Financial misbehaviour disappointing. Ironically, a survey on New Zealanders’ financial behaviour was released just days before Christmas — a time of much financial misbehaviour, when everyone’s saying, “I don’t care what it costs, I’ve just got to buy something for Uncle Fred.”
Q&As: Interest-only mortgages have major flaws; Another — good — approach to reverse mortgages; Are the banks ripping us off with reverse mortgages?; Spending certainly didn’t decrease for this new retiree; KiwiSaver contributions flexible.
Self-insurance eases the pain. Have you ever thought, as you pay hundreds of dollars yet again for car or house insurance that you never claim on, that it would be better to bank the premiums and use that money if something went wrong?
Q&As: Best websites for comparing banks; “Frugal ways die hard”; Winners of TV show may be in for a nasty tax surprise; KiwiSaver may not be the best spot for 21st present.
Help needed for retirees to live it up a bit. I’m disappointed. Retired people have been gaining access to their KiwiSaver money for several months now, but there’s no emergence of good new products to help them manage their savings.
Q&As: Time to check a reader’s challenge about banks and gold; And let’s hear it from the reader himself; Why 1-person retiree households spend so much less than 2-person households; Should NZ Super be more for older retired people?; Income manipulation to get student allowances is now curbed; Not every reader agrees with aggressive ones.
Q&As: The extra money retired people can get from the government, above NZ Super; 2 Q&As about information on spending in retirement; People don’t literally invest student loans — so how do they do it?; Reader finds this column not worth reading!; People who make the most of student loans are “not morally bankrupt”.
Retirement spending puzzle solved. It was a question that got people thinking. Massey University senior lecturer Claire Matthews had just finished a presentation at the Workplace Savings NZ conference on how much people spend in retirement. “How come most of the spending totals for two-person households are more than twice the one-person totals?,” somebody asked.
Q&As: 3 readers are upset about morality and student loan repayment strategies; Is it better to take advantage of the student loan repayment bonus, while it lasts?; Low retirement spending figures challenged.
Q&As: A disadvantage of revolving credit mortgages — it can be hard to keep track of your money; Should John Banks and co. have shared the profits on the sale of their KiwiSaver scheme with members?; The one situation in which NZ Super is affected by your KiwiSaver account; A call for info about student spending.