Dr. Claire Matthews: Associate professor's new report says Kiwisaver can be great for retirement, if used correctly

A new report reveals the importance of contributing to Kiwisaver after buying a first home. 

The Retirement Expenditure Guidelines from Massey University and Fin-Ed Centre suggests Kiwisaver is great for funding retirement - if utilised correctly.

It finds a modest retirement goal can be reached by age 65 even after withdrawing funds for a first-home at 35. 

But report author Associate Professor Claire Matthews says there is an emphasis on using it for a home.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Another look at key we sabor their impact of being
able to pull money out for a first time. So
we've got a new report and they say the average
withdrawal of seventy five grand at thirty five years of
age should leave enough for a modest retirement by sixty five.
Clear Matthews, Doctor, Associate professor at MASSI and the report
author is back with this clear good morning, morning mate.
I suppose this is all ideological, isn't it? Whether you

(00:37):
see housing as a retirement tool, therefore pulling it out
of another retirement tool really doesn't matter, does it.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
No, that's right. It tends to be a little bit
easier to manage your retirement if you're in your own home.
That gives you that stability, and therefore it does make
sense from that perceipt that's be about able to use
your key. We save to a system. And getting to
that point, is.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
This emergency thing become an issue? In other words, I'm
skinned giving me my money back? Is that a problem?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
I think it is. I know a lot of people
complain about how hard it is to get my money
out for hardship. But given the volume of with rules,
either it is too easy or as a sign that
there is really significant problems in the economy, and therefore
that needs to be resolved. Because having large amounts of
money coming out of Key We Save it is not
good for everyone's retirement.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
What about the overarching thing that everyone keeps messing with it?
I mean the government messes with it. We mess with it,
you know, and the whole idea of retirement saving is
put away and forget about it. Don't mess with it.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Oh, that's been an ongoing issue. Yes, it's needed some improvements,
and some of it still not quite where we want it,
which and I hate saying that because the last thing
we really need is to have it fiddled with again,
because every time the governments of whatever stripe do something,
do some kind of adjustment, it just makes people nervous about, well,

(01:56):
what are they going to do next time? And we
can't afford people to be nervous about their Key We Savior.
We want them to trust it, to know it's going
to be therefore their retirement and therefore to be able
to make good use of it.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Why don't we like Australia, they seem to have solved it.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
I can't answer that question. You'd have to ask our politicians. No.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
But if you were looking at a model, if I
said clear, magic one time, clears in charge of solving
this problem once overall, wouldn't you say, Australia or Singapore,
make it compulsory, expercent get into it, stop moaning, and
we'll see you in twenty years.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
There are cut of the elements of that. I'm not
sure I'd want to follow the Australian model completely, but
there are certainly elements here. I'd like to see us
with higher contribution rates if I'd like to see it compulsory,
So there are certainly some things there. I just wouldn't
take the Australian mole and as a whole.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Nice to talk to you, Clear Claire Matthews The old
key We save a debate, it never stops it.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
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