Your Pre-Retirement Checklist Retirement is not what it used to be. There are many options for making the transition from full time work to being fully retired, ranging from early retirement to late retirement or a gradual shift through working part-time or choosing a less stressful job. Along with all these choices comes the dilemma of when and how to retire. It can be a nervous time because it is not always easy to get ...

Traps for KiwiSaver Home Buyers One of the best incentives for young people to join KiwiSaver is the ability to withdraw funds for the purchase of a first home. All but $1,000 can be withdrawn providing certain criteria are met. You need to have been a KiwiSaver member for at least three years and you must not have owned property before unless special circumstances apply. A Home Start grant of up to $5000 per person for a...

Living on NZ Super New Zealand is finally catching up with the rest of the world and considering changing the age of eligibility for NZ Superannuation from 65 to 67. However, the four-year process to make this transition doesn’t start for another twenty years. In the interim, the number of pensioners is burgeoning and life expectancy is increasing. When the old age pension was first introduced it was intended to allow ...

What to Expect From Your Financial Adviser Financial service providers are regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Part of the FMA’s role is to educate consumers of financial services and for that reason they have released a checklist of things you can expect from your financial services provider. Providers include financial advisers as well as KiwiSaver providers, fund managers and superannuation schemes. W...

Money Management for Newlyweds Relationships aren’t like they used to be a generation or two ago. The path to a ceremony is a more gradual one, with couples typically living together beforehand and sharing expenses. Women, through both necessity and choice, continue to earn an income after marriage and are confident in managing their own money. The result is that young couples are increasingly managing their financial a...

Choosing When to Spend There is nothing wrong with spending money. In fact money has no value unless it is spent. As they say, you can’t take it with you, so if you don’t spend your money during your lifetime, then someone else (the beneficiaries of your estate) will get the pleasure of spending it. During your working life and retirement, money will come to you on a regular basis unless something bad happens, such as...

Investing for Children Parent and grandparents often want to set aside funds for their young children so they can be used to help further their later education or for some other worthwhile purpose. Here are some useful tips on how to do it in the best possible way. First, consider the investment time frame. When is the earliest point you would wish the child to have access to the funds? If there is at least a five year t...

Hammer Your Financial Commitments It’s hard to save when there is a never-ending stream of bills to pay. One way to get sorted financially is to look closely and what your financial commitments are. Keeping your financial commitments to others well and truly under the hammer means more money for you. Financial commitments are expenses that you have to pay on a defined day and are usually a specific amount. Rent, mortga...

Keep Your Cool in Uncertain Times The world is full of uncertainties. How will Brexit play out? What effect will Trump’s outlandish statements and policies have on the global economy? Where is the New Zealand dollar heading? Will interest rates keep rising? In amongst all these uncertainties and more there is a large bunch of people wondering if their retirement funds are in jeopardy and whether they will be stuck in th...

Taking Care of Your Young Family Becoming a parent is one of life’s most exhilarating experiences and it changes things forever. Along with the joy comes the responsibility of ensuring a safe and nurturing environment for your children and the challenge of guiding them not only to be successful in life on their terms but to be good human beings. Parenting is a serious business. There are responsibilities that come with...