Q&As: What happens to KiwiSaver accounts in a divorce?; How KiwiSaver might affect NZ Super, and what you should do about it; A source of basic KiwiSaver information; The NZ share market index that includes dividends has been misleading in the past. How much does it matter?
Q&As: Three Q&As about KiwiSaver: Reimbursement of employer contributions; is daughter overseas eligible?; When is mortgage diversion helpful?; Where can you get the information that was in the three Herald supplements about KiwiSaver? …And: Rental property running costs mount up over the years.
KiwiSaver: Be in to win. Ever since the government announced its added incentives to KiwiSaver last month, everyone is talking about the retirement savings scheme. And well they might. While I still have reservations about the distortion of savings decisions, and while many employers are angry at being forced to contribute, practically all individuals will be better in than out.
Q&As: Nearly 65-year-old should grab chance to join KiwiSaver. People over 60 do particularly well out of it; Why dividends should be included when we look at the performance of the NZ share market.
Q&As: A big fan of property investing scares me with his lack of knowledge; I’m accused of hypocrisy and bias; In praise of boring old index funds and learning about them. Plus: KiwiSaver: Will the kick-start be around for a while? What happens when an employee gets a lump sum? A clarification about access to the money in bankruptcy.
Back to the creepy stuff. Well, he did it. Despite my impassioned plea in this column in February last year, Finance Minister Michael Cullen took away our chewing gum tax cut in the recent Budget. And we’re much bigger losers than most people realise.
Readers respond on KiwiSaver tax breaks. Three readers were unhappy with my last column, in which I said the KiwiSaver tax breaks expected in the upcoming Budget will benefit only some people, at the expense of New Zealand as a whole.
Think again about those KiwiSaver tax breaks. Many readers were no doubt pleased to hear of Winston Peters’ recent hints that the May 17 Budget will include tax breaks in the KiwiSaver retirement savings scheme. But only some will benefit — and it will be at the expense of others, and the country as a whole.
Q&As: A tax on house sales, to subsidise first home owners, is a lovely idea that wouldn’t work; Renting and saving elsewhere can leave you better off than home ownership; Semi-retired couple who sold their home and rent are probably doing fine.
KiwiSaver enticing enough already. KiwiSaver, the new retirement savings scheme starting July 1, is coming in for criticism that is doesn’t include more tax incentives. But I’m glad of that.