![Mary Holm: It's never too late to own a home](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=808)
Mary Holm: It's never too late to own a home
While it's not ideal to be making any mortgage payments after you retire, the payments might well be less than rent, writes Mary Holm.
While it's not ideal to be making any mortgage payments after you retire, the payments might well be less than rent, writes Mary Holm.
I'm a 61-year-old single woman who is trying to work out how to have some cash when I retire.
Who cannot join KiwiSaver once you are 18? Anyone in government superannuation schemes like teachers cannot join, presumably because they already have a scheme.
When weighing the pros and cons of owning your own home, the sense of security is important for parents, writes Mary Holm.
Q: A few weeks ago, your column discussed some of the changes the Financial Services Council wants to make to KiwiSaver (removing the tax credit and cutting Pie tax rates).
Mary Holm casts her eye over a potentially risky investment scheme...
My mother is somehow convinced that paying off my mortgage in fortnightly repayments is better than monthly ones.
With quantitative easing muddying economies, it's hard to know when to convert currency into kiwi dollars.
Q: My 29-year-old daughter has finally settled into a career position with a stable employer who offers no pension plan other than a contribution to KiwiSaver.
Q: On retiring from farming at 70, I was tempted to invest in houses and live off the rental income. Property had always been a good investment so far.
The Government seems anxious to discourage people from owning overseas shares. The rules for people holding more than $50,000 of shares overseas, which is a trifling amount, are complex beyond belief.
The tax "system" is certainly geared towards investment property. As an example I know of a professional couple in their 40s who own five investment properties.
Mary Holm answers questions on finding the best time to pay off your mortgage. Can you pay it off too early? What should you aim for?
Q: Recently, it was reported that from July to August this year, banks will be able to repurpose a person's money in their savings account, for the bank's own needs. Could you give us more information?
Not everyone has the courage to buy shares while cheap, fearing the stockmarket will stay down, but it never does.
No matter which you favour, there's no way of knowing where the prices of real estate or stocks will go
Heavily geared property investments can return more than shares, but they can also go badly wrong