As the year comes to an end it’s a good time to take a breath and some time to reflect on the good and bad of the year, and look forward to the year ahead too.
Sometimes (often) we get to the end of the year exhausted, and it’s easy to forget the good things that we’ve done, been involved in or seen.
Business Over 2022
As a mortgage adviser it’s been an interesting year with home loan interest rates increasing faster than they ever have before. While none of us would say that this is a good thing, we have been happy with the advice that we have given over the years and the fact that this year we’ve had so many clients happy they too the advice and structured their home loans to protect against the sharp increases.
It’s also been very satisfying to be able to manage all of the changes this year and still provide so many people the lending and therefore the opportunity to buy new homes. One of the most rewarding parts of the role is to see families move into their first or new homes.
With our focus on non-bank lending we have also been able to help a huge number of people with finance that normally had not thought it was going to be possible. There are so many situations where the banks cannot help, and that’s often when we get the call.
As a business owner we’re really proud on getting our full license as a Financial Advice Provider (FAP). This is the new regulation that all New Zealand financial advisers will be operating under by March 2023, and instead of joining a large FAP we decided that we could better serve people if we had our own license. It will enable us to offer more options to people, and that has started with the new brand which we have called Smarter Loans and which offers personal loans, debt consolidation loans, vehicle finance and business finance. We have more options coming in 2023 and plans beyond that too.
Never Forget Family
The last couple of years have been challenging for families throughout New Zealand and the World, and this of course includes the families of the whole team at Mortgage managers as well as my own family.
Most of the team has either had or been affected by COVID and it’s been great that we have been able to operate remotely and/or as a team to ensure that it’s not impacted our clients too much. Some of the team have missed out on COVID so far, and for those that have had COVID there have been some that would describe it as a mild flu while some have been affected quite badly. But we are all still okay and supporting each other when needed.
In my immediate family I’ve had two children in secondary school, with a son in year 13 and daughter in year 12. It’s been really good to see how well they have both done both academically and in their other activities – sports and arts. People that know me and my wife probably know that we are “proud parents” and that’s always satisfying as we know it’s not been an easy ride for many children.
The extended family have always been important too. They’ve never been too generous with money; however they have always been there to offer advice, to share experiences and to always be there as support. As our parents get older they need our support too, and it’s always good to know that we can assist when needed.
Living In New Zealand
I remember visiting Lake Matheson when I was at school so when I wanted to get a graphic for this post about a time to reflect or reflections the memory of the trip came flooding back. It reminds me of the efforts that my parents made to ensure that we saw the country and appreciated the many things that we have on our doorstep.
As we head towards the end of the year we may be quite depressed with the news regarding the economy and criticism being leveled at The Reserve Bank and government, but we do also need to remember that we live in a pretty cool country where there is so much we can do for free.
We can also get involved in our community and give some time to help others. Personally I’m involved in a few clubs and a few community organisations including the one that is about to build a marine centre for our local community. this has been a huge job, but I’m sure once complete we will reflect on that and will enjoy seeing it be used.
Take a look: The Upper Harbour Marine Centre
Take some time to reflect on the year, but also make sure that you are able to get out and do something fun and get ready for 2023.
