How the lolly choice has changed. The economists have given up on the idea, and it’s time the rest of us did too. I’m talking about making financial decisions based only on the cold hard facts and numbers, and not taking into account emotional and psychological factors.
Q&As: Should reader buy a NZ house now — while still overseas — or later?; 3 readers’ varying views on student loans; 2 readers seem to be a bit muddled about the new KiwiSaver tax credit.
Q&As: Best ways to play the KiwiSaver game if you are an employee with a mortgage; 2 readers argue — convincingly — with my comments last week on student loan repayment; Why a reader changed her attitude to repaying her children’s student loans.
Q&As: Students get a good deal by world standards, and shouldn’t dodge student loan repayments; How come the bonds in a balanced KiwiSaver fund report losses?; Winning the tax game if you have a home and a rental property; Where to get free budget advice.
Q&As: Is it better to go for the most expensive house you can, or the cheapest?; Adult son in sheltered workshop should keep up with KiwiSaver; Slight risk of holding back on using student loan repayment bonus.
Q&As: No clear-cut answer on whether’s it’s better to slash debt or save for Christmas; The best way to make use of the student loan repayment bonus; Student loan holder living overseas is foolish to ignore his loan; What’s the point?
Q&As: A reader’s 10 rules on property investment make good sense; 3 Q&As on the fairness of wealthier people using student loans; Was the word “renter” misused in last week’s column?; Research centre is looking into issues about overseas pensions and NZ Super.
Q&As: How to plan retirement savings if you don’t want to own a home; Family in last week’s column must have muddled their language a little; If you’ve lived in Australia, applying for NZ Super may not be straightforward.
Q&As: Should couple sell their house, and buy again later?; The high price of not organising your automatic payments well; When you should and shouldn’t repay your student loan quickly — and future prospects; 2 Q&As on what happens to KiwiSavers when they retire.
Q&As: Have I been too easy on the banks, or is a reader being too tough?; Why does it take so long to clear a cheque in this computer age?; Inland Revenue acknowledges delays in processing student loan bonus payments.