Q&As: Dripfeed money when moving it from country to country; Home exemption from capital gains tax applies to farmhouses but not farms; Should people overseas be allowed to use KiwiSaver money to repay student loans?; Is prostitution just another job?; Sex worker’s letter makes a reader weep; Escaping the trap of over-valuing money.
Q&As: Reader’s shareholding success probably more luck than skill; There’ll always be renters, but that doesn’t mean we have to love landlords; Property investors with big debt take big risk — and why do they brag?; Older workers do take jobs from the young to some extent; KiwiSaver contributions not taken from redundancy pay; On quitting KiwiSaver to start a business.
Q&As: Student loan question brings out the differences in a couple’s attitudes to money; 2 Q&As about making use of the student loan repayment bonus — which expires on March 31 — while students are still studying; Clarification of some tricky wording about student loans; A warning for couples: Relationship property agreements should not be DIY.
Financial misbehaviour disappointing. Ironically, a survey on New Zealanders’ financial behaviour was released just days before Christmas — a time of much financial misbehaviour, when everyone’s saying, “I don’t care what it costs, I’ve just got to buy something for Uncle Fred.”
Q&As: Lessons from a bad managed fund investment; An older reader’s tips on money and life; Do parents commit their children to KiwiSaver if they sign them up?; Meaningful Christmas giving.
Q&As: A couple of concerns about buying shares in the company you work for; Bank’s mortgage changes don’t look like profiteering; New graduate shouldn’t bypass KiwiSaver; 3 Q&As about gloomy predictions and investing in gold.
Q&As: The hazards of comparing share and property investments; 4 Q&As on whether we’re headed for financial catastrophe; Who can get the Carer’s Benefit, and how much is it?
Q&As: 3 readers are upset about morality and student loan repayment strategies; Is it better to take advantage of the student loan repayment bonus, while it lasts?; Low retirement spending figures challenged.
Q&As: New research helps to answer whether couple in early 50s should worry about how much they are saving; KiwiSaver funds won’t be the next finance companies; Should young man overseas repay his student loan?
Excerpt from Upside, Downside. This week and next week, this column will publish excerpts from a small book Mary Holm has written for the Reserve Bank called “Upside, downside: A guide to risk for savers and investors”. It will be given away free to the public in September. This column will tell you how to get a copy then. Today’s excerpts include an overview and an example of one type of risky investor behaviour. Next week we will publish further examples.