NZ Herald 5 June 2010
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.
NZ Herald 29 May 2010
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.
NZ Herald 22 May 2010
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.
NZ Herald 15 May 2010
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.
NZ Herald 8 May 2010
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.
NZ Herald 24 October 2009
Q&As: Are house prices less likely to fall in posher suburbs?; Financial advisers paid by commissions can’t do as well as someone who is independent; Two Q&As on why recently issued preference shares are not good investments.
NZ Herald 10 October 2009
Q&As: A reader challenges my advice last week about postponing a first home purchase for three years; How to get around the income cap on the KiwiSaver first home subsidy; How to get around the three-year requirement for KiwiSaver first home assistance; Another reader challenges me — on my advice on whether to sell a Mangere Bridge house or a Whangamata house; The merits of coin tossing; Maybe Lotto will make reader’s decision easier.
The Investor 6 October 2009
Good news goes unheralded. One of the findings in a recent survey caught my eye. Only 12 per cent of New Zealanders surveyed said the value of their financial investments had grown in the previous six months, with 42 per cent saying the value was unchanged and 46 per cent saying it had fallen. The vast majority got it wrong.
NZ Herald 3 October 2009
Q&As: Couple wondering whether to buy a home now or in three years could gain thousands from joining KiwiSaver; You can’t get in early on the KiwiSaver first home withdrawal and subsidy.
NZ Herald 26 September 2009
Q&As: Is it better to sell a Mangere Bridge property or a Whangamata property?; Reader who switched to riskier fund, and saw immediate loss, wonders if she should switch back; Share markets have performed really well lately; Two letters about KiwiSaver and “total remuneration”, in which employees more or less pay their own employer contributions.