NZ Herald 17 October 2009
Q&As: Are preference shares a good investment, despite recent price falls?; Did reader get good advice from an ASB adviser?
Q&As: Are preference shares a good investment, despite recent price falls?; Did reader get good advice from an ASB adviser?
Q&As: A reader challenges my advice last week about postponing a first home purchase for three years; How to get around the income cap on the KiwiSaver first home subsidy; How to get around the three-year requirement for KiwiSaver first home assistance; Another reader challenges me — on my advice on whether to sell a Mangere Bridge house or a Whangamata house; The merits of coin tossing; Maybe Lotto will make reader’s decision easier.
Good news goes unheralded. One of the findings in a recent survey caught my eye. Only 12 per cent of New Zealanders surveyed said the value of their financial investments had grown in the previous six months, with 42 per cent saying the value was unchanged and 46 per cent saying it had fallen. The vast majority got it wrong.
Q&As: Couple wondering whether to buy a home now or in three years could gain thousands from joining KiwiSaver; You can’t get in early on the KiwiSaver first home withdrawal and subsidy.
Q&As: Is it better to sell a Mangere Bridge property or a Whangamata property?; Reader who switched to riskier fund, and saw immediate loss, wonders if she should switch back; Share markets have performed really well lately; Two letters about KiwiSaver and “total remuneration”, in which employees more or less pay their own employer contributions.
More than one way to tax investment property. There’s more than one way to skin a cat — or to change the tax system to discourage New Zealanders from investing in rental property.
Q&As: Even a reader’s accountant seems confused about how gains on share sales are taxed. The law needs to be changed; Property fan who did badly in the share market broke one of the basic rules of share investing; Did I mislead readers about the advantages of dollar cost averaging?
Q&As: One reader loathes KiwiSaver, while the next one loves it. But both don’t fully understand it; A former hippie gets a bit carried away.
Performance pay not as good as it sounds. Here’s a radical idea: pay financial advisers according to the performance of the investments they put you in. Sounds appealing, but would it work?
Q&As: Delaying joining KiwiSaver can mean you’ll miss out on many thousands of dollars; How retired person can get the best out of KiwiSaver; Couple should use PIEs to make the most of their savings.