Getting into gear not always wise. The four most hateful words are said to be, “I told you so.” So I’ll put this another way: One of my key messages in seminars, books and columns over the years — that borrowing to invest is more dangerous than many people realise — is easier to “sell” these days than a couple of years ago.
Q&As: Reader’s golden suggestion for investing proceeds of a house sale is worrying; 3 Q&As about KiwiSaver details — for people in other super schemes, children, and newly signed up KiwiSavers; More ideas on alternatives to “Mum and Dad” investors, including from a top government official.
Q&As: Reader better off holding on to Auckland house while moving elsewhere to care for mother; How to maximise the KiwiSaver tax credit — before June 30; Should non-employee KiwiSaver contribute more than $1043 a year, or put further savings elsewhere?; Four readers offer alternatives to “Mum and Dad investors”, but none of their ideas is great; This column pleads “Not guilty” of sexism.
Q&As: Three Q&As on options for would-be first home buyers struggling to afford a home — go cheaper, and go further away. (Bonus: a job opening in Wanganui); An angry reader misunderstands where I’m coming from; Two Q&As ponder how building costs and land development costs affect house prices; Further explanation about how PIRs work.
Home ownership doesn’t always beat renting. I was a little surprised the other day when I asked a couple of hundred young university students whether they wanted to buy a home in the foreseeable future. Everyone said yes — despite the fact that we’d just been considering why home ownership is not necessarily all it’s cracked up to be.
You can indeed go wrong with bricks and mortar. I first heard people saying, “You can’t go wrong with bricks and mortar” years ago, when I lived in the US. I bet the saying isn’t quite as common there these days, now that millions of people have, indeed, lost huge amounts because of property. Yet we still hear that untrue “truism” in New Zealand. And in the last few weeks, as some people are trying to convince us that the house price slump is over, it keeps popping up.
Q&As: There’s plenty of hope for worried KiwiSaver in 30s — on the home ownership front and elsewhere; National’s plans for KiwiSaver make mortgage diversion much less attractive for many. Plus: Readers’ comments on KiwiSaver.
Q&As: Why KiwiSaver mortgage diversion is such a good idea; Should the government intervene to stop house prices from falling?
Hope and help for first home buyers. Things are looking up for would-be first home buyers, left out in the cold in the recent house price boom. The numbers are finally getting better, and government assistance is increasing.
Q&As: 2 Q&As on whether homeowners should sell and be renters for a while, to cash in on falling house prices?; Should 62-year-old buy a rental property or join KiwiSaver?