Second survey shows drop in KiwiSaver awareness
A second survey has shown that there has been a drop in awareness of the government’s KiwiSaver scheme, even though there is a view that the scheme will be a centrepiece for Labour’s re-election campaign.
Wednesday, October 18th 2006, 6:49AM
Its shows that of those not saving for retirement, only 41% said they were aware of the scheme but this was also the group that was most interested in joining with 24% reporting that they were ‘very likely’.
In comparison, those currently saving for their retirement responded that they are aware of KiwiSaver (62%) but were also less likely to join (14% said they were ‘very likely’).
Of respondents aged 18 to 29 years who were asked about KiwiSaver, only 30% said they were aware of the plan. In comparing the profiles of those who are saving for their retirement against those who are not, the AMP SuperWatch results showed some striking differences.
Those not saving tended to be younger and on lower incomes while those who were saving were more likely to be middle-aged, on a higher income and, overall, be more affluent. Interestingly, only 19% of those not saving worked in environments where a workplace super scheme was offered, compared with 48% of those who were saving.
“Once again, we’re seeing a trend which strongly suggests that workplace savings schemes have an important role to play when it comes to how we save for our retirement.
Certainly, at AMP we see workplace savings as the best way to encourage Kiwis to save for their retirement,” AMP general manager savings and investments Roger Perry says.
Of the group that responded that they were not currently saving, 26% believed that the current pension would be adequate to support them in retirement and 39% felt that a pension of a similar level would still be available on their retirement. In comparison, those respondents who are saving for their retirement are not as positive with 66% saying they are not confident that a similar level will be available when they retire.
“This is a clear indication of the power of planning for your retirement now,” Perry says.
“It’s by sitting down and nutting out you and your family’s expectations of retirement that you begin to build a realistic picture of just what sort of funds you would need to be putting aside now to ensure that you will have the type of lifestyle you expect in your retirement years.”
“And its by working together with a financial planner that you can ensure that if there are any changes to the Government pension or other factors that could affect your future pool of retirement funds, you will have a watertight retirement savings plan that will help you achieve your retirement goal no matter what.”
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