Journal · Page 5
Insurance, KiwiSaver, and money. in plain English.
Short, useful articles from the Smiths advisers, the same notes we share with clients when something changes in the NZ market or a common question comes up.
KiwiSaver · 23 Dec 2025
How to Read a KiwiSaver Fund Update in NZ (2026): A Section-by-Section Guide
Every KiwiSaver fund publishes a standardised quarterly update. Here is how to read the asset mix, fees, returns versus index, top-ten holdi…
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General Insurance · 4 Jun 2025
How to Calculate Your Home's Sum Insured in NZ (2025): The Rebuild Cost Method
How to calculate your house sum insured in NZ using rebuild cost, demolition, professional fees and an inflation buffer — and how to check w…
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Personal Risk · 23 Mar 2026
How a Trauma Insurance Claim Actually Gets Paid in NZ (2026): Definitions, Severity and Timing
What trauma (critical illness) cover really pays for in NZ, how the policy definition and severity threshold decide your claim, and why some…
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Retirement · 25 Apr 2025
What Happens to a Couple's Income When One Partner Dies (NZ, 2026): The Retirement Income Drop
When one partner dies, household NZ Super drops to a single rate and their KiwiSaver goes to the estate, not automatically to the survivor. …
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Personal Risk · 5 Feb 2025
Income Protection When You Change Jobs or Go Self-Employed in NZ (2026): Keeping Your Cover Valid
Change jobs or go self-employed in NZ and your income protection may not work the way you expect. Here is what occupation class, pay changes…
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Personal Risk · 20 Feb 2025
Why Income Protection Claims Get Declined in NZ (2026): The Real Reasons and How to Avoid Them
Most income protection claims in NZ are paid. The ones that aren't usually fail for a handful of avoidable reasons — non-disclosure, definit…
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Personal Risk · 2 Jun 2026
Income Protection for Commission and Variable Income in NZ (2026): Proving Earnings That Move
Commission, bonuses and seasonal pay make income protection harder to get right. Here is how insurers average a moving income, why agreed va…
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Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2026
Income Protection for Contractors in NZ 2026: Filling the Gap ACC Leaves Behind
ACC covers accidents, not illness. For NZ contractors that means no income if you get sick. Here is how income protection fills the gap and …
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Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2025
Indexation and CPI Increases on Income Protection in NZ (2026): Keeping Your Cover Worth Something
Every year your insurer offers a CPI increase to your income protection benefit. Here's what indexation does, what it costs, what happens if…
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Personal Risk · 3 Oct 2025
Income Protection for Mental Health and Stress Claims in NZ (2026): What's Covered and What's Excluded
Does income protection cover mental health, stress, anxiety or burnout in NZ? A plain guide to what insurers pay, the exclusions and sub-lim…
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Personal Risk · 29 Aug 2025
Income Protection Occupation Classes in NZ (2026): Why Your Job Sets Your Premium and Cover
Occupation class is one of the biggest things that sets your income protection premium and terms. Here is how NZ insurers grade jobs from pr…
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Personal Risk · 17 Jan 2026
Income Protection Offset Clauses in NZ (2026): How ACC and Other Income Cut Your Payout
Offset (integration) clauses can quietly cut your income protection payout when ACC, sick pay or other cover already pays. Here is how they …
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Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2026
Income Protection vs Mortgage Protection NZ (2026): Which Actually Guards Your Home?
Income protection can be set to cover up to 115% of your mortgage; mortgage protection guards the repayment itself. Here is which one actual…
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Personal Risk · 18 Sep 2025
Income Protection vs Mortgage Repayment Holiday in NZ (2026): The Trap of Relying on Your Bank Instead
A mortgage repayment holiday pauses your payments but not your debt. Here is why a repayment holiday is a deferral rather than income cover,…
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Personal Risk · 12 May 2026
Income Protection vs Savings Buffer in NZ (2026)
Should you buy income protection or self-insure with a savings buffer? This guide models the wait-period vs buffer trade-off, where each one…
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Personal Risk · 21 May 2026
Income Protection Wait Period vs Benefit Period in NZ (2026): The Trade-off That Sets Your Premium
The wait period and the benefit period are the two levers that decide what your income protection costs. Here's how each one works, how they…
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Financial Advice · 13 Aug 2025
Independent vs Tied Financial Adviser NZ: Why Where Advice Comes From Changes What You're Sold
What 'independent' really means in NZ advice, how to spot a tied or bank adviser, and why an adviser's product range changes what you can be…
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General Insurance · 27 Apr 2026
Inflation and Underinsurance in NZ 2026: Why Your House Sum Insured Falls Behind Each Year
Why NZ house sum insured falls behind in 2026 — construction-cost inflation, the lag in CPI-based indexation, the shortfall it can leave at …
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KiwiSaver · 20 Dec 2025
Inflation and Real KiwiSaver Returns in NZ (2026): What Your Money Actually Earns
A positive return is not always a real gain. With inflation at 3.0%, here is how to work out your real, after-inflation KiwiSaver return and…
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Retirement · 12 May 2026
Inflation and Retirement in NZ (2026): Why Your Nest Egg Has to Keep Growing
Inflation erodes a 25-year retirement. At 4% a year, a fixed $50,000 income buys roughly half as much by year 18. Here is why all-cash at 65…
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Personal Risk · 16 Dec 2025
Insurance Commission Clawback in NZ: Why Your Adviser May Push Back on Switching Cover
A clawback means your adviser repays part of their upfront commission if you cancel cover early — usually within two years. Here is how that…
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Personal Risk · 23 Mar 2025
Insurance After Separation NZ (2026): Rebuilding Cover on One Income
When a household splits, two incomes become one and a shared insurance plan stops fitting. Here is how a NZ adviser thinks about restructuri…
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Personal Risk · 15 Aug 2025
Insurance Loadings and Exclusions in NZ (2025): What They Mean and Can You Get Them Removed?
A loading raises your premium; an exclusion carves out a condition. Here is what each does to your cover, what commonly triggers them in NZ,…
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Business · 17 Feb 2025
How to Insure a Sole Trader in NZ: The Whole Cover Picture
A sole trader has unlimited personal liability, no employer cover and no sick leave. Here is the full NZ cover map, in priority order: perso…
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