Q&As: What happens to KiwiSaver accounts in a divorce?; How KiwiSaver might affect NZ Super, and what you should do about it; A source of basic KiwiSaver information; The NZ share market index that includes dividends has been misleading in the past. How much does it matter?
Q&As: Nearly 65-year-old should grab chance to join KiwiSaver. People over 60 do particularly well out of it; Why dividends should be included when we look at the performance of the NZ share market.
Q&As: A big fan of property investing scares me with his lack of knowledge; I’m accused of hypocrisy and bias; In praise of boring old index funds and learning about them. Plus: KiwiSaver: Will the kick-start be around for a while? What happens when an employee gets a lump sum? A clarification about access to the money in bankruptcy.
Riding to the rescue of diversification. Diversification — a key element to successful investing for most people — has taken a bashing in the press lately. Even David McEwen, who writes this column alternately with me, quoted criticism of diversification on this page a few weeks ago. I feel bound to leap in and defend it.
Q&As: Would-be homeowners may need to lower their standards a bit — with some help from Monty Python; Inflation hits property at least as much as share funds; Californian astounded by our “real estate mania”.
Q&As: Rent control would do more harm than good; The cost of staying out of the housing market; Reader insists it’s worthwhile to try to time foreign exchange movements. It’s all his!
Q&As: A tax on house sales, to subsidise first home owners, is a lovely idea that wouldn’t work; Renting and saving elsewhere can leave you better off than home ownership; Semi-retired couple who sold their home and rent are probably doing fine.
Q&As: A year-old letter shows the danger in trying to predict what the Kiwi dollar will do; “Plodders” wonder how to match the investments of their landlord friends; Traders in shares beyond Australasia no longer pay the old tax on capital gains; How about taxing rental property the same way as international shares?
New tax rules not so bad. As the new tax regime on shares in countries beyond Australasia takes effect, many taxpayers seem to think it’s tougher than it really is.
Q&As: Have you got what it takes to borrow to invest in a share fund?; How frequent traders in international shares will be taxed under the new rules; How Inland Revenue might catch property traders.