It turns out we ask some basic financial questions on Google. Photo / 123RF
It turns out we ask some basic financial questions on Google. Photo / 123RF
Opinion by Diana Clement
Diana Clement is a freelance journalist who has written a column for the Herald since 2004. Before that, she was personal finance editor for the Sunday Business (now The Business) newspaper in London.
What do we search for on Google when it comes to money? I've been analysing the Google Trends results for personal finance topics, and the answer is that we ask some reasonably basic questions.
Many of the searches are because we're lazy. On my phone it's quicker to type "AMI"and press enter, than add the ".co.nz".
The questions also vary according to timeframe. Over the past 12 months, searches such as "GameStop share price" are incredibly popular. Limit the search from August 17, when we were plunged into lockdown, and suddenly "Covid wage subsidy nz" jumps from nowhere in the top 25 to fourth place.
It's also possible to drill down into regions. For example, the people of Nelson ask questions related to KiwiSaver more than the rest of us in New Zealand. The West Coast is the most interested in insurance, and Gisborne folks are the most interested in loans. Every region has a big interest in Bitcoin/cryptocurrency, except Gisborne, where it doesn't register.
The Google team in New Zealand gave me the top 10 questions asked by New Zealanders in the areas of credit cards, cryptocurrency, KiwiSaver, loans and insurance.
The most interesting of the questions we've googled in this category was "what is a balance transfer credit card"? If you transfer your balance to another bank, you'll often get six months or a year interest-free, which gives you time to pay down debt. Hopefully.
Cryptocurrency
No matter what the timeframe, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-type questions rank highly in the finance category. In the past year we searched "Bitcoin" more than "loans", "mortgages", "KiwiSaver", "investing" and "credit cards". That bothered me because too many people think investing in cryptocurrency is a sure-fire way to get rich quick. Three of the top 10 questions related to "how to mine bitcoin". No room for that here, but it's an interesting question for readers to google. If you want an idiot's introduction to cryptocurrency, visit my article from October 2.
To all of you people who are Googling "KiwiSaver opt out". Don't. Just don't. Photo / 123RF
KiwiSaver
Most of the KiwiSaver questions on Google are people looking for providers' websites. The top question is "how to withdraw Kiwisaver". Often that's for significant financial hardship. The other two ways to withdraw are for a first home or retirement. To all of you people who are googling "KiwiSaver opt out". Don't. Just don't. Small, regular, investments into KiwiSaver over your life will make retirement a lot more comfortable. As for: "what happens to your Kiwisaver when you die", it goes to your estate/beneficiaries.
Loans
Mostly we ask fairly straightforward questions such as "how much can I borrow" and "how to apply for a student loan". As a nation we google "bad credit loans" more than we do "home loans". Google offers the option to ask for rising search terms and I noticed that interest in Good Shepherd Loans, a charitable, ethical lender, was on the rise, which was better than searches for payday lenders.
Insurance
No one likes paying for insurance, but it can protect us from financial disaster. I was interested to see that four of the top 10 questions were presumably from self-employed people or business owners asking about public liability, professional indemnity and commercial insurance. "How much is pet insurance NZ" came in at number 8. The pet insurance one was interesting because a number of pet insurance providers were also searched for. It's really very difficult indeed to compare pet insurances. But it's a good idea to have it if you can't afford to pay thousands of dollars at a time for sometimes relatively small afflictions.
