Grey Power March 2017

NATIONAL GREYPOWER MAGAZINE » NOVEMBER 2016 25
Money Chatter ‘You don’t know
what you don’t know’
Tony Walker is the co-owner of ImPower Limited, a truly
independent fee based financial advisory practice. Tony
is an Authorised Financial Adviser and Certified Financial
Planner (CFPCM) and his disclosure statement is available
free of charge on request by emailing Tony at tony.walker@
impower.nz or by calling him on 021 656 223.
I
have heard this saying many times
over the years and it often makes
me think about the risks people take
trying to do things that they don’t really
understand.
This can apply to physical things like
fixing a leaky tap or a broken window –
or to services such as getting the right
tax advice or making sure that a legal
document is properly checked.
Recently I was asked to help a gentleman
(let’s call him Bill) whose wife
had just gone into full-time residential
care – and he was making an application
to Work and Income for the Residential
Care Subsidy. He had battled his
way through the form, had a telephone
meeting with Work and Income, and
then had his application declined – because
he had too many assets. Interestingly,
he wasn’t offered any guidance.
Needless to say, Bill “was not
amused”.
Bill had obtained information from
the Ministry of Health website about
such matters as Asset Testing and Income
Testing – but he didn’t really understand
the information so it made it
extremely difficult for him to complete
the application.
in fact have assets above the threshold
– but by accurately reporting the situation
and maintaining communication
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with Work and Income, they would be
eligible to reapply in four months’ time.
This was a huge relief as Bill was under
the impression that his wife might never
be eligible.
We know that government departments
are not easy to deal with. But by
being aware of your rights and entitlements,
you can be much more confident
in your dealings with them – and you
will have a much better chance of having
a fair outcome – without your blood
boiling.
So consider reaching out for advice.
We are happy to offer such a support and
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advice service. And we can extend this
to setting up an ongoing advice relationship
so that, whenever you need some
help, you can pick up the phone or send
us an email.
Often it is better to get someone to
help you fight your battles – even if
there might be a cost for that support.
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This article is of a general nature and
is not personalised financial advice
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By being aware of your
rights and entitlements,
you can be much more
confident in your
dealings with them – and
you will have a much
better chance of having
a fair outcome – without
your blood boiling.
A couple of examples will demonstrate
what I mean.
Bill had provided information in the
application form about life insurance on
his life and on his wife’s. The amounts
were relatively small – no million dollar
policies – but by reporting the information
incorrectly, Bill presented a worse
situation about his assets than was in
fact the case.
The other area which Bill did not
understand properly was in the area of
gifting. Back in 2012 when Gift Duty
was abolished the Ministry of Social
Development significantly tightened
up the rules on gifting in the period of
five years before lodging an application.
Bill and his wife had made some gifts
to their daughter over these years. This
gifting was challenged by Work and
Income staff which frustrated and angered
Bill largely because he didn’t fully
appreciate the rules. Such a reaction
invariably produces a worse outcome –
and heightened stress levels and blood
pressure!
When we ‘ran the numbers’ for Bill
we found out that he and his wife did
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