"Do I need to declare that I smoke?" Whether you smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, vape, or use nicotine replacement patches (or chew nicotine gum), you need to declare this to the insurance company ..read more

If you don't have insurance, you'll need a full risk review to understand your current situation. If you currently have cover, then doing a full review should be done every 2-3 years, or whenever there are major 'life changes ..read more

One of the things that savings, loan payments, mortgages, KiwiSaver and the Consumer Price Index have in common is Compound Interest yet most people don't know what it is and how it works. In fact, most people would say what has it got to do with me and why should I even care about compound interest at all? Key Ideas: · What is compound interest and why care? · The formula for compound interest · How compound interest grows over time · The good and bad Read the full article here BolsterRiskManagement.com ..read more

Personal insurance: The policyholder versus the beneficiary. The policyholder can make decisions about the policy, and need to authorise any changes. The beneficiary receives the benefit (for example, the life insurance amount ..read more

Recently we had International Women’s Day and the Financial Services Council of New Zealand (FSC) encouraged businesses to promote and discuss women and money in the finance sector. This is important and relevant but is difficult for me to write about as a man without mansplaining (wow the autocorrect saw that as a real word!) and to really get to the heart of the issues. There is no denying that there are clear discriminations when it comes to women and money and I will discuss these. I actively want to encourage women to have agency over their financial affairs. Read on, let’s see how I do ..read more

I was going to call this article “IP for Dummies”, but figured there might be some trademark issues. It is not something we often think about, but what would you do if you became sick and were unable to work? You may have heard about Income Protection (or ‘IP’) already. You may know that if you are sick and cannot work, this insurance will pay you out each month. This sounds great, but you may have also heard that it is too expensive, not worth it, or is just too boring and hard to understand. As a result, you do nothing. Key Ideas: · What is IP (and what it is not)? · When would you need it ..read more

We often hear the words ‘rising inflation’ and ‘rising interest rates’ but do we really understand these terms and the impacts they can have on us financially? What is inflation anyway and what does it have to do with the price of fish or the price of tomatoes which has received a lot of media attention lately? More importantly, what impact does inflation have on your savings and in turn your retirement nest egg? Surely, it will not impact on your life insurance or does it? Key ideas: What is inflation? And the price of fish and tomatoes? Your savings and their returns Life insurance and infl ..read more

We have all heard about KiwiSaver and despite having over 3 million members it would appear that confusion and lack of understanding of how it works is the most common talking point. By the end of the March 2021 financial year, New Zealanders had invested $81.6 billion dollars into KiwiSaver, with $26,410 being the average amount invested. Not bad going for a scheme which started in 2007. However, given such a large amount of money has been invested into KiwiSaver it is hard to believe that there is still widespread confusion. Key Ideas: What is KiwiSaver? What is the purpose of KiwiSaver? Wh ..read more

Are you using tomorrow’s money today? What happens when tomorrow comes along? Are you spending more than you earn? What if your income stops? If you are spending money today that was meant for tomorrow, then you have a problem. You will at some stage need to catch up. Are you getting the right information? 1. Basic money management concepts 2. Cover against Risk 3. Build your retirement nest egg 4. Build Wealth 5. Get advice Read the article here If you need help - try this <My Disclosure statement can be found here> ..read more

Mortgage protection: What is it? Why should you have it? You have a mortgage; finances are tight because you have stretched yourself so much just to get a foot on the housing ladder. Then you get sick and cannot work for the next 2 years. What happens to your mortgage? Is your new home now at risk of being taken away? You are renting; You’ve tried the property ladder, but right now it is out of reach. Your family relies on your income to keep paying the rent. Then you have an accident and cannot work for the next 5 years while you rehabilitate. What happens to your family’s home? Is it now at ..read more