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Money Maven Blog by Sheryl Sutherland, Authorised Financial Adviser and Director of The Financial Strategies Group

Thursday, 15 November 2007

Finance and investments

Many people don’t begin their retirement savings until they are about 40- the mile stone that I refer to as “the age of reason”. It’s when you finally stick your head over the parapet, and, whether you’re male or female, think, ‘My god, 20 years have gone by and what have I done with my money? Not very much’ not surprisingly it’s at that point that people start thinking quite seriously about doing some saving. I agree with a recent report done...

Why?

Why do we treat money differently depending on its source? A dollar is a dollar after all. I heard a story yesterday in my nail salon, the technician had a client text her to say she had won $1000. Forty minutes later another text arrived reporting on the loss. It reminded me of an apocryphal tale which does the rounds in that gambling capital Las Vegas. The legend of the man in the green bathrobe. By the third day of their honeymoon in Las...

Womenomics

“In a society where the rights and potential of women are constrained, no man can be truly free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom” Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first woman president.There has been a slew of reports and commentaries of working women; why the women in the workplace figures are different, women as working parents (Why do men as working parents never get a mention?) and the glass ceiling. It appears that unemployment...

Who's counting?

The myth, the math and the sex. I was intrigued to see that Kiwi women have more casual sex than any other nationality-and more casual sex than men. This fascinated me as I thought the maths was wrong. The general consensus seems to be that it is men who are promiscuous by nature-spreading their genes far and wide while women are genetically programmed for monogamy. One recent US survey concluded that men had a median of seven female...

Everyday Money

If you recall my post about the charges against Chris Taylor of The Jones’ organisation you will be pleased to note that the charge was dismissed. I guess Comedy Central, oops the REINZ had an attack of rationality. The good news is that the cowboys are about to be run out of town by Sheriff Clayton Cosgrove, with the introduction of an independent body to oversee licensing complaints, disciplinary and enforcement procedures and give out consumer...

Musings and Amusings

From the Kennels If you are a dog lover then you know your dog reads your mind and now proof is here in the results of an experiment at Canterbury University. In fact Michelle McGinnity went so far as to suggest that dogs have the ability to draw conclusions from what they observe. I recently did a poll on www.slynkey.com, as follows: Who handles the finances in your household?A) MeB) My PartnerC) The Dog Thinking...