Riding to the rescue of diversification. Diversification — a key element to successful investing for most people — has taken a bashing in the press lately. Even David McEwen, who writes this column alternately with me, quoted criticism of diversification on this page a few weeks ago. I feel bound to leap in and defend it.
Q&As: Super saver, 19, might be best to stay out of the rental market unless his parents have deep pockets; Former landlord tells his nightmare story; Is it good for New Zealand when our young take off on their OE?
Q&As: Student allowance rip-off is not OK; Advice for house-less Gen Xers: Buy a rental property in the provinces; Rental property buyers feel like the scourge of society; The cliché king has his say; Cardboard boxes and contentment.
Back to the creepy stuff. Well, he did it. Despite my impassioned plea in this column in February last year, Finance Minister Michael Cullen took away our chewing gum tax cut in the recent Budget. And we’re much bigger losers than most people realise.
Q&As: The inter-generation battle rages on in six Q&As, and we also get several readers’ ideas on how Gen Xers can cope with high house prices; Succinct advice from a reader’s Dad who suffered in the Depression.
Q&As: Four readers give diverse views on whether baby boomers or Generation Xers got a better deal on tertiary education, student loans, and affordability of houses.
Readers respond on KiwiSaver tax breaks. Three readers were unhappy with my last column, in which I said the KiwiSaver tax breaks expected in the upcoming Budget will benefit only some people, at the expense of New Zealand as a whole.
From the Mailbox. A mortgage-free couple wonder how to use the equity in their home.
Q&As: Three readers defend baby boomers and suggest how today’s young could afford to buy homes; A Generation Xer speaks up for her generation; A reader worries that apartments may lose value.
Q&As: Auckland houses may be unaffordable, but apartments aren’t; One man is happy with is inexpensive home; Homeowner feels anything but smug about being in the housing market; War is declared between the baby boomers and the younger generation; Last time New Zealand tried to control rents, it was disastrous.