Articles & Audio

RNZ Radio 3 June 2021

Reverse mortgages revisited, and 10 ways to make retirement easier financially
– Further thoughts about reverse mortgages — when younger retirees might use them
– Retire later — job satisfaction, social contact, financial
– Move house, and maybe town
– Boarders or flatmates or Airbnb
– Subdivide
– Rates rebates if on low income
– Rates postponement on any income in some places
– Accommodation supplements (government help with rent, board or home ownership costs)
– Sell your house and be a tenant
– Sell assets on Trade Me etc. including valuables
– At 90, you become the charity!

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NZ Herald 29 May 2021

Q&As:
– Fund returns tell us little — and beware fund managers who skite!
– Reader objects to my comments about default KiwiSaver providers who are being dropped
– A warning about bank accounts and bill payments
– How son could partly own parents’ house, and use KiwiSaver to do it

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NZ Herald 22 May 2021

Q&As:
– KiwiSaver changes will hopefully help all members
– What happens to people in default KiwiSaver funds losing that status?
– Ways to reduce inequities in KiwiSaver
– Readers’ comments on last week’s multi-millionaire …
– … And his wife’s comments
– Another way to help children into their first homes …
– … And detail about last week’s suggestion

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RNZ Radio 20 May 2021

Reverse mortgages: Free up money for retired people — but take care!
– Growing interest in them
– How they work
– What to ask about them
– Some problems
– How people use them
– Where to get more info

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NZ Herald 15 May 2021

Q&As:
– Multi-millionaire can’t stop penny pinching
– KiwiSaver contributions to get the most from the government
– One way to help children buy a home — with Inland Revenue’s blessing
– What did a reader’s “private rant” mean?
– Reader disappointed about my comments on unpaid work
– A man’s perspective on unpaid work
Plus:
– Talks about my new book

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NZ Herald 8 May 2021

Q&As:
– Mindful Money website helps you invest in what matters to you
– 3 KiwiSaver providers invest in community housing
– Another organisation helps people in debt traps
– Overpaying tax leads to big smiles
– 2 Q&As on tax ramifications of parents helping children into housing
– Readers wants unpaid work acknowledged

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RNZ Radio 6 May 2021

Changes to consumer lending – harder to borrow but less spiralling debt
Notes from Financial Services Complaints Ltd conference on May 4
– Changes in effect last year: Caps on interest and fees.
– Changes in October 2021: Lenders must assess whether borrower can afford loan.
– Consumer Data Right: Government considering this. Consumers can choose to give their financial data to providers, budgeting platforms or comparison websites, etc.
– Another topic: “A complaint is a gift”.

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NZ Herald 1 May 2021

Q&As:
– Where to get help for worrying family member
– One way to help your child into the house…
– … And tax changes shouldn’t get in the way
– Capital gains already taxed if you aimed at profiting
– Tax on NZ Super when you continue to work
– Quitting job ‘best thing I could have done’

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NZ Herald 24 April 2021

Q&As:
– It’s not worth staying in highly paid job you hate
– How rainy day money might help with mortgage
– Don’t forget finance company collapses
– How rental property is different
– Am I unfair, or is the reader?
– Big-hearted landlords

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RNZ Radio 22 April 2021

DON’T BE SCAMMED!
– Bernie Madoff (just died) and David Ross (recently released from prison)
– Who is most often approached, and how?
– Types of scams — boiler room, Ponzi, high-risk products, shares, software packages and seminars, imposter websites
– What to do if considering an investment that might be dodgy
– What to do if you think you might have been scammed

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