Q&As: Reader could do with a re-think; Economist calls for in-depth look at NZ Super; Easy way to make KiwiSaver contributions; Should we use KiwiSaver money to repay student loans?; How about starting to charge interest on student loans?; 3 readers remember what tertiary tuition fees were like in their day.
Q&As: Reasonable and unreasonable expectations about NZ Super and people’s retirement savings; People need to think beyond their own needs, says reader; Better or worse then or now? Just different; Just how high are — and were — tertiary fees?; Oops! I got it wrong about foreign exchange and interest rates.
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: Government action needed to help out retirees withdrawing their KiwiSaver money; No tax when you take money out of KiwiSaver; KiwiSaver gets good and bad report cards, depending on your approach; 2 readers explain how they financially helped their student children.
Q&As: The “who and how” of KiwiSaver withdrawals before retirement — including what happens if you go bankrupt; Was the recent advice on tax for buskers correct, or is their income donations?; Two readers suggest a short-term approach to employment for 60ish couple made redundant; Meaningful Christmas gifts.
Q&As: Teen busker should be filing a tax return; Reader shows how not to choose a KiwiSaver fund; Voltaire quote last week hit the spot; Researcher reports on surprisingly high chance of ending up in a rest home.
Q&As: Parents hoping to deduct payments to baby for “working” for them are dreaming; Tax dodgers and protesters aren’t in the same camp; Couple in sixties should grab the chance to get their own home; Why returns are disappointing on KiwiSaver cash funds.
Q&As: Putting your savings in the kids’ names, to reduce taxes, is not a clever idea; Should Christchurch Red Zone dweller buy another home?; Getting by on stone soup; Comparing gold and silver investments with KiwiSaver.
Q&As: Is it wise not to save because if you do you’ll lose some government subsidies — and to spend the money on cars instead?; Our chances of ending up in a rest home. And could there be insurance to cover the costs?; Last week’s “oily ragger” should do her own thing; No bargain is quite so good when you consider how much you really had to earn to buy it; Update on a reader’s predictions of NZ’s exchange rate and gold and silver prices.
Q&As: An idea for a woman who doesn’t know what to do with all the money her husband is now making; How much is a tax deduction worth?; Unfairness in rest home subsidies unavoidable — unless you want to distort your spending; “Add-back” of gifts to a trust not as extreme as reader thinks.