The biggest surprise in the financial world last year has been the fact that longer term interest rates around the globe have moved sharply lower.

David Chaplin looks at Alan Greenspan's analysis of why no-one saw the GFC coming and why it wasn't his fault.

I am a New Zealand permanent resident, and I worked in New Zealand for almost six years but when I moved to Germany at that time I decided to take my private fund from AXA superannuation.

Chinese interests snap up two islands linked to the mainland for $41.5m. They plan to use them for a $130.6m six-star luxury resort and native reserve.

I remember inflation and deflation as among the easiest topics to comprehend in my economics class.

Parents could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by skipping houses in elite school zones and paying to privately educate their kids elsewhere instead.

Hoping for an overseas holiday this year? A new car or an emergency fund? Growing the balance in your savings account is harder than it sounds.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund says it remains comfortable with its investment in the US oil and gas industry.

As economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said: "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable."

The ministry is reviewing how it recovers the costs of its biosecurity and food safety systems across the country's primary industries, after under-recovering for several years.

Money is the means by which you can escape the day-to-day pressure of being poor and struggling to survive.

Careful investment means you and your family can have a wider range of choices in the way that you live your life.

A Q&A on buying a first home using KiwiSaver funds prompted me to share our daughter's experience.

The attack of the new clutter - otherwise known as Christmas - is on its way....

One of the FMA's key areas of interest next year will be the world of KiwiSaver.

I am disappointed that my KiwiSaver provider, ASB, has decided to close down its FirstChoice KiwiSaver Scheme, and in particular the Global Sustainability Fund.

A life-time of renting is becoming a reality for many New Zealanders, a survey shows, as the need for large deposits and big mortgages block their way to home ownership.

The NZX-owned KiwiSaver scheme, Smartkiwi, will be closed early next year following the stock exchange's purchase of Superlife.

Property developers and investors have enjoyed an outstanding year but Kiwi Income Property Trust chief executive Chris Gudgeon could be the star of the bunch.

Pre-sales of the first of 500 to 600 new Wynyard Quarter apartments start in February and the first show-home is being built.

A surge in Chinese investment in New Zealand residential real estate is something the Government needs to consider, but at the moment is not a significant issue says John Key.

Borrowing against your equity is some of the cheapest money out there (as opposed to credit cards), writes Tom Hartmann. But here are the pitfalls.

I am a widow turning 65 shortly, own my own home mortgage-free (worth about $460,000), working 12 hours a week, semi-supporting my son who is at uni.

Oceania Healthcare is on track for an initial public offering in early 2015, aged-care operator's chief executive, Earl Gasparich, says he's also in talks with private investors and funds.