Struggling to pay rates? Try a rebate or postponement:
(First: A comment on National’s proposed KiwiSaver changes)
– People facing big rate rises
– Different councils’ offerings
– Rebates for people on low incomes
– Postponement in some cases for everyone
– How it works
– How to get help with this
Q&As:
– Skip the bought coffee and lunch, and retire with heaps more
– Stick with funds despite high term deposits rates
– Three Q&As on grandchildren and inheritances
Plus:
– Sorted Money Month
Q&As:
– Family fights over grandkids’ legacies
– Help for people struggling with debt
– KiwiSaver or mortgage or both?
– KiwiSaver provider gives wrong info
– Small businesses often charged more for card transactions…
– … and Sharesies making changes on this
Which investment? And why cash funds might be best
– Email asks: 4.5% in bank or use KiwiSaver?
– Where to put short-term, medium-term and long-term money
– What are cash funds?
– How they compare with bank term deposits
– How to find a cash fund
Q&As:
– The 27 cents that infuriated a reader
– KiwiSaver government contribution as reader approaches 65
– Managed fund investor must hang in there
– Just buy a home for your child….
– … Or buy part of a home
– Reader didn’t make it to second half of sentence
Q&As:
– Become a digital nomad — but keep the house
– What it’s like working with a financial mentor
– Sell the house and rent in retirement?
– Some banks reject parents’ loans to children for house buying
– A warning on lending to an elderly parent
The mortgage crunch: What you can do about it
– Survey finds worries about mortgage rate rises
– What to do: Important to talk to lender early
– Change term, switch to interest only, or reduce part or all payments
– But big increases in interest paid
Q&As:
– Help for low-income people in rundown house…
– … And for woman with inheritance
– … And for reader with lousy luck
– Lend rather than give money to offspring to buy a home
– Letters about banking headed for Commerce Commission
Q&As:
– Widow needs help with coping with son’s selfishness
– Scam text from “IRD” looks genuine
– Reader annoyed at having to phone bank to get better rate
– A warning for people changing banks
– Parents invest kids’ inheritances in a rental …
– … But did they follow the law?
Important info in your KiwiSaver annual statement — and how to improve it next time
– What’s in the statement
– Total at 65, and weekly spending through retirement
– How your provider came to those numbers
– What to do if you want them to be higher
– Why moving to a higher-return fund is not wise