You’re:
In your 20s
You’re likely just starting out in your career and keen to make your mark on the world. You might be thinking about buying your first home, but it also might seem like a long way off yet. This is a good time for you to be growing as much as possible, not only in your professional life, but also in your financial one. You can probably afford to take some risk here and there, and at this age, you may want to be in a more aggressive fund to grow your KiwiSaver balance as much as possible. You will see more of a fluctuation in your balance but as you have time on your side, you can ride this out for potentially better long term returns.
In your 30s
You might still be treading hard and fast along the career path, but you also might be starting to take the idea of your first home more seriously. Again, growth is a huge factor here, but if you’re looking to use your KiwiSaver for your first home pretty soon, maybe you want to slow it down a little and take a more conservative approach to keep your balance where you need it to be. Not looking to own your own home just yet? Keep accumulating and growing – your appetite for risk may not have changed much from your 20s.
In your 40s
Retirement probably isn’t really front of mind right now, but maybe it’s starting to trickle in more and more. You might already have your career sorted and be onto your second home already. At this stage, you’re likely not going to be touching your KiwiSaver until retirement, which is a good while away yet. This makes focusing on that growth all the more important to make sure you end up with a comfortable sum when you do decide to retire.
In your 50s
Depending what end of the 50s scale you fall into, retirement is probably becoming more of a focus for you – you want to make sure you have enough when the time comes. What sort of fund you’re in really depends on how much risk you’re willing to take. If you’ve cleared your mortgage payments and any other debt you might have, putting your KiwiSaver into growth mode could really make a difference come retirement. If you’re unsure, this is also a good time to slow down a little and get an idea of how much you’d like to have for retirement and how you’re tracking to get there. Then you can decide to keep growing for a while or pare it back.
In your 60s
For most of us, now is when we are starting to think about retiring and accessing our KiwiSaver. If you’re looking to take it out very soon, a more conservative approach might be better for you. Note also though that just because you turn 65, this doesn’t mean you need to withdraw all of your KiwiSaver savings at once – in fact, in can be a better idea to organise a weekly withdrawal or only take out a small amount, leaving the rest to keep working for you.
If you have any questions about how to make the most of your KiwiSaver, get in touch with one of our great advisers today. Want to know how much you’ll have in your KiwiSaver fund when you retire? Check out our KiwiSaver calculator to find out!
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