Did you tell the doctor the truth when you had your last appointment? What about that niggling twinge? What about those extra drinks you regularly have? Although you might feel guilty and know that you should be more ‘careful’, you don’t really want to share the information with your doctor. But is it really worth…
ACC was created to ensure that if any New Zealander had an accident and needed treatment, or was unable to work, the State would ensure that the treatment was paid for. It was an idealistic scheme and was originally intended to extend to cover illness. In the 40+ years since ACC was created, it has…
When we meet with our new clients, we do an analysis of the amount of insurance that they require. When clients become Membership Fee clients, we check that the level of insurance cover each year is appropriate. However, from time to time, things change in your life (even if you got the correct level of…
The goal of having insurance is to have it work for you when you need it. Unfortunately, sometimes insurance companies don’t pay out on a claim on insurance, and this can give the insurance industry a bad name. As your financial adviser, we work with you to make sure that you declare everything that you…
As your financial planner, our goal is to make sure that you have all the financial solutions in place that will help you achieve your goals. This includes your life, trauma, health and income protection insurance cover. But as part of our job, we want to ensure that you have fire and general insurance (house,…
Independent research conducted for the annual Cigna 360° Wellbeing Score found that of the study comparing 11 countries New Zealanders were not only the chubbiest, but were “wildly off the mark” in estimating how fat they were. “I think it’s normal to be overweight now,” New Zealand Nutrition Foundation dietitian Sarah Hanrahan said. “More than half the population is overweight. You…
In the Financial Advisory industry, the biggest insult that you can receive from one of your peers is to be accused of ‘churning’. Churning generally relates to insurance products, but in recent years, also applies to KiwiSaver. The insult of being a ‘churner’ suggests that you are putting in place an insurance policy for your…
Since the start of February, five people in my life have passed away. Fraser (52) after a long and brave battle with Motor Neuron Disease, Peter (78) had prostate cancer, but his death was sudden and Helen (90 1/2) my role model and mentor on how to age with dignity and elegantly. These were followed…
About every five years, we do an annual project with our Membership Fee clients to make sure that their ‘stuff’ is properly insured. We are not house and contents insurance specialists (but we do refer our clients to a terrific specialist insurance broker.) When we do the project, most of our clients end up increasing…
For many years, we have had a Global Plus credit card that has provided us with travel insurance whenever we travel for leisure. No cover for business travel, no cover after 90 days, but I have read the terms and conditions and been very comfortable with the cover that we have had available. In fact,…
In my opinion, the best personal finance pages produced in New Zealand are in the business section of the Sunday Star Times. It is pretty much the only thing I read in that newspaper, but it is worth purchasing just for these articles. In particular, Rob Stock produces some thought provoking and valuable articles. I…
Over the years the incentives for buying things on credit cards has increased (but the interest rates that apply if you don’t pay off your balance to nil each month don’t seem to have gone down!) There are now fly buys points, gifts, air points available for each dollar that you spend. Different credit cards…