Excerpt from Upside, Downside. This week and next week, this column will publish excerpts from a small book Mary Holm has written for the Reserve Bank called “Upside, downside: A guide to risk for savers and investors”. It will be given away free to the public in September. This column will tell you how to get a copy then. Today’s excerpts include an overview and an example of one type of risky investor behaviour. Next week we will publish further examples.
KiwiSaver graduates face some choices. It’s decision time for the first KiwiSavers “graduates” — those over 65 who have been in the scheme for five years. But there’s no rush.
Q&As: Repeated property do-ups unlikely to bring tax-free gains; Are shares really better in the long term than property or bank deposits?; Reader is confused over KiwiSaver first home subsidy price limits; Sleepless nights over a charity donation.
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.
Q&As: Tax rebates worth having — but are some charities greedy?; Some health insurance might be too lean and mean; KiwiSaver employees over 65 should ask the boss to keep contributing; Is KiwiSaver balance likely to go backwards after retirement?
Angry readers react. I don’t think I’ve ever received as many letters about this column as I did after the last one about KiwiSaver. A man is cross with me, a woman is cross with the government, and others are confused, curious, or want to make a point.
Q&As: How to reduce the cost of medical insurance — and other insurance; Do tax and morality mix?; Poor communications a good reason to skip a KiwiSaver provider.
Q&As: Taxes are everywhere. But let’s not get carried away with the pessimism; On taxation and morality; 2 Q&As about how to handle KiwiSaver accounts in retirement.
Q&As: Why people shouldn’t cheat in KiwiSaver; A reader is irritated about slow tax information and the policy on PIR tax rates…; …While another reader sings the praises of Inland Revenue; 3 Q&As about KiwiSaver tax credits for people approaching their fifth anniversary in the scheme.
Many KiwiSavers contribute too much or too little. Some people are putting too much into KiwiSaver- arguably anyway. Meanwhile, others contribute nothing or too little to get the most out of the scheme, and would be rewarded for taking steps to change that in the next two weeks.