First KiwiSaver funds to be released

File photo / NZ Herald

17,500 people can now access their KiwiSaver retirement nest eggs.

It's exactly five years today since the savings scheme started.

It means anyone over the age of 65, who has been with KiwiSaver since its beginning, can withdraw what they have saved.

Inland Revenue will be advising employers to check that they have sent through all contributions, and if necessary, make additional payments as soon as possible.

Since it began just under two million people have joined and $11.8 billion has been saved.

The Employers and Manufacturers Association spokesman David Lowe says it's been a successful policy.

He says employers are now more or less over its inevitable teething issues.

Mr Lowe says politicians need to do their bit by not fiddling with it, and it should left out of the 2014 election wrangling.