New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[davetapson]

 

 

I currently use Smart Shares, but in an unsmart way, because I'm dof.

 

Gets you cheap access to index funds, NZ and overseas.

 

.

But if you looking for access to NZ index funds, they're not a bad option.

[intern]

I currently use Smart Shares, but in an unsmart way, because I'm dof.

 

Gets you cheap access to index funds, NZ and overseas.

 

I wanted access to robotics and health funds, so got then via SS.

 

I then did some reading, because always check after you've dropped the dosh, not before, because that would be dumb, and found they're just rebadging Vanguard or Blackrock funds - probably be cheaper to go direct.

 

The thing that had me incensed was that they take your dosh on the 20th, sit on it till the 3rd, when they have a guy with a side rule do all the calcs and assign you your units.

 

Someone needs to tell them about realtime transactions and calculators. Maybe even computers and spreadsheets and things.

 

But hey, NZ.

 

I've heard mixed things about Smartshares; I quite like Sharesies because it's so simple (I too am dof) and it does give easy access to the US sharemarket, with a currency exchange fee of 0.4% to turn NZD into USD. It's immediate, too, so once you have dosh in Sharesies, it's a click of a button and you have USD to blow on parlous and fragile tech stocks etc

[patches]

I've heard mixed things about Smartshares; I quite like Sharesies because it's so simple (I too am dof) and it does give easy access to the US sharemarket, with a currency exchange fee of 0.4% to turn NZD into USD. It's immediate, too, so once you have dosh in Sharesies, it's a click of a button and you have USD to blow on parlous and fragile tech stocks etc

 

I used Sharesies to capitalise on Air NZ's lockdown crash 

[intern]

I used Sharesies to capitalise on Air NZ's lockdown crash 

As have I. Auckland Airport another trading at a big discount; actually, a fair portion of the NZX is still trading at around a 30 percent discount, so I am loading up on companies I know, and hoping my poor understanding of economics and the economy somehow works out for me 

[davetapson]

In a previous life when I was single and liquid (cash wise), about 2000 or so, if any of yous is old enough to remember back that far, tech stocks were flying.

I had some cash in the bank and some time on my hands - so I figured, 'hey drop half your cash into some of these tech stocks, take the rest, buy a round-the-world ticket, you can monitor them on-line, what could go wrong?'

So did that.

About Cambodia time, where internet speeds were so slow that logging on to websites was a time consuming and frustrating affair, I thought 'Fk it' and left them be.  They all looked fine.

Couple of months later, after making a pit stop to see the folks in SA, I rock back to the UK, log on... strange, I'm sure that the companies were called "Blah" and "Blah2" (and...)

Can't seem to find them, maybe I'm misremembering the stock codes.  This was in the day when they sent you stock certificates when you bought stock, went dug them out, nope, the stock codes were right.

They were gone.  Just gone. Closed down, keep your cert, have fun.  Was a bit of an eye opener.  So had to sell the ones that had done well (as in still existed!) to get liquid again.

Still got the certs, somewhere.  Magic Moments (yes) was one of them I think, a gaming company if I remember right. 

[arabsandals]

In a previous life when I was single and liquid (cash wise), about 2000 or so, if any of yous is old enough to remember back that far, tech stocks were flying.

 

I had some cash in the bank and some time on my hands - so I figured, 'hey drop half your cash into some of these tech stocks, take the rest, buy a round-the-world ticket, you can monitor them on-line, what could go wrong?'

 

So did that.

 

About Cambodia time, where internet speeds were so slow that logging on to websites was a time consuming and frustrating affair, I thought 'Fk it' and left them be.  They all looked fine.

 

Couple of months later, after making a pit stop to see the folks in SA, I rock back to the UK, log on... strange, I'm sure that the companies were called "Blah" and "Blah2" (and...)

 

Can't seem to find them, maybe I'm misremembering the stock codes.  This was in the day when they sent you stock certificates when you bought stock, went dug them out, nope, the stock codes were right.

 

They were gone.  Just gone. Closed down, keep your cert, have fun.  Was a bit of an eye opener.  So had to sell the ones that had done well (as in still existed!) to get liquid again.

 

Still got the certs, somewhere.  Magic Moments (yes) was one of them I think, a gaming company if I remember right. 

Aah, the dot com bubble. Good times. Good times.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Does anyone here do Sharesies? Or what other options are you using to gamble with your life savings?

Just saw this now.

 

I use Sharesies all the time.

 

I also have set up kids accounts as well for the little ones. I like creating DIY investment playbooks and have set up a monthly debit to go into the account and then get spent in line with my strategy. ITs really easy, not badly priced and I enjoy the US markets.

 

In fact, bought some apple shares this morning.

[davetapson]

I then did some reading, because always check after you've dropped the dosh, not before, because that would be dumb, and found they're just rebadging Vanguard or Blackrock funds - probably be cheaper to go direct.

It does cross my mind tho, if you are making monthly payments (which I am) then you avoid the fx commissions if you are paying to Blackrock or Vanguard in the US, so SS makes sense.

 

Unless you can buy B or V funds in NZ..?  Note to self: check.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Hey Intern.

 

What bike did you get for your kiddos?

 

My son is hassling me for a bike.

[intern]

Hey Intern.

 

What bike did you get for your kiddos?

 

My son is hassling me for a bike.

 

First bike Suzuki JR50 - single gear, no clutch, very small = nice and easy to understand the concept of the throttle, kicking it into gear, balance, easy handling etc. Even bigger kids can get started and familiarise themselves with this dinky lil thing; I can ride it, to give you an idea.

Second bike: Suzuki JR80. A lot more powerful and quite a bit bigger and heavier, 5 speed gearbox and clutch. Nice 2 stroke powerband. Didn't take long for my older boy to get the hang of clutch and gearbox. Was thinking of moving from the JR50 to a Kawa KX65 or KTM SX65, but the Suzuki is deffo a better 'step up'. The KX and SX are pretty powerful and 'vicious' on the power delivery, where the Suzbox is nice and gentle.

Also, a brand new JR80 is $2995, with a 5 year old one on TradeMe going for around 2200, so it is at the same time affordable and holds value very well...

[intern]

In a previous life when I was single and liquid (cash wise), about 2000 or so, if any of yous is old enough to remember back that far, tech stocks were flying.

 

I had some cash in the bank and some time on my hands - so I figured, 'hey drop half your cash into some of these tech stocks, take the rest, buy a round-the-world ticket, you can monitor them on-line, what could go wrong?'

 

So did that.

 

About Cambodia time, where internet speeds were so slow that logging on to websites was a time consuming and frustrating affair, I thought 'Fk it' and left them be.  They all looked fine.

 

Couple of months later, after making a pit stop to see the folks in SA, I rock back to the UK, log on... strange, I'm sure that the companies were called "Blah" and "Blah2" (and...)

 

Can't seem to find them, maybe I'm misremembering the stock codes.  This was in the day when they sent you stock certificates when you bought stock, went dug them out, nope, the stock codes were right.

 

They were gone.  Just gone. Closed down, keep your cert, have fun.  Was a bit of an eye opener.  So had to sell the ones that had done well (as in still existed!) to get liquid again.

 

Still got the certs, somewhere.  Magic Moments (yes) was one of them I think, a gaming company if I remember right. 

 

I was just getting started in the tech industry in those heady days. I remember the panicked look in the eyes of DD shareholders...

[davetapson]

I was just getting started in the tech industry in those heady days. I remember the panicked look in the eyes of DD shareholders...

 

So @Intern, as someone who is playing the covid wave, what is your stab as to when a good time to start looking for property?

 

I'm figuring that we need to wait for the subsidies to stop, the mortgage holiday to stop, Christmas to eat up the last drops in the tank and Jan/Feb will tell us the future.

 

You got a view on this?

 

I'm thinking your view is longer term, probably closer to a year or two in the future?

 

[Rocket-Boy]

I was just getting started in the tech industry in those heady days. I remember the panicked look in the eyes of DD shareholders...

Was that at the time they de-listed from the JSE?

[intern]

So @Intern, as someone who is playing the covid wave, what is your stab as to when a good time to start looking for property?

 

I'm figuring that we need to wait for the subsidies to stop, the mortgage holiday to stop, Christmas to eat up the last drops in the tank and Jan/Feb will tell us the future.

 

You got a view on this?

 

I'm thinking your view is longer term, probably closer to a year or two in the future?

 

 

My view is totally keep the hell away because I can't see the market sustaining itself with our biggest industry gone, immigration gone, and hundreds of thousands of unemployed in the wings. This is why I have reluctantly sold my house ahead of what I believe will be quite substantial pain. You're absolutely right, my view is a year or 2 into the future, totally derisked, with about 20 percent cash in the share market so I have plenty of liquidity.

Please bear in mind though, most of my theories are half baked and therefore should never be taken as serious advice but rather treated as anecdotes from a know it all who knows blow all. I've been wrong plenty in the past and I may well be wrong now...apparently the market is going gangbusters, but that is beyond my comprehension so I am going to hold tight and wait it out on the supposition that the only risk I face now is the risk of losing out on hypothetical gain, so it isn't a tangible loss per se should I prove mistaken 

[intern]

Was that at the time they de-listed from the JSE?

 

This was the time the shares plummeted from above R70 to just R2 - around 2001-2002. Delisted from JSE in 2010 and went to the LSE...

[davetapson]

Still wrassling with 'is this a bad time to buy property thing'

We've found a house that we can live with, in an area we can live with... but wondering, is this peak property price time?  It would seem like it, but who knows... I rented a flat in London when I first arrived in 1997 and the agent told me 'you shouldn't be renting, you should buy, but not just now, property is a bit expensive.'

Property prices proceeded to rise in a straight line and that same flat was probably worth three times the price I could have got it for by the time I left the UK.

We're paying $830/wk = $43160/yr rent.  It seems to me that even if the price drops 10% over the next two years, we'd have paid just about that much anyway in rent, and will have the first two years of bond payments done.

Is this thinking straight?