Money Talk column

The Investor 2 June 2012

Let’s educate our way out of 500%+ loans. When I first saw “Annual interest rate 547.50%” on a New Zealand website offering loans, I thought there’d been a mistake. But no. That’s the rate for a small, short-term cash loan from www.savemybacon.co.nz.

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The Investor 19 May 2012

The older you are, the better the deal in KiwiSaver. Wake up and smell a more comfortable retirement, middle-agers! A survey released today shows that no-longer-youthful New Zealanders are less likely to be in KiwiSaver and more critical of the scheme. And yet arguably they get the best deal out of it.

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The Investor 5 May 2012

How the lolly choice has changed. The economists have given up on the idea, and it’s time the rest of us did too. I’m talking about making financial decisions based only on the cold hard facts and numbers, and not taking into account emotional and psychological factors.

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The Investor 21 April 2012

Why a reader advises his son against KiwiSaver… …and why I disagree. A reader’s letter explaining why he’s advising his 18-year-old son not to join KiwiSaver has not convinced me.

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The Investor 7 April 2012

Slow and steady not always the way to win. Slow and steady isn’t always best when it comes to regular investing. We’ll look at making annual investments, to keep it simple. But the same principle applies to contributing to KiwiSaver or other investments in which you make more frequent deposits of the same amount.

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The Investor 24 March 2012

How to join the new debt cutting trend. We’re all living through three “great transitions”, said the keynote speaker at a recent conference. One transition is from West to East — with the growing emphasis on China and India, another is from analog to digital, and the third is from debt to saving. Let’s look more at that third transition.

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APN Newspapers 16 March 2012

A big year for KiwiSaver. In the annals of KiwiSaver history, 2012 will be notable for two things. It will mark the start of a two-year shift away from government input and towards more employee and employer input, and it will be the first year in which members can withdraw their savings in retirement.

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The Investor 11 February 2012

A year of change for KiwiSavers — and would-be joiners. We’re in for a mixed year with KiwiSaver. Contributions from the government and employers will decrease. Still, there’s a good reason for employees who haven’t yet joined the scheme to get in now. Meanwhile, some over-65s will become eligible — for the first time — to withdraw money in retirement.

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