ANZ has proposed selling their OnePath medical business to nib. If the sale proceeds, nib will be the insurer of all current medical policies and will honour all medical policy holders’ terms and conditions, including any pre-existing medical conditions currently covered by OnePath. In fact, nib is planning to enhance the current policies to give clients even better coverage.
If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call.
Regan Thomas
WealthDesign – a life well planned
Money makes the world go around! Today, money has never been cheaper – for example BNZ have announced their lowest two year fixed rate ever recently, of 4.39%. Awesome! But before you rush out to go borrow some, there is a trick. You need to understand the difference between good and bad debt.
Bad debt is money borrowed on depreciating assets. It is debt paid out of tax paid dollars. And the very worst bad debt is money borrowed to spend on consumption (I can feel some people’s hearts sink!).
Good debt is tax deductible debt used to buy appreciating assets and with historically low interest rates, you can borrow money to make money.
An example of bad debt we often see is property investors with personal debt on their homes and free hold rental properties. A little smart planning could save these people heaps on their taxes. With a little planning we can transform bad debt into good debt.
We often see people who could increase their monthly mortgage payments by as little as $20 a week and save thousands of dollars in interest over the term of the loan.
If you have debt and you need to discuss how you can save money or plan smarter, give WealthDesign a call.
A little time invested today could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
John Barber
WealthDesign – a life well planned
Yes, that’s what some people revealed in a recent survey conducted about attitudes and aspirations of people in their 20s and 30s when it comes to buying insurance. Still more people thought cleaning out their fridge was going to be more fun than thinking about insurance.
True, it’s not as exciting as planning a holiday, getting a new phone or buying a better car – but if you spoke to people who have lived through a personal disaster, without the benefit of an insurance payout, I bet they would tell you that it’s vital to plan for the worst!
Many people (about two thirds of the people in the survey) either don’t take advice at all, or turn to the internet, or friends, or family before they purchase insurance. Often people think parent’s opinions are considered boring, predictable and old fashioned – go figure! Either way, the majority of advice sought is from people who have limited knowledge and experience, meaning the advice is poor, at best.
The remainder of the people surveyed have or choose to use an adviser. These people make the smart choice which means at claim time, odds are they’ll be covered – which is what insurance is all about. Plus, they’ve got the support of a real live person (as opposed to an 0800 number), who knows how to get the best outcome for them, as that’s their expertise.
Cheap and fast insurance solutions are not always the best. And if you’re paying anything for insurance, don’t you think it’s best to ensure you get the most bang for your buck? The thought of paying your premium for years to find at claim time that it was for nothing, surely would a bitter pill to swallow, more so than eating any live bug!
WealthDesign insurance advice. Comprehensive, affordable and, we don’t bite.
Regan Thomas
A bankrupt’s KiwiSaver are off limits to creditors according to a recent Court of Appeal ruling.
This was tested in court recently when an official assignee tried to access two bankrupted KiwiSaver investor’s funds. The official assignee argued that the funds should be available under financial hardship but the Court of Appeal disagreed.
The key message of this ruling is that regular payments into KiwiSaver are protected for the intended purpose and are safe from creditors. This is a very important point as investor’s KiwiSaver balances start to become significant.
KiwiSaver is a really simple process, however, there is some important information that could significantly influence how successful your KiwiSaver is, which we know about and are keen to ensure you know too! Planning prior to life’s events can make a big difference to your experience of life. If you want to discuss the nitty gritty around KiwiSaver, give us a call.
John Barber
Recently I read an article quoting dairy farm sale prices have fallen by 12.1% over the past 12 months. In my opinion, I think expectation of falling land values are over estimated.
I think we are going to see a recovery in dairy prices. The total New Zealand dairy supply is equal to the annual production variance in the US dairy production alone. We are also already seeing production fall in Europe as it is unaffordable for them to produce at these prices. I had a report that showed 25% of European dairy farmers would stop milking cows before the end of the year. We are also seeing New Zealand farmers kill any animal that they don’t see as viable (based on constitution – things like bad udders or lower than acceptable production). Dairy farmers are also taking advantage of high beef prices and reducing stocking numbers. All of this will flow into lower Fonterra volumes – you watch the news in about three months time as analysts work this out.
Interest rates along with how farmers think, will also hold up land prices. There are 70% of dairy farmers with strong balance sheets and money is cheap, so don’t expect all farms to fall in value. This assumption that land values will fall is based on the belief that farmers act in a logical, commercial way – they don’t. History shows that if the neighbouring farm comes up, farmers will do their very best to buy it. We know things are tight for our dairy farming friends and they have worked flat out over calving. You can be sure they often have a long term view of things, and they know this is just a season, and tough times come and go.
There are lots of positives out there but as usual, the press come out six months late and try and tell us how bad the world is.
Avoid the noise and look at the long term. Producing food is a vital industry and New Zealand is great at it.
If you are an investor, you need to be considering how you have exposure to this amazing part of the New Zealand economy.
John Barber