Newbies to the site

[Jackie&Martin]

Hi there, we live in Blackpool, Lancashire and we are really keen to know more about Zealand.

What would we have to do regarding health insurance, do we need to purchase private medical insurance and if so how much does it cost?
Does anyone know how much you have to earn in NZ before you pay tax?
Is there a site that tells us interest rates on savings in NZ?
How much would we need to have invested to live comfortably without working?

Many thanks

Jackie & Martin

[Taffy]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum!

To try and answer your questions:

You dont need to have health insurance if you are a resident of NZ, but certain treatments are not covered by the health service, so if you can afford it, it can be worth it.

You pay tax on every dollar you earn in NZ. There's no thresholds like the UK.

There's a lot of sites offering information on interest rates, but not many can keep up with all the changes. One of the best savings accounts at the moment is with Raboplus, who are currently offering 7.5%. You can get higher interest accounts, but they are usually term deposits.

How much invested in a savings account? If you wanted to live off interest alone, you'd probably need $1million to live comfortably. That would probably give you a return of around $60,000 per year (guessing). You'll have to pay tax on that, at your personal tax rate (either 19.5, 33 or 39%)

Hope that helps :)

[MotherBear]

Another to the forum from me, Jackie and Martin.

Hope we can be of assistance to you in your quest for knowledge about NZ.

For some information about all things financial in NZ take a look at Interest . It allows you to compare different deals with bank rates, mortgages, credit cards and all sorts. Might be of some use.

[Dawn]

Hey yous twos, I like you already! Did you do the same thing as me with your user name i.e. put in your own name unaware of that was how it would be shown on screen or did you do it deliberately? If it was an error it means your as daft as me in which case glad to have you aboard , if it wasn't an error it means I'm still the only lonely fool

Welcome anyways and keep the questions coming, it keeps MB busy as there's nothing else for her to do in hot, sultry Oman (once she's finished checking her bum for spots that is) (Old joke before anyone takes offence AGAIN):rolleyes:

[Glenda]

Originally Posted by Taffy

Hi,
How much invested in a savings account? If you wanted to live off interest alone, you'd probably need $1million to live comfortably. That would probably give you a return of around $60,000 per year (guessing). You'll have to pay tax on that, at your personal tax rate (either 19.5, 33 or 39%)

Hi Jackie and Martin,

If you have a million to invest you would get around $79,000 per year from the major banks at the moment. Most banks keep the rates 'under the table' when you are talking about that amount of investment. Yes, they are usually term accounts but quite often the most profitable term is three or four months rather than years.

If investing this (or any large) amount do it in joint names and share the tax. Mother Bear must have a link for tax rates somewhere but http://www.ird.govt.nz/yoursituation-nonres/move-nz/ and http://www.ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrat...etaxrates.html should be of some assistance.

I would say that how much you need to live on depends on how many there are of you, whether you are buying or renting a property, and how extravagent you are(!).

:smile:

[MotherBear]

Glenda has come up with some pretty useful links there so I'll just add this couple, which, again, just tell you about the tax system. One is from Westpac Bank . And this one is from the NZIS site.

I haven't read through them, so there will probably be a lot of info repeated between all the links. Just thought I'd put them up in case the odd nugget or gem had been missed.

As for private health care, as you wish. As Taffy says, you don't need it, but it is available if you want it. This site briefly tells you how the NZ health system is run.
This is the ACC which is a government run system that pays out if you have an accident.

Just a few private insurance companies.
Sovereign
Tower
Insurance Link .
Southern Cross
State

[LilAmy]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum

When taking out Health Insurance it may be worthwhile adding in Dental Cover as well. I am going to get stung for a $2k bill for getting two wisdom teeth out (when I feel brave enough to book it up that is). Pretty expensive dental treatments here compared to the UK!!

Good luck with your research...

[Debd]

Hi to you both too!
Gee Amy, that's amazingly high!! It takes a few seconds to take one of those out too!! You won't feel it though, honest!! Good luck x

[Welshgirl]

Hi Jackie & Martin,

I think most of your questions (so far!) have been more or less answered by now but I just wanted to say welcome and good to have you on board Feel free to post any other questions that pop into your head!

Deb, I thought having wisdom teeth extracted was quite a major thing - in fact, didn't it even used to entail a short stay in hospital? I could be wrong Even so, $2k still seems hellishly expenive to have two teeth removed

Anyway, Sorry Jackie & Martin

[MotherBear]

This thread is building nicely, but where are Jackie and Martin? I hope they didn?t wander off and couldn?t find their way back to the forum again . 13 days since last heard from ? is that classed as ?missing in action??

Hope their post wasn?t just a flash in the pan. Sounded a nice couple and it?s always good to meet new NZ-oriented cyber friends on here. Wonder what happened to Calium_b on the WP/WHV category as well. Are we perhaps using the wrong soap?