Just made redundant? The first three money moves.

The 48-hour window matters

Most of the practical work after a redundancy can be done in the first two days while the conversation is fresh and the contact people from your employer are still responsive. Once you've left, getting straight answers about your package, your KiwiSaver and your insurance becomes harder.

If you're reading this in the first 48 hours, the order below works. If you're a week or two in, do them all anyway, just faster.

Move one: get the exact package in writing

Ask your HR contact for a written breakdown of your final pay before you leave the building (figuratively or literally). The breakdown should include:

• Salary/wages owed up to your last day.
• Annual leave (holiday pay) earned but not taken.
• Long-service leave if applicable.
• Statutory redundancy payment if your employment agreement includes one (most don't in NZ, but check).
• Discretionary redundancy compensation if offered.
• Notice period payment if you're being paid in lieu of notice.
• Restricted stock or vesting acceleration if you have it.
• Any outstanding expense reimbursements.

This list is your starting position. You can negotiate against it. You can't negotiate against numbers you don't have. Common things that get missed in the initial offer: outstanding holiday pay (often substantial), a pro-rated bonus for the current year, restricted-stock vesting that would normally have happened in the next 90 days.

The IRD has guidance on the tax treatment of redundancy payments (IRD redundancy payments). Some redundancy compensation is treated as ordinary income, taxed at your marginal rate; some elements may have different treatment. Knowing the tax treatment changes the net number meaningfully.

Move two: contact your mortgage bank before the next payment date

This is the move most people delay because it feels uncomfortable. It is also the move that has the highest leverage in the first 48 hours.

NZ banks have hardship policies that include payment holidays (typically up to 6 months), interest-only conversions, and term extensions. Accessing those options is much easier when you're proactive and your payment record is still perfect. Walking into the bank with "I might miss next month's payment" is a manageable conversation. Walking in three months later with two missed payments and a default notice is a much harder conversation.

Practical steps:

1. Call your mortgage manager or the bank's hardship line. The number is on the bank's website.
2. Tell them what's happened and ask what relief options are available.
3. Get any agreed relief in writing.
4. If you have a broker (us, or anyone), let them know. Banks sometimes negotiate harder when they know a broker is watching.

Most banks will offer one or more of: a 3 to 6 month payment holiday with interest capitalised, a temporary switch to interest-only repayments, or a longer mortgage term to reduce the monthly payment. None of these is free; all of them buy time.

Move three: KiwiSaver and employer-paid insurance

Two quick reviews, both with deadlines.

KiwiSaver contributions

If you were contributing to KiwiSaver as an employee, the employer's portion stops the day employment ends. Your own contributions also pause unless you continue them voluntarily. Two issues to check:

• The Member Tax Credit. The Government's annual contribution to KiwiSaver (currently $521.43 if you contribute $1,042.86 of your own money in the KiwiSaver year ending 30 June) is calculated on what you put in during the year. If your contributions stop mid-year and you don't make voluntary top-ups, you lose part or all of the credit for that year.
• Whether to keep contributing. If you're between jobs and your KiwiSaver balance is meaningful, voluntary contributions can still make sense to capture the Member Tax Credit. If you're going to be without income for an extended period, prioritise cash buffer over KiwiSaver contributions.

Employer-paid insurance

Many employers provide group life insurance, group income protection, and sometimes group health insurance as part of the package. These typically cease on the last day of employment. The implications:

• Life and trauma cover: ceases. If you had no personal cover alongside the employer cover, you are uninsured from the next day. Most employer group policies have a "continuation option" that lets you take out an individual policy without medical underwriting, but the window is short (often 30 to 60 days). Check the policy document.
• Income protection: ceases. Same continuation-option consideration applies.
• Health insurance: typically ceases, though some employers offer to transfer the policy to you at the personal rate. If you've been on the policy for several years and have any pre-existing conditions, taking up the continuation option is usually the right call to preserve the cover without re-underwriting.

What to do with a redundancy payout

This is the move four-through-six conversation, which we have separately. The short version:

• Don't lump-sum into KiwiSaver immediately. Keep the cash accessible until you have a new income and you know the buffer is fine.
• Don't pay down the mortgage immediately. Same reason. Cash you can access is more valuable than equity you can't, during a period of uncertain income.
• Keep 3 to 6 months of expenses in immediately-accessible cash. Online savings account is fine.
• Talk to a tax accountant before the end of the financial year. The tax treatment of the payout can be optimised in some cases by timing or by income spreading.

What we do for redundancy clients

If you call us inside the first week after a redundancy, we typically run a single 60-minute conversation that covers all three moves above plus a 12-month cash flow plan. We then check in monthly until the new income picture is settled. The conversation is no-charge for existing clients; for new clients we'll quote on the work upfront.

The single most important thing in the first week is to slow down before any major financial decision. Redundancy is a real life event. The instinct to "fix it quickly" usually leads to worse decisions than waiting two weeks and thinking it through.