Haven | What happens to your KiwiSaver when you retire?

KiwiSaver

What happens to your KiwiSaver when you retire?

3 MIN READ April 3, 2019

Are you heading towards retirement? Or are you just curious about what happens with your KiwiSaver when you retire? We’ve created this handy guide with all of the information you need for retiring with your KiwiSaver, including the new changes for 2019.

As it stands, people over 65 can’t join KiwiSaver or move into a new scheme, and if they join after the age of 60, they’ll need to wait five years before they can withdraw their funds. The new changes that have now been passed and are coming into effect on July 1st this year will allow people over 65 to join the KiwiSaver scheme and will remove the five year lock-in period.

So what happens to my KiwiSaver when I retire?

Firstly, when you retire, it’s important to remember that even if you’re still working, you won’t be eligible for the annual Member Tax Credits from the government. Your employer also doesn’t need to keep contributing, but many do still honour this and continue contributing after you’ve reached 65.

When you turn 65, you can access all of your KiwiSaver funds at any time. Although taking out all of your savings as soon as you’re eligible might seem like an appealing idea, you’ll actually have a few options open to you depending on what your plans are.

Withdrawing all of your savings

This might be your gut reaction, after all you’ve probably saved quite a lot by this point and are looking forward to putting it towards a well-earned holiday.

As it’s your money, you can absolutely use it how you please once you turn 65, but if you do decide to withdraw all of your savings, you’ll need to close your KiwiSaver account and you won’t be able to open another one in future.

Leaving your savings in your KiwiSaver account

There is a common misconception that once you turn 65, you have to withdraw all of your KiwiSaver savings and reinvest them in a term deposit or other savings account. This isn’t true – you can keep your savings in your KiwiSaver account and it’s often a lower cost option compared to other managed funds.

If you’re still working, even just part time, this could be a good option as you’ll still be contributing to your savings. As mentioned above, your employer doesn’t need to keep contributing but some may choose to continue doing this.

If you are planning on leaving your savings in your KiwiSaver account, it’s a good idea to have a chat with a financial adviser to discuss what fund type options are available for you.

Withdrawing some of your savings

This one’s a good compromise – you can still take a trip but keep some savings tucked away for a rainy day. Some providers can offer you regular automatic withdrawal amounts which might be helpful if you’d like to have a bit of extra cash every week without draining your account.

Again, you can still contribute if you’re working, you just won’t be eligible for the Member Tax Credit and it will be up to your employer to decide if they will still contribute too.

If you’re not sure about how to manage your KiwiSaver funds once you’ve hit retirement, come and have a chat with one of our friendly advisers today.

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Disqualified Participants’ are: (a) all Haven Financial Advisers employees (b) all people under the age of 18 years (c) all people without a qualifying delivery address.
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How To Enter.Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.
Or,
Refer someone else to complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and if they complete the review you will receive one entry each into the Competition.
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The Winners will be determined by Haven Financial Advisers and will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
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Where the Winner is required to claim the prize in person, they must provide proper identification (eg driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate).
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The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
The Promoter will not be liable for failure to provide (or delay in providing) the Prize resulting from any events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of god (natural disasters), acts of war or terrorism, national emergencies, issues of public health and safety, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, industry disputes, riots or failure of communication or power supply or voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law or order of any government.
Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party.
The Promoter will not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by entrants or anyone else as a result of, arising out of, or in any way connected with the Promotion or its prizes.
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Where the Promotion is conducted across social media: a. Entrants’ conduct must comply with the rules of that social media platform. b. The Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These social media platforms are in no way responsible for any aspect of the Promotion.By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes, and agree to make themselves reasonably available for this purpose. Any copyright associated with an entry will be owned by the Promoter.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of administering this Promotion and for future Promoter promotional purposes. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promoter and will not be provided to third parties unless otherwise specifically set out. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct their personal information.

Terms & Conditions

1. Eligibility.

The Haven Travel Promotion is only open to legal residents of New Zealand who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.

Disqualified Participants’ are: (a) all Haven Financial Advisers employees (b) all people under the age of 18 years.

2. Competition Period.

The Competition begins on Monday 13th March 2023 to Wednesday 31st May 2023.

3. How To Enter.

Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.

4. Drawing the Winner

The final winner will be drawn on Monday 5th June via random selection by Haven Financial Advisers.

Only the person who originally entered the Promotion can be awarded the prize.
The Winner will be determined by Haven Financial Advisers and will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Winner will be notified by email, phone (voice or text), mail or in person. Where attempts to contact the Winner fail (eg when the Winner cannot be contacted by phone after three attempts or mail sent is returned) Haven Financial Advisers will select another winner. If, after successful notification, the prize is not collected within two months of being announced, it will be regarded as forfeit. (Note: 3 attempts to contact the Winner will include individual calls to any numbers provided at the time of entry.
Where the Winner is required to claim the prize in person, they must provide proper identification (eg driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate).

5. The Prize

The Prize (a travel voucher valued at $4,000 NZD) is not redeemable for cash or transferable. In the event that the Prize specified in the Competition becomes unavailable for any reason, Haven Financial Advisers may substitute a prize of like or equal value.
The Winner takes the Prize entirely at his/her own risk and indemnifies Haven Financial Advisers in respect of any claim for any accident, injury, property damage or loss of life that may occur in connection with the prize. The Winner is responsible for all insurance, tax or other costs that may be associated with the Prize. Where the Prize has associated terms and conditions the Winner accepts the Prize subject to those terms and conditions and restrictions.
The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
The Promoter will not be liable for failure to provide (or delay in providing) the Prize resulting from any events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of god (natural disasters), acts of war or terrorism, national emergencies, issues of public health and safety, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, industry disputes, riots or failure of communication or power supply or voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law or order of any government.
Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party (for example, vouchers may have additional terms and conditions and/or an expiry date or in the case of travel, additional terms and conditions may be imposed by airlines, service providers and venues).
The Promoter will not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by entrants or anyone else as a result of, arising out of, or in any way connected with the Promotion or its prizes.

6. Social Media & Marketing

Where the Promotion is conducted across social media: a. Entrants’ conduct must comply with the rules of that social media platform. b. The Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These social media platforms are in no way responsible for any aspect of the Promotion.
By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes, and agree to make themselves reasonably available for this purpose. Any copyright associated with an entry will be owned by the Promoter.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of administering this Promotion and for future Promoter promotional purposes. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promoter and will not be provided to third parties unless otherwise specifically set out. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct their personal information.