Thousands taking hands-off approach to KiwiSaver

Thousands of Kiwis may not know who is looking after their KiwiSaver money. Photo/Steven McNicholl.

Thousands of people signed up to KiwiSaver may not know who their provider is and young people are the least likely to know.

Research by Horizon on behalf of KiwiWealth found 14 per cent of the people it surveyed were not sure of their provider.

If that figure was applied to KiwiSaver's 2.5 million membership around 340,000 people may not know who is looking after their retirement savings.

For those under 25 it was worse with 38 per cent not sure of their provider.

There are 719,000 KiwiSaver members under the age of 25 although around half that number are children (aged under 18).

Joe Bishop, head of retail wealth and marketing at KiwiWealth - a sister business to Kiwibank - said it was concerning how many people were taking a hands off approach to KiwiSaver.

"Too many KiwiSaver members are short-changing themselves."

Bishop said people who did not take an interest in their account could face losing out on money for their retirement and compromising their future lifestyles.

"They need to be more involved with their investment and make informed decisions."

The survey also found 37 per cent of young people were not sure what type of fund they were in compared to 27 per cent across all age ranges.

The type of fund a person chooses can have a big impact on the amount of money they will have at retirement or for buying a first home.

Growth funds tend to have higher returns over time than balanced or conservative funds but they also face greater ups and downs.

Many young people may be sitting in a conservative fund because they were auto-enrolled into KiwiSaver when they started working.

The research also found women were less likely to be aware of what type of fund they are in and less likely to have reviewed their KiwiSaver account at all since joining.

Bishop said 31 per cent of those surveyed had never reviewed their accounts and that rose to close to 40 per cent for women.

A lot of people will not be in the right fund.

Joe Bishop

Bishop said people should review their KiwiSaver fund every six to 12 months or when they faced a life change such as moving jobs, taking time out from work for study or a family or going on a contribution holiday.

"It's really important they check back in and make sure they are aware of the trajectory they are on."

Figuring out which fund to choose could take a little as 15 minutes time to answer an online questionnaire, he said.

More than three quarters of the people surveyed also had no idea how much money they will have in their KiwiSaver account when they reach retirement.

While providers must send an annual statement to their members telling them their current balance they do not have to tell members what their nest egg could look like at 65.

Some providers have calculators on their websites to help people work this out.

How to find out what KiwiSaver scheme you are with
Phone 0800 KIWISAVER (0800 549 472) or go to the government's KiwiSaver website www.kiwisaver.govt.nz and register for its online service My KiwiSaver.

How to find out what KiwiSaver fund you are in
Ring your KiwiSaver provider (see above if you don't know who your provider is). Check out your annual statement or go to your KiwiSaver provider's website and log-in.

How to figure out what you might have in your KiwiSaver account at age 65
Use a calculator on your provider's website or go to www.sorted.org.nz.