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KiwiSaver has been the New Zealand’s most successful savings innovation in the last hundred years, the Financial Services Council says. ?p=152

chief executive peter neilson said, seven years after its launch, there were a number of reasons why it had beaten expectations.

He said the main reasons were that for those who found it hard to save ?p=152 ?p=152, KiwiSaver made it easy to enrol and put the money away before it could be spent, and the kickstart incentives and matching employer contributions made it a no-brainer for most New Zealanders.

Neilson said as KiwiSaver members saw their balances grow, they were understanding the benfit of saving a bit each week for a long time.

More than 15, 000 people have used their KiwiSaver accounts to buy their first homes.

He said: “We now have more than 2. 3 million New Zealanders in KiwiSaver, more than three times the Treasury’s $700, 000 initial estimate but we can make it even more successful. ”

He said most people were saving at the 6% rate, of 3% from themselves and 3% from their employer.   “To fund a comfortable retirement on about two times the NZ Super pension income would require the contribution rate to go to 9% or higher. If KiwiSavers defaulted into a balanced or growth fund rather than a conservative [?p=152] one and the over-taxation of KiwiSaver funds was addressed, the contribution rates required to fund a comfortable retirement could drop. ”