WealthDesign

Well done everyone – Sunday December 25th is in sight! The frenetic pace of life is soon to be replaced with chill time, relaxation and doing what takes our fancy for a while. Whew! 

Here’s a neat little tool that may help you to reflect on what you want to experience and achieve in your life – both in 2017 and beyond. If you’re looking to transform your world, try this bucket list idea. Focusing your mind in a different way, turns your brain into a ‘heat seeking missile,’ and opportunities appear to head you in the direction of life you want to live.

Inspired for life

So we suggest you print it, then find a sunny spot and grab your favourite cuppa/glass of ……., and create your bucket list.

Here’s our chance to wish all of our awesome WealthDesign clients the most amazing Christmas possible. Thank you for choosing WealthDesign to be part of your financial team in 2016. We are privileged to work with you and revel in the opportunity to help you get to where you want to go in life.

May your days be merry and bright! 

WealthDesign
A life well planned

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An ETF or Exchange Traded Fund is like a unit trust but listed on the stock exchange such as the NZX or the ASX.  The great thing is these investment tools are a cheap way to invest into diversified assets without the expensive fees attached to many unit trusts (let alone the performance fees some investment outfits slip in as well).

ETFs can invest into anything from commodity indexes or share market assets to listed property assets.  The ETF assets are directly linked to the underlying assets and don’t have the problem that some listed investment companies have. In some cases listed investment companies can either trade at a premium or discount to their underlying assets. With the structure of ETFs this can’t happen as the under lying asset value and dividends, flow directly to the investor.

I see these funds as a good way to get exposure to assets, that historically, would have required people to use unit trusts (run by big New Zealand institutions) to access . Now investors can access global investments and have the transparency of knowing where their money is invested, and the peace of mind that they can access their cash when they need it.  All of this is backed up by independent research.

Give me a call to learn more.

John Barber
WealthDesign – a life well planned

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In today’s environment of low interest rates and the need to have a substantial deposit to buy a home, young investors are looking to the share market to invest.  We are seeing people coming out of university with a desire to save and are now looking at clever ways to get more than a puny 3.6% on their term deposits. Even worse, that 3.6% is before tax and inflation.

Starting isn’t as hard as one expects and it can be really profitable.  What these young investors are doing is drip feeding into the Australasian share market and mostly buying companies that pay solid dividends.

The first thing an investor needs to do is set up a share broking account with a firm listed on the NZX.  This normally takes a bit of time thanks to the AML/CFT legal requirements. This requires proof of identity and address.

The share purchases can be bought on a direct platform, normally run by a bank or via an adviser.  I’m biased as I am an adviser and I believe advice is important. Why reinvent the wheel and make the same mistakes others have made in the past? 

Once the share trading account is set up, I always recommend a separate bank account for the investments. This creates a paper trail and makes tracking things easy.

Often investors like to have an app on their phone to track their investments. These apps are great but only track the capital movements and don’t report on the dividends, hence can be slightly misleading. There are a number of investment strategies an investor can follow. It can be either looking for growth stocks or sticking to solid dividend producing companies. The strategy can also aim to benefit from currency movements between the New Zealand and Australian dollar. Either way, the shares are held in the investor’s name and the dividends can either be paid out to their bank account or reinvested in additional shares.

There is plenty of information available; probably too much! Who do you trust and what information is to be believed? I’m biased and I always suggest finding someone experienced who will mentor and provide quality (written) advice. Often this won’t even cost, as there are lots of advisers who will happily share their investment experiences; both good and bad.

We now have a number of our clients doing just this and can highly recommend  the process. Investing isn’t only for the old and grey and can be fun and profitable.

If you are interested and would like to have a chat about how this works, give me a call and arrange a time.

John Barber
WealthDesign – a life well planned

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“Mummy’s phone!”  cried the little boy in the stroller… he might have been two years old, but could’ve been younger.  “No Honey, Mummy only has 1% charge left; you can’t have Mummy’s phone.”  He struggled and cried despairingly as he wriggled around, trying courageously to reach his mum’s cell phone as she held it out of his reach, swooping it into her purse – gone, but not forgotten.

I was shopping in Spotlight, looking for inspiration for Santa’s upcoming visit, when I witnessed this unfold before me.  Whoa – screens have taken over the world! And it disturbed me, so much so, that next time I was in front of mine, I googled it. 

It’s been bugging me on and off, as John and I grapple with screens and their importance in our day to day lives.  So just what is it doing to family life and relationships?

So Catherine Steiner-Adair EdD, a really smart lady who’s recently written a book discussing just this issue, was interviewed by the Huffington Post.  She has a thing or two to say on the matter.

Let’s use technology for what it’s intended for, but be super aware that it does need to be managed.  The tendency is for screens to manage us.  This is a new phenomenon which, if we totally ignore, we may do so at the peril of the relationships with those we hold the most dear.  And you just can’t take the time back once it’s gone (spoken by a true empty nester!).

Kristine Barber
WealthDesign – a life well planned

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Kiwis are in love with owning their own piece of paradise. We like to own our own homes. We’re a nation of number eight wire, DIYers, that love to take on a project. Property is also a robust pillar of a smart retirement plan.

Owning your own home teamed with having a healthy KiwiSaver balance, means you will increase the chance of living the life you are planning for, after 65.

The Retirement Commissioner (and everyone else who thinks we should know) is telling us we are going to live longer, plus we’re having smaller families, so we can’t rely on government super to live on, in our old age.

The government recognises this and has put in a pretty good plan to help. You now can access your KiwiSaver balance and get a free grant to help buy your first home.

Yet the Reserve Bank have forced banks to increase the deposits people need to buy their first home. Who does this hurt? Mainly 20 and 30 year olds as they’re in that first home buying space. Who does this protect? Mainly the banks from themselves. Deposit restrictions mean the banks have more fat if a person defaults on a loan lending. Does this help the borrower? Not really, but it’s great for the banks (and their thriving profits).

Silver suits will appear on TV to tell us all what a great thing they are doing on our behalf. Hmm – I must be starting to become a cynic!

Just one of the mixed messages we receive on a daily basis.

Stay current with what’s having an impact on your financial health. Call us. No question is a silly one.

John Barber
WealthDesign – a life well planned

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