NZ Herald 21 March 2009
Q&As: Tips for retired couple whose interest income has halved; Savings accounts may pay more interest than term deposits — but take care; Tax on foreign shares seems tough in current environment.
Q&As: Tips for retired couple whose interest income has halved; Savings accounts may pay more interest than term deposits — but take care; Tax on foreign shares seems tough in current environment.
Getting in and out of share market a losing strategy. Many people with share investments — including KiwiSaver and other funds that hold shares along with other assets — are probably eying the 37 to 39 per cent drops in the New Zealand, US and Australian share markets last year and considering taking flight to lower-risk investments. Don’t.
Q&As: Everything you need to know about the government’s new deposit guarantee scheme; Under the new scheme, should we move our money from banks to covered finance companies?; Will KiwiSaver still be good for self-employed 62-year-old if National wins the election? Plus:Readers’ views on KiwiSaver.
Safe haven for nervous investors. Spooked by the Blue Chip, Feltex and finance company collapses, a growing number of New Zealanders are joining the “flight to quality” by buying government bonds or their little brothers, Kiwi Bonds.
Q&As: Grandma will help grandson more by opening her own KiwiSaver account and giving him the savings; Ultraconservative KiwiSaver funds are as safe as bank accounts, and bring much higher returns; Is lack of self control more prevalent now than in the past?; Government bonds have their place for the ordinary investor.
Q&As: KiwiSaver the last straw for employer of “whinging, incompetent” New Zealanders; Reserve Bank offers some reassurance for reader worried that NZ banks could be caught up in their foreign parent’s woes…; …But if you’re still worried, consider the safest investments of all, government securities.
Q&As: Should a couple with 3 children move to a bigger house in town or take a bet on a coastal property?; Are KiwiSaver bond funds as conservative as they seem?
Q&As: $29,000 rental in Gore not the thing for a risk-averse man; More on tax on a second job.
Kids, cash and cards: Help your children learn about money. Also in this issue: From the Mailbox — Saving for the children’s future.
A message that goes too far — Shares beat mixtures over long term. I take exception to a recent New York Times article entitled, “The long-term lesson: It pays to diversify”. If you look hard at the numbers quoted by the writer, they show just the opposite.