After many years in a KiwiSaver Growth Fund, I switched to a Conservative Fund a couple of years ago. It felt like a smart move at the time, but man, hindsight’s a wonderful thing.
We come bearing good news, investors! As of the 21st March 2022, the rate of return across two of our Investment Classes – Home Loans and Construction Loans – has increased by 0.25%.
As Kiwi businesses and consumers are left to grapple with a nasty cocktail of inflation and higher interest rates, there will be a raft of implications for our economy.
As Kiwis grapple with the double whammy of higher interest rates and high inflation, there’s no doubt people are starting to feel the pinch. Could current economic pressures lead to a drop in house prices?
This Wednesday, Treasury released their latest set of economic and fiscal forecasts, as legislation requires they do just ahead of a general election.
While homeowners are relishing the lowest home loan rates we have seen in NZ, investors are doing it tough where ‘safe returns’ at the bank are now often no better than inflation. So what other investment options are there?
12 Month interest rates are at all time lows for New Zealand, however it may not be prudent to fix over that term. In part 1 we covered the OCR, inflation the connection between inflation and interest rates. Let's now talk about forward interest rates and current inflationary drivers in NZ.
12 Month interest rates are particularly appealing at the moment. Kiwibank has most recently offered a 12-month fixed rate sub 4% and many banks are moving in the same direction. This is fantastic for the next 12 months, however it pays to think about what you are going to do post the expiry of this rate.
Is our ‘low interest rate world’ the beginning of the end of money as we know it?
Waiting for inflation is feeling increasingly like the quest for the Holy Grail, or as I approach 45 ‘waiting for god’. Oh, so old!
The Reserve Bank is still talking about low inflation and the potential for the OCR to decrease further, so how is it that in this environment mortgage rates can go up?
So much stimulus, and yet no growth and negligible inflation. Lowering interest rates to entice people to borrow and spend is not a sustainable strategy.