Private Health Insurance vs Self-Fund Calculator

This calculator compares paying private health insurance premiums over time against self-funding, where you invest the same money instead and build a pot to pay for private treatment yourself in New Zealand. Private health insurance buys faster access to elective surgery and specialist care than the public system, along with peace of mind, but the premiums are substantial and climb steeply as you age, so it is fair to ask whether the money might do more set aside and invested. This tool puts numbers on both sides. You enter your annual premium, the number of years to compare, the rate at which premiums rise each year, and the return you would expect if you invested the premium money instead, and the calculator shows the total premiums you would pay over the period against the pot you could build by investing the same amount. If you stay healthy, the self-funded pot is yours to keep; if you face a large or early health cost, insurance would likely have paid out more than your pot has grown to, which is the risk insurance exists to cover. Self-funding tends to suit those who can absorb that risk and use the public system as a backstop. Use it to inform the decision, not settle it, since health is unpredictable. General information, not financial or medical advice.

Self-funding keeps the pot if you stay healthy; insurance covers a large or early claim that could exceed it. A guide to the cost side, not the risk. General information only.