How emotional thinking can get in the way of good investing. Understanding common reactions can help you guard against bad decisions. Reactions include: Responding to how things are presented; Sticking with the status quo; Responding to how things are named; Following the crowd; Emotional attachment; Being overwhelmed with information; Fear of regret; Not considering the whole portfolio.
Ethical KiwiSaver. Also my approach to investing in shares. Ethical KiwiSaver: how funds invest, risk, returns and which providers; A listener’s critical letter and my response; Warren Buffett is special; Can amateur investors beat the market?
Clever and not-so-clever moves with mortgages: 2 worrying trends — longer mortgages, people adding to mortgages; Good news — people repaying faster; When rates drop, maintain your payments; Paying down your mortgage a great investment; Mortgage on rentals a bit different; Revolving credit loans give flexibility but risky for some; Main points.
KiwiSaver rules, and how to make the most of the scheme: Follow-up on first home help; Rules about joining KiwiSaver; Other rules about KiwiSaver; Getting the most from the scheme.
Timing the housing market, and KiwiSaver first home help: The one market where you can’t invest gradually; How to make the decision; How much does it matter?; 2 ways KiwiSaver helps first home buyers.
Brexit and your investments. Mary discusses with Jesse Mulligan what to do with your KiwiSaver and international currencies following the world turmoil caused by the Brexit vote.
Spending too little, spending too much: Shopping is a favourite pastime; People who are too mean on themselves; People who spend too much — why do they do it? — 1. Keeping up with the Joneses, 2. Psychological, 3. Credit card company behaviour; Help for big spenders; Most important of all — Change your habits. PS: Final reminder about KiwiSaver tax credit.
Listeners’ questions on KiwiSaver performance and timing markets: Why average investors do worse than the market as a whole; How to pick a good fund manager; Would it be good to buy recent losers?; Will brokerage prevent drip feeding into shares?; Etc.
KiwiSaver performance, and timing markets: When should we take note of KiwiSaver performance?; What’s happened since KiwiSaver started; Why shares always do best over long periods; Why timing markets doesn’t work; What to do about that.