Planning for retirement

NZ Herald 7 March 2009

Q&As: Don’t try to time markets. Stick with your regular retirement savings, although you may want to modify where you save; Teen’s worries are unfounded about how Dad’s income would affect KiwiSaver first home subsidy — but other subsidy issues still undecided; Tax-wise, it’s better to borrow for taxable activities than to buy a family home. Plus: Clarification on the taxation of interest on loans between family members.

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NZ Herald 28 February 2009

Q&As: Couple approaching retirement should spend most of their savings on paying off their mortgage; Yes, you can get KiwiSaver tax credits as well as NZ Super; Reader who distrust government confuses KiwiSaver with NZ Super Fund; Was this column wrong last week about withholding tax on interest paid on a loan within a family?

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NZ Herald 9 February 2008

Q&As: Calculator tells reader to stop saving and live it up a bit; Reader who finds KiwiSaver nauseating has a scary list of things that could go wrong…; …But another one applauds KiwiSaver, while sitting on the home ownership sidelines.

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NZ Herald 7 July 2007

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?

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NZ Herald 30 June 2007

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.

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NZ Herald 2 June 2007

Q&As: Student allowance rip-off is not OK; Advice for house-less Gen Xers: Buy a rental property in the provinces; Rental property buyers feel like the scourge of society; The cliché king has his say; Cardboard boxes and contentment.

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NZ Herald 10 March 2007

Q&As: Many elderly, and others, could benefit from rates postponement schemes; Why floating interest rates might be better — for home equity release schemes and ordinary mortgages; A not-so-dumb question about the $50,000 exemption for international tax changes, and a new source of info on the changes.

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NZ Herald 3 March 2007

Q&As: Are home equity release (HER) schemes — which lend to retired people with homes but little income — a rip-off?; Sentinel defends its HER schemes, but they are still expensive compared with possible alternatives. Also: Seeking your questions about KiwiSaver.

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NZ Herald 13 January 2007

Q&As: Options for a newly retired couple with $200,000 and no home include part-time work, buying a home with a flat attached, an interest-only mortgage and equity release; Two Q&As on which investments are affected by the new tax law on international shares, and how it will work for investors.

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