No retirement for old men and women, survey says

By Paul McBeth

Wednesday 4th February 2009

New Zealanders are expecting to keep the money rolling in upon hitting their golden years, with a new quarterly survey finding most Kiwi investors plan to work well into their 60s.

Dutch-owned investor and insurer ING Group's survey of the Asia Pacific region found 71% of New Zealand private investors surveyed don't expect to retire until after they turn 61, despite 60% of them feeling confident that they were prepared to finish working.

In comparison, only 46% of Australian investors, 44% of Singaporean investors, 37% of Japanese investors, and 16% of Chinese investors believe they will have to work past 61. New Zealand's average expected age of retirement is 64, the highest in the region.

"Most New Zealanders no longer expect that the Government will provide fully for them in retirement," said David Boyle, ING NZ's head of KiwiSaver distribution. "They are becoming more realistic about when they will be able to comfortably retire from full-time employment."

The quarterly survey found the kiwi investors expect a third of their monthly income once they have retired will come from the government and 37% from their own savings, and that they anticipate needing significantly lower income to live in retirement than their Australian counterparts.

Boyle said the introduction of KiwiSaver and the recent global economic slump had helped increase the awareness in New Zealand about the level of savings needed to live well, but they still lag behind Australia, which implemented a compulsory superannuation scheme 15 years ago.

The research found 47% New Zealand investors with a high net worth have joined a KiwiSaver scheme, with a further 15% looking to join in the second quarter this year. Boyle said the lower income threshold from 4% to 2% will probably see more people join the savings scheme, but will probably lead to lower savings levels overall in the future.

At the start year the savings scheme's total membership had reached over 900,000, with 46% under the age of 35.

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