Morgan Online January 2013

Happy New Year and welcome to your new-look Morgan Online! It’s been a busy start to the year for the GMI team but we’ve found some time to put together some useful info for you. From a look back at our top performers in 2012, to a look ahead to some key changes for KiwiSaver in 2013.

In this issue:

  Investing: Our top five performers for 2012
  Retirement: How much is enough?
  KiwiSaver: April contribution changes
  Answer Room: Open for business
  Opinion: Gareth on housing policy
  KiwiSaver: Update on Aussie Super transfers

2012 was a good year for global shares. In this article, Nathan Field profiles the five top performing stocks in GMI’s portfolio. The common thread? Quality.

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Retirement: How much is enough?

How much do you need for retirement? It all depends on what type of lifestyle you want to lead.

An Auckland University study has calculated the bare minimum you need to live a healthy life in your golden years…and it falls short of the amount NZ Super provides. This article on the Stuff website considers the gap.

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Many Kiwis’ retirement saving plans will get a boost from 1 April this year. That’s when the minimum employee and employer contribution rates for KiwiSaver will rise from 2% to 3% of gross (before tax) salary. There’s more information about this and other 1 April changes on the Inland Revenue website.

If you need a quick refresher on who pays what and when, check out the Making Contributions to KiwiSaver page on the GMK website.

   Go to webpage

Answer Room: Open for business

The Answer Room is a section of our website where you can ask any question about investing, and get plain English answers from the GMI team. So if you’ve got a burning question, fire it over.

   Ask a question

Opinion: Gareth on housing policy

A couple of developments in the housing policy arena have got Gareth’s attention:

• Gareth considers a North & South magazine article on the resurgent property market and looks at the consequence for New Zealand of our “ingrained over-investment in property”.
• The Reserve Bank’s talk about restricting lending for mortgages may be an attempt to wean New Zealand off its housing addiction. Better late than never, says Gareth.

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Late last year the Australian Government passed legislation to allow returning Kiwis to transfer their Aussie superannuation savings back to New Zealand – provided the funds are transferred to a registered KiwiSaver scheme. The legislation will take effect from 1 July 2013.

We’ll provide more information in a later issue of Morgan Online, but in the meantime you can get the facts on the GMK website.

   Find out more