I’ve said for many years Kiwi’s love being self-employed, and we seem to switch between employed and self-employed a lot. Some succeed, some have a change of direction, some it’s about a change of situation. The point is, change is inevitable.

What will surprise you; typically, there are over 45,000 start-up businesses each year in New Zealand. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that a large number of these businesses are registered with the Companies Office early in the new year. Unfortunately, a lot of these businesses will simply fail due to cash-flow constraints. Some will be because the business isn’t sustainable, but the more likely reason is someone got injured or was prevented from working due to a disability.

It is that time of year, its fresh and new and the possibilities await!

My question to you is what are you going to do different to ensure you achieve the things you want?

Someone somewhere has said, "To repeat the same thing over and over and expect a different result is the definition of insanity." So what are you going to do to avoid the insanity of repeating the last few years?

Change, it seems to be the only constant. Innovation and new products from businesses seem to be a constant stream. 

In the world of insurance and risk, it is much the same. In 2015 ACC paid $718,000,000 to cover the cost of work-related injury claims.

I am doing a presentation to a group of business people shortly around planning for Health & Safety risks and what implementing a Health & Safety Plan is about.

One of the things I have done is to get out to the WorkSafe website and see what they say on the subject. It is pretty good!

Their around the block tool is a handy, easy interface to the site for those who want to dig at specific examples of what relates to their business.

They say all is fair in love and war. 

And it was first said by Miguel de Cervantes who made the comparison in 1604 in Don Quixote when he wrote, "Love and war are all one . . . Which was translated from the original Spanish used.

Variations have been used since, though it was not until 1850 that we saw the exact phrasing we know today.

Frank Smedley wrote in his novel, Frank Fairlegh: Scenes from the Life of a Private Pupil:

So you have existing medical insurance cover but you are concerned about unfunded and non-Pharmac subsidised medicines, especially for cancer.

You are concerned because your present cover is either limited or non-existent for this area of your medical treatment. 

If you are fit and healthy then this is not quite the issue it could be and moving to a plan that does cover this is relatively straight forward. 

But that’s not the reason you are reading this either.

I'm doing Movember this year, raising funds and awareness for men's health, please support the cause here mobro.co/willowgrove

I want to raise awareness about mens health and getting regular medical checks, even when you feel fine.

As a life insurance adviser, dealing with preventable conditions, particularly with men, is one of the most frustrating things I encounter.

This one might be a rocky ride. Possibly going to offend a few people too.

Sorry, not the intention, if it helps just one person move forward in life, it is all worth it.

So what am I prattling on about?

One of the things that regularly comes up with the discussion on risk is estate planning. This post is the first of a three-part legal series from the team at Legal Beagle to outline the considerations on estate planning that might apply to you.

This is an update of my earlier blog dated the 14th of March 2016 which can be found here for comparison.

I'm updating this post as a new one as we have had Sovereign come out with an announcement that they will be retrospectively applying un-funded medicines cover for cancer to their historical medical product range. This one change effectively doubles the cover and unfunded access to treatment in New Zealand. That's Huge!

Those that have been reading my blog and social posts on a regular basis will have seen I’ve got a particular bee in my bonnet about unfunded medicines. Partly driven from my view insurance advice needs to improve but also ensuring you have access to the best treatment possible when you really need it the most.

Continuing from the previous blog on breast cancer claims, we are going to get a bit technical and dive much deeper into what today's policy wordings say about cancer definitions.  

We did something similar on heart attack definitions a couple of months ago, though this is significantly longer. I am going do something I have not seen in a blog, add an appendix!

Continuing from our previous post on the primary cancer benefit definitions we cover the early or less severe stages of a cancer claim with these definitions. If you want to read the main article, you can read that here first

Partial or Early Cancer Benefits

We've been chatting in a number of groups about risk and insurance and we got chatting with Amanda from Southern Bride.

Having got married not too long ago myself, I appreciate the stress and challenges arranging a wedding can have.

Not to mention some of the risks that pop up with not only the celebration on the day, but the final parties before and some of the antics that happen.

This has been an interesting topic of discussion in the last few weeks. Brought about by two clients facing breast cancer.

Checking the stats on the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation website the diagnosis rate of breast cancer in New Zealand has been steadily climbing in the last 20 years. From around 2,000 diagnosed per year to around 3,000 diagnosed per year presently.

This probably isn't surprising given that our population has grown too. What is pleasing to see is the mortality rate is improving relative to the number diagnosed. 

What’s the one major issue people have that forces people to rely on their insurance plan?

No, not the latest iPhone or episode of Game of Thrones or Pokemon, it is their health! Though Pokemon is proving to be a factor for some!

The problem is we are so focused on being entertained that we have forgotten to focus on the things that really matter.