OMFG

And I thought the fees NZ brokers/funds charge was rapacious! That is simply outrageous

Well if they raise the contribution for those voluntarily (which is…

What does that achieve? I asked David Parker to consider low income and beneficiary situations of which isn't compulsory,…

I'm in the "trying to sell a house"category and if interest rates stay low, that has to help…

I agree with Ben on this. I'm not in KS but if I were it would feel like a tax. Money taken out of my pay before I see it which I maybe able to…

Except those poor people who are debt-free, anyone saving money, and those living off the earnings.

Of banking, not prostitution, that is.

I'm in the "trying to save to buy a house" category so the only way this would help me is if it…

David Parker says, it helps everyone

In Oz there are so few exemptions that it might as well be mandatory. If you're a permanent resident or NZ'er you can't avoid putting money in unless you stop earning or retire, and you can [[http://www.australiansuper.com/superannuation/withdrawing-my-super/withdraw-early.aspx|only get it out to avoid…

NO. God no. Don't even think about it. The drop in tax is one of the major factors in the US federal budget crises.

Much better to use one of the other existing tools to raise income for people living close to…

Hey Ben, what are the exceptions that you have with the Australian one,as Kiwisaver will be compulsory,with exceptions limited to the Oz scheme.

The biggest problem facing most people is the cost of housing, rent or mortgage.
Say by introducing building sector reforms allowing people more latitude in building their own houses, get rid of some of the knee-jerk…

Yes, I agreed with this when I said as my opening sentence:
Any extra tools are good, really.
And then:
It’s a much more powerful tool than…

Can a government credibly force them to contribute a minimum amount to a non KS plan? Or, can a government credibly force…

The OCR is the rate the Reserve Bank is willing to lend to NZ banks at, (secured against the banks required government bond holdings). It thus sets a ceiling on the rate they will pay on (overnight) retail deposits (as at the…

No more than anyone else is in this. But yes, what a pointless argument. If you don't want to see it as a tax, no one can make you. And you won't be able to…

I want to clarify.

0% in NZ companies. 13% is however invested in NZ cash deposits or bank fixed interest. But I think the question being asked was about investment which I take to mean in companies.

I can see your point but you are arguing semantics for the sake of it. A tax goes to the govt which spends it for your benefit or saves it for your benefit (Superannuation). Kiwisaver goes…

Far out ! Zilch kiwisaver funds invested in NZ. Ok I get it – I think- funds invested offshore bring offshore money back in as interest earned. But don't we need investment money in NZ to invest in…

Isn't that the point, a overly stimulated economy = inflation ?

No, it's really not. It will have exactly the same impact on you, until the day you retire. For a young person, that can be 40 years into the future. In other words, the money is…

They certainly are. We've lived through many stock market bubbles over the last 50 years, and the effects have not devastated the economy. A property bubble, however, if it actually popped, would be far more catastrophic. And before…

See…

My 2c in that article:

__I see the usual suspects are still waiting for John Frum to fly over from Wall St. Hate to break it to them, but…

Note that Germany has rules about corporate governance that give workers input into the running of the company. Apparently this is a major reason German companies are "valued" less on the stock market. I don't know if this…

I'm with Gareth Morgan, and as best I can tell – 0%

Disclaimer: some is invested with international index funds, so there is a small…

Yeah I had been thinking another benefit of increasing savings via increase savings rates in Kiwisaver would benefit our economy by providing more money for investment in NZ business etc…

This is the bit that confuses me, as surely that applies to…

This is a bit…

milk-powder republic

And in the long run,…

I don't think the items that concern Kiwisaver should be allowed to distract people from how good the change would be.

Because stock market bubbles are so much better than property market bubbles.

When a New Zealand resident earns a profit – whether from their own business or from the receipt of dividends – they are likely to spend…

The difference is in what the money is doing. For mortgages most of the money is going into raising the price (not value) of houses in NZ. For KS most of the money is invested in businesses which have…

Which again is such a refreshing thing to see as a result of a political party releasing a policy.

I think that applies to raising the kiwisaver rate too, but for different reasons – just…

when your money is taken away and put into your own account, still belongs to you but you can't spend it until later, how is that a tax?…

While mortgage profits go to banks' coffers, so do KS profits.

Carter's scheme (which seems like a good idea) will give banks more KS revenue. So banks aren't necessarily the bad guys (even if they are in other ways). Maybe some more…

i guess that's a reasonable thing if you have no constructive policies of your own and can't think of any.

gives labour a dilemma, either don't announce any policies until the last minute and risk being seen as having nothing to offer,…

The banks take a couple of billion dollars out of the NZ economy every year! That is the real cost of the housing market, every mortgage with those banks is money that disappears from New Zealand.

That's not to say…

I'm not entirely sure it's any worse for a government to force poor people to…

This!

The exciting thing about this policy is that it actually seems to be trying to address problems in our economy rather than trivially grabbing…

This is the bit that prompted my previous question WH, can you explain why? I'm not arguing the opposite side, I just…

Or perhaps borrow more, figuring you will pay it back when your kiwisaver matures.

I did a quick chart of NZ/US exchange rate vs OCR since 1999 and I am not convinced they are highly correlated. As an example, the last 5 or so years has seen an increase in the x rate but the OCR…

At an annuity rate of 7%, you'd get an income…

I wish I had asked this question when Rod Oram made his initial post – yes the profit etc now does go overseas, but then…

Parker has noted that New Zealand has low general inflation but high house price inflation. The Reserve Bank has historically responded to house price inflation by raising interest rates for everyone. These high interest rates reduce demand by hurting households with mortgages and businesses with variable…

That leaves an…

It's a bit hard to see the OCR as a tax. It's a far more complicated mechanism. But the variable savings rate is pretty much an identical mechanism – you take an amount out of people's…

I prefer "J'accuse!"
;-)

Yes to both points, Craig.

Listening to Blinglish on Morning Report earlier today, he was suddenly concerned about the policy driving up living costs for NZers. The words “tu quoque”, “pot”, “kettle” and “black” immediately…

Wealth is a social construct. Policies can change wealth,…

Of course Blinglish is.Apparently it's old .
I noticed a couple of comments on Brian Fallow. "National should steal this"....

I'm going to lay a trigger warning on you Russell, for a word I know you really…

All the goods and services retirees consume have to be produced by workers (or imported in exchange for exports, which amounts to the same thing).

We currently have a fairly effective retirement "savings" plan – house price inflation. It…

Having been an assiduous Kiwisaver…

That's quite significant. I see that Rob Hosking isn't dismissing it either.