Is it too late for New Years resolutions?
Legal New Year’s Resolutions
The best kind of New Year’s resolution is one that is easy enough to keep and makes you feel a whole lot better. We may have made muttered promises to ourselves about more walks, and less wine, but here are five legal resolutions that will leave you feeling right on top of things and ready for your year:
1. Make a will (or take a look at your old one to see if it needs refreshing).
Everybody whether married, single, a parent or a grandparent needs a will. It saves your family having to go to Court to get Letters of Administration. A well thought out will allows you to plan what happens to your assets when you die, and to nominate someone to have a say in important decisions for your children. In addition to your will, do you need an enduring power of attorney so that a trusted person can step in and make important care or property decisions if you cannot do so yourself?
2. Get on top of debt
This year I am abolishing a budget in favour of a “Spending Plan” because it sounds much more fun. If things have gotten more serious than that, a lawyer can help you renegotiate debt, and your bank or mortgage broker could help you consolidate your debts to reduce the overall interest you are paying. A “disruptive accountant” or a budgeting advisor might be just the thing for taking control of your financial affairs.
3. Get some advice on that niggly legal issue
This may seem self-serving, but that combative neighbour on your right of way, that ongoing trust issue, or upcoming property purchase with your partner are underlying causes of stress. Sometimes all you need is 20 minutes legal advice to put you on the path to resolving them.
4. Make sure your insurance is doing what you think it is
For lots of reasons, insurance policies may not be protecting you properly – whether because you have more assets than you used to, other circumstances have changed, or you are just paying too much. So that you are protected when you need it, read your policy and get in touch with your insurer if anything is unclear. Ask them if they have a plain English description of cover and exclusions. Work out whether your house insurance will cover a rebuild if you needed one. Consider an insurance broker.
5. Book in a time for those walks and revel in all that peace of mind (I’m not saying anything about the wine).
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Immigration: Kiwi brain drain has peaked despite another year of record departures
Migrant departures reached a record 122,800 in the year to January 2025, up 18%.
Migrant arrivals were 155,300, down 31%, with a net migration gain of 32,500.
Economists warn low net migration could impact the housing market and economic recovery.
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The number of people leaving the country long-term hit another new record in the year to January – but monthly data suggests the brain drain has peaked.
Stats NZ provisional data for the January 2025 year (compared with January 2024) showed migrant departures up 18% to 122,800, the highest on record for an annual period.
Migrant arrivals, at 155,300 were down, 31% for the year.
There was an annual net migration gain of 32,500 (± 1500), compared with a net gain of 121,800.
Down from around 33,317 in the year to December, that was the lowest rate of net migration since 2014 (outside of the Covid-19 era).
In the past few weeks, economists have warned that low levels of net migration are providing a headwind for the residential housing market and may slow the overall economic recovery.
“Over the past few months, we’ve seen net migration stabilise at annualised rates around 25-35k. It leaves us with a view of positive but below average expansion in the population over the next 18 months or so,” BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said in a note last month.
“That adds to the list of factors likely to check the pace of recovery this year.”
Commenting on the latest numbers, ASB senior economist Mark Smith noted that weaker net immigration had “eroded a key leg of support for the New Zealand housing market, domestic demand, and labour market capacity”.
“Easing economic support from net immigration will weigh on economic growth and translate into greater spare capacity,” he said.
Annual migrant arrivals peaked at 234,800 in the year ended October 2023. Annual net migration peaked in the year ended October 2023 with a gain of 135,500.
For New Zealand citizens, the net migration loss of 44,200 in the January 2025 year shows a stabilisation of the ‘brain-drain’ trend.
It was a slight improvement from a net migration loss of 44,700 Kiwis in the January 2024 year, and a loss of 44,375 for the year to December 2024.
The monthly data shows the rate of Kiwi departures peaked in the year to August 2024 when a net 47,147 departed long-term.
That was still high compared to an average annual net migration loss of 27,100 in the January years 2002 to 2013 and an average annual net migration loss of 7500 in the January years 2014 to 2019, Stats NZ said.
For migrant arrivals in the January 2025 year, citizens of India were the largest group, with 25,800 arrivals. The next largest groups were citizens of New Zealand, 25,000; China, 17,600; and the Philippines, 14,000.
For migrant departures in the January 2025 year, citizens of New Zealand were still the largest group, with 69,200 departures.
The next largest groups were citizens of China, 7900; India, 5800, and the United Kingdom, 4500.
Citizens of India, the Philippines, and China drove net migration gains in the January 2025 year, Stats NZ said.
Country of citizenship is the nationality of the passport used to arrive in or depart from New Zealand and is not necessarily the country of previous or next residence.
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