I tried to live off Super. I failed on day one

Monday, 6 October 2025

“Until now, I’d blithely assumed that it kept retirees just comfy enough,” says Verity Johnson.

Verity Johnson is an Auckland-based writer and business owner.

OPINION: “Do you reckon you could live on Super?” said Ed McKnight to me, an economist with fashionably thick framed glasses, peering over the top of a grey arcoroc mug.

We were in a tea room, waiting to do a panel together, which is one of the only places I’m still able to find arcoroc mugs (where have they all gone? They used to be everywhere, now they’re practically the Moa of the tempered glassware world).

“Yeah, of course I could,” I said, with the immediate and total confidence of someone who knows nothing about what they’re talking about.

In truth, I’d never thought about it. For all the usual reasons. One, I’m not obviously not going to age and die. That’s something that happens to other people over there. Like talking about the football or getting a golden retriever named Pepper.

And two, ah, well, actually, now you mention it…

My brain was suddenly popping with nervous questions, like Ed was jumping on a bag of cocopops somewhere in my prefrontal cortex. Could I live on super? How much was it? Would I still be renting in my 60s…?

“You should try living off of it for a week,” he said very sensibly, “it’s harder than you think.”

Alright. You’re on, I thought. After all, Treasury did just come out and say we need to raise the superannuation age to 72 if we wanted to afford it. But how much was it?

Until now, I’d blithely assumed that it kept retirees just comfy enough. Enough to cover the basic cost of living. After all, these people had worked hard and paid taxes all their life. Surely the Government had their backs…

So next day, day one, I toddled downstairs and googled “NZ super for a couple” and…

Oh. Right. Sorry, brain, could you check that again please? Right, yes, I see. Yes. I’m still here. No, I’m ok. That low hiss was just the sound of me deflating like a bouncy castle in the jaws of a particularly rambunctious Rottweiler.

$828 a week. For two people. Living together.

It was day one, and we’d already failed. Our rent is $550 a week and our weekly food budget is $380. So we’d already be $102 over budget without literally any other bills. We hadn’t even started the week.

Oh calm down, Verity, stop being dramatic, I hear you sigh. It’s not realistic to assume you’d still be renting while on super…

Except it is. Research from 2023 shows that ⅓ of Kiwis in their 50s and 60s, and 20% of those over 65, don’t own their own home. Over the next 25 years, the number of retirees forced to rent will double. By 2042, it’ll be 600,000 people.

And before you say, well that’s their fault….Nope. Research released in 2023 found that it is impossible for a median-income couple in NZ to save for a house deposit without parental help. That’s putting into official words what everyone under 40 has known for at least 10 years.

Gone are the days of scrimping and saving into your house in this egalitarian paradise. Now you can save all you like, but if you don’t have rich folks then you’re not buying a house (is it any wonder house ownership has now dropped below 60%, the lowest it’s been since 1945).

Well, what about your Kiwisaver, Verity? Okie doke.

The average Kiwisaver balance for Kiwis in the 61- 65 year bracket is 54,000. If you take that all out at 65, and live until your 80, that will give you an extra $75 a week. So I still wouldn’t be able to afford both the rent and the grocery shop on my super.

At this point, it was feeling less like an intellectual challenge and more like I was a spider in a bathtub, looking up at an ominously dripping tap.

Okay, let’s assume I own a house. Can I live off super if I’m not paying rent?

So I added up the costs of keeping me and my partner in power, water, phone, internet, rates, insurance, petrol and gym membership… $505 a week. Add $380 for groceries and that’s $885.

I’m still -$57. Okay, what if I switch to a budget gym. Okay, - $18 per week. And there’s nothing in there for booze, coffee, savings or treats of any kind….

I was well and truly washed down the plug now. Although I guess I had my answer. You absolutely cannot live on super alone. And especially not in a cost of living crisis. No wonder so many of the people I know moving to Brisbane are retirees and my friend’s parents.

And no wonder no one ever talks about super. Or retirement. Or Kiwisaver. Why I’d never talked about it or thought about it.

If we can’t afford to live right now, how on earth are we going to afford to retire?