Mortgage repayment versus saving for retirement. Join us Friday for a live web interactive with Bernard Hickey who will discuss retirement readiness strategies.

Amanda , I will miss another of your interactive sessions , but I have some commenrts , and some contentous issues about fees

MORTGAGE DEBT   

Paying down mortgage debt is tax free saving , in the case of a Mortgage the gain is around 5 to 6% , which you cannot get anywhere on the NZX or the ASX without sharemarket risk 

KIWISAVER

 A GOOD IDEA...........  FOR MAKING FUND MANAGERS RICH, ITS NOTHING MORE THAN THE NEW FINANCE COMPANY  RORT

The  return on investment in a Kiwisaver fund is likely to be around 2% to 3% after fees ( if you are lucky) and then the yield is taxed by another third. The only amount you should put in kwiwsaver is to get the tax benefits, anything over that is a waste and simply a handout for fund managers  to buy their next Porsche or SUV .

KIWISAVWER FEES

Its a disgrace to see investor capital in the fund being skimmed as fees and this shoudl be a criminal offence with mandatory jail sentences .

Fees should only be taken out of actual  gains , and then be limited to reasaonble % of the actual gain in any given year . 

Right now the fund Managers skim off a % of the capital sum invested for "managing"  the money, even when it makes a loss  . This is wrong on every level and is a rort that we expect from someone like Mark Hotchin  .

SHARES ARE GOING NOWHERE

 Shares are not cheap right now, and I cannot name one NZX stock that is not a risk of a downside, asset valaution writedowns , or some other potential to go negative

GILTS ARE A DISASTER WAITNG TO HAPPEN

 Government Bonds yield around 2% and inflation is 2% so the yield is ZERO and your yield  is negative after tax. The only place you would be more certain to lose money is at  Sky City or the TAB. You need rocks between your ears to invest in Gilts .

CURRENCIES ARE ONLY FOR PROFESSIONAL SPECULATORS

I have looked at currencies in view of the strong Kiwi Dollar but the Euro , Pound and US$ all seem to have problems of their own and the yields on cash in these currencies is too low to work for me

CONCLUSION

So in summary for me it looks like  a no brainer , put  everything into your mortgage until you have paid off your mortgage ( as my wife and I have done).

Then buy a small commercial property or another solid Auckland property in a mid -income area as an investment .

At least you can see a tangible asset unlike shares where all you get is a piece of paper ,  you have no clue what the managment are really up to ( Like Federated  Farmers or Feltex ).

If anyone can show me a safer bet than income generating property  , I'll look at it very seriuosly

WHAT ARE LEWINGTONS VIEWS ?

I will miss this as well, any chance of podcasting it?

Would not be easier to build small excel spreadsheet - put all your (each has different circumstances) figures inside and do the simple calculation instead of wasting time on podcasts.

Do it yourself and be confident that you are right.

Well said Boatman !

May i add one other please.

NEVER NEVER buy your "stuff" with a loan. That includes your car.

Unfortunately I couldn't follow it live. Good to be able to look at it retrospectively though.

Like the idea of it becoming a regular fixture.