Q&As: Paying off mortgage — and getting rid of badly undiversified portfolio — are two great ideas; KiwiSaver can work well for student; Laying out the details on KiwiSaver exit fees; Buying shares directly from overseas broker cheaper in short run, but may not be wise.
Q&As: Some active share funds will do better than passive index funds, but it’s impossible to predict which ones; Don’t go chasing high-performing KiwiSaver funds — here’s how to choose your provider; Another index fund available in New Zealand; Fee-charging advisers don’t gain from putting clients in higher risk investments than they should.
Q&As: It’s not wise to let yourself be forced into being a landlord; Which New Zealand providers offer passive or index funds?; What are the minimum investments in passive funds?; Details on how the new resolution schemes for disputes with advisers will work.
Q&As: Investing doesn’t have to be a part-time job. There’s still time for novel reading; KiwiSaver calculation — far from being wrong — is correct to the cent; How the lack of a tax credit for kids in KiwiSaver affects contributions to their accounts; There’s much more to financial advice than just investing.
A way to make friends and relatives happy at Christmas. Changes to invitation to Capital Market Taskforce meeting. Q&As: Less insurance can save big money and work well — if you are healthy and careful; Gradually get rid of preference shares you don’t want any more.
Q&As: Couple struggling with rental property should put it on the market; Did the issuers of perpetual preference shares adequately warn investors that their value could fall considerably?; The choices for a KiwiSaver who moves overseas.
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.
Q&As: Are preference shares a good investment, despite recent price falls?; Did reader get good advice from an ASB adviser?
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.
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.