Everyday Money

If anything underlines the need most New Zealander's have to take financial advice, a new survey has found that 60% of Kiwis are financially stressed - but most don't plan to change the way they spend or invest.The survey, undertaken by the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia), found that 60% of women and 55% of men say the global financial crisis has made them feel financially stressed."The sudden collapse of finance companies, the...

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Womenomics

Few young women enter the trades where there are good career opportunities and it is possible to earn-while-you-learn.Many jobs remain dominated by either men or women. While 99 percent of all plumbers, builders, and mechanics are men, over 90 percent of people working as caregivers, registered nurses, and secretaries are women. Male-dominated jobs tend to be higher paid than female-dominated jobs.MWA commissioned research in 2008 on the factors...

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Why?

Why am I reading yet another article telling me it is good business to have women in senior positions as well as fair! I have to say it exasperates me when I look at the management of the companies I work with – they are all men. The argument I get when I query this is the old “we cannot find women for senior positions” has worn thin.Half of The National Australia Bank leadership are women; they have a programme of hiring 200 bankers this year, setting...

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Finance and Investments

My favourite emerging market fund is managed by Dr Mark Mobius. He recently visited New Zealand. Some highlights from this presentation;The Emerging Markets fund has performed exceptionally well. It has appreciated 18 fold since listing, which equates to an annual return over the past 21 years of around 15 per cent. Over the past decade it has gained 12 per cent a year in NZ dollars, trouncing both the emerging markets index which is up 6.5 per cent...

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Musings and Amusings

It amazes me that so many Kiwis are reluctant to write financial plans – only around 30% of us do so. Perhaps my profession needs to take a more creative approach. Consider the following as a base for your plan:Write a mission statement for your life. What are you dedicated to? What can people count on from you? Leave this exercise for a day or two, then re-read it. Did you learn something about your goals and dreams? Can you incorporate what you...

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Everyday Money

A recent survey undertaken by the Financial Services Institute of Australasian found that 60% of women and 55% of men say that the global crisis has made them feel financially stressed. The obvious response to this is simple; have a financial plan, accept that the best laid plans “gang aft agley” to quote the bard Robbie Burns. This means that once you and your financial planner have created a plan it needs to be revisited. Just as sometimes we have...

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Who's Counting?

Susan Pinker is counting. Women are 2.8 times more likely than men to leave science and engineering careers for other occupations and 13 times more likely to exit the labour force entirely. Pinker makes it a point to show how males are genetically at a disadvantage; prone to disease, accidents, ADHD, autism, Asperger’s, dyslexia, and others. Many males experience an overlap, getting hit with two or three of these disorders throughout their development....

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