It seems many New Zealanders have a real problem with saving money. The savings rate for the last 7 years has been teetering around 0%.

It appears many people think a paid off house and 3% of their income towards KiwiSaver will be enough. If you are spending 97% of your income, then 3% towards Kiwisaver will be nowhere near enough, unless you are considering a drastic reduction in lifestyle. Even then, it will be a stretch.

I get it. Retirement often feels so far away for many of us. For others it feels so close, so why bother trying now. Neglect retirement planning at your peril.

If you don’t want to plan for your own retirement for yourself, then at least do it for others in your life. Do you want to burden your parents or kids with financially supporting you? Do you want to burden your family with no savings if you kick the bucket?

If you have other people in your life and don’t bother to plan for your retirement then that is not OK. I would not be OK asking my siblings, parents or children to bail me out because of my lack of consideration towards my future. They don’t deserve that.

If you haven’t started to plan for retirement because you don’t want to, then maybe start thinking of others in your life. Is what you are doing fair?

I’m not here to guilt trip anyone, but if you need a little kick to get started, maybe framing your retirement planning as protecting your loved ones may help. It’s hard enough for them to prepare for their own financial life, than worry about supporting yours too.

If you need help with your personal retirement planning, then get in touch today.

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here