This New Year it is also a great time to start making solid financial resolutions that can help get you closer to your money goals, whether it’s increasing your retirement savings or setting enough money aside for a down payment on a house.
The rise of robo-advice in wealth management
The concept of “robot-advice”, the use of automation and digital techniques to build and manage portfolios of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other instruments for investors, has gained significant attention within the wealth management industry.
Don Brash joins Stewart Group as advisory board member
Former Act Party leader and former Minister of Finance Don Brash have been appointed as Stewart Group's advisory board member. Dr. Brash’s appointment expands the board to three, with two existing board members, Peter Mancell and Milton Jennings.
Get insurance application right or blow your cover
When you apply for personal risk insurance, the insurer seeks answers to questions about your health, occupation and insurance needs.
This is so that the insurer can assess the likelihood of you making a claim and to assess the premium cost. You must answer all questions completely and honestly.
Advisory firms law changes look like Aussie model
Smaller advice firms in New Zealand could find the new legislative regime is harder to deal with than they expect if the Australian experience is anything to go by. The Financial Markets Authority has indicated that it will allow the requirements of licensing to be tailored to fit the needs of smaller firms.
Seven ways to tighten your Christmas spending
Last year, New Zealanders managed to spend a record $6 billion shopping in December, which was the highest monthly figure recorded by Statistics New Zealand.
Hawke's Bay enjoyed the highest holiday splurge, with a near 11 per cent increase on the previous year.
Bitcoin bubble, the new tulip mania Part II
ver the years there have been numerous economic bubbles and subsequent crashes, for example, the dot-com bubble, the stock-market bubble, and the real estate bubble.
But the one few may be aware of is the tulip bulb market bubble (also known as tulip mania) of the 17th century in the Netherlands.
The bitcoin bubble – Part I
What if there is a technological advancement so powerful that it transforms the fundamental pillars of our society?
A technology that fundamentally influences the way our economy, governance systems and business functions, and could change our conceptual understandings of trade, ownership, and trust.
Online security a work in progress
In an increasingly online world, we are sharing and disclosing more and more online, and that information is being held digitally.
New Zealand's attempt to reform it's Privacy Act and make security breaches public has yet to make it through Parliament, though the reform was first proposed in 2014.
Ponzi schemes and fools' gold
You've probably heard the saying "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This rings particularly true in the case on Ponzi schemes.
A Ponzi scheme is not a new wonder drug or an Italian beach resort, it's terrible for your financial health.
Trust Law reform Part III - Implications for trustees
Their disclosure obligations in the new trust act will increase the reputational and liability risk of not properly engaging with investment governance practices.
Trust Law Reform Part II- You'd best be prepared if trusts bill becomes law
The proposed law changes will mean the right to have the trust properly managed, in accordance with the trust deed, is paramount. Many trustees will need to balance these considerations, and it will be difficult.
Trust law reform Part I - benefits versus costs, responsibilities
With 300,000 to 500,000 trusts operating in New Zealand, a new trusts bill introduced to Parliament earlier this year has the potential to deliver wide-ranging impacts.
The ups and downs of downsizing
If your family has grown up and flown the nest and you're moving closer to retiring, it's likely that you've at least thought about downsizing your home.
When does the underarm stop for Kiwis?
Currently in Australia there is more than $17 billion in unclaimed superannuation, which is not an insignificant sum of money, and we anticipate that a large proportion of these funds belongs to Kiwis.
Booster boosts fund options, tweaks settings
The balanced fund joins its Asset Class growth and conservative siblings, which are ultimately managed by US factor-based investment house Dimensional Fund Advisors.
House prices out of step
House prices in New Zealand versus the average Kiwi income have more than doubled since 1980.If you thought house prices were hot, you were right, but this figure shows home ownership is becoming a more and more distant dream for the average New Zealander, unless we see market slow-down or correction
Like Romans, fall on our sword and raise retirement age
The issue of ageing populations and funding retirement schemes is not a modern one - the Romans faced the same political and fiscal problems 2000 years ago.
