Q&As: In defence of so many questions about KiwiSaver — and a challenge to readers; Getting the best out of KiwiSaver for a non-earning wife and college kids; Getting the best out of KiwiSaver for an early retiree on a low income.
How same is the same housing market? A reader has taken issue with a comment in my last column that “the vast majority of current homeowners… could just sit out a plunge in house prices, or else sell and buy in the same market and suffer no loss.”
Q&As: Eggs in baskets don’t really apply to term deposits, but there’s another way to diversify; Taxing options if you take flatmates in to help you pay the mortgage; 2 Q&As on how to make the most of KiwiSaver if you are in and out of the work force.
Q&As: Why don’t banks lend money for share investment?; 2 Q&As on how you can best help your grandchildren (or children) into KiwiSaver; Christmas gifts for those who really need them.
Preparing for a possible property price plunge. The volume of house sales is slowing. Houses are taking longer to sell. And some apartment prices are falling. What if house prices are next to fall?
Q&As: Is now a good time for a 36-year-old to buy a house? And if so, should it be a bigger house, so she can take in tenants?; Four Q&As on how KiwiSaver works — or doesn’t work — for those living overseas or planning to live overseas.
Q&As: Why does the price of our milk rise when overseas demand goes up?; How and when to take a KiwiSaver contributions holiday — for children and adults; Two Q&As on KiwiSaver tax credits and timing.
Can’t afford KiwiSaver or saving elsewhere?: You should still join. Close to half of New Zealanders 18 and over who haven’t yet retired say they are unlikely or very unlikely to join KiwiSaver, a recent AMP survey shows. But a glance at their reasons for not joining suggests they don’t yet understand the scheme’s flexibility. They are missing out needlessly.
Q&As: Twenty-eight-year-old with two rental houses wonders if this is a good time to buy a rental apartment; Difficulties finding a KiwiSaver provider to accept tiny contributions from low-paid worker; Saving kiwis.
The Other B Word. Budgeting is rather like eating healthily or exercising. Some people like to do it, but for others it’s a chore. And for many it’s a source of guilt. They think they should do it, but they don’t. This article could be yet another telling the laggards how they will be much better people if they keep track of all their spending. But that’s hardly likely to make any more difference than other such articles. As poet Robert Frost wrote: “Nobody was ever meant, to remember or invent, what he did with every cent.”