Tips for Your Twenties What you do with your money in your twenties will have a significant impact on the rest of your life. Start off on the wrong track and it might take you years to get back on the right track. Make the right decisions with your money and your future life will be much easier. So how do you get it right? Get into a good savings habit. If you don’t learn to save now, you probably never will. Saving i...

Be a Confident, Objective Investor The key to being a successful investor is to learn to overcome the emotions of fear and greed and make sound investment decisions based on objective analysis. Fear can lead to financial loss through missing out on opportunities to make a good return and through panic which can result in selling investments at the wrong time. On the other hand, greed can result in financial loss through p...

All About Savings There is really not much difference between spending and saving. All money is spent – it is just a question of when. When you receive money, you can choose to spend it now, a little bit later, or a lot later. Ultimately, money you don’t spend during your lifetime will simply be passed on to someone else to spend. Saving is therefore just deferred spending. What you do with money you wish to spend la...

Compulsory Retirement Savings There has been much talk recently about whether KiwiSaver should be made compulsory and the percentage contribution increased. In theory, there could be several economic benefits from this approach. As a result, millions of dollars would be saved rather than spent and this would help take the heat out of the economy and reduce inflationary pressures. The money saved would be invested in bonds...

The Importance of House Prices House prices are not only a key indicator of what is happening in an economy but they can also be a trigger for a change in economic conditions. Hence the state of the housing market comes under close scrutiny by the Reserve Bank and other Government officials. There is a very close link between house prices and inflation. This is understandable when you consider that the cost of a mortgage ...

De-stress your Finances Worries about money can cause significant levels of stress that affect your quality of life, your relationships, your health, your ability to study and your career. American research shows that money is the prime cause of arguments between couples, with over 30% of arguments being about money. Couples who argue about money are 30% more likely to divorce than those who don’t. For some people, spen...

Tax Checkups Another tax year has gone by and that is a trigger to check up on a few things. Not everyone is required to send in a tax return every year and so it is easy to let things slip by that should be attended to. Firstly, check to see if you are entitled to a tax refund. This might occur if, for example, you only worked part of the year, you had more than one employer during the year, you have expenses you can cl...

Tips for Lending Money When money is tight, family and friends are often called upon for a loan. It’s nice to help people but lending money on an informal basis can be a recipe for disaster. Here are some of the problems that could arise: You may not be able to enforce repayment and if problems occur, your relationship with the borrower may become very difficult You may end up in the same situation as the borrower if...

The Changing Role of Financial Advisers Financial advisers have been working under their new regulatory framework for nearly three years and many have changed the way in which they operate over that time. In 2011 the Code of Professional Conduct for Authorised Financial Advisers, which sets clear standards for the provision of financial advice, came into force. Since then, many advisers have been the subject of audits by ...

The Impact of Rising Interest Rates The Reserve Bank’s recent increase of the Official Cash Rate (OCR), albeit a small one, heralds the start of a new cycle in interest rates. The outlook for New Zealand economic growth is good, thanks to construction in Christchurch and a buoyant export sector. As the economy grows, interest rates will continue to rise so as to avoid high inflation. This is good news for some people an...