Safe haven for nervous investors. Spooked by the Blue Chip, Feltex and finance company collapses, a growing number of New Zealanders are joining the “flight to quality” by buying government bonds or their little brothers, Kiwi Bonds.
Q&As: Grandma will help grandson more by opening her own KiwiSaver account and giving him the savings; Ultraconservative KiwiSaver funds are as safe as bank accounts, and bring much higher returns; Is lack of self control more prevalent now than in the past?; Government bonds have their place for the ordinary investor.
Q&As: Measuring movements of the Kiwi dollar against the US dollar can be quite misleading; Last week’s boss responds to my response to him!; KiwiSaver tough on small businesses; Many reasons to use Indian labour rather than NZ labour; NZ workers not so bad.
Ethical investing likely to catch on here. Ethical investing — which has been increasingly popular in other western countries — is likely to catch on in New Zealand now that KiwiSaver providers have to state in their investment documents whether they offer this option.
Q&As: KiwiSaver the last straw for employer of “whinging, incompetent” New Zealanders; Reserve Bank offers some reassurance for reader worried that NZ banks could be caught up in their foreign parent’s woes…; …But if you’re still worried, consider the safest investments of all, government securities.
Q&As: Monkey story a great yarn, but it’s not about the share market; Reader’s concerns about banks’ exposure to foreign exchange risk are unfounded; 61-year-old should think hard before selling her house and enjoying some of the proceeds; Man about to retire can still get plenty from KiwiSaver.
3 ways that KiwiSaver just got even better. This month is a big one for KiwiSaver, with several changes taking effect that make the scheme more attractive — including a little publicised tax break.
Q&As: 3 Q&As on whether New Zealand banks are safe, whether it’s best to spread your money around several banks, and bank credit ratings; Should entrepreneurial types stay out of KiwiSaver?
Q&As: The best KiwiSaver fund for a 23-year-old depends on her house-buying plans; Angry Blue Chip investor muddles my opinion with a reader’s opinion; A reader suggests why online tax payments sometimes go wrong.
In defence of writing lots about KiwiSaver. No journalist likes to be accused of doing PR for the government. So when the editor of one of the newspapers that runs this column recently suggested I was “championing” KiwiSaver, it got me thinking.