“Tackling financial literacy via increased awareness and education would be a great place to start as those who receive sound financial advice are generally far better off than those who do not,” Edwards said.
Financial Services Council NZ CEO Richard Klipin (pictured above right) said in a statement earlier this week that the industry body for the financial services sector looked forward to working with the incoming government to pursue policy that could strengthen the financial resilience and wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
Klipin said that there were many opportunities to achieve this, and that the Prime Minister-elect had set “a number of clear policy signals” at the FSC annual conference in August, at which New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters and the ACT Party also outlined their priorities.
“The FSC will work constructively with his government to ensure new policy settings are well informed by the collective expertise of the industry,” Klipin said.
Klipin said that the rising cost of living was the most pressing issue for Kiwis and that this needed to be addressed for both the short and long term. He also reiterated that a full review of KiwiSaver was due, to ensure New Zealanders received the best possible returns to prepare them for retirement.