The Investor 21 November 2006
Look beyond the dividends: In share fund investing, keep your eye on the prize — the over-all return, not just the fees and dividends.
NZ Herald 18 November 2006
Q&As: Should we get bigger tax deductions for donations to charity? Also — give Christmas gifts to those who really need them; Readers disagree over the price of a 1950s pie; Buying shares company by company, over the years, not the best strategy; Is the new proposed tax on international shares fair?
NZ Herald 11 November 2006
Q&As: What’s happened to the price of pies over the years?; Would it be good for NZ if Inland Revenue was tougher on rental property capital gains?; When is “income” really “profit”?; Reluctant shareholders worry about their lack of power — How best to hold shares.
The Investor 7 November 2006
An exceptionally unlucky reader. International index funds, a favourite long-term investment of mine, don’t look good to one reader. “I bought about $2000 worth of WiNZ in 2000,” he writes. “They are now 27 per cent lower (have been for quite a while). Fortunately for me it was not a huge amount. “Twenty years is a long time to wait for the fund to claw its way back up. Hopefully all the investors in index funds can wait that long!”
NZ Herald 28 October 2006
Q&As: A reader finds a flaw in my “avoid the rear-view mirror” argument. Or does he?; Would NZ’s tax revenue actually increase if we all invested offshore?; Inland Revenue says it can’t fix everything at once.
The Investor 18 July 2006
Owning your home not always the best option. Most New Zealanders grow up expecting to own their own home, but soaring house prices have made it harder for people to get into the market. Does that matter? Is home ownership all it’s cracked up to be?
The Investor 4 July 2006
A worrying prediction about the way share funds are run. A section in a submission to the government from Shareholders Association chairman Bruce Sheppard caught my eye. Referring to proposed changes in the way share funds are taxed, he wrote: “The ability of NZ and Australian funds to trade without having to pay tax may well result in higher trading by institutions, as the active funds strive to differentiate their performance from the index by generating trading gains.
NZ Herald 1 July 2006
Q&As: Comparing NZ and other countries’ taxes and lifestyles; Several Q&As on government’s tax proposals, including submissions info, Bruce Sheppard quotes and size of Grey List share markets; A promise for a tax-change-free column next week!
The Investor 20 June 2006
Which index fund — if any? A reader asks which index fund to invest in. These days, though, we need to ask first whether any index fund is still a good idea. Index funds invest in all the shares in a sharemarket index. For example, the TENZ fund invests in the ten biggest companies that make up the NZX 10 index.