Financial misbehaviour disappointing. Ironically, a survey on New Zealanders’ financial behaviour was released just days before Christmas — a time of much financial misbehaviour, when everyone’s saying, “I don’t care what it costs, I’ve just got to buy something for Uncle Fred.”
Q&As: Make credit card repayment your top priority; Why KiwiSaver tax credit is not as good as some people think; Revolving credit mortgage could help some unhappy ANZ customers; Reader bombs out on gold, silver, dollar forecasts.
Q&As: Use accessible KiwiSaver money to repay credit card debt, and probably mortgage too; What exactly does growth in GDP mean?; 3 readers are unhappy with charities asking for more…; And a fourth points out how complicated it can get; An error last week about donations to St Johns?; Reader happy with his healthcare insurance.
Let’s educate our way out of 500%+ loans. When I first saw “Annual interest rate 547.50%” on a New Zealand website offering loans, I thought there’d been a mistake. But no. That’s the rate for a small, short-term cash loan from www.savemybacon.co.nz.
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.
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.
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.
Cries of indignation, shock and fear from Credit Card Land. Three readers coming from three quite different perspectives responded to my last column about repaying credit card debt. One slightly indignant reader always pays his credit card bills in full, another was shocked at what happened when he didn’t one month, and the third has run up a $7000 credit card debt.
Have I got a deal for you? Pssst, want a fantastic deal? I may be able to get you into an investment with returns of just under 20 per cent a year, every year, after fees and tax. And it’s risk-free…
Q&As: Earthquake victim faces an old question: whether to invest spare money or repay a loan; Reader escapes “an endless loop” of credit card payments after using an internet Q&A service; A “me too” letter raises questions about a bank’s policy on fees.