They tell you how much you might need to retirement.
In the city... two people in a house... want to live comfortably... need $1 million.
$450,000 in the provinces.
Now, you then start working backwards. In terms of your net worth.
Depending on your age, you may not be able to rely on the pension.
Some government will eventually means test it or change the age or cut it back. It's inevitable.
So there's a shortfall you're probably going to have to fill.
KiwiSaver contributions need to go up. And they are. Slightly, from 3 to eventually 4%.
But realistically, we'll need to be doing 10%.
And I know people are doing that - who are, even in their 30s, going hard on saving and investing for this express purpose.
So people are planning and working hard. Slogging their guts out. Just being responsible and making sure they can take care of themselves and their families.
Which is why it smacks of entitlement that politicians live in a different world on super. Totally different world.
They get a super subsidy 2.5 times the percent they contribute from their salary, up to a maximum payment of 20 percent.
RNZ reported earlier this year that a backbencher gets $170,000. 20 percent of that would be about $34,000
We get dollar-for-dollar from our employers up to 3 percent.
The argument is their jobs aren't secure, so they need more security.
They aren't the only ones in that situation. But they are the only ones I know of who get retirement nest egg like that.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
18 comments:
Yes much is said about how much superannuation costs the country, but has anyone ever asked just how much ex MP’s continue to cost the country in free travel etc. Bottom line-life is uncertain for everyone!
We are in our late 70s.
Our modest, but very comfortable hoiuse in a very nice part of NZ, house is (almost) freehold, and we own no other major assets except a couple of quite reasonable, modern, motor vehicles.
We enjoy, and always have, good food, and modest amounts of good quality alcohol as part of our daily life.
We emjoy good health, but not without the odd hiccup.
We care not about the latest cellphones or overseas travel, but my wife has seen quite a bit of the world, through her hobby and passion.
We retired with no savings, and still have no savings of any consequence.
We must be very stupid and foolhardy people, according to Massey University.
Our only income is our NZ superannuation some 12 years ago.
How have we survived?
I have learned to live very well frugally.
A good sized feezer is the key.
Buy food frequently, when on sale/reduced.
We love cooking, and as a consequence, eat far better than most households.
We stay active in our community and still play a bit of sport insurance years ago - I paid a fortune and as premiums increased way beyond what we could afford, that went into the luxury bin. (my wife did have 2 knee replacements covered whilst covered by medical insurance, so no major complaints, so to speak).
The state of, and ease of access to our health system in recent years gives me the..(lets just say you need a good dose of Imodium to fix it)
We are concerned at rapidly increasing cost of insurance, rates, power etc for those of us on fixed incomes.
That is an out of control rort imho.
Other day to day costs?
Fuel, we don't travel huge distances very often.
Clothes and other stuff - China has changed the game. We want for little in material things.
Visit op shops and resource centres for bargains, things you didn't know you needed, and a new, fun hobby.
I contributed to a blog yesterday about the need to keep teaching home sciences, recently removed from school programs, I believe.
Somebody commednted that teaching budgeting was vital.
I commented that teaching basic cooking (and perhaps learning the joy and pleasure of great, simple food on a regular basis) was far more important, in my opinion.
It's no good teaching budgeting if your world vision is takeaway and pre-packaged junk food.
So, in our case at least, this academic bullshit about the need to have vast amounts of money bewilders me.
We owe nothing to our kids, and all your stuff will most likely end up at the resource centre anyway, 5 minutes after you've kicked the bucket.
Things are worth bugger all.
People, friendship and animals are important.
Ameni
Stuff reports a NZ family of four pays $10,000 more for groceries each year.
The average power bill in aus is $2133. NZers pay $2527 despite cheap hydro generation with a mere 15% expensive fossil fuel generation verses 64% of aussie power generated by expensive fossil fuels
Mr Luxon identified the bizarre super profits of NZ's grocery and electricity companies 2 years ago and told us it needed to be fixed.
So how has Luxon fix it?
He asked the dishonest Finance Minister who can't remember numbers to put it right.
Nicola Willis looks and sounds more and more like the mysteriously wealthy Ardern as time goes on.
And Willis has a new side kick in Simon Watts.
Is Watts the National party's Grant Robertson?
MP : Best job going... pity competent people do not go for this.
To anon @ 6.47
Are you the far left miserable whinger that blamed David Farrar for YOUR woes? I'm guessing by your negativity that you are one and the same.
You start off by saying " Stuff reports" therefore your first 2 words and the rest of your post holds no weight. Don't believe the media, especially the far left stuff propaganda.
If you are indeed the same miserable far left whacko who whines about everything and blames everyone ( as you have done in this post) then I'm no longer happy to debate electricity prices or the supermarket situation with you as don't have the mental capacity to do so. Suffice to say, your reasoning is wrong ( as usual).
Go home switch off your internet, do youself and everyone else a favor.
Anon@6.47
To be honest your argument actually doesn’t make any sense and your numbers don’t really either. OZ produce 555billion tons of coal….nz 3 billion. Over 18000% MORE than us. Their AISC (all in sustaining cost) per ton is much much less than us, although it varies from company to company. But you don’t even mention what TYPE of coal is utilised. So to make comparisons is pointless.
The lefts ban on mining, exploration etc here in nz is going to have consequences. What do you think these consequences are…..perhaps increased power costs by chance? It takes 10-15 years to get a mine up and producing, it does NOT happen overnight.
You mention hydro generation. Clearly you don’t know much about that either. Why do you state it’s cheap? Hydro generation is NOT CHEAP. In fact there is a massive under investment in Hydro and renewables. Which is why Ardern started IMPORTING foreign coal to keep the lights on. They really are a confused lot. Hydro will barely cover half of our needs by my numbers…and my numbers are much more accurate than STUFFs!!
However, what if theres a drought? Ever though about that? How do you think Hydro will fare then? I’m guessing you don’t have a clue, correct?
Obviously you being a leftie you probably think Hydro infrastructure ‘just appears’? Am I right? How do you think it’s constructed? Who PAYS for it? You want it (so called ‘cheap’ hydro), right? So who PAYS for it? This one question alone will stump all lefties. They just don’t have a clue. Some actually has to PAY for these things!
The lefts policies have really hurt this country. I just don’t follow their logic. Lefites like you come on here whinging about the cost of electricity – yet it’s the left that have banned mining and exploration. The left are whinging about the cost of food, the left seem to think that all food is grown in the supermarket – yet they impose massive restrictions on the farming sector (which of course is going to increase costs). The left just cant have it both ways….sure ban mining, no problem, but stop whining about the power increase. Want cheap power….no problem stop whinging about mining…..
Clearly you don’t follow what is going on in your very own country. The cost of living is an apparently a big issue. It’s caused by a lot of factors but certainly assisted greatly by Ardern and co. Luxon is doing something by introducing supermarket competition. Which should lower costs. Is it the best solution….who knows. Anyone could have found this info out but the fact that you are unaware of this shows how ignorant you are. Watch the next few months for more info on this.
Dishonest finance minister you claim – prove it. Imo she is trying desperately to mop up a huge mess she inherited. She might not have it all correct….but shes infinitely better than the last finance minister.
Anon at 6.47 you always seem to have a very firm grasp of the wrong end of the stick. Imo you are a ‘dangerous leftie’ as you have minimal information (from stuff) yet you clearly think it’s the ‘truth’. The fact that you come on here stating ‘stuff reports’ as your source is laughable.
You've obviously struck a chord anon 7.52.
Keep the facts coming and ignore the men lurking around in their duffel coats.
To anonymous @ 7:52am
When you’ve failed at everything else, there’s always politics!
To ihcpcoro,
I commend you. For retirement everyones situation will be different. You have worked out what works for you. Thats all that matters.
You have to remember that massey's study was probably aimed for the masses, and probably with a margin of safety built in (not sure as I have not checked it).
One point i disagree with you is teaching budgeting at schools. I also think it's an absolute must. I volunteer my time helping people who require simple budgeting advice. If these people had started earlier (learning 'fiscal smarts' as I call it) it would be much easier than in their 20's, 30's 40's or 50's. Often I'm gobsmacked at how entitled some of these people are. They actually do have enough money to pay rent, power etc, but will not give up their McDonalds, booze or smokes etc. They will not get work or make their kids help out. So often the problem is usually 'them'. Put it this way, with approx 80% of these people (the ones I have helped) I could make ends meet in their situation. It's actually really simple stuff to learn. But its incredibly difficult to make the changes they need to. Budgeting 101 I call it. And if I can do it, then anyone can!
The other interesting comment you make; 'it's academic BS the need to have vast amounts of money.'
Yes and No. Yes, I totally understand what you are saying and where you are coming from. And, you are a case in point. You are proving you dont need vast amounts of money. however you have to take into consideration human behaviour. We all suffer from fear and greed. Thats what drives us. I have friends with so much money it's stupid, but they are actually not overly happy, and they keep telling me, 'just one more business, or rental etc'. Do not underestimate the fear of thinking you do not have enough. I too could retire (I'm no where near retirement age) but from an earlier age I have 'worked backwards' to understand what I needed and wanted by retirement age. I have enough now. However, I love what I do. Until I dont, I will continue to do what I enjoy.
Nick Haines, chief financial officer of The Energy Collective, said the trend of the past two years had been for gentailers to make increasing profits from generation and little from retail, which put pressure on competition.
"Certainly, from what we're seeing in the market we expect wholesale earnings to continue to rise."
He said retailers were concerned about how market settings had evolved and the impact on businesses and households.
"In our view the market is broken, current market settings incentivise the generators to keep the generation balance really lean."
He said other generators would probably mirror Contact's strong profit reported on Monday for the year to June.
A new report by a University of Auckland economist has found that in the seven years from 2010 to 2016, power generators pocketed an extra $5.4 billion in profits over and above what they would have if the wholesale electricity market was truly competitive – equating to 36 percent of revenue.
Anon 6.47.
Willis using our money to pay for an electricity market report then only implementing 2 out of 12 of the recommendations doesnt scream intelligence.
It does suggest incompetence or worse corruption.
Agree, of course people need to learn to budget (I qualified as a accountant - I seldom admit that) but can that skill be taught to school aged kids? Not easily.
Cooking and associated food sourcing and budgeting skills is something that anybody can relate to. We all eat.
So I reckon exposure to basic cooking skills is a great first step to learning budgeting and household management.
If all you know is crap fast food, you will set your budgets accordingly, as you have observed.
I wasn't trying to say that we are 'holier than thou' because we make do on not a lot, relatively. I was just trying to point out that there are ways to live very well on not a lot.
Of course, retirees have the luxury of at least some spare time.
I was horrified to read that 2/3rds of teachers earn 100k or more - and they strike for more.
We will never have another WW, but if we did, most of these wimps wouldn't last 5 minutes. Protesting doesn't work too well in those situations.
Necessity is the mother of etc...
It's not what you do in life that's important, it's what you do with what you've got.
Apologies for my earlier typos - early hours and less than optimal eyesight. But at going on 79, every day you wake up is a good day.
And thanks for the positive comments.
Cheers
How much would 5.4 billion be per head of population or per household? Not peanuts methinks, and consumers have to pay bills from already taxed earnings.
Unfortunately this mentality applies to most key areas - rates, insurance etc etc.
'it's only a small percentage increase per year' blah blah
As someone said recently, 'why should I have to scrimp and save, to pay those (monopoly service suppliers) who will not scrimp and save'.
Anon 3.33 seems to think the wholesale electricity market in New Zealand is not "truly competitive". He must be unaware that electricity is traded wholesale on a spot market. Generators submit offers through a Wholesale Information and Trading System. Each offer covers a future half-hour period (called a trading period) and is an offer to generate a specified quantity at that time in return for a nominated price. And it seems to me that's about as competitive as any market can get. Perhaps Anon 3.33 would like to explain how he proposes improving on what we already have.
I agree unequivically with what Anonymous has said.
Come on people, this is not the Kiwi way.
You risk being 'flick' comments, that nobody reads because you all have the same, gutless handle.
Unequivocally of course. Apologies.
I wish I could edit after posting.
How do we save for retirement?Here's a fully costed budget & explanation of how all NZ'ers can retire with a million $ in a super savings a/c, done by me & former Finance Minister, Sir Roger Douglas.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00779954.2025.2496872
We showed it to the Nats & Labour. Both couldn't be bothered reading it. Their lazy arrogance is despicable. Willis can't do economics & doesn't understand finance.
As for Luxon & Hipkins, they're just drips. I can't be bothered anymore trying to do their jobs for them. Comms, marketing & PR is all they stand for. Luxon's memorized talking points are unbearable. Him and Mike Hosking sound like two matey men joking & talking bollocks as they pee side-by-side into a urinal. They have become parodies of themselves.
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