Ryan Bridge: We need more of a heads up on Kiwisaver

KiwiSaver. 

I was thinking about this at the weekend. I get why the government is doing the old switcharoo. I get it. Means test the government sweet we, halve it for everyone else… save some money. 

Then we workers… and our employers… will slowly put more into the scheme…

So that when it all comes out in the wash, we’re at least no worse off than before budget day. 

Except that we will be worse off, because it’s us and our employers paying for it.

We pay more up front. Our employers pay more up front. That’s added cost. Businesses recover cost by putting up prices, which we end up paying, or by lowering costs, like wages… which is how most of us make a living, right?

So, the net effect is worse for us and better for the government.

Now again, I get why they need to slash spending but the irony with tinkering with KiwiSaver is this.

For your average kiwi working hard and saving and planning for retirement… that’s what we’re told to do…. These changes throw all your calculations out of whack.

You plan on a long-term, predictable set of circumstances.

When they’re changed without warning and at random, it punishes people who are trying to do the right thing. 

We need more of a heads up on changes to KiwiSaver… and more importantly… NZ Super.

It’s not a matter of if but when that also gets means-tested. Even if the when is post-Winston. 

Nicola Willis says she’s been giving this some thought. The future of superannuation.

I’d like to know, and other hard-working Kiwi-savers I’m sure would also like to know, sooner rather than later, what those thoughts are. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Key We saver. I was thinking about this over the weekend.
I get why. I get why the government is doing
the old switcheroo. You know, I get it means tests
the government sweetener, harve it for everyone else, save yourself
a bunch of money. Then we workers and our employers.
We'll slowly put more into the scheme over the time,
and you build up to that so that when it

(00:21):
all comes out in the wash, we're at least no
worse off than before budget day. All right, I get it,
except that we will be worse off because it's us
and our employers paying for it. Right, We pay more upfront,
Our employers pay more upfront. That's added cost. Businesses recover
cost by putting up prices which we end up paying,

(00:44):
or by lowering costs like wages, which is how most
of us make a living. Right, So the net effect
is worse for us and better for the government. Now again,
I get why they need to slash spending. But the
problem with tinkering with key we save it is this,
For your average key, we working hard, saving, planning for retirement,

(01:05):
that's what we're told to do. These changes throw all
your calculations out of whack. You plan on a long term,
predictable set of circumstances. When they're changed without warning and
at random, it punishes the very people who are trying
to do the right thing. We need more of a

(01:26):
heads up on changes to key we Saver, thank you
very much, and more importantly on NZ super. It's not
a matter of if, but when. That also gets a
means test, even if the when is post Winston Peters.
Nikola Willis says she's been giving this some thought. The
future of superannuation I would like to know, and other

(01:48):
hard working key we savers I'm sure would also like
to know sooner rather than later, what those thoughts are.
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