WealthDesign

There are many things in life that you can DIY – and many that you cannot, or at least, really shouldn’t.  Wills fall into the second category.

You can easily go and buy a DIY Will Kit from the post office or a news agent, but unless you are an expert in Wills yourself, that’s where the ease stops. 

1. At best, a DIY Will Kit is only good for a “simple Will”. What that really means is a simple family situation, where you are a couple or single person with only a few beneficiaries and you all live in absolute harmony. Or you only have a limited number of possessions such as some household goods and a few bank accounts. So if you were able to time-warp yourself back to the 1950’s, you might be okay. But the moment you have more than this, such as superannuation – and these days that’s everybody, then the Will Kit won’t cut it!
2. Families will have no way of really knowing if the DIY Will is suitable, because there is no advice. Sure, there may be lots of information provided with the kit, but how do you apply it? And how do you even know if it is correct?
3. Also how good is the kit in the first place? You can be guaranteed that it has not been prepared by an “expert” (even if it says so on the packaging) – because a real expert would never let anyone do their own Will!
4. Even if you managed to put a “proper” Will together, there is the big issue of getting it signed correctly without legal assistance. The Courts are littered with cases of DIY Wills that were not signed correctly and the resulting problems of beneficiaries fighting for control of the estate.
5. Finally, at the end of the day you have to acknowledge that “you don’t know what you don’t know”. Without the help of a properly qualified and experienced lawyer, you may not realise the issues that you are missing in your “simple” family situation. For example, how do you deal with non-estate assets such as superannuation or assets held jointly (especially your own home) or a family trust? Or children/other beneficiaries with special needs, or who are still young when you die? Or families with second spouses and children of previous relationships – there are so many unique situations we live in.

Get an expert to help you. Don’t be tempted to save a few dollars now with a DIY Will Kit, because you may end up risking your entire estate later – and at a time when your family can least afford it! If you want to be referred to a lawyer, just give us a call and we can point you in the right direction.

John Barber

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The Fire Service Commission was recently challenged by Vero and the Insurance Brokers Association over the methods for calculating Fire Service Levies, which they claim were outdated and unfair.  The insurance industry had devised schemes for minimising the levies, which were previously found by the High Court and the Court of Appeal to be legal.  So the Fire Service Commission appealed again to the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court overturned those decisions, and the result will be more money flowing from insurance policy holders to the Fire Service.

The court has acknowledged the ‘free rider’ problem, without doing anything to help.  “Failure to insure against fire did not change the availability of the fire service in the event that the property caught fire,” the Court said.  In other words, not having insurance, and therefore not paying the fire service, doesn’t mean they won’t turn up to put it out.

It obviously has to be this way, as personal safety is non-negotiable.  We are lucky in New Zealand to have a well-trained and highly capable fire service.  They do a fantastic job, despite having limited resources.  Personally, I have long thought Fire Service Levies should be paid by every property owner, perhaps as part of local body rates – but that’s for another discussion.

While those who choose not to insure property avoid paying their fair share of Fire Service Levies, they also miss out on all the benefits of having their property insured.  Part of our work is to help our clients ensure they have appropriate and effective insurance for their assets.  Our clients choose WealthDesign as their preferred insurance broker, because we work with them to select only the cover that is really needed, and with wise use of excess options, we help make sure premiums are affordable. 

For a competitive general insurance quote along with sensible, local, personalised advice, call us.

Regan Thomas

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Currently the average length of time from a first referral with a doctor, to surgery is:

Private   52 days
Public   151 days

The public health system is good with acute services (like heart attacks), complex children’s services, long term chronic conditions and intensive specialist services.  However it’s not so good with elective surgery, and it has limited treatment options, which are not always provided by specialists.  It’s also called public health for a reason – patients have to deal with a lack of privacy.

Statistics show that treatments are becoming more complex.  Cardiac treatment for example, is moving to less invasive treatments, but with this comes more technology – and a bigger price tag. 

The only way to guarantee one has an option, is to pay for private health insurance. 

John Barber

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Each year, the government will contribute 50 cents for every dollar you save in your KiwiSaver, with the maximum contribution being $521. To get the full amount of $521 you need to have contributed $1,043 in the twelve months prior to the cut-off date of mid June.

Even if you haven’t contributed the minimum of $1,043 up to this point, you can add a lump sum prior to the cut-off date to take you over the threshold – this will give you the full contribution of $521.

It may not seem like much, but it’s what being a ‘kiwi’ who is saving is all about!  For example a  24 year old in KiwiSaver,  who is over the threshold of $1,043 yearly (and therefore receiving the full $521 contribution), could end up with as much as $50,000 more in their retirement fund, when they reach 65. 

Be the optimal ‘kiwi’ saver by giving us a call.  We’ll help you to save smart – easily and relatively painlessly.

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In the year to March 2015 health insurance claims payments across the industry topped $1,000,000,000 for the first time.  The annual dollar value of claims has effectively doubled over the last decade.

Sure, the person with insurance gets a nicer room to stay in, and avoids treatment delays.  But every time someone claims on a policy, they take themselves off a waiting list, which means someone else who hasn’t paid for health insurance gets the bed.

Government superannuation is already costing about $12,000,000,000 a year and growing – it was ‘only’ $8,000,000,000 in 2010.  Health spending is about $15,000,000,000, and also growing. 

Tax breaks for health premiums have been and will continue to be on the agenda for some time.  29% of New Zealanders have health insurance, and what is clear is they, and their claims, are making a significant and increasing contribution to overall funding of healthcare in New Zealand.

Our population is ageing, and superannuation and healthcare are going to become two major topics of debate over the coming decade (watch this space prior to the next election).  Without the significant net migration over recent years, our workforce (people who pay tax) would already be shrinking, as the baby boomers retire.

Full details have just been published here:

http://www.healthfunds.org.nz/pdf/March%202015%20stats.pdf

Regan Thomas

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