Could you live on Super? You won’t need to if you take these critical steps in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

When Stuff columnist Verity Johnson tried to live off NZ Super for a week, she failed immediately.

At just $828 per week for a couple living together, Johnson concluded: “You absolutely cannot live on Super alone.”

But when most of us retire, we will be relying on Super for support. If Johnson’s conclusion is true, what do we need to be doing to prepare?

Here’s what the experts had to say.

Would you like to see something explained or fact checked? Email me at emma.ricketts@stuff.co.nz.

First things first, check your privilege

For a lot of New Zealanders, retiring will be the ultimate pay cut.

Not all, financial adviser Ailsa Taylor was quick to point out. “I have had some clients who ended up better off, because NZ Super has given them more money than they earned previously,” she said.

But for most, the transition from paid work to retirement comes with a decrease in income. So comparing Super payments to your current lifestyle may not be the best way to assess things.

“Can you live on NZ Super? Yes, you can. But can you live the way you want to? Possibly not,” Massey University associate professor Claire Matthews said.

“NZ Super will provide you with a lifestyle. It just may not be the lifestyle that you have now, or the lifestyle that you aspire to.”

The ideal retirement income will differ greatly from person to person. But for those looking for luxuries in their later years, supplementing Super payments with savings will be essential.

So if that’s you, retirement is something you need to be thinking about. Stuff spoke to five experts and the message was universal: The earlier you start preparing, the better your retirement will be.

20s: Kickstart your KiwiSaver, get on the property ladder if you can

How young is too young to start planning for retirement?

Stuff talked to Matthews, Taylor, MoneyHub founder Christopher Walsh, Opes Partners’ Andrew Nicol and the Retirement Commission’s Tom Hartmann.

All of them agreed there is no such thing as too young, especially when it comes to KiwiSaver contributions.

“KiwiSaver is essential because it is time in the market,” Walsh said. “If you and your employer contribute 3% - or soon 4% - of your income, it is going to keep growing and growing as the years tick by.”

Matthews produces Retirement Expenditure Guidelines with Massey University. According to her most recent research, a person who contributes the minimum amount to KiwiSaver for their whole working life will likely have enough money saved for a reasonable retirement, she said.

“To be honest, I was kind of surprised to find that contributing the minimum would generally set someone up reasonably well. But again, it all comes down to what you want retirement to look like.”

Nicol’s Opes Partners carried out an analysis earlier this year, which considered six different lifestyle options after retirement.

The lowest (spending $40,000 per year as a couple) would be completely covered by Super payments. But the budget would be very limited.

To afford the second option (spending $47,500 per year: able to afford the basics with few extras) a couple would need to have $118,500 saved at retirement.

For the third option (spending $90,00 per year: a comfortable life where you can eat out sometimes and go on the odd domestic holiday), they would need $997,600 in the bank.

However, each of these scenarios assume you are mortgage- and rent-free. As Johnson pointed out, this is not the reality for many retirees. In 2023, research showed that 20% of Kiwis over 65 didn’t own their own home.

So if you can get on the property ladder in your 20s - do, Walsh and Matthews advised. That leaves more time to pay off any loans and rebuild your KiwiSaver.

30s: Keep contributing to KiwiSaver and buy a house if you haven’t already

By the time you’ve hit your 30s, your KiwiSaver would ideally be well underway.

Or it could be near-empty while you live in your first home. Either way, great progress.

“Taking money out of KiwiSaver for a house deposit does have an impact. You don’t want to be leaving it too late,” Matthews said.

“Assuming you start saving at 25 and take everything out for your first home after 10 years, then continue to contribute the minimum, the impact is a lot less than you might think.

“Sure, if you don’t increase your contributions you will not have as many savings at retirement as you would have otherwise, but you will be far better off than if you emptied your KiwiSaver at 40 or 45.”

While she acknowledged that buying property before 35 is a far-flung dream for some these days, Walsh said he always encourages people to lower their standards to get on the property ladder.

“If you go in at the top end and spend as much as you possibly can to get a house, then you're always going to be contributing to it. But I am quite pro-people living in apartments. Because - so long as there’s no awful weathertightness issues or anything - you can actually get value out of it.”

The other important thing, Taylor said, is to check your KiwiSaver. Are you in the right type of fund, and with the right provider?

“Your contribution rate and your fund choice can either be a handbrake or an accelerator, right? But the best gift we have is time. So the earlier you change these to benefit you, the better.”

40s and 50s: Keep growing your KiwiSaver and paying off your mortgage

By the time 40 rolls around, most New Zealanders would ideally be rebuilding their KiwiSaver accounts (if they withdrew funds for a house) and paying off a mortgage.

If this is you, you’re likely on the right track.

“It is really hard to make changes at 55 when you've only got 10 years to go, so the earlier that people take advice and consider their financial future the better,” Taylor said.

“Rather than letting retirement happen to you, it is important to look forward and say, these are the things that I want to do in retirement, so how am I going to fund it?”

But if you can, this may be the time to do something more - whether that’s increasing contributions to KiwiSaver or investing elsewhere.

“For the vast majority of people, I think that KiwiSaver gives them the false sense of security,” Nicol said. “KiwiSaver is awesome, but if you forecast out what you’re going to have in KiwiSaver, it may not actually be enough for what you want to achieve.”

60s: You’re nearly there

Unless the retirement age has risen to 72, you’re looking at NZ Super this decade. Congratulations! Retirement is at your fingertips.

By this point, you might be changing your KiwiSaver fund to reflect that you’re not too far from using it. Or you might be thinking of ways to adjust your lifestyle to match a lower income.

If the retirement age has gone up, then under current settings you wouldn’t be able to access your KiwiSaver until then.

“People forget that KiwiSaver is tied to the age of eligibility. So if you want to retire at 65 regardless of what the government does, you will need to have money elsewhere,” Nicol said.

But in the meantime, your KiwiSaver would keep growing.

“If retirement age jumps seven years, that’s seven more years in the market. It is all about time in the market,” Walsh said.