Property

NZ Herald 23 May 2020

Q&As:
– Help abounds for young man who helped parents get a mortgage
– My tax info not good enough for accountant
– How to tell how strong your bank is
– Can you be in more than one Simplicity fund?
– House buying plan depends on two impossible forecasts
– Put most of savings into house deposit
– Young man loses house deposit in receivership
– Divorced woman, 59, should put most money into new home

Read More

NZ Herald 11 April 2020

Q&As:
– How different is it this time?
– Is this a good time to subdivide?
– Was I too tough on last week’s mother?
– Is gold a good investment these days?
– How would bank deposit insurance work for term deposits?
– Bank credit ratings vary — and should you move money to Australia?
– Pay down mortgage with bank deposits — especially if nervous

Read More

NZ Herald 28 March 2020

Q&As:
– Reassurance for share owners — based on holiday home value
– 2 readers worry that their bank savings are in danger
– Clever timing with KiwiSaver moves unlikely to work out well
Plus:
– A note to other concerned correspondents

Read More

NZ Herald 21 March 2020

Q&As:
– 2 readers ask whether this is a good time to buy a home
– Drip feed into an investment, but preferably not out again
– How COVID-19 affects KiwiSavers planning to withdraw to buy a first home
– 65-year-old in KiwiSaver should relax
– More on “blood in streets” quote

Read More

NZ Herald 29 February 2020

Q&As:
– Why low fees — not high past returns — matter when choosing a KiwiSaver fund
– Put money in apartment or KiwiSaver fund?
– When to move between higher- and lower-risk KiwiSaver funds
– Should share investor sell top performers or bottom performers?

Read More

NZ Herald 16 November 2019

Q&As:
– What to do with a $200,000 Lotto win
– How does Inland Revenue handle Islamic banking?
– Drop in fund value explained
– 2 Q&As on handling charity donations after the donor dies
– Reader explains why millionaire could be aggrieved about NZ Super
– Another reader doesn’t buy my arguments on means-testing Super
– Is means-testing a far left idea?

Read More

NZ Herald 19 October 2019

Q&As:
– Couple should make children their priority while the kids are young
– KiwiSaver gives children a good start, despite the lack of incentives
– Don’t blame bank for getting son’s KiwiSaver tax rate wrong
– Expanding the “cut back on gifts” idea to birthdays, Christmas and Mother’s Day
– Inflation tougher on superannuitants, but reader still has options
Plus:
– I’m doing two talks in Tauranga on November 3

Read More

NZ Herald 12 October 2019

Q&As:
– Low interest not as bad as it seems — when we check out inflation
– Ideas for retiree struggling because of low interest
– Should retirement savings go into high-earning KiwiSaver fund?
– Apartment ownership not worry-free
– My tax gripe shot down

Read More

NZ Herald 5 October 2019

Q&As:
– Reverse mortgages risky in early retirement
– Last week’s correspondent probably meant rental losses are now ring-fenced
– Tax system lacks integrity, here and in the UK
– Did I muddle money and percentages last week?
– Another idea for couple moving to Coromandel but wanting an Auckland option

Read More