Everyday Money

Many of us have life insurance and in well over 90% of cases we have term insurance. Term insurance premiums increase each year to meet the rate for the insured’s age. To date most of us have just rolled our eyes and paid the extra however 2009 could see our eyes watering.It has been suggested that life insurances are under taxed and legislation is planned to correct this. As always this will reflect on the consumer with premiums looking to increase...

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Musings and Amusings

I love my bed and I love snoozing – for those of you who feel the same way it is now official – sleep is good for your brain.Until the mid 50’s, it was assumed that when we slept our brains shut down but are now familiar with the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycle evident in your sleeping patterns – the brain waves produced during this period look similar to those produced when are awake.In fact the effects of sleep on memory are impressive. It appears...

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Womenomics

A few weeks ago and academic Paul Callister questioned the validity and continuation of specific scholarships for women, given, as we all know that women routinely gain higher educational qualifications than men. An op-ed piece in the Sunday Star Times commented that Mr Callister raised “fair” but “awkward” questions.At arond the same time Fairfax printed a booklet listing the 100 Business Luminaries who have shaped our nation. Of the 100 business...

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Finance and Investments

The stark truth about managing our money these days is that we are mostly on our own.Few employers want us around for 40 years, so our income is likely to have ups and downs and could disappear altogether for brief periods between jobs. Saving for retirement is now mostly our responsibility, too. Health insurance, for those of us who have it and manage to keep it, requires increasingly large amounts of money out of our pockets. The list goes on and...

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Why?

Why do I continually meet people who live from payday to payday and why do I have to keep parroting the same lines. Financial freedom is not rocket science. Follow these simple steps.• Spend less than you earn• Join a subsidised superannuation scheme or KiwiSaver• If you are in the position of having short term expensive debt pay it off. • Take out insurance – income protection is essential. • Set aside an emergency fund. • Buy a property and focus...

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Who’s Counting?

I am – and I am up to five – five great ways to find extra money.One: Slash your credit card rate – you could take a term loan, clear the balance and cut your card up; if you don’t want to do this transfer to a low interest rate card; or alternatively increase you mortgage to clear your card and finally – if you have money in your savings account or term deposit pay off your card! The interest you earn is less than a quarter of the rate on your...

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