{"id":395134,"date":"2026-04-24T08:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/395134\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T08:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:37:08","slug":"amp-survey-finds-low-retirement-confidence-as-few-seek-kiwisaver-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/395134\/","title":{"rendered":"AMP survey finds low retirement confidence as few seek KiwiSaver advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">And fewer than half of 40 to 64-year-olds have retirement savings outside KiwiSaver, the survey found.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Improving Kiwis\u2019 retirement confidence isn't as out of reach as some might fear, AMP KiwiSaver managing director Jeff Ruscoe says.\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Improving Kiwis\u2019 retirement confidence isn&#8217;t as out of reach as some might fear, AMP KiwiSaver managing director Jeff Ruscoe says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">But there were reasons for optimism, with the survey showing a knowledge gap was the main barrier to retirement readiness, an expert said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">Improving Kiwis\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/topic\/retirement\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/topic\/retirement\/\"> retirement confidence<\/a> was \u201cfar more achievable than people think\u201d, AMP KiwiSaver managing director Jeff Ruscoe said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cA gap in knowledge and a lack of action can both be addressed by simply seeking advice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">Despite nearly two thirds of 50 to 64-year-olds feeling stressed about their financial future, 85% had never sought advice, Ruscoe said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIf you thought your brakes might fail on the motorway, you wouldn\u2019t just keep driving \u2013 you\u2019d get them checked and seek some advice before something goes horribly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Small, manageable changes such as reviewing contributions and fund choice, or simply seeking guidance can make a big difference to KiwiSaver balances, one expert says. Photo \/ 123rf\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Small, manageable changes such as reviewing contributions and fund choice, or simply seeking guidance can make a big difference to KiwiSaver balances, one expert says. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">Retirement confidence was more than just how much a person could save before age 65, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIt\u2019s about knowing how to confidently use the money you\u2019ll have, to help you live the life you want once you move beyond fulltime work \u2026 not only is most of this advice free to get, the way to get it is as easy as calling your KiwiSaver provider or hopping online to free tools like Sorted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">There was still untapped potential for Kiwis to make the most of the scheme.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201c[And this is] often through small, manageable changes such as reviewing contributions and fund choice or simply seeking guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">The Government has already brought in changes to improve Kiwis\u2019 retirement savings, including an increase to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/half-of-kiwis-planning-to-increase-kiwisaver-contributions\/XUSOLCVGLVBPZPWMOIVRL4362I\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/half-of-kiwis-planning-to-increase-kiwisaver-contributions\/XUSOLCVGLVBPZPWMOIVRL4362I\/\">default contribution rate for KiwiSaver<\/a>, which rose from 3% to 3.5% for employers and employees on April 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">Those aged 16 and 17 are also now paid employer contributions, as long as they are contributing themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">Default rates will rise to 4% for employees and employers in 2028, part of a six-year plan that would eventually see total contributions reach 12%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"npuzLaxKHxgCDhG\" style=\"display:none\">However, the Government also announced last year the maximum Government contribution (member tax credit) would be halved to $261 a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And fewer than half of 40 to 64-year-olds have retirement savings outside KiwiSaver, the survey found. Improving Kiwis\u2019&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1665,15408,28119,806,27245,138,2950,307,51049,246,11424,71,807,6964,6036,17576,204228,5969,5971,111,139,69,24808,244,245,7565,294,11590,11925,418,313,8822,8229,9873,100624,6923],"class_list":{"0":"post-395134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-almost","10":"tag-amp","11":"tag-as","12":"tag-beyond","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-confidence","15":"tag-dont","16":"tag-few","17":"tag-finance","18":"tag-finds","19":"tag-from","20":"tag-kiwis","21":"tag-kiwisaver","22":"tag-know","23":"tag-low","24":"tag-middleaged","25":"tag-much","26":"tag-need","27":"tag-new-zealand","28":"tag-newzealand","29":"tag-nz","30":"tag-older","31":"tag-personal-finance","32":"tag-personalfinance","33":"tag-receive","34":"tag-retirement","35":"tag-save","36":"tag-seek","37":"tag-shows","38":"tag-super","39":"tag-survey","40":"tag-they","41":"tag-theyll","42":"tag-twothirds","43":"tag-what"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}