Kerre Woodham: Taxation is a finely balanced thing

We know times are tough. We know that we're in a period of rebuilding, we know that there are green shoots starting to come through. We're looking towards the end of 2025 as a time when things will turn around, when things will start to improve, and things will start to get better on a micro level in our own households, and on a macro level when it comes to the government.

Point of Order: New finance minister gets to work as the economy needs a fresh stimulus: will her mini-budget do the job?

The business of forming a government and putting new Cabinet ministers to work seems unduly ponderous — incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon has yet to have a roundtable talk with coalition partners David Seymour and Winston Peters But at least one of the key personalities in the Luxon team, incoming Finance Minister Nicola Willis, is reported to be beavering away on her initial tasks, as well as recruiting staff for her Beehive office.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 8/8/23

Govt’s partner for financing renewable energy projects is being investigated by US Senate committee for its China dealings

Hard on the heels of announcing plans to ease the way for more wind farms, our government announced plans for fast-tracking nine solar power projects and – in today’s news – the launch of a $2 billion fund aimed at making New Zealand one of the first countries in the world to reach 100% renewable electricity.

The fund is being established with the help of an American company, BlackRock, which the Beehive press statement describes as one of the world’s largest investors in climate infrastructure and clean technology.

Brian Gaynor: Houses and shares deliver a decade of growth

Houses or shares, which is the best investment?

This is a recurring question in New Zealand, although the two asset classes are difficult to compare because they have totally different characteristics, particularly in terms of leverage, maintenance costs and income flows.

Nevertheless, the figures in the table show that New Zealand house prices appreciated 1.8 per cent in 2018 while Auckland prices rose by just 0.1 per cent. These figures are compiled by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

Frank Newman: Interest rate decision becoming clear

Some clear signals about interest rates are now emerging, making the decision a little easier for those wondering whether to “fix” their floating rate mortgage. At present about 60% of all mortgages are on variable rate which, according to the ANZ, rises to 84% when fixed rate mortgages maturing within the next year are added. This they say is the highest proportion of short-term mortgages since the early 1990s.

With respect to the merits of switching variable rate loans to fixed rate, they say, “Recent falls in fixed mortgage interest rates have significantly added to the appeal of fixing, with almost nothing separating carded floating, 1 year and 2 year rates. Certainty has therefore just become substantially cheaper. With the OCR unlikely to go lower, it is difficult to imagine the overall term structure of mortgage rates falling much further, suggesting there may be merit in fixing. However, this needs to be weighed up against floating rate discounts that often come up, which may make remaining floating more attractive for a little longer yet.”

Frank Newman: Picking winners in 2012

2011 was hardly a vintage year for investors. The success stories in the property market were largely about long-term investors picking up bargains due to the misfortune of others, while the sharemarket hardly gets a mention in investment success stories at all – and for good reason – even the experts find it difficult picking winners.

Each year brokers are asked by the NZ Herald to pick what they believe will be the best sharemarket performers in the year ahead. Given they are experts in this area and they do spend their working days thinking and breathing shares, it’s would be fair and reasonable to expect their picks to be better than the average café dweller, wouldn’t it?