Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan says the start of a New Year is a good time to take stock of the year that’s been, and reflect on what lies ahead.
“We recently asked New Zealanders if they feel they know enough about insurance to make good decisions about buying or cancelling policies. More than 30 per cent said they didn’t. That’s a worry because insurance is a way to protect you and your family from financial loss if the unexpected happens.”
The campaign shows real New Zealanders, not actors, in different circumstances confronting their financial issues.
The latest Consumer Credit Expectations Survey from credit reporting agency Dun and Bradstreet shows high income households are seeking to rein in their debt. But low income households and younger people are anticipating higher debt levels in the months ahead.
“Debt is easy to get into but much harder to get out of especially in the current financial climate. It’s important that people know the full cost of the debt they’re taking on because borrowing money comes at a price,” Diana Crossan said.
Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan says January’s always busy on sorted.org.nz as people plan for the year ahead, but this January has set new records, with 163,000 visitors to the website – nearly a third more than January 2008.
The Sorted site was launched in September 2001, and it has just surpassed a quarter of a million visitors. In a random survey of site visits, three out of five visitors said that Sorted had changed the way they manage their money.
Retirement Commissioner Colin Blair said he was extremely pleased with the response to the site.
“New Zealanders are visiting the site, investigating the information; using the planning tools and coming back to the site to up-date their personal information,” Mr Blair said.
In accepting the award for the Retirement Commission, Communications Manager Robyn Cormack said www.sorted.org.nz was a hugely successful public education campaign, which has attracted over a quarter of a million visitors.
“We’ve been successfully providing financial planning education to New Zealanders for five years, but our decision to use the internet to deliver it opened up new opportunities for us to provide a fun, interactive and personal financial planning environment.”
The shift from retirement planning to lifetime financial planning, announced recently by Social Services Minister Steve Maharey, is called Sorted, and will be launched on 30 September 2001.
Sorted public education manager Liz Read said that international research showed a clear link between financial education early in life, and financial well-being in retirement.
Announced winner in the best finance site category last night at the NZ Netguide Web Awards ceremony in Auckland, Sorted headed off a field of 4 finalists nominated by the pub lic.
Retirement Commissioner Colin Blair said the public’s reaction to the web site had confirmed that the best way the Commission can help people to achieve the financial security they want in retirement is to provide them with information and education to manage their money well throughout life.
“In developing the Sorted programme, we have deliberately moved the focus of our public education activities to helping people of all ages and life-stages with the every-day financial issues that challenge all of us.”