Q&As: Should couple sell their house, and buy again later?; The high price of not organising your automatic payments well; When you should and shouldn’t repay your student loan quickly — and future prospects; 2 Q&As on what happens to KiwiSavers when they retire.
Q&As: What happens when your employer doesn’t forward your KiwiSaver deductions to Inland Revenue; Do I still recommend share investments after the Feltex case?; I shouldn’t have said “nobody foresaw the downturn” in the last column; Queensland might be good to retire to, but is it a good place to invest?; A brickbat about BRIC funds.
Q&As: Does it make sense to try to pick where Baby Boomers will retire and buy property there?; How KiwiSaver works if you move from employment to self-employment; Should couple use lump sum to repay a commercial mortgage or for other investment — and how KiwiSaver affects this?; Some alternatives for investing in emerging markets.
Getting into gear not always wise. The four most hateful words are said to be, “I told you so.” So I’ll put this another way: One of my key messages in seminars, books and columns over the years — that borrowing to invest is more dangerous than many people realise — is easier to “sell” these days than a couple of years ago.
Q&As: A way for couples on higher incomes to get KiwiSaver first home help; Man with terminal illness can probably withdraw all KiwiSaver money; KiwiSaver contributions holidays more flexible than reader realises; More thoughts on why house prices have outgrown rents; 2 readers challenge the use of the term “Mum and Dad investors” — and we seek an alternative.
Q&As: 3 Q&As on the KiwiSaver help for first home buyers — why it’s so good, but also why some people aren’t eligible; A possible explanation for house prices outgrowing incomes.
Q&As: People in their early sixties are mad if they are not in KiwiSaver; One reader says it’s too hard to buy a first home in Auckland, but two others have suggestions on how to do it; The cost of building hasn’t risen since the 1970s, but shortage of land has pushed up prices, says a reader. Plus: Follow-up on last week’s comment about a job vacancy in Wanganui.
Q&As: Three Q&As on options for would-be first home buyers struggling to afford a home — go cheaper, and go further away. (Bonus: a job opening in Wanganui); An angry reader misunderstands where I’m coming from; Two Q&As ponder how building costs and land development costs affect house prices; Further explanation about how PIRs work.
Q&As: Why house prices must — at some point — come down further; Newly retired person loses out, for a year, on PIE tax; How a rising NZ Super age might affect KiwiSaver; Temporary workers in KiwiSaver at a disadvantage.
Q&As: Two readers’ bright ideas on how to negotiate with real estate agents; Everything you need to know about tax on PIEs, which include almost all KiwiSaver funds.