Q&As: Banks shouldn’t favour new customers, but reader shouldn’t have big credit card debt; Gold doing OK in NZ dollars, but that’s not the point; Why advisers tend to favour low-risk investments and why they shouldn’t; Banks have a wide range of financial advisers.
Q&As: Could money in a bank-run KiwiSaver be transferred to pay debt owed to the bank?; No easy way out for reluctant KiwiSaver member; Could long-ago OE in Australia mean Aussies pick up a New Zealander’s pension tab?; Reader’s Australian pension amounts to $1 to $2 a week; Keeping a list of your jobs is helpful when you later apply for NZ Super; How to negotiate over buying a precious car.
Q&As: Priorities for a family making a KiwiSaver financial hardship withdrawal; Use savings to pay off mortgage; Is KiwiSaver really tax-exempt?; How to calculate KiwiSaver tax credit for the year in which you turn 65; Older KiwiSaver goes for riskier funds; Is there age discrimination in KiwiSaver?
Q&As: What a reader should do with her money now that she’s paid off her student loan; Does your KiwiSaver provider offer this service?; Share prices move faster than property prices, but does it matter?; Some property investors overlook cash inputs.
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: 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.
Q&As: No clear-cut answer on whether’s it’s better to slash debt or save for Christmas; The best way to make use of the student loan repayment bonus; Student loan holder living overseas is foolish to ignore his loan; What’s the point?
Q&As: Three readers offer advice to early 60s couple looking for jobs — go and look around the country; check out motels; try a B&B; AMP responds to a KiwiSaver’s concerns about returns; A Christmas message; More letters from readers giving advice to couple seeking work.