Readers rally to back houses. It always happens. Whenever I write about investing in houses and shares in the same column, people say I’m unfairly negative about houses. In my final column last year, I wrote that the rise in house prices over the previous year was slower than the rise in: New Zealand shares, hedged overseas shares and unhedged overseas shares, all including dividends. That surprised me, and I thought it might surprise you.
Q&As: Should man, 53, go with bank and seminar rental recommendation?; Young couple ponder buying share of family farm; Should Mary answer all readers’ letters?
Can’t see the forest for the houses?Also: Christmas shopping. Quick question: Which of the following grew fastest in the last year: New Zealand house prices, New Zealand shares, hedged overseas shares (hedging removes the effects of foreign exchange movements), or unhedged overseas shares? Surprise, surprise, it wasn’t house prices. Bigger surprise still: house prices came last.
Q&As: Woman in Australian shouldn’t sell her house here; Is the house price boom like the great tulip bulb bubble?; Couple disagree over rental property v shares.
Q&As: How well do share funds perform?; Comparison of investment performances.
Q&As: The pros and cons of self employment and income splitting; Comparing shares with property is tricky; How movements in the dollar affect investment in international share funds.
Q&As: Share funds v rental property; Income splitting by the self-employed — is it OK?
Q&As: Should immigrant solo mother get into the housing market now?; What is an index fund?; How exchange traded funds work.
Kids, cash and cards: Help your children learn about money. Also in this issue: From the Mailbox — Saving for the children’s future.
A message that goes too far — Shares beat mixtures over long term. I take exception to a recent New York Times article entitled, “The long-term lesson: It pays to diversify”. If you look hard at the numbers quoted by the writer, they show just the opposite.