Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

You’ve probably heard warnings about how New Zealanders are likely to need to work until later in life.

Treasury has pointed out the pressure an ageing population will put on the country’s finances – and the message was repeated at last week’s University of Waikato economic forum by Milford Asset Management.

But what if you’re having none of that, and actually want to retire early?

It’s not impossible, but might require a bit of planning.

How much do you need?

One way to retire is to amass a significant enough sum of money that you can tap into a bit of it each year to replace your income.

This is what most people are already planning to do with KiwiSaver – but if you’re retiring early, your amount may need to be larger because you won’t have the support of NZ Super until you are 65.

Koura founder Rupert Carlyon said people should figure out what they were spending money on at present and which expenses might stop if they stopped working. Then they would need to think about additional things they might start spending money on.

Once you know what you need to be able to pay for each week, you can work backwards to determine what lump sum you need to generate sufficient income to cover that.

He said it would work for most people to draw down 4 percent of the value of their investment portfolio each year.

“The amount you need is going to be quite a lot … basically for simplicity’s sake, you kind of times [your income] by 20. If I’m saying I want $100,000 a year to live off for the rest of my life, I’m going to times that by 20, and that’s about my number.”

That calculation would mean that someone wanting $100,000 a year would need to have $2 million saved. But that does not account for NZ Super being available from 65, which would provide a portion of the $100,000 annual income.

Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive at Pie Funds, said based on a “no frills lifestyle” as described by Massey University’s Retirement Expenditure Guidelines, someone would need about $350,000 to $500,000 if they wanted to retire at 60 and about $550,000 to $700,000 if they wanted to retire at 55.

“These are indicative figures and assume you own your home mortgage-free. Home ownership makes a significant difference. If you’re still carrying a mortgage or renting, the amount required increases substantially.

“Lifestyle expectations also matter – there’s a meaningful gap between a basic and a more comfortable retirement. Location plays a role too, with Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch generally more expensive than provincial areas.”

Other people might live off the income their investments generated, such as rental properties.

Investment coach Steve Goodey said people could retire when they had a big enough portfolio of properties.

“A minimum four or five if they have low or no debt.”

He said people could aim to have seven and then sell a couple when they were ready to retire to reduce their debt.

Claire Matthews, author of the Massey University guidelines, said the amount people needed to save would depend on what their goals were for retirement, and whether they were planning to work at all.

They would also need to consider whether they were happy to use up all their money or wanted to preserve some.

“Owning your own home without debt would be helpful. But perhaps early retirement means living in a campervan and travelling around the country, in which case you don’t need a house – although it’s not as simple as that sounds.”

Opes Partners economist Ed McKnight said some people might be able to live on a partner’s income.

“Property investors might have rentals paying them an income. But most Kiwis will be relying on liquid assets – cash, shares, or managed funds they can draw down. And this needs to be outside KiwiSaver, since you can’t touch that until 65 either.

“Where does this money come from? Some people save it up. But more often it comes from selling an investment property or a business.

“One of our clients has a significant managed fund investment and draws down $60,000 a year. Her returns are strong enough that the balance doesn’t really go down.”

He said people should talk to a financial adviser to run through the numbers.

“Because it’s scary watching your balance drop. But if you run the numbers and know your spending will decrease once NZ Super kicks in, that gives you the confidence to actually pull the trigger.”

How much will your expenses really drop?

If you own your own home, there are likely to be some costs that you can’t avoid.

RNZ earlier found that just rates and insurance would add at least $6000 in costs each year.

“The first $100 to $150 a week of your income is just rates and insurance before we’ve even started on maintenance,” Carlyon said. “There’s all these kinds of costs that are absolutely skyrocketing,”

He said people who retired early generally weren’t doing it to sit around not doing much, so you’ll need to be realistic about how much money you will really need.

Can you rely on the government?

You could retire and decide to live off government support but it’s probably not advisable or much fun.

Basic JobSeeker for a single person is only $361.32 a week after tax and before additional supports. You can’t access the accommodation supplement if you have more than about $8000 in assets.

There are also expectations that people receiving a benefit of this nature are looking for work.

Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aucklanders may finally be getting some relief on their insurance premiums – but the same cannot be said for Wellington and Christchurch, and some people are struggling to get it at all.

Consumer NZ said its latest survey of house and contents insurance premiums showed the median price for insurance for a large house in Auckland had dropped 11 percent year-on-year.

But in Wellington and Christchurch, the cost of insurance was up 10 percent.

Wellington was the most expensive city in the country for house insurance. The median cost of house and contents cover for a standard home was $3824 a year, Consumer’s insurance expert Rebecca Styles said.

Dunedin has the cheapest home insurance options, with the median cost for house and contents insurance for a standard home coming in at $2227.

The quotes were based on a couple with a standard-sized house insured for $560,000 and contents for $90,000, and a family of four with a large house insured for $840,000 and contents for $140,000.

Styles said people could often save money by shopping around.

“When we compared policies with the same excess and sum insured across the six centres, we found the median potential saving was about $550.

“More than eight in 10 people have had the same insurance provider for at least three years. When people decide to switch, it’s usually because of price, and with some of the savings available, we can see why.”

She said people who could find a better price elsewhere could use that to try to negotiate a discount with their current provider.

Opting for a higher excess could also mean lower premiums. But Styles said people should not set their excess so high they could not cover it if they had to claim.

“Ask your insurer if your premiums would be cheaper if you installed an alarm or security cameras – the savings might subsidise the installation costs. If you can afford to, pay your premiums annually – you should get a discount.”

Styles said 1 percent of the 3000 people who responded to the survey said they could not switch because no other provider would offer insurance.

The Auckland drop was coming on the back of a large spike after Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding, she said. It could be that flood mitigation efforts and infrastructure improvements were also reducing risk.

But people in high risk areas were likely to find it harder to find insurance, she said.

“I think in Wellington and Christchurch, it’s the same old thing of earthquakes, floods and landslides. And it just means that we’re paying more and more for insurance in those regions.

“With the reports of AA Insurance not covering some postcodes, and I think other insurers are weighing up risk across the country, they’re always monitoring their risk portfolios and making sure they don’t have too much risk in one area more so than another. And, if we don’t do anything about a climate adaptation framework, practically in terms of infrastructure – there’s just more and more frequent extreme weather events and flooding – if the infrastructure doesn’t keep up with that, I think prices will just keep going up and up.”

If someone was struggling to find suitable cover, they could contact the Natural Hazards Commission and ask about its natural hazards cover, which offered more limited protection, she said. “It’s sort of the insurance of last resort for natural hazards. So it would be for your house, it wouldn’t be for your contents.”

She said the government’s investigation into the insurance market would help in terms of giving people assurance about whether they were paying fair price.

“We eagerly await the outcome of that, given it’ll be at least six months.”

Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s housing market is a “tale of two islands”, one economist says – as the fortunes of sellers and house hunters in the South Island rapidly diverge from their northern counterparts.

Real Estate Institute data on Monday added to this picture.

National median prices were up 0.4 percent between January 2025 and last month to a median $753,106. Excluding Auckland, they were up 1.4 percent to $700,000.

But while Auckland and Wellington prices are still down 23.6 percent and 26.9 percent since their post-Covid peak, the West Coast hit a record high of $480,000, up 9.3 percent year-on-year

Southland’s prices were up 5.7 percent year-on-year, Otago’s 6.7 percent and Canterbury 3.4 percent.

Only Nelson was down 8.9 percent.

But in the North Island, only Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Auckland had a lift in median sales prices in January compared to a year earlier. The increases were 1.4 percent, 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

House price index data shows Auckland prices are down 1 percent a year over five years, and Wellington is down 3 percent a year over the same period, but Christchurch is up 5.4 percent a year, Queenstown 8.1 percent and Invercargill 5.2 percent. Otago and Southland prices are also at new records.

BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said it was a “tale of two islands”.

“The North Island market, if you put all those parts of the country together, is operating at quite a different pace from the south.

“It’s becoming more and more difficult to even talk about the New Zealand housing market as an entity, because it is so divergent amongst those regions.”

He said there was a slow shift south happening as more people migrated within New Zealand.

“Also you’ve got the commodity cash coming through, which is bolstering some of those rural and regional incomes. That’s a story that continues to play out. And then probably the third one is just an affordability dynamic as well, which is that all of these markets, whether it’s in the South Island particularly, are cheaper relative to incomes and rents than the likes of Auckland and Wellington.”

He said he might have expected the difference to start to narrow but there was no sign of that yet.

“I think with those fundamentals still in place, people still moving south, regional economies performing relatively better, we’ll probably see a little bit more divergence.

“The correction in national house prices ended in April 2023. In the 33 months since, house prices have declined an additional 1.4 percent in Auckland and an additional 3.2 percent in Wellington. At the same time, in Canterbury, Otago and Southland, they’ve gone up 17 percent and 20 percent… So it really shows you how divergent the market has been.”

Jones said there had also been a more aggressive supply response in Auckland, with more building giving buyers more choice.

“If you look at listings per region, certainly Auckland and Wellington stand out as being more oversupplied … there are a few signs of that dynamic slowing down.

“We’re actually getting construction activity start to pick up again, even as population growth is still pretty low.”

Steve Goodey, a property investment coach, said there was “no yield” for investors in Auckland at the moment. “I’m advising clients not to go there for cash flow if that’s what they are after.”

He said there were discounts to be had but not yield. “I like smaller town but not tiny ones.”

He said he had invested recently in Invercargill, Whanganui and Hawera.

Areas like Tokoroa were cheap but there was no prospect of price rises, he said. “While cash flow is what keeps the vehicle of your investing going, capital gains are what makes you wealthy over time.”

Kelvin Davidson, chief property economist at Cotality, said his data showed sales activity outside the main centres picking up fastest.

He said it was likely Auckland and Wellington could lag for a while.

“If you look at house prices, we’ve got a projection that we get a national average rise this year of 5 percent. I wonder if that is probably going to be a bit below 5 percent with the way things are going but as a round number, call it 5 percent.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if. say, Auckland and Wellington are below that number and Invercargill, Nelson, some of these more second-tier cities are a bit stronger. I could see that lasting for a while just reflecting the shape of the economy at the moment.”

Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Services sector expands at a slower pace in January
• Sales activity continues rising, employment falls
• Proportion of negative comments increases
• BNZ says economy is on the right track

The services sector recovery slowed to a crawl last month.

The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) fell by 0.8 points to 50.9 in January, below its long-term average of 52.8.

A reading above 50 indicates the sector, which accounts for nearly three quarters of the economy, is expanding.

BusinessNZ’s chief executive Katherine Rich said despite the slowdown in January the sector remained on the right side of the ledger after such a lengthy period of contraction.

Activity/sales was the only sub-index to rise in January, with a softer reading for new orders/business, while stocks/inventories, supplier deliveries, and employment moved further into contraction.

The proportion of negative comments climbed to 58.7 percent, with firms reporting low confidence, holiday shutdowns and high operating costs.

BNZ senior economist Doug Steel preferred to concentrate on the direction of travel of the data, rather than one month’s results, saying that “the big question to end 2025 was whether the economy may be turning”.

“Data since then has given us confidence that recent positive momentum can be sustained. The economy is growing.”

The combined PSI/PMI activity indicators are consistent with BNZ’s forecasts of rising GDP this year, according to Steel.

He expected the Reserve Bank to leave interest rates unchanged this week, but a key question for the Reserve Bank would be when does increasing economic growth start translating into higher inflation.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Infant formula maker A2 Milk showed a solid lift in first half profit on the back of double digit growth in sales allowing an increase in dividend.

Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $112.1m vs $102.5m
• Revenue $993.5m vs $836.5m
• Operating earnings $155m vs $130.9m
• Net cash $896.9m vs $1.01b
• Interim dividend 11.5 cents per share vs 8.5 cps
• Forecast mid-teens revenue growth, increased full year profit

Sales of infant milk formula (IMF) to China led an overall near 19 percent rise in revenue, boosted by its acquisition of a manufacturing plant at Pokeno, and further improvement in the fledgling US market.

“We continue to execute our growth strategy with a focus on maximising opportunities in China infant milk formula, adjacent categories and new markets,” chief executive David Bortolussi said.

“Infant milk formula remains central to our growth strategy and continues to outperform the China market, delivering 13.6 percent year-on-year revenue growth.”

Bortolussi said English label IMF sales were significantly stronger through on-line retail platforms, while there had been a stabilisation of the once important daigou channels – sales by third parties of A2 IMF.

Fresh milk sales improved in Australia and the United States, while the company looked to diversify with new nutritional products.

“Recently launched kids and seniors nutrition products have accelerated our growth in other nutritionals, strengthening our position in these growing and exciting categories.”

Bortolussi said the US operation was close to break even after posting initial big losses and the company hoped to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell infant formula in the US.

He said the Pokeno manufacturing plant acquired last year was securing and diversifying its supply chain last year, and the company was shifting more production to the plant from Synlait Milk’s Canterbury plant.

Bigger sales and profits

Looking forward A2 expected double digit revenue growth, with a full year profit ahead of last year’s $202.9m.

“Our upgraded outlook means we are now on track to achieve our $2 billion medium term sales ambition in FY26, a full year ahead of plan,” Bortolussi said.

The company increased its interim dividend and reaffirmed plans for a $300m special dividend from its $897m cash holdings.

Forsyth Barr senior analyst Matt Montgomerie said the result was strong and better than analysts had been expecting, and noted the company had a track record of exceeding it forecasts.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Contact Energy’s half-year profit is up 44 percent, despite a 5 percent dip in revenue.

The company has made a first half net profit $205 million in the six months ended December, with underlying profit up 24 percent to half a billion dollars ($500m).

Contact was also in a trading halt until Tuesday, as it looked to raise $525m to advance investment into new battery, solar and geothermal developments.

Key numbers for the six months ended December 2025 compared with a year earlier:

• Net profit $205.0 vs $142.4m
• Revenue $1.62b vs $1.71b
• Underlying profit $500m vs $404m
• Interim dividend 16 cents a share vs 16 cps

Contact said the improved underlying profit result was driven by a significant lift in renewable generation, with an output of 97 percent renewable energy in the first half (1H26).

“1H26 was transformational, with the completion of the Manawa acquisition and the welcoming of its people and assets to Contact,” Fuge said, referring to last year’s near $2b takeover of the generation company.

“The strong performance of the combined entity set us up well for the year ahead as we take significant steps to execute the Contact31+ strategy.”

As part of that strategy, the company’s planned to raise $525m* with potential to increase its renewable energy generation.

This included funding for development of a Tauhara 2 steamfield, the Glenbrook battery 2.0 and its investment in the Glorit solar farm.

The proceeds were also expected to accelerate development pipeline opportunities.

“We already we have plans for another $2.4b of renewable energy projects, and we will continue to invest in building this country.”

Fuge said the company was expanding to meet future demand.

“Contact is taking significant steps to ensure its readiness to support New Zealand’s growing electricity demand, with 3-5TWh (terawatt hours) of new grid demand expected in the next five years,” Fuge said.

“We’re investing in the infrastructure required to support a more renewable, resilient and affordable energy future for New Zealand.

“I think New Zealand can be incredibly proud of where they’ve got to on the renewable energy transition,” Fuge said.

“And I think for the country, the most important thing is that we continue to build the infrastructure that keeps this country resilient, and as well as that, we look to decarbonise those areas of the economy which are nowhere near 50 percent renewable yet.

“And I think that’s where we now have to turn our focus – really focus on the big things that kind of make a real difference, rather than the last 2 or 3 percent.”

Offers to buy the rest of King Country Energy

Contact also separately announced it had made an offer to purchase the remaining 25 percent of King Country Energy from King Country Trust for $47m, which would give it full ownership if the the regional generator. The payment would be made by way of a new issue of Contact shares to the Trust.

Contact expected to make a full year underlying profit of $965m, with a full year dividend of 40 cents per share.

*Capital raise details

Contact planned to raise $450m with an issue of about 51.4m of new ordinary shares, representing about 5.2 percent of current issued capital, at a placement price of $8.75 per new share, which represented a discount of 7.2 percent of the last traded price, excluding the dividend.

Retail Offer

Contact intended to raise $75m through a non-underwritten retail offer of new shares to eligible existing shareholders in New Zealand and Australia, with the ability to scale applications, or accept over subscriptions at Contact’s.

The new shares to be issued at the lower of the placement price or a 2.5 percent discount to the five-day volume Weighted Average Price over the five-trading day period ending on the 6 March closing date of the offer.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Courier and information management company Freightways posted a strong first-half result as economic conditions improve in New Zealand, while Australia was steady.

Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $52.5m vs $44.7m
• Revenue $718.2m vs $662.1m
• Operating earnings $96.5m vs $86.0m
• Interim dividend 21 cents per share vs 19 cps

Freightways saw its bottom line profit increase by 17 percent, while revenue rose 9 percent. It said cash generation was strong and strengthened its balance sheet, while reducing net debt by 6.7 percent.

The company is seen as a bellwether stock, and owns brands including NZ Couriers, Post Haste, Big Chill Distribution and TIMG.

Its express package and business mail division saw improved earnings and margin growth.

“Performance was supported by same-customer volume growth, net market share gains and pricing actions implemented at the start of the financial year,” the company said.

Its information management and waste renewal division, which includes TIMG, saw a “mixed performance”, Freightways said.

“Revenue was broadly flat for the half year, while EBITA (operating earnings) grew modestly, reflecting lower digitisation activity and the exit of unprofitable Product Destruction revenue streams,” it said.

Freightways said cost inflation remained moderate, and its cost base had “stabilised”, particularly labour costs, amid cooling wage inflation.

“We expect a steady improvement in same-customer volumes in the second half of FY26, particularly in New Zealand, driven by a level of economic recovery.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The six-monthly company reporting season is about to start, with high hopes that earnings will start to reflect the turnaround in the economy.

Investment firm Forsyth Barr said 2025 looked to have ended on a strong note and it would be looking for revenue and profit margin growth.

“Many NZ corporates have had three-plus years to right size their businesses, therefore how they speak to operational improvements, cost control, and operating leverage will be key,” Forsyth Barr analysts said.

“This season will be the first litmus test.”

Sharesies head of data and analytics Jordan Cunningham said its customer base would be looking closely at the dividend payout of the big four power companies – Meridian, Contact, Mercury and Genesis.

“Expectations going into this earning seasons are quite subdued, but we think that our investors will be looking to New Zealand stocks in particular for dividends, if they’re looking for that growth potential for New Zealand.”

Power companies were also regarded as defensive stocks, often able to avoid or withstand market volatility.

Cunningham said only about 15 percent of the funds invested on the platform were in NZX-listed companies, with strong support from Air New Zealand, Auckland Airport and Spark.

“Despite that strong US focus, there really is still growing trading in New Zealand, and a really strong buy-to-sell ratio… In recent months for every dollar sold $1.50 was bought.”

The good, the bad, the ordinary

Forsyth Barr expected about 40 percent of reporting companies to have a positive outlook, including speciality milk company A2 Milk, healthcare and pet food firm EBOS, Port of Tauranga and casino operator SkyCity, despite its torrid time in recent years.

A similar proportion was likely to have a neutral outlook, with a handful of companies with potential to disappoint the market.

Among them was the national carrier Air New Zealand, which was expected to deliver a first-half loss, but with hopes of a more positive second-half outlook.

Forsyth Barr senior analyst Matt Montgomerie said companies most exposed to the economic cycle and which were hard hit by the recession such as building product firms, retailers, and service businesses might surprise on the upside.

He said many of the firms had aggressively cut costs, but might not be in a hurry to start spending again.

“This reluctance to re-expand costs creates strong operating leverage … As a result, net earnings growth during upswings can surprise to the upside, often materially outpacing consensus expectations.”

Window on recovery

Amova Asset Management head of equities Michael Sherrock said company reports should provide a steer on the economic turn around, with companies such as transport firm Freightways something of a bellwether.

“For the likes of Freightways, what is customer volume growth looking like? Six months ago, they started to see some pickup in that customer volume growth. How that’s tracking since they last updated the market.”

“The likes of SkyCity as well, somewhat cyclically exposed, but also some regulatory type of issues as well.”

Sherrock, the casino and hotel operator, has been required to implement carded play on pokie machines, and has just taken over the International Convention Centre, which would be pointers for the company’s future earnings.

Others to watch included Fletcher Building, pharmaceutical supplier and pet retailing chain EBOS and Sky Television.

“The market will be very, very focused on (EBOS) given that stock (price) has fallen … on the back of a disappointing result last year. They’ve got a new CEO. What are they telling the market ? And hopefully it’s a positive story, and there’s no disappointments.”

He said Sky TV would be watched to see if it delivered on plans to pay a dividend this year.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Got questions? RNZ has a podcast, Got questions? RNZ has a podcast [www.rnz.co.nz/podcasts/nostupidquestions No Stupid Questions with Susan Edmunds].

We’d love to hear more of your questions about money and the economy. You can send through written questions, like these ones, but – even better – you can drop us a voice memo to our email questions@rnz.co.nz

Re my joint family home and joint savings. I believed these are owned by (me) the surviving partner?

Nothing is in my partner’s name only. I invited my partner’s far-flung adult children and adult grandchildren to the funeral weekend.

My own grandchild overheard them talking about a legal claim to force me to sell my home for their benefit.

My partner and I registered it as our joint family home when we built it three decades ago and it took me more than two decades to care for my non working partner and pay off the mortgage.

I am fit and well and live in my home. My friends, children, grandchild and activities are nearby.

I am extremely upset by their claims as are my own children?

Can my “steps” legally force me to sell my home to provide money for them? My legal firm said this is “not possible” then changed their position.

This is a tricky question and we got into it a bit more on the podcast this week.

Michelle Pope, who is principal trustee at Public Trust, said usually assets held in joint names, as in your family home and savings, will automatically pass to the surviving joint owner.

“However, it’s important to confirm whether the property is legally owned jointly or in equal/unequal shares.

“If it’s jointly owned, it will in most cases pass directly to the surviving owner through what’s called ‘survivorship’ in legal language and will not form part of the deceased person’s estate.

“If not, the deceased’s share will need to be administered as part of their estate, which can add complexity.”

As for whether your stepchildren could force a sale, she said probably not.

But your partner’s estate could make a claim to claw back assets that could then be subject to a claim from the stepchildren.

“An example could include if they believe they are not adequately provided for in their father’s will. If successful, selling assets might be an outcome of any legal decision.”

Pope said because your partner had a will, there would be more clarity about what was intended to happen.

“Having a will can help reduce the risk of legal disputes and give clarity for families but cannot prevent claims being made.

“Blended families are increasingly common and estate planning in these situations can be complex.

“We strongly recommend people seek professional advice to explore options and ensure your estate plan reflects your intentions.”

How do I find a financial adviser who will give me truly independent financial advice?

I’m reasonably happy with my financial plans but it’s always good to check with an expert.

However I know many advisers are remunerated through commissions and therefore are only going to recommend products or providers that pay them.

My current investment plans mainly revolve around low fees broad market index funds so I’m worried by seeking financial advice someone will try to steer me away from this and towards higher fee actively managed products because of commission. I want truly objective advice and to not be suspicious of what’s in it for the adviser.

You’re right that many financial advisers are paid by the organisations that they place their clients with.

Historically, I think that’s been because people have been really reluctant to pay an upfront fee – and the advisers need to be paid somehow.

If you want to avoid that, you could look for an adviser who is going to charge you a fee instead. You might pay by the hour for their time, or a set amount for a financial plan or ongoing monitoring and advice.

But all advisers are bound by rules including the need to disclose how they are paid and by whom as part of their advice process.

Nick Hakes, who is chief executive of Financial Advice NZ, which represents advisers, said they would need to explain how they charged, what they were paid and the scope of their advice.

“My encouragement to any client seeking a financial adviser is to go with a whole list of questions so not just about how they might be remunerated but have they helped someone in similar circumstances to you? And how did they help? Remuneration method is just one of a series of questions which all client should be asking financial advisers.”

He said Financial Advice NZ had a directory online that listed all the members of the professional body. That could be a good place to start to look through your options and see who might be a good fit.

Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has given an update on the government’s so-called ‘golden visa’, which aims to attract investors with at least $5 million to spend.

Changes to the Active Investor Plus visa took effect in April last year, bringing in two categories – riskier ‘growth’ investments of $5m-plus over three years and lower-risk ‘balanced’ investments of $10m-plus over five years – and reducing other barriers, including time spent in New Zealand and an English language test.

The minimum investment amount had previously been $15m.

Stanford said 573 applications had been received to date, totalling about $3.39 billion invested – with $1.05b of that already committed.

She said it compared to 116 applications and $70m of investment over the two-and-a-half years under the previous settings.

“I am delighted that our new visa settings are helping to open up possibility and opportunity for investment,” Stanford said.

“These investors bring not just capital, but global experience, expertise, and networks. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of these investors over the last year and I have seen firsthand their love for, and commitment to, New Zealand.”

She made the announcement at Hectre, an AI startup focused on orchard management and fruit quality.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand