Financial literacy – the life skill that compounds

Financial literacy is not just knowledge about money. It is a practical life skill. It helps people have more productive conversations and make better decisions about saving, borrowing, investing, KiwiSaver and retirement. The benefit is rarely dramatic in a single year, but over time it can compound into very different outcomes.

Most people think of financial literacy as knowing the answer to a few money questions. What is compound interest? How does inflation work? Why diversify? Those questions matter, but they are only the starting point.

MacDonald Wealth Spring Update

If the third quarter of 2026 had been submitted as a film script, a director might have sent it back for being too ‘busy’.

There was continuing conflict in the Middle East, another rise in energy prices, renewed inflation concerns and interest rate increases from several central banks. At the same time, businesses continued spending heavily on artificial intelligence (AI), the global economy kept expanding and most share markets finished the quarter higher.

Growth in the face of gloom might feel contradictory. However, as the quarter demonstrated, both can occur at the same time.

Level Premiums: The insurance decision many kiwis get wrong

Most Kiwis who take out a life insurance policy tend to choose the cheaper premium. It feels like a sensible decision in the moment, but, for a surprising number of people, it turns out to be the wrong one.

Supporting your kids financially without compromising your own future

For most parents, helping their kids financially feels like part of the job. You want to give them opportunities you maybe didn’t have, make life a little easier, or help them get ahead in an increasingly expensive world.

That support can take many forms; paying for education, helping with rent, covering a car repair, or contributing toward a house deposit. In isolation, none of these things feel unreasonable. Often, they feel necessary.

Where it can get tricky is when that support starts to come at a quiet cost to your own financial wellbeing

When is enough, enough?

For many people, the early stages of wealth building are straightforward. You work hard, pay down debt, build investments, grow your income and focus on creating financial security for your family.

But at some point, the question changes.

Instead of asking "How can I accumulate more?" you begin asking "What is all this money actually for?"

Getting older? How a higher excess could help you keep your health insurance

It’s a situation that resonates with many; premiums keep rising and retirement income stays fixed, at some point the maths just stops working. Cancelling your health insurance feels like the only answer.

But it’s almost NEVER the right one and in most cases, there’s an option that people simply don’t know exists – one that can make health cover genuinely affordable again without giving up the protection that matters most.

Lessons from 100 years of capitalism

If you had invested in the US share market over the past century, you would have participated in one of the greatest wealth creation stories ever recorded.

A dollar broadly invested in the US share market 100 years ago would have compounded by a staggering 1,500,000% over the course of the century.

It’s an extraordinary statistic.

MacDonald Wealth Winter Update

The best time to have a fire drill is when the building’s not already burning.

The reason is simple, because any mistakes made during a drill are much less expensive than mistakes made during the real thing.

Why do we mention this?

Because if we can extend this analogy to investment markets, the markets were definitely not ‘burning’ in the second quarter of 2026. Far from it. Investors in fact have plenty of reasons to be very pleased about returns over the recent few months.

The World Cup stock market effect: Is it an actual thing?

The World Cup stock market effect, the idea that football's biggest tournament reaches into share prices, has been a fixture of the financial pages for years. The attention shock is real and enormous. But a new working paper suggests the market response is far smaller than the headlines claim, and that some of it was never there to begin with.

Financial advice isn’t just for the wealthy: Here’s who actually benefits the most

For many people, financial advice feels like something you turn to later. When you’re earning more, when you’ve built up assets, when things are more “complicated”. Until then, it’s easy to assume you should be able to manage on your own.

The reality is that financial advice isn’t really about how much money you have. It’s about the decisions you’re facing, the trade‑offs you’re making, and whether what you’re doing today is quietly shaping the future you actually want.

How often should you check your investments?

Be honest.

How many times have you opened your investing app this week?

If you’re like most people, it’s probably more than you’d admit. A quick check while waiting for a coffee. Another glance after the news mentions markets dropping. Maybe one more before bed.

It feels harmless. But it’s one of the biggest things working against long-term investors.

Investing like it’s 1996

You are an investor with a long-term investment horizon. What if I could tell you that the next 30 years would contain:

 - A significant currency crisis
 - At least one global pandemic, and several other major global health threats
 - A global financial crisis
 - Several new wars and scores of significant armed conflicts
 - An escalation in global terrorism events
 - Economic trade wars
If crystal balls worked, that’s what we would have been able to tell an investor in 1996. So, what should they have done with that information?

MacDonald Wealth Autumn Update

While the last several years have seen many international share markets delivering strong double-digit investment returns, the first three months of 2026 saw most markets taking a small step backwards.

Market declines can happen at any time, but the primary headwind this quarter was linked to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The case for a strategic allocation to New Zealand shares

A tale of two decades

New Zealand shares have experienced both strong and challenging periods over the past decade and a half.

From around 2011 through to 2020, New Zealand was one of the stronger performing share markets in the developed world. Investors with meaningful allocations to local companies were well rewarded and portfolios with higher exposure to New Zealand shares compared favourably to more globally diversified portfolios.

More recently, that has changed.

Staying Steady in Uncertain Times: Practical Tips for Life and Money

From global events to changing interest rates here in New Zealand, periods of uncertainty can feel unsettling. Markets move, headlines turn negative, and it’s completely natural to feel concerned about what it all means for your finances and your future.

The reality is, while we can’t control what’s happening around us, we can control how we respond—both emotionally and financially. The key is to stay grounded, avoid reactive decisions, and focus on what really matters over the long term.

Here are some simple, practical strategies to help you stay steady during turbulent times.

3 Lessons from Investing’s “Moneyball” Moment

Michael Jensen, then an economist at the University of Rochester, used the data to analyze individual fund performance between 1945 and 1964. He found that individual mutual funds were unable, on average, to outperform a strategy that simply bought and held a marketwide portfolio. In fact, there was scant evidence that any individual fund delivered better returns than you’d expect by random chance.

After 100 years of data, the story has stayed the same. Only more so. Stock returns compounded at about 10% per year over the full century.

What does this mean for average investors? 

A look back at when the world feared the worst

When the Market Siren Sounds, Will You Know What to Do?

As a kid growing up in Kansas, we regularly did tornado drills in school. When the siren sounded, we’d rush downstairs into the auditorium and huddle in its southwest corner, because tornadoes in Kansas tend to move northeast. After a few minutes of hunkering down, we’d head back to class. Nobody particularly loved those tornado drills, but everyone understood why they mattered.

How sunlight helps you stay healthy

he sun’s rays have received something of a bad rap in recent years, especially here in New Zealand. Yet the truth is that without it, we simply couldn’t survive. And, let’s face it, we wouldn’t even be here in the first place.

Yes, from helping plants to grow to keeping us warm, sunlight is an absolute essential for life. Not to mention a welcome feeling on the skin, and a positive health boon too. But before we delve into just how sunlight is beneficial to our overall health and wellness, let’s tackle the big elephant in the room – our modern-day aversion to it.