Retirement Planning: Are We Ready?

Jane Wrightson, recently retired after two terms as New Zealand's Retirement Commissioner, discusses whether Kiwis are adequately preparing for retirement amid an ageing population. She champions KiwiSaver as a simple, portable savings scheme but warns that any rise in the pension age must be handled cautiously, with long lead-in times and targeted measures to protect women, lower-paid workers, Māori, Pacific peoples and manual labourers from disproportionate harm.

Wrightson unpacks how "life shocks" such as divorce, illness, business failure or leaky-home costs can derail even careful savers, noting 60% of pensioners rely solely or mostly on NZ Super. Comparing New Zealand's universal super with Australia's compulsory, tax-break-funded system, she argues NZ's approach is fairer despite lower average balances, and calls for cross-party agreement to depoliticise retirement policy and end piecemeal "tinkering" (retirement.govt.nz, sorted.org.nz).

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