by Editor | 29 Oct, 2019 | Investment
Your KiwiSaver scheme has an interest in the Hapua Forest. 100,000 seedlings were planted this winter in the forest in the Hawkes Bay. This is the second of three plantings. Last year 62,500 seedlings were planted. Radiata pine is a versatile wood that’s easy to slice, mould, plane, glue, stain and paint. It is the world’s most widely planted softwood plantation tree and grows really well in New Zealand.
The 2019 planting happened over five days in winter and involved a crew of 36 on-site each day. The seedlings were around 30 cm tall at the time of planting. Depending on the terrain there were 750 to 950 planted on each hectare, and 117 hectares were planted. These seedlings will take up to 25 years to mature into trees for harvest.
The seedlings were provided by a family business that’s been around for decades. Growing their seedlings sustainably has been a focus for Murrays Nurseries Woodville since the nursery started. The business takes pride in investing heavily in research and development in a number of key areas to increase productivity while remaining environmentally conscious. Part of their research is into the reduction in the use of fungicides and fertilisers.
Because trees can store carbon, radiata pine plantations are useful ‘carbon sinks’. About 50% of the dry matter in the wood is carbon – largely cellulose (about 65%) and lignin (about 30%). Depending on growth rate and wood density, a hectare of pine trees locks up 4–7 tonnes of elemental carbon per year, which is equivalent to 15–26 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere. A 1,000-hectare forest can absorb 15,000–26,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
When burnt as fuel in a car engine, petrol releases 2.62 kilograms of carbon dioxide per litre. On this basis, a typical car produces 1 tonne of carbon dioxide for every 5,555 km driven or 3 tonnes for an average year’s driving (16,666 km). This is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide that 33–60 pine trees absorb in one year.
Read more about Hapua Forest in our February 2019 article.
The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand https://teara.govt.nz/en/radiata-pine/page-1
by Editor | 29 Oct, 2019 | General
As parents, you understand how important literacy is for children. You sit for hours reading to your children. This can be the beginning of a life-long love of reading.
Learning how to think about money and manage it wisely is an equally important life skill.
It is important to patiently help your children learn many ways to control money. Most children will learn by doing.
Having your children help while you shop for groceries can help them learn the value of money versus the costs of items. Letting them use a calculator to add up the total spend as you work your way around the supermarket can keep them occupied and learning at the same time. For older children, you can set a meal budget and have them work out which items they could buy to make the meal which would remain in the budget.
In the end, you hope that your children will grow into financially responsible adults. The rewards are life-altering: living within their means, free from the anxieties of debt, and secure in their future.
Joining your children up to KiwiSaver is the perfect way to start them on their savings journey. As a Christian KiwiSaver Scheme member both you and your children can log-in and see their money grow over time. With time on their side, starting the savings habit young will return dividends in the future.
Members of the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme are not charged any fees while they are under age 18.
by Editor | 29 Oct, 2019 | General
Earlier this month we tweaked the website. We believe the changes will make it easier for visitors to the website to find information and to navigate around. In a nutshell, we split up a large amount of information that had been under one menu heading into two separate pages.
- “Ethical Investing” now contains the investment-related information, i.e. our ethical approach and investment style, what being a member of Christian KiwiSaver Scheme can offer you, your investment choices, investment returns and fees.
- “KiwiSaver” now contains information mainly about KiwiSaver, how to join, contributions, withdrawals, your options at 65, children and Christian employers.
- All forms, documents, guides and reports can be found under “Documents”.
We welcome suggestions from you on how we can improve your experience on our website. Phone us on 0508 738 473 or email at info@christiankiwisaver.nz
by Editor | 29 Oct, 2019 | KiwiSaver
There’s a lot of jargon used when it comes to KiwiSaver. It’s used by the media, the regulators and also people like us, your KiwiSaver provider. We try to use plain English but every now and again a bit of jargon is inevitable in our communications with you. We’re going to cover a few terms in each newsletter. Please tell us if there is something you’d like us to explain.
KiwiSaver provider means the organisation responsible for managing a KiwiSaver scheme, e.g Anglican Financial Care is the organisation responsible for managing the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme.
Regulator generally means the Government body responsible for overseeing the particular product, service, etc. For KiwiSaver schemes this means the Financial Markets Authority (also referred to as the FMA). They’re important as they keep an “eye” on the providers and others involved with your KiwiSaver scheme.
KiwiSaver scheme is the scheme you join. You can only belong to one KiwSaver scheme at a time. The Government sets out the rules for KiwiSaver schemes in an Act of Parliament, the KiwiSaver Act. A KiwiSaver scheme is run by a KiwiSaver scheme provider and a KiwiSaver provider can offer more than one KiwiSaver scheme. Typically each scheme has a number of funds into which you can invest. Anglican Financial Care has only one scheme, the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme and within it offer 3 funds – the Growth, Balanced and Income Funds.
Restricted KiwiSaver scheme is a KiwiSaver scheme that is not open to the general public, and has restrictions on who can become a member, i.e. the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme is not open to everyone.
Licensed Independent Trustee. Each restricted KiwiSaver scheme must have a Licensed Independent Trustee. The FMA oversees who can be a Licensed Independent Trustee. Brendan O’Donovan is the current Licensed Independent Trustee member of Anglican Financial Care’s Board.
There is a KiwiSaver Glossary on the website under Documents/Guides & Policies that explains most of the KiwiSaver related jargon.
by Editor | 8 Aug, 2019 | Investment
All funds had very pleasing returns for the June quarter with strong contributions from both shares and bonds.
Sharemarkets have been supported by lower interest rates and the prospect of global central bank easing. Shares have been recently trading at record highs despite evidence of a slowdown in global growth. Sharemarkets, however, remain sensitive to future developments.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) nudged down its global growth forecasts in July to 3.2% for this year and 3.5% for 2020, citing the potential for adverse developments including further US-China trade tariffs, US auto tariffs, or a no-deal Brexit as items that could “sap confidence, weaken investment, dislocate global supply chains, and severely slow global growth below the baseline”.
Boris Johnson’s win in Britain’s conservative party leadership race did not erase concerns around the future of Britain (i.e. Brexit). The looming Brexit deadline (31 October) will no doubt come increasingly into focus.
The funds remain diversified, emphasise quality, and are cautiously invested with a focus on longer-term returns.
The investment returns (before fees and tax) to 30 June 2019 were:
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by Editor | 2 May, 2019 | KiwiSaver
The Government has recently proposed some changes to KiwiSaver for next year.
More contribution rates for employees.
At the moment you can contribute at 3%, 4% or 8% of your pay.
From 1 April 2019, it’s intended that you’ll also be able to contribute at 6% and 10% of your pay.
This gets the big tick from us as it gives you more flexibility over the amount you save.
Perhaps review your level of contributions when you receive a pay increase, it’s a great time to take the opportunity to save a little more.
Savings suspension timeframe reduces
‘Contribution holiday’ changes its name to ‘savings suspension’.
From 1 April 2019, it’s intended that the maximum period for ‘savings suspensions’ reduces from 5 years to 1 year.
If you want to continue with a savings suspension then you’ll need to apply to Inland Revenue each year to renew it.
These two changes also get the big tick from us. A ‘holiday’ generally means good times, stopping your retirement savings might not be the best thing for you in the long run. During this time members also miss out on the government’s contributions of up to $1,042.86 each year (that’s potentially $5,214.30 over 5 years).
Removing the age 65 restriction on joining
At the moment people over 65 cannot join KiwiSaver. From 1 July 2019, it’s intended that the age 65 restriction on joining is removed and the 5 year lock-in period on joining is also removed. There is no change to the age at which you qualify to withdraw your KiwiSaver savings, this remains age 65.
This gets another big tick from us. KiwiSaver will be open to all New Zealanders and provide a convenient and cost-effective investment option to just holding your savings in a bank account or on fixed deposit.
From our perspective, it’ll also allow New Zealanders over 65 to join our Christian KiwiSaver Scheme and have access to investment funds invested under an ethical investment policy.
