Sick of Paying Too Much for Life Insurance?

A few years ago, one of my long-time clients came in frustrated. He said:

“Ali, I’ve been paying expensive life cover for 15 years — thousands of dollars every year — and now I’m going to cancel it… and get nothing back. Not a cent.”

That hit me hard.

All that money had gone into a policy sitting in a drawer — only paying out if he died early. If he lived a long, healthy life, it was just a pure expense.

It made me think: there has to be a better way.

A way to protect families without wasting money on insurance you’re unlikely to claim — because the most likely outcome is that we live past 65.

That’s when I started building what’s now known as the KiwiSaver Phase-Out Strategy.

Here’s the simple idea:

• Traditional life insurance is a pure cost — cancel it later and you get nothing
• KiwiSaver, on the other hand, goes to your family when you pass away
• It grows over time, tax-efficiently, and stays yours

The key insight was this:

Your KiwiSaver balance should be part of the calculation when deciding how much insurance you actually need.

That often means:

• Less insurance cover
• Lower premiums
• More money redirected into KiwiSaver

Over time, the insurance is phased out completely — while your own wealth continues to grow.

I’ve even built an AI calculator that looks at your assets, liabilities, children, and goals to show:

• How long it takes to phase out insurance
• How much extra you could have in KiwiSaver by retirement

If you’ve ever felt like life insurance is money down the drain — this strategy could change how you think about it.

Want to see your personal phase-out plan?