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3 September 2023
Even if you could fund a business venture yourself, that doesn't mean you should. I explore why seeking external funding can make sense even when you have the means — touching on expected value, utili…
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6 January 2023
After avoiding Covid for two and a half years, I finally tested positive. My brain was foggy for nearly two months. Decisions took longer and weren't as sharp. It was a visceral reminder that good hea…
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16 September 2022
A follow-up to my 2019 “How I money”, showing how my wife and I actually structure our savings, investments, insurance, and spending three years on. Don’t treat this as a guide — it’s illustrative onl…
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25 February 2022
Consumer NZ is paving a road to hell with good intentions in the way it talks about personal insurance, and especially personal insurance advice. I'm a paying member and a fan — which is why it's so f…
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18 February 2022
Lots of people reassess their insurance after repaying the mortgage and cancel their income protection. I often think that's a mistake. Mortgage-free years are usually when you build the wealth that f…
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11 February 2022
When people are thinking about cancelling or reducing their personal insurances because of short-term cash flow pressure, I try to get them to s-l-o-w the decision down. Step back. Think big picture a…
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20 December 2019
It's easy to think about insurance in binary terms — you have it or you don't. But there's a huge difference between a 4-week and a 13-week waiting period, between $100,000 and $1 million of life cove…
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18 October 2019
"Wealth" isn't just about money, and "success" is personal. Don't over-complicate your financial life — make it boring so the rest of your life can be interesting. Everyone has a financial plan, wheth…
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12 July 2019
I have clients worth tens of thousands of dollars, and clients worth tens of millions of dollars. I find it much easier to advise clients with millions rather than thousands. As a general rule, the we…
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31 May 2019
You'll never have the "right" amount of insurance, because you're dealing with uncertainty. You can only tell what you needed with hindsight or a crystal ball. For most people the best case is paying…
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5 April 2019
I'm very sensitive to conflicts of interest — I've built my own business specifically to avoid them. Which is why it might surprise you that I'm a strong advocate for commission as the way insurance a…
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18 June 2018
Every so often I meet an insurance adviser who waxes lyrical on trauma insurance — there's something almost religious about it. In person, it's compelling. This article is an antidote. Trauma insuranc…
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15 March 2018
As a general rule, I say "no" to level premiums for personal insurance. Your insurance needs should reduce over time, so if you select level premiums, you may end up locking yourself into unnecessary…
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15 December 2017
If you need personal insurance, it's tempting to go direct to an insurer or use a comparator like Life Direct. I don't recommend it. Policies look similar but differ in ways that matter: wording, excl…
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11 November 2017
Some links to interesting articles in published media such as The Press, The Sunday Star Times, and The Herald from recent months: John McCrone wrote a valuable article about "How to succeed at the re…
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11 August 2017
I haven't written any "Weekend reading" articles recently. This hasn't stopped me from collecting a pile of clippings and links. I'll have missed many good articles, but some that are on my pile/list…
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19 June 2017
Many insurance advisers provide terrific advice — but not always. Two red flags worth watching for: when the adviser has recommended the same level of life insurance cover for both you and your partne…
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18 June 2017
A round-up of personal finance pieces worth reading this weekend. Liz Koh on how excessive frugality can be as corrosive as over-spending. Susan Edmunds on cutting insurance costs. Martin Hawes on the…
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15 May 2017
Many people don't think they have a financial plan. They're wrong. Even without clear goals or articulated strategy, you're acting as if you have one — maybe spending more than you earn, maybe skippin…
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12 May 2017
I'm a HUGE advocate for insurance — most working people should carry some. But I'm also a big advocate for self-insuring where you can, and a message I don't see often enough is that your insurance ne…
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13 April 2017
Plenty of people are under-insured. But plenty are also over-insured — paying expensive premiums for cover they no longer need. Reducing cover is trickier than it sounds, and most advisers have financ…
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14 July 2016
Life insurance advice is almost cliche: if the client dies, they want the mortgage paid off. That's often the start and end of the conversation. But the mortgage is a red herring. The real question is…
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10 October 2015
I'm a huge advocate of most forms of insurance — general insurance for the house, contents, and car; personal insurance for life, income, total and permanent disability, and trauma. It's a foundationa…
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6 February 2015
Do ALL people need life, trauma, total and permanent disability, or income protection insurance? No. Do MOST people need insurance? Yes. These policies are typically about making sure the people who d…