NZ Herald 25 February 2006
Q&As: Is compounding interest over-rated?; Credit cards v eftpos; How long is long-term? Returns on different assets.
NZ Herald 21 January 2006
Q&As: Shares v term deposits — it depends how much time you have; Short-of-cash millionaires should try to renegotiate their mortgage; When is a 2% penalty not 2%?
NZ Herald 19 November 2005
Q&As: How well do share funds perform?; Comparison of investment performances.
The Investor 6 September 2005
Share pickers respond to my doubts. Even as I typed it, I thought a certain sentence in my last column was bound to cause trouble. “Lots of research,” I wrote, “shows that an individual investor who researches companies doesn’t tend to do any better than someone who chooses shares at random.” Sure enough, a man who describes himself as “a paid-up member of the share pickers guild” emailed me.
The Investor 12 July 2005
Complexity of financial products no accident. Confirmation, at last, of what we’ve suspected all along: Providers of financial products may deliberately make them sound complicated.
The Investor 3 May 2005
Index funds still the best, despite tax changes. An ice cream is still delicious without the chocolate dip. The same goes for index share funds. Since they made an appearance in New Zealand in the late 1990s, these funds have had a tax advantage over the other type of share funds, called active funds. It seems likely that the tax advantage will be removed soon. But even if it goes, I still think index funds are best.
Holm Truths Summer 2002–03
Lessons from past mislead: Investing in what did well last year, or selling what did badly, usually does more harm than good. Also in this issue: Great Debate — Low v high insurance excesses.
Holm Truths Winter 2001
Free lunch a rewarding spread: It’s wise to spread your investment money around. Also in this issue: Great Debate — Shares v share funds.
Holm Truths Autumn 2001
Terms of enrichment: How long you want to tie up your money affects what you invest in. Also in this issue: Great Debate — Shares v rental property.