Coming off a year of interest rate rises and increasingly painful living costs, the amount being withdrawn from KiwiSaver funds to cover financial hardship has sharply increased.
Choosing the Greener Path
Investors have been increasingly looking for options aligning with their personal ethics and values, without compromising on potential returns – and evidence is saying they can get both.
The New Default(s)
Every seven years, the Government reviews the default KiwiSaver providers to make sure you, the investor, are getting the best bang for your buck. They conduct these reviews based on a number of factors including investment performances, services, and fees. The idea is that the default funds selected by this process are going to give you the best outcome for your retirement journey.
One Simple Thing
For most of us, KiwiSaver is the primary vehicle that will help us reach our retirement goals. So it is a good idea to spend some time reviewing your KiwiSaver with the help of a financial adviser and make sure you are maximising your returns.
Are you on track to get an extra $521 into your KiwiSaver?
Wouldn't it be great to get an extra $521 into your KiwiSaver? As your KiwiSaver adviser, we want to ensure you don’t miss out! You may already know that the government pays 50 cents for every dollar you contribute to your KiwiSaver account each year, up to $521.43.
Strategies for the five ages of KiwiSaver
There are five ages of KiwiSaver. Each of them calls for different strategies to get the best from New Zealand's $50 billion savings scheme offers. People jumped into KiwiSaver, many when the $1000 kickstarter was still available for their kids, and what happened was they became disengaged.
How much do you need to retire?
Determining how much you will need to save for retirement will depend upon several variables, including your current age, health, income and level of debt. Here are a few guidelines to help you evaluate your retirement needs.
Key Changes to KiwiSaver in April 2019
Some positive KiwiSaver changes are coming into effect from 1 April 2019 and later in the year. These changes will provide greater options for New Zealanders to see their retirement savings increase over time.
The power of compounding
I hear young people complaining on a regular basis that it’s impossible for them to save money. The list holding them back is a long one – student loans, minimum pay, rent, coffee, and the desire to enjoy their youth.
Keeping it simple
People rarely take this approach with their finances. Often, financial matters are treated like an overstuffed, messy closet that needs to be dealt with but remains closed and put off for another time
Hang in there, KiwiSavers!
Despite recent market volatility KiwiSavers should be happy with their investment. Now is not the time to be cutting and running or you will miss the benefits of long term investing. Even default funds are doing better.
What is asset allocation for KiwiSaver funds?
Most KiwiSaver providers let their customers choose how their balance is invested, by choosing the fund type to invest their contributions and employer contributions in. The KiwiSaver fund types have different ways of investing money, for example different combinations of cash allocations or shares.
KiwiSaver: Can your investment path be improved?
When KiwiSaver was established on July 1, 2007, the scepticism it had faced turned out to be unfounded. In a little over a year, more than one million people had signed up.
Ready for KiwiSaver Member Tax Credit?
For every dollar that you put into your KiwiSaver account, the government will put in 50 cents, up to a maximum of $521.43 per KiwiSaver year.
Set money goals you'll stick to...
Are you good with money? If so, you’ll know how satisfying it can be to decide what you want to achieve, plan how to get there and then sit back to watch your money grow.
KiwiSaver Vs. Volatility
Early in February after a long period of relative calm, the world found out that markets do contain a level of volatility they move up and DOWN and sometimes they can move quite quickly. What does this all mean to your average KiwiSaver investor… not much.
It's not all smashed avocado for millennials – Part II
In New Zealand, trend pieces often depict millennials in the context of young urban professionals spending too much money on avocado-based brunches and too little time saving for a deposit on a house.
When does the underarm stop for Kiwis?
Currently in Australia there is more than $17 billion in unclaimed superannuation, which is not an insignificant sum of money, and we anticipate that a large proportion of these funds belongs to Kiwis.
Booster boosts fund options, tweaks settings
The balanced fund joins its Asset Class growth and conservative siblings, which are ultimately managed by US factor-based investment house Dimensional Fund Advisors.
House prices out of step
House prices in New Zealand versus the average Kiwi income have more than doubled since 1980.If you thought house prices were hot, you were right, but this figure shows home ownership is becoming a more and more distant dream for the average New Zealander, unless we see market slow-down or correction
