Setting financial priorities — Best thing to do with excess cash: the rule about repaying debt versus investing; Applying this to: credit card and other high-interest debt, mortgages, student loans; Top priority for all: repay credit card debt. Next priorities: If you don’t own a home; If you have a home with a mortgage; If you have a mortgage-free home.
How overconfidence can make you poorer (and other psychological aspects of investing): Applies to shares, property, fixed interest etc; Which gender?; Overconfidence leads to — 1. Too little diversification, 2.Frequent trading; What to do instead; Many women have their own problem — too little risk; Other ways emotions affect investing.
Q&As: A few phone calls can slash hundreds from insurance bills; We’re not all bad, says insurance adviser; “Freehold” doesn’t mean mortgage-free, and beware of leasehold property; Reasons for Auckland house price rise don’t rule out bubble; Meaningful Christmas gifts.
Q&As: Is greed behind Auckland house price rises?; Apartment or unit? Go with what you prefer; Rental property not a good way to invest her inheritance; Individual shares or a share fund?
Q&As: How to let both daughters in on the deal; Did “holidaying” KiwiSaver miss out?; Could KiwiSaver money be grabbed because hubby’s running up debts?; Student loan repayments can continue into retirement; Some tips for last week’s separated woman.
Q&As: Are older people greedy? Is this question worth worrying about?; What does “return” mean in KiwiSaver; Is interest on family loans taxable?; Reality strikes after parents lend to student son.
Q&As: Early Brierley investment brings back memories of 1987; Reader and I disagree on share market performance — and who reads this column!; Family loan suggestion 1: put it in borrower’s will; Family loan suggestion 2: put it in lender’s will; Family loan suggestion 3: borrower should try elsewhere first; Why KiwiSaver Fund Finder idea wouldn’t work.
Q&As: Some rules for lending to family members; KiwiSaver provider not taking Warren Buffett’s advice about share trading; A reader wonders where her KiwiSaver contributions have gone.
Q&As: Could money in a bank-run KiwiSaver be transferred to pay debt owed to the bank?; No easy way out for reluctant KiwiSaver member; Could long-ago OE in Australia mean Aussies pick up a New Zealander’s pension tab?; Reader’s Australian pension amounts to $1 to $2 a week; Keeping a list of your jobs is helpful when you later apply for NZ Super; How to negotiate over buying a precious car.
Q&As: Car buying decisions not always rational; Should young man invest in Fiji, buy a house, or neither?; Why it takes so long to process KiwiSaver contributions; When must self-employed make employer contributions to KiwiSaver?; I will try to run more non-KiwiSaver Q&As; Last week’s picture offends a reader.