Each week BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the sea of red in your KiwiSaver, and how to work out if yours is as bad as it looks. Hosted by Frances Cook.

If you've looked at your KiwiSaver, or any investments lately, you've probably winced and wondered if you're doing something wrong. 

For about 13 years now we've been in a bull market, which means values have been going up, and we've all got pretty used to the money game being a fairly easy one. 

That's all starting to change, and there's increasing talk of bear markets and recession.

That means that as KiwiSaver statements land in your mailbox or inbox around this time of year, it might make for unpleasant reading. 

That's if you read it at all – the latest stats are that 22% of us read it thoroughly, 54% of us skim it, and the rest of us really just don't bother. 

But there's a wealth of info in there, even when things are a bit gloomy as they are at the moment. 

So, here's how to smarten up your KiwiSaver game.

For the latest podcast I talked to Tim Murphy from Morningstar, and Tammy Peyper from the Financial Markets Authority. 

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, Instagram, and Twitter.

Listen to the full interview on the Cooking the Books podcast. You can subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.