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Frequently asked questions and answers about KiwiSaver, including how to contribute, employer contributions and what happens to your KiwiSaver investment if you stop working. |
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More KiwiSaver info
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if I choose to join KiwiSaver, can I opt out or cancel my membership later on? |
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how do I stop contributing if I can’t afford it? |
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can I withdraw my savings if I’m suffering significant financial hardship or serious illness? |
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how do I find out my Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme investment balance? |
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where is my money invested? |
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can I join KiwiSaver if I’m self-employed or not currently working? |
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why aren’t my employer contributions showing in my KiwiSaver scheme? |
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why aren't my contributions equal to my Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme investment balance? |
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how do I switch my investment option in the Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme? |
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how does the member tax credit work? |
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what happens to my KiwiSaver savings if I stop working? |
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what happens if I change jobs or am just starting in the workforce? |
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how do I change my contribution rate? |
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what is a PIR? |
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| You can only opt out of KiwiSaver if you have been automatically enrolled by your employer when starting new employment. You must do this between weeks 2 and 8 of commencing new employment. |
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| If you choose to join KiwiSaver by contacting a scheme provider directly or advising your employer, you can’t opt out under normal circumstances. However, you may be able to apply for a contributions holiday if your circumstances change. |
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| If contributions are being deducted from your salary or wages, you can apply to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to take a contributions holiday. |
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| A contributions holiday may be granted by the IRD if: |
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you are suffering or likely to suffer financial hardship. A contributions holiday of 3 months (or longer, if agreed by the IRD) may be granted, or |
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12 months have passed since either your first contribution was received by the IRD or a KiwiSaver scheme. You may take a contributions holiday of between 3 months and 5 years. |
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| When your contributions holiday ends, you can apply to IRD for another one. |
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| Your employer will suspend any mandatory contributions it is making to KiwiSaver on your behalf during your contributions holiday. Once you recommence contributions to your KiwiSaver scheme from your salary or wages, so will your employer. |
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| If you are contributing to KiwiSaver by lump sum contributions or directly from your bank account, you can elect to reduce or suspend your contributions (subject to the rules of your KiwiSaver scheme). |
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| Significant financial hardship |
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| You can apply to make a withdrawal if you’re suffering significant financial hardship. You will be required to provide documentation to support your application. |
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| If your application is accepted by the trustee, the amount withdrawn may be limited to the amount that, in the trustee’s opinion, is required to alleviate your financial hardship (up to a maximum of the value of your KiwiSaver savings less the Government’s kickstart contribution and member tax credits). |
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| To request an application form, call our Customer Relations Team on 0508 WPAC KIWI (0508 972 254). |
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| Serious illness |
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| You may apply to make a withdrawal if you suffer serious illness. |
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| Serious illness is defined as an injury, illness or disability, |
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that means you are totally and permanently unable to do work for which you are suited by reason of experience, education, or training, or any combination of these things, or |
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that poses a serious and imminent risk of death. |
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| If your application is accepted, you can withdraw your KiwiSaver savings (including the Government’s kickstart contribution and the member tax credits). |
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| You will be required to supply documentation to support your serious illness withdrawal request. |
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download Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme serious illness application(PDF 33kB) |
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| File won't open? You'll need Adobe Reader. |
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| To find out your Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme balance you can: |
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check your balance online if you are a Westpac Online Banking customer |
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visit a Westpac branch |
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phone us on 0508 WPAC KIWI (0508 972 254; 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday) |
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| As a member, you’ll receive annual statements summarising your investment, including contributions received and tax paid during the year, and your balance at the end of the scheme financial year. |
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| KiwiSaver savings are invested in registered KiwiSaver schemes managed by scheme providers. Organisations providing KiwiSaver schemes must meet specific criteria. |
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| The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme is managed by BT Funds Management (NZ) Limited (BT), one of New Zealand’s leading fund managers. BT is the investment management arm of Westpac in New Zealand. |
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| The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme offers investment options ranging from conservative funds to longer-term growth solutions. The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme also offers a Capital Protection Plan (CPP) as one of the investment options, which is designed to ensure that your capital you contribute to a CPP fund is protected on the maturity of that fund. |
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Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme investment options |
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| Yes, you can join a KiwiSaver scheme if you are not currently working, or self-employed (including if you are a beneficiary). Children can also join (subject to the Minors’ Contracts Act). |
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| Anyone can approach a KiwiSaver scheme provider and arrange to join a KiwiSaver scheme directly (subject to citizenship, age and residency requirements). |
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| If you are self-employed or not currently working (not paying PAYE tax), you can make voluntary contributions directly to a KiwiSaver scheme. |
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| Some KiwiSaver schemes, such as The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme, have no minimum contribution requirements for members who are self employed or not currently earning salary or wages such as children or stay at home parents. This means that you have the flexibility to decide how much and how often to contribute. |
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| If you’re contributing 2%, 4% or 8% of your salary or wages through your employer, the IRD will hold your initial contributions for at least 3 months. After this, the IRD can take 3 to 6 weeks to process your contributions and send them to your KiwiSaver scheme. |
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| For the balance of your unprocessed contributions, call the IRD on 0800 549 472. You can also register with Inland Revenue to view your details online at their website |
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| The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme is a unitised managed fund. This means your contributions are used to purchase units in your chosen investment option. |
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| Each investment option pools investors’ money to purchase assets. The value of these underlying assets is calculated daily to give a unit price (a price for each single unit held). |
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| This unit price is multiplied by the number of units you hold to give you your Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme balance. |
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| Movements in the price of the underlying assets of an investment fund (such as shares) affects the unit price and results in your balance moving up and down. |
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| You can choose to change your investment option and switch your investment option at any time. |
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| You can change your investment option by: |
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directing future contributions to another investment fund or funds, or |
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moving your existing units from one or more investment funds into another fund or funds. |
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| If you wish to switch from a Capital Protection Plan (CPP) fund, you must transfer all of your investment in the CPP fund. |
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| If you switch to another fund from a CPP fund before that fund matures, your investment will not benefit from the capital protection. |
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Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme investment option switch request(PDF 52kB) |
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| File won't open? You'll need Adobe Reader. |
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contact us now |
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| If you are contributing to KiwiSaver, live in New Zealand and are aged 18 or over, the Government will match your KiwiSaver contributions up to $20 a week until you turn 65 or have been a member of KiwiSaver for 5 years, whichever is the later (subject to eligibility criteria). |
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| The member tax credit amount is currently calculated according to a statutory formula. |
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| It is based on the total amount of your KiwiSaver contributions (and any complying superannuation funds you contribute to) each year (commencing 1 July) and the period during that year that you meet the eligibility requirements. |
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| You won’t be eligible for member tax credits during periods when New Zealand is not your principal place of residence and you will need to advise your KiwiSaver scheme provider of these periods. |
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| Your KiwiSaver scheme provider will claim member tax credits on your behalf and credit them to your KiwiSaver scheme once received from IRD. |
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| The rules regarding member tax credits, and their availability, may change from time to time. Refer to the Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme investment statement for further information or call us on 0508 WPAC KIWI (0508 972 254). |
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| Your KiwiSaver membership is portable which means when you change employers you can continue to contribute to KiwiSaver. |
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| As soon as you stop earning a salary or wages, your workplace KiwiSaver deductions will stop. |
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| You can make voluntary contributions to your KiwiSaver scheme. In order to receive the annual member tax credit from the Government, you will need to contribute approximately $1040 between 1 July and 30 June each year (subject to eligibility). |
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| When you start work again, automatic deductions from salary/wages will recommence. |
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| When you change jobs or start working |
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you will be automatically enrolled in a KiwiSaver scheme when you start new employment if you’re aged 18 years or over and eligible to join KiwiSaver |
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contributions will be deducted from your gross salary or wages |
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you will have 8 weeks to opt out of KiwiSaver, but you can’t opt out during the first 2 weeks of commencing new employment |
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if you opt out, any contributions already deducted will be refunded |
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if you don’t opt out and you have more than one employer you will be able choose whether to have contributions deducted from existing employers |
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if you don’t opt out and start any new employment within 12 months of joining KiwiSaver, contributions will be deducted from that employment. |
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| If you are paid salary or wages you must contribute a minimum of 2% of your gross salary or wages. You can change your contribution rate to either 2%, 4% or 8% by notifying your employer. You can only change your contribution rate once every 3 months unless your employer agrees otherwise. |
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| If you’re self-employed or not working but still making payments to the Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme, you can change the amount and frequency of your contributions at any time. |
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| The Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme is a Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) for tax purposes. |
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| This means the Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme will generally pay tax on allocated taxable income at your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR). Currently this is either 12.5%, 21% or 30% for individuals. |
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| You can go to www.ird.govt.nz, search word: ‘PIR’ to determine your correct PIR or for more information on PIRs. |
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| Tax paid (or rebated) will be reflected by the cancellation (or issue) of units. |
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| The applicable PIRs are |
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12.5% for New Zealand tax residents who provide their IRD number and in either of the two previous income years, their taxable income (excluding allocated income from PIEs) was $14,000 or less and their total income (including allocated income from PIEs) was $48,000 or less |
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21% for New Zealand tax residents who provide their IRD number and in either of the two previous income years, their taxable income (excluding allocated income from PIEs) was $48,000 or less and their total income (including allocated income from PIEs) was $70,000 or less¹ |
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30% for members who don't qualify for the 12.5% or 21% rates. |
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| If you do not provide us with your PIR, the default rate of 30% will be applied. |
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| If you notify us of a PIR that is lower than your correct PIR, you may need to file a tax return and pay the additional tax (including any interest and penalties) directly to the IRD. |
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| If your notified PIR is too high, any overpaid tax cannot be refunded. |
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Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme change of details (PDF 45kB) |
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| File won't open? You'll need Adobe Reader. |
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Some of the PIRs in the current law may be different to those described above. The IRD has indicated the rates will be amended with effect from 1 April 2010, consistent with this description. |
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