Kiwis leaving retirement planning too late

New Zealanders are leaving their retirement planning too late, one KiwiSaver provider says.

Wednesday, May 17th 2017, 8:47PM

Kiwi Wealth offers a Future You retirement forecasting tool to help people determine whether they are on track for their savings.

But a third of its users so far have been aged over 44 and two-thirds are over 45.

Head of retail wealth and marketing Joe Bishop said that meant many people were not getting started early enough.

“Being engaged and active in your savings as you get closer to retirement is great, but to give yourself the best chance of making the finish line in good financial shape, decisions have to be made much, much sooner,” he said.

“That’s why we think of retirement saving as a marathon. For many Kiwis retirement is a long way off, just as the finish line is a long way off when you start out in a marathon. But to give yourself the best chance of finishing a marathon you have to make a series of strategic decisions that keep you in the race. The most important of which is knowing what your race or retirement goals are.”

Kiwi Wealth’s Future You tool shows that a 30-year-old male earning an income of $50,000 and contributing 3% into the Kiwi Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Balanced Fund could have $175,600 at 65, potentially giving him an estimated income of $8700 a year.

If he only started investing in his KiwiSaver account when he turned 50, he could have $57,900 available at age 65 – or $2900 a year.

“Saving smaller amounts over a longer period is less risky, delivers better investment returns and is much less stressful for people," Bishop said.

“For most Kiwis that means engaging with their KiwiSaver investment earlier in life. That’s hard for people to do when you’re dealing with an investment horizon of around 30 years. People just can’t see, or plan, that far ahead into the future.

“KiwiSaver providers therefore have a moral imperative to help their customers better understand their future wealth and how small decisions now can have a huge impact on their future.”

Tags: KiwiSaver