Often said in business 'You need to get out there and network!' The problem with this statement is it is not that helpful for those who haven't done it before. 

In a recessionary market, the way forward is to get out there and market, not retrench and pull back. "When in Hell, don't stop! Keep going." often attributed to Winston Churchill 

Yes, you may have been to a conference or two, but if you haven't been in a sales or relationship role previously, networking can be daunting, especially when you're trying to get your new venture off the ground. 

Great idea, product or service. You're busy getting going, so adding more to the load isn't easy to contemplate. Even if you've been in business for a while, you need new or more contacts, but you're not sure how or where to spend your time.

I work but don't get paid; the insurance company won't insure me.

This is probably right for disability-related benefits. Not to diminish what you do, but lots of valuable people in our community do essential things but don't get paid for it; mothers and volunteers tend to top that list.

One of the factors with this is that insurance companies insure for financial loss; with unpaid occupations, this is hard to quantify.

A good question and one that is often misunderstood when it comes to income protection.

It’s also been coming up in conversations more recently, suggesting there’s some job security sentiment developing.

In New Zealand, there are five situations that impact your ability to earn an income.

Maybe you should have another look. This opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald is a great example of why you need a good risk adviser, who also works with ACC, as well as your insurance. 

No, you employed people aren't exempt from this either. If you plan on taking a break from employment for any reason you too need advice on your ACC coverage for accident disabilities and weekly compensation.

A bit of a chunky subject this post.

Lately, there has been more noise around the gay community, particularly around transgender rights. Especially so with the recent shooting, with some horrifying treatment being dealt out to those 'who are not like the rest of us’.

I wrote the bulk of this post in April 2016, well before the mass shooting in the US and off the back of media comments and articles in newspapers, TV news and social media chatter. The tension for the shooting in June was brewing, for no other reason than people are different. Something similar is brewing in the US on the subject of abortions and the rulings of the state and supreme courts there.

Self-employed? Yup.

Sick of hearing about ACC and health and safety? Yup!

Ok sorry I've got news for you, neither is going away in a hurry. Actually the health and safety bit is going to get worse. I'll talk more about that in another post, as there's a few things going on in the background I'm looking at for clients.

Back to the self-employed and ACC thing.

The reserve bank has released their latest update on the cash rate and dropped it earlier than expected. 

Some have suggested that this was expected by economists later in the year, others it's a surprise.

What does it really mean for you?

Interesting question, up there with what's the best value income protection?

The answer to both questions is a good quality income protection solution. It will both work at claim and give you great value as a result. The way to do this is talk to a good adviser who will arrange this for you, that's me.

If you mean best value equals cheapest premium, then you have to ask the question do you expect to claim? If not, why have it? Cheapest like most things in life usually translates to inferior.

I’ve got insurance this under insurance thing doesn’t apply to me? It probably does apply to you

What I’m referring to by underinsurance are the various studies around the world, that are pretty consistent with saying about 70% of the population are under insured when it comes to life insurance.

Why do I say it probably does apply to you?

Something that often pops up in the insurance industry and media, but what does it really mean for you.

Over insurance is where you are carrying more protection than you need and under insurance is when you have less than you need.

This is not about you having insurance or not, it is about you having the right type of insurance, at the right level for your situation.

Looking at the numbers, most households will have some form of insurance. It might be House, Contents or Car cover, it may also be Life or Medical Insurance.

What the numbers do tell us though, about 80% of households, possibly higher, will have exposure if someone was to be disabled and 75% of you would have to use the public system for medical treatment, or pay your own way for private medical treatment.

A posting on LinkedIn got to the crux of this quite succinctly. If your business cannot run without you for 30 days, you do not have a business.  You have a J-O-B with a very expensive sign that has your name on it. When you can sit back and say ‘my business will work without me’, you probably have a strong business and a succession plan.

KPMG International’s 2014 Global Audit Committee Survey has highlighted some positive things about the management and structure of New Zealand companies, specifically around the role of CFO.

It has also highlighted issues with succession planning. When it comes to succession planning, New Zealand is doing just as poorly as the rest of the world.

Obviously, if you are laid off, but when is it going to be the most use to you?

Often there are comments redundancy protection is expensive relative to the cost of income protection. For those looking at income protection under the age of 40 this is often the case. Income protection pays up to age 70, redundancy protection only pays up to 6 months, with redundancy protection sometimes costing more than income protection for those under 40. Cost is relative, for a 50 year old it can be less than 25% of your overall cost of income protection even though redundancy protection premiums are the same for all ages.

Let's have a closer look at this picture.