KiwiSaver Benefits

Basically, the incentives of the Kiwisaver are the following:

• you contribute 2%, 4%, or 8% of your before-tax income automatically to an investment company on the list of government-approved companies.
• Your employer matches 2% of your before-tax income.
• After 3 months, the government gives you a 'kick-start' of $1,000.
• Each year, the government also gives you up to $1,043 to make up for the taxes you pay on your contributions throughout the year. (They match how much you've contributed each year, so if you have only contributed $1,000, they only give you $1,000.)
• after contributing for 3 years, the government will give you $3000 towards the purchase of your first home (up to $5000 for 5 years of contributing)
• you can pull out your contributions to buy your first home after 3 years of contributing

Theoretically, my first year of contributing, I will have $3,052 dumped into my KiwiSaver, just for contributing 2% of my salary ($1,026), almost tripling my investment!

THAT, my friends, is a GREAT DEAL. Sign me up!

Therein lies the kicker: which company do I choose? How will taxes and fees affect my returns? What will happen if I leave NZ for good? And on and on...Answers in my next few posts.