NZ Wealth & Risk - money for thoughtful Kiwis
Consumer NZ is paving a road to hell with good intentions with the way it talks about personal insurance, and especially personal insurance advice. I’m a big fan of Consumer NZ. I pay for membership to access its research and to support its mission.I’ve benefited from Consumer’s guidance when purchasing big ...
Lots of people reassess their insurance arrangements after repaying their mortgage. That’s fair enough. It’s a significant financial milestone. A lot of people also associate insurance with debt — it’s common for people to arrange insurance around the same time they take out mortgages (and it’s often the same people ...
Sometimes I chat with people who are thinking of cancelling, or substantially reducing, their personal insurances as a result of short-term cash flow pressures. Most of the time, when people are prompted to cancel or reduce their insurances, I try to get them to reconsider, or to s-l-o-w the decision ...
Being a parent is a huge responsibility.We want the best for our children. When they leave the nest, most of us want to have some comfort knowing that they’re well-equipped to be happy, independent, productive people.Part of this picture is being able to make sound financial decisions.As a result there ...
When it comes to insurance, it can be easy to think in binary, black-or-white terms. You either have it or you don’t have it. When I ask people if about their income protection insurance arrangements, they often answer as if it’s a “yes” or “no” question. But there’s a big ...
(Technically, this article should be titled “How WE money” because everything I do, I do it with my wife.) One of the things I pride myself on is providing financial advice that follows the “family and friends” rule. This means that I provide the same advice to my clients that ...
This week I gave a 30-minute presentation to a group of engineers. I talked about investing and insurance, while emphasising the importance of making financial and lifestyle decisions that are in line with YOUR circumstances, needs, and objectives. If you’re in the Christchurch area and have a group who would ...
You’ll never have the “right” amount of insurance, and that’s because we’re dealing with uncertainty. Working out how much insurance you need is hard. You can only tell whether you need insurance with the benefit of hindsight – or a crystal ball. For most people, the most likely – and ...
If you know anything about me – from meeting me personally, reading this blog, or understanding how my business works – you’ll know that I’m very sensitive to conflicts of interest. I encourage businesses to use remuneration and incentive structures that make sure their interests are aligned with the interests ...
Health insurers don’t provide advisers, let alone consumers, enough information to make rational health insurance decisions. This is my opinion. Let me explain. Last month I attended a professional development event which included presentations from several health insurance representatives. All up, it was a great event. Personally, I find these ...
Every so often, I stumble upon an insurance adviser who waxes lyrical on trauma insurance, otherwise known as critical illness insurance. They get really passionate about it. It seems to go beyond salesmanship – they believe in trauma insurance, at a deep and fundamental level. There’s something religious about it. In person, it’s very ...
Every so often, you’ll read about Kiwis being “under-insured”. Of course you’ll read about this, because the only people who care enough about insurance to create and publicise reports of this nature are insurers and insurance advisers who think people need more insurance. It’s absolutely true that many Kiwis are ...
Insurance is a great tool for managing risk. It’s not for everyone, and it doesn’t cover all risks. But it’s a great tool for most people. Life insurance can protect your loved ones from financial harm if you die suddenly and unexpectedly. Income protection insurance can help if you’re ...
Note: I am NOT advocating for my own services here. I don’t recommend specific insurance products, help with applying for insurance and the underwriting process, or assist at time of claim. I refer clients to people for this process (and don’t receive anything for doing so). If you need ...
I’ve mothballed this article for the time being, until I have time to update it. If you want to be notified when this article is updated (while also getting access to lots of other free, interesting, and useful resources), sign up to the NZ Wealth & Risk mailing list. ...