provide advice will depend on the client, product, jurisdiction and applicable regulatory requirements. We won’t position Act as providing regulated advice on overseas financial products or another country’s financial system.

We’ll tell you when we believe your situation has reached the point where mentoring isn’t enough. Until EMPIXO’s own relevant Act services are available, you may need to work with an appropriately qualified third-party adviser or specialist. That’s one of the reasons we encourage clients to build their Tight Five.

EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is a paid service. We offer different options depending on whether you need a single session, a structured mentoring programme or ongoing support. All applicable charges, including GST where required, are clearly shown before payment.

View Pricing →

Yes. Your one free Discovery Chat is a short 10-minute online conversation to understand what you’re looking for, answer questions about EMPIXO and see whether Financial Mentoring could be a good fit. There’s no obligation to continue.

Book Your Free Discovery Chat →

Before the meeting. Paid EMPIXO Mentoring appointments are booked and paid for through our website. You’ll choose your service, choose your time, complete payment, and receive confirmation. Booking + Payment = Confirmed Appointment. Your paid appointment isn’t confirmed until payment has been successfully completed.

We make the total amount payable clear before checkout, including applicable GST. For individual mentoring services, we show GST-inclusive pricing prominently so you can easily see what you’ll actually pay, whether you’re based in New Zealand or overseas.

No. Different people need different levels of support. Some people may need one session. Others may benefit from a structured programme or ongoing mentoring. We’ll discuss what appears appropriate, explain the options and then: you decide.

Yes, subject to our booking and cancellation policy. We understand that life happens. We just ask that you provide the required notice so the appointment can potentially be made available to someone else.

Because mentoring time has been specifically reserved for you, missed appointments and late cancellations may not be refundable. The exact requirements will be set out clearly before you purchase.

If we need to cancel and can’t arrange a suitable alternative time, you’ll be entitled to an appropriate refund for the affected paid service. We’ll do our best to minimise disruption.

We want your first paid EMPIXO Mentoring session to provide genuine value. Something untangled, something learned, something useful to keep, something practical to do, and a small win.

Our promise: if you complete your first paid mentoring session and genuinely don’t believe it provided value, contact us within 48 hours and tell us why. We’ll either put it right at no additional cost, or refund your first-session fee. Your choice. Because we want you working with EMPIXO because you’re getting value, not because you feel locked in.

Our First Session Promise applies to your first eligible mentoring session in accordance with the terms of the guarantee. If you decide after that first session that the programme isn’t right for you, contact us promptly. Any refund of unused sessions will be handled in accordance with the programme terms, First Session Promise and applicable cancellation/refund policy. We want this process to be fair to both you and EMPIXO.

No. EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is designed to help you become more confident and capable managing your own financial life. We can sit alongside you, help untangle what’s happening, explain things, help you build systems, identify actions and support you as you work through them. But you remain in control of your money.

We won’t:

• Take control of your bank accounts
• Hold or manage your money
• Make payments on your behalf
• Ask for your banking passwords, PINs or authentication codes
• Take over the day-to-day management of your finances

Our goal is to build your capability and independence, not create dependency.

EMPIXO Financial Mentoring is a paid, private, one-to-one service. That won’t be the right fit for everyone.

If you’re looking for free, group-based financial capability support, MoneyMates may be worth exploring. MoneyMates is built around sharing and learning together as a group. Facilitators encourage participants to learn from each other, gain greater control over their financial lives and build resilience.

Over a number of sessions, participants may learn about:

• Managing debt
• Budgeting and cash flow
• Understanding financial products
• Safer use of credit
• Growing financial resources
• Choices and financial behaviours
• Learning from others in similar situations
• Building support networks
• Connecting with other financial information and services

MoneyMates is not about having someone take over your finances. It’s about building knowledge, confidence and support through group learning.

MoneyTalks can help you find free financial mentoring and MoneyMates support available in your area.

MoneyTalks: Free Financial Helpline
Call: 0800 345 123
Text: 4029
Email: help@moneytalks.co.nz
Online: Live chat is also available through the MoneyTalks website.

You don’t need to be an EMPIXO client to use MoneyTalks, and there’s no cost.

They serve different needs, and neither is “better” than the other:

Sometimes the right support is private one-to-one mentoring. Sometimes it’s free community support. Sometimes it’s learning alongside others. The important thing is finding the right support for where you are now.

No. Your banking security remains yours. During an online mentoring session, you may choose to use your own computer to look at information relevant to our conversation, but you remain in control of your device and accounts.

EMPIXO will never ask you to provide your internet banking password, PIN or authentication code. If you’re sharing your screen, we may also ask you to stop sharing or hide information where displaying it isn’t necessary.

Your money. Your accounts. Your decisions. Our job is to help you build the knowledge and confidence to manage them.

No, and that’s intentional. A Financial Mentor isn’t there to take over your financial life. We’ll listen, ask questions, educate, challenge your thinking, help you explore options and support you in building a plan. But ultimately, you make the decisions.

We want you to become increasingly confident saying “I understand this,” “I know what questions to ask,” “I know who I need to talk to,” “I know what my next step is,” and eventually “I’ve got this.” That’s what Empowerment means at EMPIXO.

Please don’t put yourself into further financial difficulty to pay for EMPIXO Mentoring. New Zealand has free Financial Mentoring and community services specifically designed to support people experiencing serious financial hardship. Paid private mentoring won’t be the right answer for everyone. If we believe another service is more appropriate for your situation, we’ll say so. Doing the right thing for the client matters more than making a sale.

If you need help right now, with bills, debt collectors, unaffordable repayments, or a financial crisis, please contact MoneyTalks first. It’s New Zealand’s free, confidential financial helpline and can connect you with a local Financial Mentor quickly.

MoneyTalks: Free Financial Helpline
Call: 0800 345 123
Text: 4029
Email: help@moneytalks.co.nz

You don’t need to be an EMPIXO client to use MoneyTalks, and there’s no cost. If you get in touch with EMPIXO first, we’ll point you toward this option straight away if it looks like the better fit for what you need right now.

Financial conversations can involve highly personal information. We take privacy seriously and will explain how information is collected, used and handled.

Read Our Disclosures & Privacy Information →

Please don’t send highly sensitive information through the general contact form. In particular, don’t send internet banking passwords, PINs, authentication codes, credit or debit card details, or other login credentials. If information or documents are required for your mentoring work, we’ll explain what is needed and how it should be provided.

No. We don’t need your internet banking password, PIN or authentication codes to mentor you. Never provide these credentials to EMPIXO or anyone claiming they need them to provide mentoring.