The Investor 21 April 2012
Why a reader advises his son against KiwiSaver… …and why I disagree. A reader’s letter explaining why he’s advising his 18-year-old son not to join KiwiSaver has not convinced me.
The Investor 7 April 2012
Slow and steady not always the way to win. Slow and steady isn’t always best when it comes to regular investing. We’ll look at making annual investments, to keep it simple. But the same principle applies to contributing to KiwiSaver or other investments in which you make more frequent deposits of the same amount.
The Investor 24 March 2012
How to join the new debt cutting trend. We’re all living through three “great transitions”, said the keynote speaker at a recent conference. One transition is from West to East — with the growing emphasis on China and India, another is from analog to digital, and the third is from debt to saving. Let’s look more at that third transition.
The Investor 10 March 2012
Men don’t have a monopoly on financial ability. New Zealand women are less confident about their finances than men, a recent survey suggests. Should they be?
The Investor 25 February 2012
Should KiwiSavers with mortgages keep contributing? This year’s changes to KiwiSaver make it debatable whether members with mortgages should keep contributing to the scheme.
The Investor 11 February 2012
A year of change for KiwiSavers — and would-be joiners. We’re in for a mixed year with KiwiSaver. Contributions from the government and employers will decrease. Still, there’s a good reason for employees who haven’t yet joined the scheme to get in now. Meanwhile, some over-65s will become eligible — for the first time — to withdraw money in retirement.
The Investor 28 January 2012
Take action now to avoid bill blues next January. Ah, summer. Time for beaches, baches, barbecues — and facing probably the year’s biggest credit card bills, or even demands for payment from loan sharks.
The Investor 17 December 2011
Don’t wait for change on how advisers are paid. It’s one of those situations in which, 20 or 30 years from now, I reckon people will say, “I can’t believe they used to do it that way.”
The Investor 3 December 2011
Columnist is wrong — mortgage repayment is well worth it. Contrarian investing — when you put your money into investments that most people are getting out of — sometimes works well. Such investments are usually cheap. But should we extend that to borrowing when most others are repaying debt?
The Investor 19 November 2011
Two thoughts about Christmas shopping. Look at any graph of credit card spending over the years and you see a clear pattern — spikes each December as we put Christmas gifts, food and drink and holiday spending on our cards.