anita

10 Nov

Entrepreneurs want to pay more tax

Guy Kawasaki on ‘why I’d love to pay more tax’

This might not be everyone’s bag – and no, he’s not super dynamic, but I largely agree with what Guy is saying. If I wanted to work fewer hours, have flexibility and a predictable week, I’d work for someone else. Building a business is about a desire for change and to make things better.

Paying tax hardly features in the top ten challenges of running a business, and yet it’s a major policy driver for political campaigns and conversations around wealth redistribution.

According to the latest (2011) OECD Corruption Index New Zealand is doing pretty well – actually, extremely well. Beating America superbly.

Yup – let’s support aspiring entrepreneurs and business people. My guess is that most have more invested in their local community than we realise.

11 Jun

Let’s be literate

I haven’t completed a quadratic equation since 1995. Pythagoras’ theorum, so enthusiastically instilled into my education, has really not held any sway over my adult life. I’m sure many people use these maths concepts on a daily basis, but I know for myself, I’ve referenced Shakespeare more often than Pi.

What do I wish had been taught? I reckon every person, whether engineer or nurse, needs to know how to read a contract and how to calculate interest. Tawa Intermediate School is teaching financial literacy, and I reckon that’s fantastic. Rich or poor, intelligent or just average, we all need to understand finance, saving, budgeting and what really is the best fiscal decision in any given situation. In my professional life I have seen tremendous stress brought on by people not understanding the financial implications of their decisions, and it’s painful to watch.

While my parents were sensible in their financial decisions, and instilled the value of delayed gratification, it wasn’t until I worked in business that I understood some of the big, conflicting decisions of good financial management. Being able to develop a financial plan around whether something is a money-maker, investment or expense, including a buffer for the unexpected, and weighing up the decision are crucial skills.

Let’s see more schools and places of education recognising the importance of a financially literate future.

What was the best financial advice you ever received?

07 Jun

Ready for anything?

A snow dump on Wednesday was my first ever REAL snow experience. I sat mesmerised for most of the morning watching snow fall. Working from home with the heat pump set to 29 degrees, I was super glad this former Aucklander never lost power in the house. Once the wonder of the snow finally sank in, It could move beyond the somewhat existentialist question of what is snow and why on earth do we get it, to the question how do we cope with the unexpected?

What’s YOUR contingency plan?