The following is a selection of articles mainly from January 2005 to the present. To explore this topic in more depth and access earlier columns, please use the search box.

Articles

Syndicated column 15 December 2012 - Tricky questions to ponder on the beach walk

Summer holidays - a time to look beyond what's happening in your life over the next week or so. How about the next 40 years?

NZ Herald 8 September 2012

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

NZ Herald 19 May 2012

Q&As: KiwiSaver first home help flexible - including the maximum income rules
- Teacher should be in KiwiSaver even though he doesn't get employer contributions
- A bigot confesses
- Banks label NZ Super - and help superannuitants - in different ways

NZ Herald 12 May 2012

Q&As: NZ gets good value from many NZ Super recipients
- How parents might help their adult children with the two items that cost more now
- Last week's correspondent should leave the country, or change their thinking
- How to calculate KiwiSaver tax credit in your first year in the scheme
- Some KiwiSaver providers help members with tax credit
- A welfare payment by any other name ...

NZ Herald 5 May 2012

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

NZ Herald 28 April 2012

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

NZ Herald 21 April 2012

Q&As: One retired reader is fed up with a younger person's attitude to superannuitants ...
- While another is amused, and thoughtful
- Effect of a mortgage rate rise on house prices being underplayed
- An overseas landlord must, by law, have an agent here
- Bank gives wrong info on deposits into KiwiSaver

NZ Herald 14 April 2012

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

NZ Herald 10 March 2012

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

NZ Herald 3 March 2012

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

NZ Herald 18 February 2012

Q&As: How much financial support a reader gives their student son
- Two banks offer mortgages that get around problems with revolving credit loans
- An accountant's offer boosts reputation of the profession
- Two Q&As about means testing of NZ Super in some circumstances, and how KiwiSaver fits in
- Yes, there are plenty of companies that don't pay dividends

NZ Herald 11 February 2012

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

NZ Herald 1 October 2011

Q&As: Are corporate boxes at the rugby tax deductible, and is that fair?
- A quick easy way to see how far a retirement nest egg will stretch
- Does the average retiree get a good deal from NZ Super? Does it even make sense to ask that?
- The best type of fund for a KiwiSaver in his 60s

NZ Herald 17 September 2011

Q&As: What a good ad about KiwiSaver growth should and shouldn't include
- Bank ad doesn't always quite work
- Should 65-year-old worker feel guilty about getting NZ Super?
- Missing pit in last week's picture
- 2 Q&As about KiwiSaver tax credits in the last year of receiving them

NZ Herald 10 September 2011

Q&As: Older workers don't take jobs away from the young
- There are ways around timing problems with annuities
- Last week's angry correspondent apologises, and asks another question about how safe NZ banks are
- Two readers respond to last week's outburst
- One more "set and forget" KiwiSaver fund

NZ Herald 20 August 2011

Q&As: NZ stock performance over last 10 years - after adjusting for tax, inflation and, perhaps, index changes
- Is the gold price bubbly?
- Confusion over NZ Super when one partner is under 65

NZ Herald 13 August 2011

Q&As: Should reader move to lower-risk KiwiSaver fund? Putting share plunge in perspective
- Don't try to time markets
- Gold fan checks in after gold price soars, but what of his other predictions?
- The one situation in which NZ Super is affected by KiwiSaver savings

NZ Herald 19 February 2011

Q&As: Repaying debt should be Number One priority - with one important exception
- Money can't buy the most important things in retirement
- Last week's numbers on NZ Super were incomplete - sorry
- Let's demystify share trading, and share holding
- One more advantage of owning shares

Syndicated column 27 March 2010 - Wanted: better insurance against outliving our savings

Imagine you're heading into retirement. You'll get NZ Super, but you also have savings in KiwiSaver or elsewhere. You would like to spend that money over the rest of your life and leave the house to the kids. But - not knowing how long you will live - how can you decide how much to spend each year?

NZ Herald 20 March 2010

Q&As: Why it wouldn't work to make tax changes for rental property apply only to people who buy property after a certain date
Landlord retaliation probably won't last long
Holding people accountable for giving bad KiwiSaver advice - and lining up a partner to also get the first home subsidy
How might people with private pensions be compensated for rise in GST?

NZ Herald 6 March 2010

Q&As: How will superannuitants fare under proposed tax changes?
Should young couple invest their savings in a rental property while overseas?
Two Q&As about children and the KiwiSaver tax credit

NZ Herald 23 January 2010

Q&As: Should couple repay mortgage with redundancy money, or invest it in KiwiSaver or elsewhere?
Big KiwiSaver provider should know better about first-year tax credits
More information available about investment advisers - and are hourly or percentage fees better?
Less room for trouble if people make their own investments after seeking adviser's recommendations

NZ Herald 22 August 2009

Q&As: Wealth doesn't have to equal filth - New Zealanders' attitude to money may leave them more worried about financial issues
Take your pick between share fund managers who try to outperform the market and those who don't
Members of work super schemes can do well by also being in KiwiSaver

NZ Herald 25 July 2009

Q&As: Steps a middle-income family can take towards buying their own home
Scams not always easy to spot
The presence of family trusts could prevent governments from means testing NZ Super
Has the worst already happened for kids in KiwiSaver?

NZ Herald January 13 2007

Q&As: Options for a newly retired couple with $200,000 and no home include part-time work, buying a home with a flat attached, an interest-only mortgage and equity release.
Two Q&As on which investments are affected by the new tax law on international shares, and how it will work for investors.

NZ Herald April 23 2005

Q&As: Is it better to repay your mortgage or invest in a work super scheme?
Website with interest rate info.