Resources

Many millennials are having a tough time launching their adult lives. The usual blame for this is placed on burdensome student loans, job insecurity, high housing or rent costs, and – of course –surplus cash regularly devoted to smashed avocado on toast and the latest iPhone! As a result, perhaps it’s no …

Following Cabinet approval, the Ministry of Health has formally commenced consultation on options to reform the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 and related legislation. This work follows the 2015 Law Commission report Death, Burial and Cremation: A new law for contemporary New Zealand, which made recommendations to modernise the law …

People of all ages across New Zealand can unwittingly become money mules for international fraudsters, and many of those targeted are elders. Now the office of the Retirement Commissioner has partnered with the Police to produce a booklet to help people protect themselves from becoming unwitting accomplices in moving money …

In September and October 2019, the Ministry of Health’s Disability Directorate held twenty community conversations, and an online nationwide livestream with disabled people, families and whānau, carers and providers. For more about the consultation process click here. These forums were opportunities to gather insights from the disability sector about the impact …

New Year’s resolutions are a great idea. They’re about tweaking the daily and weekly habits that stop us from being the person we want to be. They’re often about eating, saving or exercising better, but these ones are tough to maintain – chips, trips and Netflix are hard habits to …

A wise man once said: ‘the only constant in life is change’. Of course, a part of change is uncertainty. While you may not be able to prevent yourself from all forms of uncertainty, you can surely prepare well in advance for any kind of financial uncertainty that may occur …

Being able to make decisions about our lives for ourselves is an important part of maintaining independence as we age. Our ability to understand and make informed decisions is called mental capacity. Sometimes, through illness or accident, we can lose mental capacity. If that happens, you might want a family …

Supermarkets are useful one-stop shops for a variety of goods. However, in case you weren’t already aware, the multi-billion-dollar NZ supermarket industry is dominated by two players, so we don’t have much choice when it comes to our weekly shop. The big two are: Woolworths New Zealand (owner of Countdown …

The holiday season can be a stressful and emotional time, so it’s important to keep an eye out for the older people in your life. One in ten people 65 and over will experience some form of elder abuse. Elder abuse can come in many forms, it’s more than physical abuse and …

From March next year, IR and ACC will no longer accept payments by cheque from customers who are able to use alternative payment options. IR received more than 430,000 cheques last financial year, the largest number received by any public sector agency. ACC received approximately 25,000 cheques from business customers. …