Robert1958 – Page 20 – Personal Finance

April 7, 2022

Dating dangers of older men

Dating dangers of older men

The internet provides older people who may be single for one reason or another to connect with others without leaving their home. However, there are traps which older people need to be aware of. The main being scammers, people who try to separate you from your money.

So, what are the tell tale signs of a scammer?

First and foremost, if you are a man then gold diggers are waiting to get their hooks into you and your money, but that is not the only thing you should be concerned about if you are using any of the dating sites on the internet. Scammers are using dating sites, however, it is not romance that they are after but your money.

There are several red flags to beware of with the most obvious one being that you, as an older gentleman will be contacted by a young lady half your age. It is easy for some men to be taken in by the sweet talk of a young lady. It feeds the ego and what man does not feel good about a much younger lady showing interest in him.

Discernment and commonsense are soon ignored and in a short time the talk of a relationship soon develops.

So what are the red flags to look out for?

The first and most obvious one is the huge age difference.

Lets face it, do you honestly believe that someone half your age will contact you in the hope of beginning a romantic relationship with you without having their own agenda?

Older people are seen as easy targets by scammers because by the time they have reach 50+ they have built up plenty of assets which includes savings.

So what are the tell tale signs of an internet scammer?

1 You are contacted by someone half your age who claims that age is no barrier.

2 She comes from an African country (but not necessarily)

3 There is always a reason why she cannot meet you down for a coffee.

4 She attempts to hasten the relationship before you have ever met

5 Make note of any giveaways to her location.

For example if she ends the conversation with, “I must have some dinner now.” and it is 10 PM your time then you need to ask, “What timezone is she at?”

6 She asks for money

If she asks for money then you are definitely dealing with a scammer.

What should you do or not do?

1 DO NOT send her any money.

2 DO NOT give out your phone number

3 DO NOT give out personal details about yourself.

4 Use a separate email address for signing up to a dating site, not your main one.

It has often been said, “If something is too good to be true then you can almost guarantee that it is.”

As has been said earlier, if you are an older man who is using internet dating services then you are going to be a target for internet scammers so you need to be careful what information you give out and to whom.

www.robertastewart.com

April 3, 2022

Living with Covid

How to be Covid careful when traveling

Those traveling, whether domestically or internationally need to have a plan in place in the event or you or anyone traveling with you catches covid. The first question you need to ask of accommodation providers is, “What are their covid protocols if you or someone who is a close contact has covid?”

Everyone in New Zealand who has tested positive for covid is required to self-isolate for 7 days. In the case of some accomodation suppliers, that may be that you are required to upgrade from a dorm/shared room to a single room for a week. This can be expensive so keep this in mind.

As for making your travel plans abroad. It is important to have travel insurance but just as important to know what your insurance covers.

You can take out insurance against the possibility of disruption to your travel plans if you catch covid just prior to your departure date.

Know what you are covered for if you catch covid while overseas. You may have medical bills if you are not covered and you fall ill overseas.

If you are traveling with others and one of your traveling companions test positive for covid which disrupts your own travel plans then you can be covered for that.

You may not be covered if your travel plans are disrupted by State covid mandates and border closures.

It is important to think of all different kinds of scenarios which can arise before embarking on your overseas journey.

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March 28, 2022

How high will bitcoin go?

How high will bitcoin go?

That is the question on the minds of many speculators who either have money tied up in bitcoin or are contemplating purchasing bitcoin, perhaps for the first time.

I am reluctant to use the word “investing” when writing about bitcoin because bitcoin can be volatile with its ups and downs not unlike a rollercoaster.

There are predictions on which direction bitcoin is heading but I think you have to realize that this is based on opinions rather than fact. Past performance is no guarantee of the future and something is only worth what others are prepared to pay for.

Then there is the question of what credentials does the person making predictions have. What is their track record? Do they own bitcoin themselves?

There is a lot of advice out there from various people and much of the advice is just opinions and we all know that opinions can be wrong.

It is really up to individuals to make up their own minds and USE ONLY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING MONEY TO PURCHASE BITCOIN.

Investors need to keep their eye on the ball and not be lured in any scheme with promises of quick riches. If something seems too good to be true then it almost certainly is.

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March 20, 2022

KIWISAVER CHANGES IMMINENT

INTRODUCTION

It is important to keep up to date with changes to government policies because it could have some impact on your financial situation and the New Zealand retirement savings scheme Kiwisaver is a perfect example. Even if you are not from New Zealand, your own country will change policies on various issues and these may or may not affect you.

Kiwisaver changes maybe on the horizon

New Zealand’s superannuation scheme called “Kiwisaver,” was introduced in 2007 as a way for all New Zealanders to squirrel away money for when they reach the retirement age of 65. The scheme is voluntary but incentives were put in place to encourage people to join and to contribute to the scheme.

The incentives which were in place when kiwisaver was introduced were:

$1,000 kickstart on joining the scheme
A maximum of $1,040 tax credits per annum. To qualify one had to contribute $1,040
Employer contributions which are at present 3% of your gross earnings.
Deductions were made from your account at the rate of 4% or 8% of your gross income and deposited into your kiwisaver account..

It seems that governments have looked at kiwisaver as an easy form of revenue when trying to balance the books. Because National became the government in 2008 just at the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis and removed the $1,000 kiwisaver kickstart and reduced the tax credit to $520 per annum but one still had to invest at least $1,040 to receive this amount.

This never made any impact on the National party’s popularity. The public understood that the books needed to be balanced.

Fast forward to 2022 and New Zealand has a huge debt to repay as a result of the covid lockdowns. This current government just like the previous one is expected to make cut backs to the kiwisaver incentives as a first step towards balancing the books. The $520 annual tax credit is expected to be removed. The 3% employer contribution is seen as an incentive enough for wage and salary earners to sign up with kiwisaver. Instead, the $520 annual tax credit will still be available but only for voluntary contributions. What this means is that investors need to make voluntary contributions of $1040 per annum to receive the $520 government money. Whatever is deducted from your wages and deposited into your kiwisaver account is not considered to be voluntary. This is expected to incentivise savers into making extra contributions to their kiwisaver account above what they would normally make.

Someone on 50k per annum would receive $1,500 of employer contributions per annum toward their kiwisaver which is a nice top up towards their retirement savings, but the desire to make life more comfortable during one’s latter years should be incentive enough to get most people to have some financial plan in place.

This change is likely to be part of the May Budget.

Since it is Labour voters who are likely to be most impacted by this kiwisaver change it will be interesting to see how this affects Labour’s popularity.

These changes which are part of a government review in kiwisaver are not the only ones. It was also recommended that beneficiaries be enrolled in kiwisaver and that payments be made for them. The other was to pay “care credit” Kiwisaver contributions for people who take time out to raise children, or care for sick or disabled relatives.

The review was ordered by David Clarke, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

www.robertastewart.com

March 16, 2022

BITCOIN PREDICTIONS

How high will bitcoin go?

That is the question on the minds of many speculators who either have money tied up in bitcoin or are contemplating purchasing bitcoin, perhaps for the first time.

I am reluctant to use the word “investing” when writing about bitcoin because bitcoin can be volatile with its ups and downs not unlike a rollercoaster.

There are predictions on which direction bitcoin is heading but I think you have to realise that this is based on opinions rather than fact. Past performance is no guarantee of the future and something is only worth what others are prepared to pay for.

Then there is the question of what credentials does the person making predictions have. It is really up to individuals to make up their own minds and USE ONLY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING MONEY TO PURCHASE BITCOIN.

Check out this article I found online.

https://snip.ly/5uf2cn

March 10, 2022

Investing for seniors

Your age is a crucial factor in establishing your savings and investing strategy. Your 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s are your savings years. It is these years when you build up your assets.

Your 60s and 70s can be considered your spending years. It is when you tick off items on your bucket list while you are able to.

That does not mean that you do not have to work to make life more affordable and a lot of older people are taking this option, not because they cannot make ends meet on their pension, but because they enjoy what they are doing.

In New Zealand, retirees will have access to their kiwisaver account once they reach the age of 65. Money invested in kiwisaver will be in growth, balanced, or conservative funds. Most people during their working life opt for growth or balanced funds.

It is time to decide whether to stay with the status quo or invest in more conservative funds.

Your age and your health are the two most important factors in deciding which fund to invest your money in.

Older people do not have time on their side to overcome financial setbacks such share market falls and so forth, therefore if you are 60+ it is a good idea to lean toward more conservative investments but still retain some exposure to risk.

It is worth mentioning at this point that New Zealand financial advisor and writer Frances Cook has a formula for calculating how much exposure you should have based on your age, and it is this…

Subtract your age from 100.

If for example you are aged 60 then only 40% of your portfolio should be invested in the share market.

I do not necessarily agree with this formula and my exposure to the share market is more than her formula suggests I have.

However, that is a personal choice; one that I do not necessarily recommend to you because your circumstances will be different as they are for different people.

If you are connected to the internet and you have a lot of spare cash in your account then I suggest that you place most of your money into an account that is not connected to internet banking. This is to reduce your chances of becoming a victim of internet scammers.

With internet banking being the norm, this could be difficult in the future though.

What I am saying here is to not park all of your money in the same place just in case the unthinkable happens.

It is important to take individual financial advice if you are offered a so-called opportunity to invest your money for a high return. Investments which offer high returns also offer a higher risk and that is something you should avoid in your later years.

Don’t be too proud to ask your family for advice if something you are offered sounds a bit dodgy. It is a good idea to only ask advice from family members who have a good level of financial literacy.

www.robertastewart.com

February 23, 2022

Your friends could be costing you money

Your friends could be costing you money

Written by R.A.Stewart

The people you associate with could well be having a detrimental effect on your financial future and though you may not notice it at the beginning, eventually their influence could pull you down to mediocrity. Let’s look at an example from the animal kingdom.

If you lock a sheep on its own in a paddock, it will try to find a way of escaping to find greener pastures but if it has company it is quite content to remain in the same paddock with its friend.

People are like that; some will conform to the standards of others and as far as financial matters are concerned will take on board what the others are saying, and eventually will adopt the same kind of mentality towards finances.

There are different kinds of lifestyle habits which are incompatible to a financially successful lifestyle; drinking, smoking, and eating takeaways regularly are habits which will shorten your life and drain you of your finances.

Your choice of friends will influence your attitude towards money; if you associate with gold digger’s who believe people with lots of money are selfish, then you will be encouraged to spend your money rather than save and invest it.

This is what I am saying in a nutshell:

“The people you choose as your friends will set the standards for your life.” It is important that you keep good company because if you spend too much time with people with bad attitudes, some of their money attitudes will rub off on you. It has been said that you are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with. So who are you spending most of your time with?

I have known a lot of people with terrible money attitudes. One is “You cannot take it all with you” as if you are going to pass away within the next week or so. What they are doing is to cling on to every excuse they can hold onto for their lack of financial literacy. They will try to make others who are in a better financial shape feel guilty by making them feel stingy or selfish. This makes them feel less guilty about their own financial situation.

It is better to spend time with Financially literate individuals and in this way you will pickup some of their financial knowhow. You sure will not learn anything from those who friends are the type of people who go out on Saturdays or have no problem with breaking the law then they will encourage you to follow suit and a lot of people do in order to fit in and abandon the values taught by their parents.

The bottom line is, “If you keep company with financially ignorant people then you will become like them.

“He who walks with wise men shall become wise but a companion of fools will be ruined.” Proverbs 13:20

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February 10, 2022

RETIREMENT SAVINGS SCHEMES

Kiwisaver Retirement Savings Scheme

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” Proverbs 13:22

Saving for one’s retirement is the responsible thing to do and it is up to each individual to get their own finances sorted for their latter years. New Zealand has their own retirement scheme as most other countries do to help make life easier for their citizens when they retire.

The New Zealand retirement scheme is called “kiwisaver.” It is open to New Zealand residents. Kiwisaver is voluntary and anyone aged up to 65 can join. You do not have to be in work to join kiwisaver, you are able to make voluntary contributions at any time.

You are about to make contributions through your wages and salaries of between 2%, 4%, or 8% (you choose). Your employer will also make contributions to your kiwisaver account. If you are not employed then you can choose to make voluntary contributions.

The key component of kiwisaver is the government’s contribution which is a maximum of $10 per week or $520 per year but you have to contribute at least $1040 per annum to get the full $520 otherwise you the government will put in 50% of whatever is your contribution.

You will receive the government money sometime in July. The kiwisaver year starts 1st July and ends 30th June and any money deposited into your kiwisaver account during this period will be eligible for the government contribution the following July. You could say leave it until June before you put any money in kiwisaver and still be eligible for the tax credits as the government money is sometimes called.

When joining KiwiSaver you will be given the choice of fund managers. If you do not choose one, the I.R.D (Inland Revenue Department) will choose one for you and when this happens, it tends to lean on the more conservative side.

You have the option of different funds, Growth, Balanced, or Conservative with growth funds being aggressive. They have the potential to grow your savings but the downside is that they are the most risky. Conservative funds are low risk but can inhibit the growth of your savings while balanced funds are a combination of growth and conservative funds.

Your savings in kiwisaver are locked in until you reach the retirement age of 65 (applicable in NZ) but you may be able to access your funds under exceptional circumstances. These are if you are suffering from financial hardship, have a terminal illness, or die (money goes to your estate). It is important that you have a will because if you don’t, any money still in your kiwisaver will likely be swallowed by lawyer’s fees.

You may use some of your kiwisaver funds for a deposit on your first home but only after you have been in kiwisaver for at least five years. If you are at that stage where you will be looking at purchasing your first home in the not too distant future then it would be a good idea to go for a combination of balanced and conservative funds when choosing which type of kiwisaver fund to invest in because if you went for growth funds, the markets may have gone down when it comes time to withdraw some of your kiwisaver funds for a home deposit. That would be a double whammy because when the market recovers and is on the up, you have missed out on the gains because you withdraw your money when the market was down.

It is a good idea though to have other investments which can take advantage of the swings and roundabouts of the markets even if you only have a small amount to invest.

Always try to keep up to date with what is going on in the financial world as this will increase your financial literacy and help you make better decisions on your finances.

Check out my site www.robertastewart.com for useful information on how to increase your wealth.

The information in this article is the writer’s opinion and experience. It is advisable to seek independent financial advice to ascertain the best financial plan for your situation.

January 31, 2022January 31, 2022

Taking Responsibility for your Finances

Taking Responsibility for your Finances

Life is full of choices and what you do with your choices determines the outcome or what happens in the long term. Taking no action is a choice in itself. As far as finances go, what you do with your resources can make a difference to your life.

In New Zealand and in most countries some form of retirement scheme is in operation.That is where a small percentage of your pay goes directly into your retirement scheme. There are various incentives available to encourage people to contribute toward their retirement savings.

New Zealand’s retirement scheme is called “Kiwisaver” and it is voluntary which means that no one is compelled to join or to contribute to their retirement fund if they do not wish to.

Considering the advantages of belonging to Kiwisaver it is truly baffling why anyone would not want to join.

I have heard all kinds of excuses such as, “I’m not earning enough,” “You can’t take it all with you”, “Other people are not in Kiwisaver.”

These are all excuses and not reasons.

The truth is and the real reason why some people are not involved in KIwisaver or are contributing toward it is because they are irresponsible.

Of course you will not hear any of them admit that.

The bottom line is that it is not up to the Prime MInister to spoon feed people. At some point one has to take responsibility for your own finances.

Irresponsible behavior is a habit and a pattern of behavior. Responsibility is a dirty word to some people and a person who is not responsible enough to join a retirement plan of some kind is likely to be irresponsible in other areas of their life. The number of one parent families is a prime example of this. “Where are the fathers of these kids” is a question I sometimes ask myself when I see a story on TV about single mothers.

Responsibility also means that you must make the decisions on which funds to invest in; those who may be intellectually limited and those who do not have the time to do their research can make the use of a fund manager by investing in managed funds. All money invested into kiwisaver are in managed funds.

Fund managers are skilled and have the kind of financial knowledge that the ordinary man in the street does not but you still have to choose which fund to invest in whether it is growth, balanced, or conservative.

Markets will go up and down which are beyond the control of the fund manager, therefore, do not take your anxieties out of them when the markets are down.

It is certainly a fact of life that some people will let others make their decisions for them so that they have someone to blame when things turn to custard.

You may have a financial advisor but they still need to know what your intentions are as far as your goals in order to make the right choices for you. An investment made for someone who has thirty years left till retirement is not going to be the same as one for someone who has five years to go. It is your responsibility to keep your advisor informed.

That is, if you have an advisor. If you do not then it is up to you to do your own homework. That way, if things turn to custard then the person who is to blame is the one you see in the mirror every morning.

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