With the launch of KiwiSaver in 2007, Gareth Morgan managed to get a lot of publicity criticising the unit pricing method of the fund managers in New Zealand. He created a range of scenarios and information that led to doubt about the veracity of this technique. While the publicity created a large following for Gareth…
It is rare that the media covers ‘good news’ stories about the effects of insurance. This article tells the story of a young lady who was crippled on an overseas trip (from a simple accident – falling through a deck/rotten board) and how her travel insurance worked for her. It is sad that she is…
Yes, insurance advisers/specialists generally get paid by commission. Isn’t that dodgy? No. Why get paid by commission? Life insurance, trauma insurance, income protection insurance, health insurance is insurance that most people know that they need, but don’t really want to think about. It means thinking about bad things. Thinking about dying. Thinking about getting cancer,…
Arrgghh – an insurance salesperson!!! If I am at a party and don’t feel like talking to someone, I tell them I sell insurance. It is funny how often that is all I have to say to get rid of them. Having received payments from four different kinds of insurance (life, trauma, income protection and…
There are a number of health insurers in New Zealand and they work in different ways. Most people these days are after health insurance cover that covers them for the costs of major hospital costs and specialists costs. Many people have Southern Cross insurance in place – that they have put in place through their…
Health insurance is a funny thing. We are often approached by people who only want to know about health insurance, so that when they are faced with medical bills, they can go to the insurer to get those bills covered. Its a funny thing, because we regularly find that people want health insurance – but…
With all the changes in the KiwiSaver space in recent months (Tower to Fisher, Gareth Morgan to KiwiBank), the change to minimum employer and employer contributions to 3%, and the impending politically important Mighty River Power float, it appears that getting systems in place to provide enhanced reporting is one step too far. We look…
This article by Rob Stock from Sunday Star Time, it is important to be aware of the things that are happening with your KiwiSaver. KiwiSavers in the dark as banks spread risk Bank KiwiSaver schemes are making a poor fist of telling savers where their cash is invested. KiwiSaver schemes hold a lot of cash, with…
This year from June (2013), houseowners will need to pay special attention to the insurance renewal notices for their house insurance cover. For a long time, New Zealanders have had ‘replacement house insurance’. This means that we tell the insurance company the size of our house, and what it is constructed from, and the insurer…
Banking turmoil is set to be a feature of our global financial system for a while yet. After the Global Financial Crisis started (in NZ it started in 2007) – there were discussions about whether this would be a single dip or double dip economic event. However, the repercussions of the financial management of banking…
With the increase in the minimum contribution for KiwiSaver to 3% on 1st April 2013, not all KiwiSavers will feel that they can afford these additional savings. If you have been in KiwiSaver for 12 months, you can take a contribution holiday. This means that you stop your contributions for a specified period of time. …
KiwiSaver contributions change from 1st April 2013. These changes affect BOTH the Employee contributions AND the Employer contributions. Minimum Employee contributions are increasing to 3% This doesn’t affect everyone, but it does affect you if you are currently making the minimum KiwiSaver contribution of 2%. When KiwiSaver was launched in July 2007, the minimum employee…