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Photo: Sigmund / Unsplash Chocolate prices could be set to rise further as the cost of cocoa keeps pressure on. Stats NZ said this week that chocolate blocks were part of the reason that grocery food prices were up 2.4 percent in the year. Consumer prices manager James Mitchell said the average price of a 250g block of chocolate was up 20 percent over the year. The average price of a block had risen from $3.27 in mid-2006 to $5.56 in August. Foodstuffs said customers were still buying chocolate, but at a lower volume. "Our retail pricing for chocolate is driven by the market and wholesale pricing from our suppliers. In the last year, global commodity costs for cocoa were up by more than 170 percent, driven by global supply shortages, which impacts the cost that suppliers are charging us ...

RNZ's money correspondent Susan Edmunds. Photo: RNZ Send your money questions to susan.edmunds@rnz.co.nz. I fixed my home loan earlier this year, for three years at what looked at the time like a good rate. Now that rates are dropping, I'm regretting my decision. Should I break my fixed term to refix? If you decide to break your fixed term, you will usually pay a break fee. This can vary, but is based on what term you signed up for, the rate that you agreed to pay, and what rate the bank could lend the money to another borrower for now. The further rates fall from the rate you fixed at, the larger your break fee is likely to be. Sometimes, people decide it is not worth trying to break and refix because the break fee can sometimes be about as much as the interest you might save. If you f...

Ranjna Patel and her husband broke with convention as they built a large, successful healthcare network. What they did with the millions they made broke the mould, too. A roof over your head, food on the table, and a car to get around is multimillionaire Ranjna Patel's definition of wealth. "It becomes ridiculous if you have more. You've got to know when you've got enough." Patel and her doctor husband Kantilal could certainly afford a lot more. The couple founded Tāmaki Health, starting with a single clinic in Ōtara in 1977, building it into the largest independent primary health care provider in the country. Patel has collected a host of business awards and accolades along the way. The Patels sold their last remaining stake in the business in 2022, leaving them to focus on their communit...