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Kiwisaver

Got a letter today from IRD, a rather unexpected one.

Seems BF was automatically enrolled in Kiwisaver for the job he was at briefly, earlier in the year.

I assume it’s too late by now to opt out, and honestly the horror stories I’ve heard make it seem not worth the hassle of even trying.

Longterm, it was in the plan for him to join Kiwisaver anyway. And seeing as he’s not earning, it doesn’t make much difference, and at least he’ll get the $1000 kickstart. Hopefully that alone will encourage him and show him it really is worth it! You can’t complain about free money.

Only thing I’m worried about is whether he’ll have to contribute from his unemployment. It’ll be only be about $4 per week, so I guess that’s a moot point anyway. More importantly, I’m looking through the booklet we were sent; he’s in one of the default schemes with AMP and I don’t like the look of their charges. If he’s not going to be working and therefore not putting money in, I don’t want fees eating away at his account! I’m going to get out that Mary Holm book on Kiwisaver, but in the meantime if anyone can recommend a scheme that doesn’t charge big fees and doesn’t have large minimum contribution requirements, please chime in!

3 thoughts on “Kiwisaver

  • Reply Elijah July 16, 2009 at 08:19

    Have a look at http://www.huljich.co.nz. They have no minimum contribution amounts and no entry, exit or switch fees.

    In regards to normal investment management fees, you’ll find that they’re all very similar, the KiwiSaver Act dictates that all fees have to be fair and reasonable and approved by the Government Actuary…if a provider looks low it’s probably because they’re passing the investment on to a fund manager who will also be charging a fee that doesn’t need to be disclosed.

    What will make a big difference to your BF not contributing is performance of the fund and Huljich is a long way ahead of the others in all of their funds.

    • Reply eemusings July 16, 2009 at 17:33

      I shall. Looks like I’ll be making up a spreadsheet so I can see all the numbers at a glance (urrrgh)! I guess I’m a little wary of the smaller providers (eosaver has already closed up and so had one other), but then again it’s not like big corporations are exactly our friends either.

      Exactly – even if he gets a PT job the current plan is for him to spend the next three years studying, so any contributions he’ll be able to make will be minimal. It’ll be great to get the 1000 kickstart but it would be painful to see that dwindling through fees! I understand why they (fund managers) take a small percentage, but it’s frustrating to not be able to put exact dollar amounts on fees. I like things in black and white 🙂

  • Reply Richard July 16, 2009 at 23:01

    My advice is to check out Gareth Morgan Investments. http://www.gmi.co.nz

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