Q&As: Having trouble with your tax return? Ask Inland Revenue; More to come in this column on KiwiSaver, even if some readers don’t like it; Cheating on KiwiSaver if you’re overseas, and how you might get caught; 2 Q&As on the fact that everyone — including those who turn 65 — gets 5 years of KiwiSaver incentives; Charity operates in Christchurch AND overseas.
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.
Q&As: Should charity begin at home?; Advisers may not be the best source on comparing KiwiSaver providers — so how should you do it?; Can a landlord get KiwiSaver first home help?…; …And can a son who buys an expensive home with his Dad?; An accountant questions Housing NZ policy.
Q&As: Reader dislikes “user pays” attitude and has a message for last week’s self-proclaimed bigot; Volunteers sought for overseas work and adventure; Why young person who has moved to Australia might want to keep contributing to KiwiSaver; Rules flexible for overseas KiwiSavers wanting to return to NZ to buy a first home; A bank seems to be listening.
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.
Q&As: KiwiSaver first home help flexible — including the maximum income rules; Teacher should be in KiwiSaver even though he doesn’t get employer contributions; A bigot confesses; Banks label NZ Super — and help superannuitants — in different ways.
Q&As: NZ gets good value from many NZ Super recipients; How parents might help their adult children with the two items that cost more now; Last week’s correspondent should leave the country, or change their thinking; How to calculate KiwiSaver tax credit in your first year in the scheme; Some KiwiSaver providers help members with tax credit; A welfare payment by any other name…
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.
Q&As: Reader could do with a re-think; Economist calls for in-depth look at NZ Super; Easy way to make KiwiSaver contributions; Should we use KiwiSaver money to repay student loans?; How about starting to charge interest on student loans?; 3 readers remember what tertiary tuition fees were like in their day.
Q&As: Reasonable and unreasonable expectations about NZ Super and people’s retirement savings; People need to think beyond their own needs, says reader; Better or worse then or now? Just different; Just how high are — and were — tertiary fees?; Oops! I got it wrong about foreign exchange and interest rates.