Money man Noel Whittaker is the author of the best-selling 'Making Money Made Simple'. Got a finicky financial question? Send 'em through here. If anyone's got a solution, it's Noel.

Q. Things aren’t working out with my wife and I fear divorce looms. Do you have any tips on how to keep things as amicable as possible financially? We don’t have a pre-nuptial agreement.

A. Congratulations on taking such a mature and intelligent attitude to the breakdown in your relationship. Unfortunately, far too many people get so carried away with apportioning blame and getting even that they lose the bulk of their joint assets in legal fees.

I recommend that you be completely transparent in your dealings with your wife and do everything possible to create a win-win situation. For example, if you are a high-income earner and she is a low-income earner, it may be possible to arrange the property settlement so that you take a bigger share of the superannuation in return for a smaller share of jointly owned property. This is because she may find it impossible to buy a house if a large part of her assets are tied up in super. Make sure you involve your financial adviser.

Q. I want a car that costs $40,000 and have saved a $10,000 deposit. I can afford to pay $600-$1000 in monthly repayments and intend to keep the car for 5-7 years. Do you recommend getting a loan now or saving up more first?

A. If you took a personal loan of $30,000 at nine per cent interest and repaid it at $1000 a month, the term would be just under three years and you would pay about $4000 in interest. The amount of interest is small because the term is short. This may be the way to go.

Q. The small company I work for wants all employees to consider temporary pay cuts or reduced working hours. What are my rights here?

A. Your rights may well depend on your award, if you work under one, but bear in mind you are talking about the long-term survival of a company and your own future job security.

If you believe you have the skills to get a job easily in the current economic climate your best solution may be to change jobs. On the other hand, if you enjoy working with your present employer you may be better off in the long term to work with that employer and hope that co-operation will enable everyone to keep their jobs and for the company to remain profitable.

Q. Given the volatility of the stock market, are equities now a good bet? What are the pros and cons? - HE

A. Quality shares should be a great long-term investment, but for some reason investors love to buy when the market is high and are reluctant to buy when the market is low.

Shares have major benefits that include tax concessions, high liquidity and the ability to buy and sell quickly in whole or in part. Furthermore, over time, they have been the best-performing asset of all and, historically, the market having reached a low point has never failed to recover to a new high.

Just bear in mind you should not buy shares unless you have a five- to 10-year timeframe in mind to give yourself time to ride out the normal down periods. Also, when you buy a share you are buying a part of a business, which means if you choose the wrong share and the business goes bust you can lose all your money. This is why it is better to spread your money through an investment like an index fund, which can never go broke.

Q. We've paid off our mortgage and put some money aside in a term deposit. We're now considering investing in another property or a block to build on. Would buying an established house be financially smarter than a long building process? - WY

A. I am assuming you intend to continue living in your existing house and your question relates to whether you should buy an established investment property or build a new one.

My preference is for an established property because it should be considerably cheaper than a new one and the gardens will be established. It's a virtual certainty that a new house won't keep its shine for long once the tenants move in.

Remember, when investing in property a good location is critical.

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