He said contributing early to KiwiSaver was important.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust get started on it, make small contributions regularly over time and get the benefit of compounding returns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members also needed to get their risk profile right, Berry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you own a home and you\u2019re a long way from retirement, more than likely you should be in a growth fund and not a conservative fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll have a bumpier ride but you\u2019ll get higher returns in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pathfinder co-founder and CEO John Berry.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a homeowner, Berry said the maths on clearing your mortgage was interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaying down your mortgage is really quite powerful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your mortgage is 6% and you\u2019re a 30% taxpayer, you would need to get an investment of 9% and pay tax at 30% to end up with 6%, so you\u2019re actually better off paying your mortgage unless you think you\u2019ve got an investment that\u2019ll earn more than 9% before tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berry said people a long way from retirement should think about different scenarios and how their retirement may play out.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, what could the NZ Super setting be, could there be no NZ Super, could it be a higher age, could it be means-tested?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge I think for younger people is they probably need to assume the settings [of NZ Super] will have changed and the settings could be the age going up, means testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: The biggest financial mistakes you\u2019re making at each stage of life<\/a><\/p>\n Lastly, Berry said those planning for retirement also should be thinking about key costs.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentials like food, energy, rates and insurance are going up by often a lot more than inflation and that puts pressure on retirees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Massey University\u2019s latest Retirement Expenditure Guidelines<\/a>, released in 2025, found most New Zealanders aiming for a comfortable standard of living will need income beyond superannuation.<\/p>\n It found for a two-person \u201cno frills\u201d household in a metropolitan area, the total weekly expenditure is $909.90, while a similar household in a provincial area spends $1031.85.<\/p>\n Households aiming for a \u201cchoices\u201d lifestyle in a metropolitan setting spend $1739.85 per week, while those in provincial areas spend $1210.18 per week.<\/p>\n The need for cross-party agreement<\/p>\n Berry said he has long advocated for cross-party agreement when it comes to KiwiSaver and NZ Super settings.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment we don\u2019t have that certainty, we have a lot of discussion around the settings may need to change but I think we just need to get on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just can\u2019t be a political issue where one party changes it and next election it flips back the other way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s above politics. People\u2019s retirement saving is so important for New Zealanders. It shouldn\u2019t be a divisive difficult political issue. It should be something people want to work on collaboratively.\u201d<\/p>\n