I have been living in NZ now for a year. In the process of being here we have bought a home in a rural regional town with a complete range of services. I am 40yo, and have a Filipino partner with me, and we find the place rather idyllic. I am a writer, my partner does online product marketing. There is no question in my mind that if you are an income-earner, the best place to live is Australia; at least if you are earning money from the usual form of salaried employment. Those people earning foreign exchange (say USD abroad), then NZ makes a lot of sense because of the weak NZD, and the 4-year tax concession the NZ tax office gives to new immigrants with offshore income. I have written all about this in my NZ Property Guide. You can learn more by reading my property blogs, however the book offers a more comprehensive and detailed guide.
The biggest factors for retirees is finding the right climate. The big factors compared to Australia is the climate. The rainfall here is generally far greater than Australia so its mostly green, except where there is rain shadow effects. The biggest concern for some I think will be the hours of sunshine each year and the wind factor. If it is sunny it can still be miserably cold in NZ if it is windy. For this reason avoid places with too much wind unless you like being indoors. I also suggest buying a house with a sunroom for this reason. There are a lot of wind farms in NZ for a reason - and its not because they get huge tax concessions. In fact there are none. The wind here is reliably constant in places. So make sure you chose your retirement destination wisely.
It is not simply a place to retire. You can invest here of course. Just make sure you buy wisely and transfer money at the most opportune time. I am telling you this because you are about to get the best opportunity to buy property in NZ. People will rightly be concerned about the high prices for property in NZ. The fundamentals which have driven up property prices in Australia are the same for NZ. The difference is that NZ has less population growth and less growth in national income. For this reason, you need to target certain areas until property prices bottom. Another solution is to transfer money to NZ at the opportunity time. You can hedge your bets by buying certain stocks in NZ with favourable exchange rate exposure, e.g. Pike River Coal (PRC.ASX or PRC.NZX) exports premium metallurgical coal to Asia. It benefits from a weak NZD, so even if you move your money here, you can still hedge your bets by profiting from an increase in a non-NZD revenue stream. This stock happens to be at lows after start-up issues. see my discussion of this stock, but I suggest looking at other commodities related stocks in NZ.
The biggest factors for retirees is finding the right climate. The big factors compared to Australia is the climate. The rainfall here is generally far greater than Australia so its mostly green, except where there is rain shadow effects. The biggest concern for some I think will be the hours of sunshine each year and the wind factor. If it is sunny it can still be miserably cold in NZ if it is windy. For this reason avoid places with too much wind unless you like being indoors. I also suggest buying a house with a sunroom for this reason. There are a lot of wind farms in NZ for a reason - and its not because they get huge tax concessions. In fact there are none. The wind here is reliably constant in places. So make sure you chose your retirement destination wisely.
It is not simply a place to retire. You can invest here of course. Just make sure you buy wisely and transfer money at the most opportune time. I am telling you this because you are about to get the best opportunity to buy property in NZ. People will rightly be concerned about the high prices for property in NZ. The fundamentals which have driven up property prices in Australia are the same for NZ. The difference is that NZ has less population growth and less growth in national income. For this reason, you need to target certain areas until property prices bottom. Another solution is to transfer money to NZ at the opportunity time. You can hedge your bets by buying certain stocks in NZ with favourable exchange rate exposure, e.g. Pike River Coal (PRC.ASX or PRC.NZX) exports premium metallurgical coal to Asia. It benefits from a weak NZD, so even if you move your money here, you can still hedge your bets by profiting from an increase in a non-NZD revenue stream. This stock happens to be at lows after start-up issues. see my discussion of this stock, but I suggest looking at other commodities related stocks in NZ.
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