Sorted has had a big spike in traffic. Reported in Goodreturns, the focus in that article is on the demand for advice. That is true. The nature of the traffic also highlight the grim economic news: the most-used areas of the site were the mortgage calculator and the budget planner. But to return to the subject of advice, more than ever an holistic approach to financial advice is probably in demand now. We could do with a lot more capacity in this area - which currently is limited to AFAs. If you are an RFA, with relevant competence to offer financial planning, I suggest getting your transitional licence for the new regime and formalising your offer. It is needed.

Sorted: New Zealanders hungry for advice, Sorted says

In other news:

Fidelity Life: Fidelity Life makes board appointment

OBITUARY: Janet Brownlie

Suncorp: There is “no urgency” to return staff to offices - Suncorp

Pandemic risk mitigation and environmental policies go hand in hand

Sorted has published a great article by Tom Hartmann on avoiding scams. The impressive thing about this article is the 'hook'. Consumers aren't very interested in the more detailed aspects of financial planning. So how do you make this interesting? A picture of Robert De Niro helps, dressed as the character in the movie "Wizard of Lies". Link.

Sorted has this great suite of cool looking new financial tools - the kinds of calculators and planners with nice graphics and good step-by-step instructions that you would like to see from the Commission for financial Capability. Take a moment to check them out. Notice which area is missing? That's right, insurance.

On Tuesday the 19th of September Sorted.org are hosting a live KiwiSaver Q&A session. More details can be found at this link.

Sorted, the public face of the Commission for Financial Capability, is promoting its annual financial literacy event "Money Week". Money Week runs from the 14th to the 20th of August - it is a great reminder to catch up on the resources that Sorted makes available to support improving financial lives. 

Tom Hartmann at Sorted has this guide to spotting scams. Link. 

Sorted has a blog and on it Tom Hartmann has written a thoughtful post about the cost of rate-for-age cover. The powerful image of a steep set of stairs brings it home (he lives in Wellington, so it is an easy image to identify with). I'm a bit biased about the article because it quotes me, but more importantly, it does nail the issue of rising costs.

Let me illustrate: Use a fairly ordinary package of benefits to construct the 'ideal': repay debt, life cover of 5x income, plus IP at 75% of income, to 65 on a four week wait. I've only allowed a typical, but very low, $50,000 of Trauma and TPD. I did not select the best options in IP. I left out health insurance completely. 

• At age 35 the package costs just under 4% of income
• At age 40 it will have risen to over 5% of income
• At age 55 it will be over 15% of income
• At age 60 it will cost about 24% of income

Those scenarios allowed for increasing income and reducing debt levels. Combine that with the 'ideal' package of home, contents, and car, and 'ideal' health insurance, plus, of course, the 'ideal' contribution to KiwiSaver... I don't know if there would be much income left. It is easy to see why people aged 50+ are shopping their cover around and cancelling chunks of it. That's because there is nothing 'ideal' about spending a quarter of your income on insurance. 

This article on Sorted brings 'temptation bundling' into the world of financial planning. Tom Hartmann encourages us to bundle indulgence with a good habit or task which we are putting off - and achieve two goals at once. 

Sorted continues to promote KiwiSaver to the still-significant portion of the eligible population that isn't participating with an excellent twitter campaign "Is this $521 yours?" Link.