{"id":613900,"date":"2026-04-17T23:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/613900\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T23:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:33:10","slug":"kiwisaver-financial-hardship-withdrawals-spike-in-march-amid-fuel-crisis-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/613900\/","title":{"rendered":"KiwiSaver financial hardship withdrawals spike in March amid fuel crisis, cost of living"},"content":{"rendered":"

It comes as the number of KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals has continued to climb in recent years, having outstripped first-home withdrawals in December 2023 and eclipsed that figure for every month since, except for June 2024. <\/p>\n

Hardship withdrawals first outstripped first-home withdrawals in April 2020, a month after New Zealand\u2019s first nationwide Covid lockdown. <\/p>\n

\u201cHardship withdrawal applications are a reflection of the broader economy,\u201d ANZ Investments general manager of funds management products Sian August said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike other KiwiSaver providers, the hardship applications we are seeing are being driven primarily by cost-of-living pressures and short\u2011term income disruption. Our customers who are seeking hardship support are spread across all age groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AmountAmount of KiwiSaver funds withdrawn by reason. Image \/ IRD<\/p>\n

\u2018Robbing their future selves\u2019<\/p>\n

Henderson Budget Service chief executive Tracey Phillips, whose organisation provides budgeting solutions for Aucklanders in financial strife, said \u201cmore people than ever\u201d are requesting help withdrawing their KiwiSaver because of financial hardship reasons. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting more people than ever coming in specifically asking us to help them withdraw from their KiwiSaver. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat used to be something that we used to suggest that people didn\u2019t know about, but now everyone kind of knows about it and they make appointments specifically to say \u2018I want to come in and withdraw some KiwiSaver\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips said the rise in KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals was \u201creally scary\u201d because people were \u201crobbing their future selves\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t encourage that; we strongly feel that\u2019s a last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BudgetBudget advisers warn people are “robbing their future selves” to get by. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n

Auckland Central Budgeting general manager Teresa White echoed similar sentiments. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already experiencing a cost-of-living crisis and the increased cost of fuel is compounding its impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuel prices don\u2019t just affect transport, it also increases the cost of food and other necessities, which means that people are left to make impossible decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen increased inquiries for people wanting access to KiwiSaver for hardship reasons in recent years, and it is a tragedy that people are having to resort to depleting their retirement savings just [to] get by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go\u2019<\/p>\n

Eilish Logan, 55, said she was forced to dip into her KiwiSaver after taking work off because of a medical condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had six months off for a medical condition and in that six months I obviously didn\u2019t have any income, and I found myself in a position where I wasn\u2019t able to pay most of the bills that had accumulated. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a bit of trouble and I couldn\u2019t get any assistance, further assistance, than I was getting on the unemployment benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefit is about $450 a week and trying to pay mortgage, rates, all of your utilities and eat week to week, it\u2019s an absolute struggle. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Logan, who has \u201c30-40 years of experience\u201d in administration, said she struggled to find a job since being forced to stop working.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe that it\u2019s this hard to get a job \u2026 I was just assuming that I\u2019d have a couple of interviews and walk into a job. Didn\u2019t happen like that at all. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to really dig deep and be really resourceful and resilient. And lots of positive affirmations as well to keep yourself buoyed while you\u2019re looking for a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Logan said she may have to withdraw even more from her KiwiSaver if the job market and economic conditions didn\u2019t improve. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t hesitate to do KiwiSaver again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Withdrawing KiwiSaver for significant financial hardship<\/p>\n

IRD says to \u201ccontact your scheme provider for the correct form to complete to make a hardship withdrawal. You only need to apply to us if you\u2019re within the first 2 months of your KiwiSaver membership\u201d.<\/p>\n

To withdraw savings, applicants will need to provide evidence of \u201csignificant financial hardship\u201d.<\/p>\n

If the application is accepted you can only withdraw your and your employer\u2019s contributions. <\/p>\n

Significant financial hardship includes when you:<\/p>\n

Cannot meet minimum living expenses.Cannot pay the mortgage on the home you live in, and your mortgage provider is seeking to enforce the mortgage.Need to modify your home to meet your special needs or those of a dependent family member.Need to pay for medical treatment for yourself or a dependent family member.have a serious illness.Need to pay funeral costs of a dependent family member.Need palliative care for a member or member\u2019s dependant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It comes as the number of KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals has continued to climb in recent years, having outstripped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[32465,13652,64,63,99,41262,167711,51536,164,5480,35431,97442,579,4717,64404,32482,3322,30132,297988,1787,297989,9074,19430,29601,209115,71105,114367],"class_list":{"0":"post-613900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-month","9":"tag-amid","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-cost","14":"tag-costofliving","15":"tag-crisis","16":"tag-economy","17":"tag-financial","18":"tag-fuel","19":"tag-hardship","20":"tag-high","21":"tag-in","22":"tag-kiwisaver","23":"tag-last","24":"tag-living","25":"tag-march","26":"tag-nearrecord","27":"tag-of","28":"tag-pressures","29":"tag-prices","30":"tag-rising","31":"tag-spike","32":"tag-spiked","33":"tag-withdrawals","34":"tag-zealanders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}