Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to weigh up whether you need to drain your KiwiSaver to survive Covid-19. Hosted by Frances Cook.

There’s been a lot of chat lately about KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals.

It’s easy to see why. Many of us don’t have savings easily to hand – a stat I talked about in a previous episode is that 58 per cent of New Zealanders have less than $500 in savings.

Then you look at your KiwiSaver, which could have tens of thousands in it by now. With troubled times approaching, you might want it closer to hand.

The problem is, if you take that money out before you need it you could be seriously hurting your future self.

Because of compound interest, whatever you take now would have been worth a lot more by the time you retire. You're taking a bigger slice than it feels like you're taking.

But it’s still better to tap into your KiwiSaver than to go under.

For the latest Cooking the Books, I talked to authorised financial advisor and National Capital director Clive Fernandes.

We discussed whether it should be easier to make a hardship withdrawal, the impact it can have on your future, and how to weigh up your current needs versus your future ones.

If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook