Are KiwiSaver default members getting a bad deal?
Plus: How does everyone know how well their KiwiSaver fund is doing?
– Big variation in default fund performance and fees
– A possible solution
– Problems with benchmarks for all KiwiSaver funds
– A possible solution
– Based on a paper you can read at tinyurl.com/RussellKiwiSaver
A non-financial topic: What it was like during and after Cyclone Gabrielle if you had:
– No power
– No running water
– No communications — phones, emails, texts, internet etc
– No way out of your community
Spending that makes you happy
Research tends to find the following spending brings the most happiness:
– Getting rid of money worries — paying off debt, getting insurance etc
– Experiences — events, travel ….
– Changes that give you more time — hiring others to do tasks etc
– Beautiful things — art, plants etc
– Spending on others — charity, shouting a friend, gifts
Worrying numbers about over 65s’ finances, and what might be done about it
– Stats on over 65s’ income and home ownership show decreasing trends
– What to do about it
– A KiwiSaver push for beneficiaries?
Listeners tell us who they think needs financial help
Entries into our Christmas book giveaway on who you would give my two latest books to, and why
– Themes running through the entries, examples and comments
– The winners
3 clever types of mortgages
But first: Christmas Gift Book Giveaway. How to enter
– Offset mortgages
– Redrawable mortgages
– Revolving credit mortgages
– Can you switch to one of these if you already have an ordinary mortgage?
– A great place for rainy day money
Which funds, in and out of KiwiSaver, are best at different life stages?
– It’s not actually about age
– How to set up your savings
– Best low risk investment?
– Best medium risk investment?
– Best higher risk investment?
– Review situation once a year
Should you fix your term, and for how long, in a volatile mortgage market?
– Why this question is so hard
– Split your risk — like diversification in investing
– Changing the structure of your loan
– Recommendations from Tony Alexander and Bruce Patten
KiwiSaver members taking more risk
– More people move to higher-risk than move the other way
– Bigger growth in money in riskier funds
– Beyond KiwiSaver, fewer people in term deposits and bonds, and more in shares
– A listener’s letter: what should she do about falling KiwiSaver balance?
Are KiwiSaver members getting value for their money?
Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is looking into this.
Report from a panel discussion on the topic at a conference:
– Are fees coming down?
– Some providers pay commissions to advisers who bring in KiwiSaver members
– Some performance fees are unfair
Also, brief comment on controversy over GST on KiwiSaver fees