Every adult should have a will. A will is a legal document that sets out your wishes regarding the distribution of your assets and the care of any minor children on your death. By having a current will you can make sure that everyone understands what you want to happen with your estate – everything you own and owe when you die.

One of the first things you need to do before making any investment decision is determine your Risk Profile. You Risk Profile is an assessment of how much risk you are prepared to take or accept when investing in an asset.

In previous blogs I have talked about Cash is King and Budgets - Vital for Everyone. Today I want to expand on this and discuss cash management - one of the most important things in managing your personal and business assets and liabilities.

In my previous Blogs I have talked about Equity and Gearing and Leverage as two important things you should understand when making investment decisions. The third thing you should know is the difference between debt and equity and how this might affect the financing of your investment decisions.

At some stage in your personal and business life you will have to write a report or business case whether it is to obtain a home loan or outline a business opportunity at work. Over the years I have read many good and many bad reports and they can make an enormous difference in how you react to or make a decision on the report.

In my Blog Trusts - The Technical Things I outlined some of the technical things you should know about Trusts. This Blog will look at the advantages and disadvantages of settling up a Trust and provide you with an outline of some of the things you should consider in answering the question “should I set up

One of my favourite topics of discussion is Trusts. What are they? How do they work? Should I have a Trust? In my next two Blogs I will explain the technical and the practical things you should know about Trusts.

KiwiSaver is a voluntary retirement savings scheme to help you save for your retirement. It started in 2007

Gearing is a ratio or measurement that compares the equity of a business (or person) against the debt they have. This ratio shows how much of your activities are funded by equity versus debt. It is also a measure of your financial stability.

Almost everyone is interested interest rates whether it be how much you are paying on your mortgage or how much you are receiving on your term deposit

You often read in the media about someone who is a millionaire or maybe even a billionaire. What does this mean and is this important or not?

The most important thing to understand with investment decisions is the concept of risk versus return. This concept very simply states that the investment return on an asset is linked directly to the amount of risk associated with that asset.

I think that everyone should learn basic finance at school (along with learning about nutrition and food, but that is for another day……). Why learn about finance, I hear you say?

What is a budget? It is your best guess on what you will earn and what you will spend over a defined period of time. Everyone should budget including individuals, groups of people, business and anyone who earns and spends money.

The world is awash with acronym’s and the financial sector is no exception with GST, IRD, ACC, PAYE, FBT, EBIT, EBITDA, NPBT, NPAT, EBITDAC, UOMI, FOREX, CAPEX, OPEX, EPS, NTA, NPV, ROA, PE, MTD, YTD…the list goes on and on but my favorite one is KPI’s……

The purpose of my blog is to keep you informed of things that I have learned and come across over the years that have helped me both personally and in business.