New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines

The NZ Fin-Ed Centre at Massey University aims to empower New Zealanders to make more financially savvy decisions – to give people the tools they need for the life-long process of managing their finances. Key projects include a 20-year longitudinal study that follows 300 New Zealanders to understand their needs for financial knowledge at different life stages, a multi-level certification programme for personal financial educators and the New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines Report to establish guidelines for 'modest' and 'comfortable' retirement.

Each year they have updated the New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines. The report is a detailed analysis of the expenditure patterns of retirees across various lifestyles and regions. The underlying data is sourced from Stats NZ.

How Much Money Will I Need in Retirement?

People can look at the NZ Retirement Expenditure Guidelines report to estimate how much they are likely to spend in their retirement and so how much they need to save and invest to achieve that level of income on top of NZ Super.

Two levels of expenditure have been included in the guidelines. The No Frills guidelines reflect a basic standard of living that includes few, if any, luxuries. The Choices guidelines represent a more comfortable standard of living, which includes some luxuries or treats

A key finding in the report is:

•  A majority of New Zealanders hope to enjoy a standard of living in retirement that exceeds what NZ Superannuation alone can provide.
• Most households which currently count NZ Superannuation as one of their income sources have successfully achieved this.

You can read the full report below: