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Janine Starks: A million-dollar reason to change funds
Posted in Kiwisaver, Retirement, Savings on
I'd do anything for love. Would you? Then get your kids out of KiwiSaver default funds. You've guided them into signing up. Tick. You've got them putting in the maximum they can afford. Tick. But you've got no idea what sort of fund they should be in. Two out of three aint bad? Well it might be okay if you're Meatloaf, but it falls short when it comes to investment. A million dollars short for some.
View moreGet your free Government money
Posted in Kiwisaver, Savings on
Would you like free money? How about $500, and you barely have to do a thing? This time of year is all about tax. Just the word is enough to give some people the shudders, but resist the urge. Think instead of the free money going begging, and how easy it can be to get hold of your slice of the pie.
View moreGet Sorted: Why KiwiSaver balances go up... and down
Posted in Kiwisaver, Savings on
Quick question: what's the difference between a savings account and a KiwiSaver account? Short answer: when you put money in, the first always goes up, but the other goes up and down. That's no small thing. And while we personal finance folks like to go on about the magic of compounding for both saving and investment, sometimes we'd be better off pointing out how different the two are. The one caveat to saying that a savings account always goes up is inflation. Savings can actually roll backwards as well, when you bring inflation into the picture. You're adding money, but its real value and how much it can buy gradually becomes less and less. This is why we need investing.
View morePoor choices making KiwiSavers worse off
Posted in Kiwisaver on
The latest KiwiSaver fund updates show that scheme members are probably leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table because of their conservative approach to investing. New Zealanders scour the web looking for the cheapest clothes, airline tickets, hotels and electricity deals but this low-cost approach may backfire when it comes to KiwiSaver because the lowest-fee funds have generally delivered the lowest returns in recent years. This low-fee strategy could be costing investors $100,000 or more on retirement.
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Can you afford to retire without a house?
Posted in Retirement, Savings on
For decades, the path to a comfortable retirement for middle-income Kiwis had three key steps: buy a house, pay it off before retiring, and save hard for as long as possible to amass a decent nest egg. But soaring home prices are making it harder to get on the property ladder, putting at risk the first step in that well-trod plan.
View moreThe Truth About Earnings and Stock Valuations
Posted in Savings on
We thought this article on Bloomberg was interesting and backs up our philosophy that you should never rely on just one methodology when valuing a stock.
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1 in 3 Americans have $0 saved for retirement
Posted in Retirement on
Saving for retirement is not an area of financial strength for Americans. Too often, meeting the financial demands of today means delaying, diminishing or simply never starting to save for tomorrow. “There are plenty of obstacles Americans claim are in their way when it comes to saving for retirement: credit card debt, student loan debt, low wages, the need to save for a child’s college education, and the list goes on,” said Cameron Huddleston, Life + Money columnist for GOBankingRates. “Although all of these things can put a strain on our budgets, they don’t necessarily make it impossible to save for retirement.”
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Ancient Greek money lessons
Posted in Retirement, Savings on
OPINION: Let me tell you a story about an ancient Greek hero who can help you get richer. It's Ulysses, a kind of Greek Maui, though without Maui's ambition, and with a much worse sense of direction. Ulysses was one of the Greeks who destroyed the ancient city of Troy, and then got hopelessly lost sailing home.
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How to save a first-home deposit
Posted in Savings on
The deposit required to buy a house in many parts of New Zealand looks more like a Lotto win than an amount you might save. In Auckland, the lower-quartile house price is about $680,000. That means, if you want a 20 per cent deposit, you will need $136,000. In Christchurch, first-home buyers need to save about $75,000 and in Wellington City, just under $100,000. So, how do you get there?
View moreWant to have a comfortable retirement? Here's how
Posted in Kiwisaver, Retirement, Savings on
Retirement - whether it's at 65, 67 or some other age entirely - probably seems a long way off. But if you can get on track now, your future self will thank you for it. Here's how to get sorted for retirement in five easy(ish) steps.
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