Q&As: Auckland houses may be unaffordable, but apartments aren’t; One man is happy with is inexpensive home; Homeowner feels anything but smug about being in the housing market; War is declared between the baby boomers and the younger generation; Last time New Zealand tried to control rents, it was disastrous.
Think again about those KiwiSaver tax breaks. Many readers were no doubt pleased to hear of Winston Peters’ recent hints that the May 17 Budget will include tax breaks in the KiwiSaver retirement savings scheme. But only some will benefit — and it will be at the expense of others, and the country as a whole.
Q&As: Would-be homeowners may need to lower their standards a bit — with some help from Monty Python; Inflation hits property at least as much as share funds; Californian astounded by our “real estate mania”.
Q&As: Rent control would do more harm than good; The cost of staying out of the housing market; Reader insists it’s worthwhile to try to time foreign exchange movements. It’s all his!
Obsessed with property? Not us. New Zealanders are not as property mad — or as mortgage mad — as we’ve been led to believe, recent research shows.
Q&As: A tax on house sales, to subsidise first home owners, is a lovely idea that wouldn’t work; Renting and saving elsewhere can leave you better off than home ownership; Semi-retired couple who sold their home and rent are probably doing fine.
Q&As: A year-old letter shows the danger in trying to predict what the Kiwi dollar will do; “Plodders” wonder how to match the investments of their landlord friends; Traders in shares beyond Australasia no longer pay the old tax on capital gains; How about taxing rental property the same way as international shares?
New tax rules not so bad. As the new tax regime on shares in countries beyond Australasia takes effect, many taxpayers seem to think it’s tougher than it really is.
Q&As: Have you got what it takes to borrow to invest in a share fund?; How frequent traders in international shares will be taxed under the new rules; How Inland Revenue might catch property traders.
Q&As: Should we blame the banks for soaring house prices?; 2 Q&As on the new fair dividend rate tax on non-Australasian shares — the threshold, and trying to get around the rules; 2 Q&As on home equity release — lifetime interest rates and break fees if you change your mind.