Home ownership

There is a big emphasis on buying a house in NZ.  Home ownership is, seemingly, THE goal for many people.  I am surprised by how many times we've been asked here, 'When do you plan to buy a house?'  This rarely came up in California.  When we answer, 'Oh, you know, maybe in a couple of years,' we then get quizzical responses that basically boil down to, why on earth would you wait?

I had a chat with a neighbor and she explained some of this for me.  She said that the NZ govt has encouraged people to buy homes.  (Indeed, there are some extremely generous credits for first-time homebuyers and for help with mortgage payments, to avoid foreclosures.)  From the time they're schoolchildren, part of a kid's economics education is the notion that buying a home is a smart financial decision.  My neighbor said, 'Even as kids, we're told not to put your money in the bank, but instead to buy a property.  By the time they're my age or older, most NZers own two, three, four properties, and rent them out if they're not using them.  Then, as they get older, they sell them off one by one to fund their retirement.'

Within the last ten years, NZ has rolled out a retirement savings plan called KiwiSaver.  It's kind of a cross between a 401k and an IRA.  She said Kiwisaver has had some difficulty being accepted, because its means keeping your money in money form.