Financial Awareness Week

This week is Financial Awareness Week; the first of its kind and promoted by the Institute of Financial Advisers. Throughout the country, numerous events are being held in support of the theme that ‘Good Advice can Change your Life’. You can see a full list of events on the official website, financialawarenessweek.co.nz. Presentations are being made at many high schools throughout the country and as well, there are public talks and free advice sessions. Financial advisers are a passionate bunch, keen to use their knowledge and skill to help New Zealanders enjoy their lives by making their money work better for them. Unfortunately, the actions of a small number of advisers in recent times have done much to tarnish the reputations of advisers in general. All have been tarred with the same prickly brush, yet there are thousands of good advisers who have made a huge difference to the lives of many New Zealanders.

The need for sound financial advice is heightened by the low level of financial literacy in this country. The recently released results of ANZ-Retirement Commission Financial Knowledge Survey on www.financialliteracy.org.nz show that only 43% of New Zealanders score highly on financial knowledge. There are, I believe, a number of reasons for this. Firstly, we don’t teach kids about money at school. Secondly, New Zealanders are not good savers and thirdly, financial knowledge is not something that Kiwis have been willing to pay to acquire. The good news is that all these things are changing. A new curriculum has been introduced into schools to integrate personal financial education with core subjects such as maths and social studies. The introduction of KiwiSaver has seen many Kiwis embarking on long term saving for the first time in their lives and asking questions about how their money is being invested. Changes to the regulation of financial advisers are aimed at improving the quality of advice and restoring public confidence in advisers with the expectation that more people will be prepared to seek and pay for good advice.

Financial awareness has many facets. It is not just about saving for retirement. It is about being able to manage your financial affairs so that you and your family can build wealth, enjoy life and achieve financial security. A financial adviser can help you develop a plan for managing your financial affairs. Whether you are deeply in debt or have millions to invest, a financial plan will help you make the most of your money. Your plan will outline the goals you hope to achieve, how best to manage your income and expenses, how to pay off your debts, how to save and invest and how to protect your wealth. Most advisers offer an initial meeting at no cost, so if you are not sure how an adviser could help you and how much it would cost, you have nothing to lose by arranging a meeting to find out more. Good advice from a qualified professional you trust can change your life and that being the case, the value far exceeds the cost.