For single people living a \u201cno frills\u201d lifestyle \u2013 at the second quintile of spending in the Household Economic Survey \u2013 in metro centres, they\u2019re $166.92 a week short. For provincial areas, they have to top up $42.33.<\/p>\n
For single people with a \u201cchoices\u201d lifestyle \u2013 at the fourth quintile \u2013 they have to top up $252.20 in the metro centres and $233.47 in the provincial areas.<\/p>\n
Two-person households were topping up anywhere from $109.04 a week for a no-frills metro lifestyle, to $951.95 for a choices life in a big city.<\/p>\n
Report lead Associate Professor Claire Matthews said retired households were spending more on food than consumer price index data allowed for, which put pressure on budgets.<\/p>\n
She said council rates were also a major issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a key unavoidable cost of home ownership for current retirees and the ongoing increases, which are expected to continue, cause angst for many,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
Cumulative increases over the past three years ranged from 20.9% in Auckland to 47% in Wellington for people without a water meter.<\/p>\n
\u201cRates are a huge issue. You do hear that a lot and this kind of just puts some numbers around that and provides some evidence,\u201d Matthews said.<\/p>\n
She said the minimum recorded was a 20% increase over three years. \u201cEven that\u2019s a huge amount.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report calculated the lump sums needed to top up income. <\/p>\n
Single people in metro areas would need $181,000 saved for a no-frills life and $273,000 for choices.<\/p>\n
In provincial areas, single people would need $46,000 for a no-frills life and $252,000 for more choices.<\/p>\n
Two-person households in metro areas would need more than $1 million for a choices life and $450,000 in the provinces.<\/p>\n
Matthews said research done as part of the latest release showed that KiwiSaver would be enough to get most people to the required amounts, provided they started investing early.<\/p>\n
It modelled a range of scenarios showing that someone who begins contributing to KiwiSaver from their early 20s, even after withdrawing around $75,000 for a first-home purchase at age 35, could still reach the lump sum needed to fund a modest retirement by age 65.<\/p>\n
But for those who delay joining KiwiSaver until their 40s or 50s, or who pause contributions for several years, the gap between savings and retirement needs gets much harder to close.<\/p>\n
Even with a first-home withdrawal, it was achievable as long as it was made early enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does say if you start young, you\u2019re going to be well on the way even if you just do the minimum,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you buy your first home, as long as you do it early enough… and have to start again at a young enough age, you can cope. But ideally, you would start saving at a slightly higher rate once you\u2019ve bought your house.\u201d<\/p>\n