Avoiding Disaster with House Insurance Over the next year, a major change will occur for most people in how their homes are insured. As a result of the Christchurch earthquake and other disasters around the world, reinsurers are now seeking to quantify and limit the risks they face by insisting that home insurance policies are based on a maximum specified amount, called a sum insured, rather than an unspecified replacemen...

How to be Financially Secure Achieving financial security is an aim that most people aspire to. Worrying about money causes stress, loss of enjoyment of life, and is often linked to relationship problems. It goes without saying then, that being financially secure can make you happier. The definition of financial security is a very personal thing and depends to some degree on what you consider to be a minimum standard of l...

Frugality is Not the Key to Riches One of the greatest myths of wealth creation is that being as frugal as possible is the key to riches and a happy life. There are countless articles written about how to save money and become wealthy by recycling materials, making your own household cleaners, growing your own vegetables, upcycling furniture and so on. While all these activities are very meritorious and may indeed save yo...

The Flight from Bonds As every seasoned investor knows, the four major classes of investment assets are cash, fixed interest, property and shares. In a fully diversified investment portfolio, cash and property usually count for a much lesser proportion than fixed interest and shares. Fixed interest investments, such as term deposits, directly held bonds or bond funds, provide stability and income to a portfolio, while sha...

How to Cut the Cost of Your ACC Premiums Self employed people are burdened with heavy expenses to comply with Government requirements and one of these is the cost of ACC cover. For tradespeople in particular, who have a high risk of injury, the cost can be significant. Many self employed people are unaware they may be eligible for ACC Cover Plus Extra, a product designed to suit the needs of self employed people. With sta...

Have Your Say on Retirement Income Policy Baby boomers should by now be well aware that as they move towards and through retirement, they will place huge pressure on NZ Superannuation. Every three years, the Commission for Financial Literacy is charged with reviewing retirement income policies. Now is your chance to have a say on how things might be for your future. When pensions were introduced in 1898 they were set at ...

How Safe Are Your Bank Deposits? Events in Europe have caused many investors to question the safety of their bank deposits due to fears of a global collapse of banking systems. In fact, the New Zealand banking system has continued to perform strongly despite the challenging international environment. There are 22 registered banks in New Zealand, of which around 16 offer retail banking services. All banks carry a credit ra...

How To Plan Your Investment Portfolio Whether you have a small KiwiSaver balance or a huge fortune, it is important to plan your investment portfolio so as to get the right balance between risk and return. Low risk generally means low returns and, conversely, high returns usually imply high risk. Being too conservative with your investment portfolio can lead to disappointing returns, while being too aggressive may result ...

Retiring Early It wasn’t so long ago that most people had an expectation of retiring completely from the work force the day they became eligible for NZ Superannuation. These days, more people are choosing to reduce their hours rather than stop working altogether, sometimes starting this process well before official retirement age. While many dream of retiring completely at an early age, only a few are able to make this ...

KiwiSaver Checkup Around two million Kiwis now have just over $14billion invested in KiwiSaver. No doubt much of that amount is money that would otherwise have been spent. As their fund balances increase, many KiwiSavers are learning that small amounts of saving made on a regular basis over a long time soon build up into a tidy sum. On 1 April, there will be another opportunity to learn, as the minimum KiwiSaver contribut...