Cutting back your spending
Some more unusual ideas on ways to spend less:
– Wait for a week
– Stay away from shops
– Separate bank accounts
– Ideas from FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
– Wear the same clothes repeatedly
– Fish and chip dinner parties
– Many other great ideas from listeners
Some shocking results in survey on New Zealanders’ finances
Canstar Consumer Pulse Report 2022:
– More than half spend more than they earn — especially young
– 2/3 don’t have enough rainy day money
– Nearly ¼ don’t save anything
– Only 45% are debt-free, excluding mortgages
How you might change your habits.
What to do about the 2 big investment worries — inflation and wobbly sharemarkets
– Short term — who knows?
– Take the long-term view
– What we can learn from this
Q&As:
– Where to keep money for jewellery while awaiting Italian trip …
– … And where to keep it while awaiting a house purchase
– Give money to grandkids rather than their parents
– Invest a lump sum now, or wait?
– A few more “money rules”, and a source revealed
– Good Samaritan helps out last week’s struggling tourism operator
Q&As:
– Covid-hit couple struggle to get a loan …
– … while another family finds solutions
– Short-term share performance is irrelevant
– Get used to volatility or move out and stay out
– 45 financial rules
KiwiSaver default funds suddenly become attractive for many.
Changes could make you want to switch to these funds:
– Different providers
– Guidance to investors at life milestones
– Lower fees — as low as 0.2 per cent
– No fossil fuels or illegal weapons
– Change of risk level, from conservative to balanced
Warning to those who should stay in conservative
Don’t let providers talk you into a bad move!
Doing KiwiSaver badly
– Not joining. Employees and non-employees.
– Not contributing.
– Switching too often or unwisely — good and bad switches
– Over 65s not using KS.
– Providers doing KS badly — not cutting fees much.
– Good news: Money in KiwiSaver doubled in 4 years.
– World Investor Week — info for new investors on FMA website.
Q&As:
– Should 24-year-old save for retirement too, or just a first home?
– KiwiSaver works well for over 65s
– Should my advice to woman in 50s have been more conservative?
– Private education not recommended by Mum who sent her sons there
– Dilworth School a possibility for solo Mum’s son
Q&As:
– Grandparents’ best gift for a baby
– Single Mum should put house ahead of son’s private schooling
– Should last week’s Mum buy a cheaper house now?
– Yes, tenants can put up pictures, but they need to fix the walls afterwards
– A little of the high-risk stuff, but only a little!
Q&As:
– Treasure hunt: Could this old term deposit be worth a fortune?
– A couple of worries about a share investor’s confidence
– “Spend while you can” says reader’s adviser
– Too few women in the Business Herald?
– One reader appreciates her real estate agent’s work …
– … While another sold easily without an agent