May 27, 2007
Skip this, if not interested in money...
I don't think I ever waited for a Government budget to be announced with so much anticipation as I did here, in NZ, just a week ago. There are so many things wrong here that could be fixed with simple law changes or budget redistribution (things that are tested, tried and proven as successful in many countries around the world), so it is difficult to understand sometimes, why does it take so long to do simple and sensible things in NZ. The big news for this budget was the Kiwisaver scheme: you can save 4% or 8% of your wages for your retirement and the employer has to contribute 4%. Basically everyone says "well done", "great!". But what really puzzles me is why did it take so long to introduce an option like that?!?! The average NZer is deeply in debt and still can't stop spending for consumer goods (and property), while not saving enough for the pension. So this is a clever move to get people saving instead of spending and curb the inflation.
You don't have to look far (like Finland or Singapore) to get that idea. Just look across the ditch: Australia implemented a similar scheme in the 1999 and now have a TRILLION in people's savings to invest in businesses, etc. While NZers have been pooring all their money in property that hugely increased in price, but hasn't really generated any business. So local companies are stripped of cash and an average kiwi doesn't have any savings (s/he may have 5-6 houses though...). Besides all that, there's no capital gain tax on property (so you can own as many houses as you wish, sell them tripple the original cost and not pay ANY TAX!) and you can deduct mortgage interest of your investment property from your income tax. Hold on now for a minute... All this is happening, while the younger generation of kiwis increasingly can't afford to buy the first home?!?! How does all that add up?!?!
Why all this financial speak, you may ask? Who cares really? Well, it kind of affects what we can or cannot do here. And for one, it is not sensible for us to buy a home. It would be kind of cool to buy a house so that we could have 1) insulation, 2) ventilation, 3) some eco heating system 4) sauna, 5) backyard. But for now we can't really contemplate that, so we retreat to our cute(ish) bungalow with windows that steam up every morning (because of humidity and lack of ventilation) and continue to drag our 2 oil column heaters wherever we go (no central heating) and pay exorbitant power bills (no insulation). And go to tepid baths for sauna and walking to Waitakere ranges for our daily fix of nature.
We found these pohutukawa trees on our walk to Waitakere dam today. I thought they were supposed to be in bloom in midsummer on Christmas?!?! On the other hand, the salad in our tiny vegetable patch keeps sprouting new leaves, even though the winter is supposed to start next week!!!...
Posted by gkligyte at May 27, 2007 11:24 PM