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Still haven't written your will?

Part of our job as Financial Planners, is to ensure that everything is in place to make life simple for the survivors when our clients.  A core part of this is ensuring that our clients have Wills in place, but this is commonly one of the most difficult things to get our clients to do. People don’t like thinking about death, and what will happen if they aren’t here, but having a valid Will in place will ensure that your loved ones will have a much easier time when you aren’t here.  Half...

It is 2017 - where have we come from?

Its amazing to think that we are now 16 full years through the 21st Century. Looking back to the 20th Century, 100 years ago at the start of 1917, the world was in the middle of World War 1 - or the Great War. Although New Zealand allowed women to vote in 1893, women and coloured people were still disenfranchised at the start of 1917. Women got the vote in the USA in 1920, and in the UK in 1928. JFK (John F Kennedy) was born on May 29th 1917. In October of 1917, the Russian Bolshevik Revolution...

Videos and links to assist your understanding of future technological changes.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution – World Economic Forum 3:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko2esJeGsrI&feature=youtu.be   How will the Fourth Industrial Revolution affect economic policy? World Economic Forum – commentary  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/how-will-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-affect-economic-policy/ Magellan Investment Roadshow presentation (November 2016) 1 hour 30 Hamish Douglass http://webcast.viostream.com/?viocast=8016&auth=b67f98bb-8587-4cb0-9e...

Christmas Song [video

  Having spent ages looking for a compilation of funny Christmas movie/video clips, and screwing my nose up at the ad's I had to sit through first, I decided I would treat you all to the acapella rendition of Leonard Cohens Hallelujah by Pentantonix.  (Apologies that you still have to sit through an ad - but thats how they make their money.) By Carey Church ...

Seasons Greetings, and Moneyworks Holiday Hours

Although all the popular media that we receive celebrates the end of the year with winter pictures, snow, reindeer and snowmen - I think we are really lucky that our end of the year brings us summertime.  Hopefully the late spring chills and rainstorms vanish for a couple of weeks and we can all enjoy the end of the year celebrations and some great time off and BBQ's, sun, and leftover ham and turkey. We have had a great year at Moneyworks (despite the stress over the US elections), and would ...

Fisher Funds - KiwiSaver Fees - Cheaper is not always better

By Carmel Fisher, in the New Zealand Herald, Friday 24th November 2016   ...

KiwiSaver Home Start Grants and KiwiSaver contribution requirements.

A valuable feature of KiwiSaver for younger people is how it can assist people to get into their first homes. ...

Bright-line tax rule could sting genuine homebuyers

We noticed this article on Stuff recently.  We don't have any expert knowledge of how accurate this information is, but thought we should share it with our clients, just so that you can be aware, and if the situation might apply to you - check with your legal adviser.  Note - this is talking about when you purchase a property in one name and want to change it into another owner - like a Family Trust. Bright-line tax rule could sting genuine homebuyers ...

One in Five Lie to Their Doctor

Did you tell the doctor the truth when you had your last appointment?  What about that niggling twinge?  What about those extra drinks you regularly have? Although you might feel guilty and know that you should be more ‘careful’, you don’t really want to share the information with your doctor.  But is it really worth the risk? Southern Cross have released the results of a survey taken out in November 2015 uncovering the truth about what people lie about to their Doctors. "Do you smoke...

How would your loved ones create new memories if you died? [Infographic]

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Why do you want your fund manager to ‘eat their own cooking’?

When researching funds managers that we will recommend to our clients, one of the factors that Moneyworks looks at is whether the people managing the fund actually invest their own money into the fund. This is a question that we need to ask the individual fund managers, as there is no disclosure requirement in New Zealand or Australia at present about this issue.  However, in the USA, the SEC requires funds to disclose how much each fund manager invested in his or her fund. ...

ACC – not the complete solution

ACC was created to ensure that if any New Zealander had an accident and needed treatment, or was unable to work, the State would ensure that the treatment was paid for.  It was an idealistic scheme and was originally intended to extend to cover illness. In the 40+ years since ACC was created, it has evolved through changes to legislation and is no longer as clear cut as it was intended. ...

The Five Second Rule

This is for everyone - not just procrastinators. Thanks to Xero for sharing this from their XeroCon. Mel Robbins created the premise for one of the most powerful TED Talks of all time when she couldn’t get out of bed. Mel is a Human Behavior Specialist and entrepreneur, and created the Five-Second Rule while her and her husband were going through a difficult time in their professionals lives. Today, the video of her TED Talk has clocked more than 7,000,000 views. Speaking at Xerocon in San Fr...

Lifetime Retirement Income Financial Solution

During August 2016, we held two seminars, one in Hamilton and one in Cambridge  called 'Practical Retirement Income Solutions'. ...

Take a break - its almost as good as a holiday

I recently read about a study that showed that taking some time out of your dad to relax your mind and 'switch off' can refresh your focus on your work. Here is a great 5 minute - break - and aren't Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire just amazing dancers? When Michael Binder saw the mega viral hit that featured a bunch of dance scenes from popular movies matched up to the incredibly popular song, “Uptown Funk,” he was instantly inspired to do a similar mashup, only he wanted to use dance scenes fr...

KiwiSaver and Ethical Investments

Last week it was brought to the media’s attention that a number of the KiwiSaver Default funds had investments in companies that are blacklisted by the NZ Superannuation Fund.  These can range from firms that make cluster bombs, mines, or that make profits from the sale of tobacco. ...

Karaoke with James Cordern and Adele

James Cordern from the Late Late Show has put together a variety of 'Karaoke' skits where he picks up famous performers and drives them around, while doing Karaoke to their songs.  They are a good distraction when your brain is hurting. I thought of putting up Red Hot Chili Peppers - but thought that his one from Adele might be more universally appreciated. While home in London for the holidays, James Corden picks up his friend Adele for a drive around the city singing some of her classic song...

Special Events Increase Benefits on your life insurance cover

When we meet with our new clients, we do an analysis of the amount of insurance that they require.  When clients become Membership Fee clients, we check that the level of insurance cover each year is appropriate. However, from time to time, things change in your life (even if you got the correct level of insurance cover to start off with) and you need more insurance cover.  In addition, because we don't meet with our non membership fee clients regularly, your insurance might not be keeping up...

Changing rules on UK pension withdrawals in New Zealand

If you have worked in the UK and contributed to a pension scheme, this article may affect you. For New Zealanders who have UK Pensions, the rules around accessing these pensions and bringing them back to New Zealand are getting more and more complicated.  Prior to 2012 it was possible to transfer your UK pension to New Zealand, and depending on the scheme that you were in in the UK and the scheme that you transferred to in New Zealand, it was possible for you to be able to withdraw those funds...

Residential Withholding Tax on offshore persons - could it affect you?

From 1st July 2016 - a new tax relating to residential property will be in force.  This tax (the Residential Land Withholding Tax RLWT) applies to 'overseas investors'.  BUT it is important to note the definition of 'overseas in this legislation - IT COULD APPLY TO YOUR ENTITY. From 1st July - any entity that has an overseas connection will be subject to this RLWT if they sell residential property within two years of acquisition.  This tax has been designed and developed to try and slow d...

Dodging your tax is a dangerous game.

Like many people in business, I find Provisional Tax and GST to be one of the more stressful aspects of life.  Fortunately - after 17 years !!! I managed to create a system that eliminates the stress and makes my life a lot more pleasant.  One of the problems with tax is that the rules are continually changing and it can be difficult to keep up with the new rules. ...

The Clbuttic Mistake

I read this article in the Guardian and found it amusing. Here is some more information - as some light relief. Fortunately - these days, the software is a little bit cleverer and there aren't as many instances - but it shows how technology can go wrong.   ...

John Clarkes take on Panamanian Tax Trusts

A light viewpoint of the validity of Panamanian Trusts ...

Positive 'tweaks' to KiwiSaver 'second chance' first home buyer rules

A unique feature of NZ's Retirement savings scheme KiwiSaver is that KiwiSaver members can withdraw their funds to put towards the purchase of their first home.  If this is your first home, then the process is quite straightforward, with some additional features if you are building a home.   ...

Preferred News Sources Around the World

Despite the rise of websites and search engines as alternatives to "classic“ news sources such as television, newspapers and the radio, the TV is still the news source most people around the globe rely on. That’s the result of a global survey of more than 30,000 online consumers across 60 countries conducted by Nielsen. When asked where they get the news, 53 percent of the global respondents named the television as one of their go-to sources. Search engines and social media sites were the s...