Kerre Woodham: Is this how you imagined your retirement would go?

From good news to bad news really – a growing number of pensioners are turning to the Government's hardship support network as a last resort as the cost of living crisis grinds on. Applications for temporary additional support from New Zealand super recipients have almost tripled since 2020, rising from around about 22,000 per year to more than 61,000 in 2025.

Aaron Gilbert: NZ’s retirement debate - Will tinkering today spell more trouble tomorrow?

For generations of New Zealanders, a lifetime of work has come with the promise of a secure and happy retirement.

Today, however, that notion of golden years spent in relative comfort is slipping out of reach for a growing number of struggling retirees. Without a serious policy rethink, younger New Zealanders may face an even tougher reality when their time to leave the workforce comes.

Despite these challenges, policies tabled this election year amount to little more than tinkering around the edges.

Ryan Bridge: How do we possibly save for retirement?

Massey Uni releases these numbers each year.

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.

Sir Roger Douglas: New Zealand's Retirement Pension

Michael Littlewood’s ‘Guest Post’ for David Farrar on pensions, and his belief that our social welfare system is fit for purpose and doesn’t need change, reminded me of why New Zealand is currently well on the way to bankruptcy, and why our brightest young people are leaving the country in droves.

It all started in earnest when Sir Robert Muldoon and the National party in 1976, voted in one of the most generous retirement pension systems anywhere in the world, if not the most generous. They did so without voting in the taxes needed to pay for such a generous scheme.

Brian Easton: Is the New Zealand’s Retirement Strategy Sustainable?

Today’s mañana strategy will lead to a crisis for the oldest elderly.

It is said that the only certainties are death and taxes, but a lack of each causes uncertainties. As longevity increases, the pressures on state spending increase. A reluctance to increase taxation means the pressures on the elderly increase.

Richard Meade: What ‘Jack and Jill’ can teach us about the (un)fairness of capital gains taxes

In New Zealand, capital gains tax debates spring up like zombies. Each time they get killed off, back to life they come.

New Zealand already has some types of capital gains taxes – such as the bright-line test (which taxes residential land bought and sold within two years) and taxes on other various activities. So the debate is more about expanding taxes on capital gains, rather than introducing a new tax.

Claire Dale: A looming crisis means New Zealand must rethink how it pays for aged care

The recent submissions to parliament’s Health Select Committee makes one thing clear: a crisis looms for the aged care sector in New Zealand.

This crisis centres on the funding and staffing of residential aged care (ARC) and in-home care and support services.

Francesca Rudkin: Are we as savvy as we should be with KiwiSaver?

How proactive are you with your KiwiSaver?

Do you call your provider to have a conversation about whether you're in the right fund for you at that moment in time? Do you get independent advice as to whether you're in the right fund? Do you have a number, the amount you would like to have to live your life on in retirement? Do you keep your eye on your fund and how your savings are progressing?

Or have you, like me, signed up, made the contribution, thought good on me, I'm saving for my retirement! Then put your head in the sand and got on with life.

Lindsay Mitchell: Pension - What the UK and US save, NZ will pay for

The DomPost today reports on the Ministry of Social Development's push to get more retirees to claim pensions from their birth country to offset what New Zealand has to pay out. Fair enough. NZ has long held reciprocal pension arrangements with a number of countries.