More than 570,000 SuperGold discount cards have been issued to New Zealand superannuitants but how many of this significant group of consumers scan the SuperGold Card Directory before spending?
How many of them know, for instance, (or do they not want to know?) that even death offers an opportunity for a SuperGold cardholder to get a discount - but only if one of your loved ones produces your SuperGold card when paying the undertaker, the very last time your SuperGold card can ever be used.
Funeral directors offer a variety of discounts in the directory, which lists about 1400 "SuperGold business partners" with 5700 outlets.
Offers by funeral companies operating in the lower half of the North Island include 10 per cent off your total funeral account with up to 18 months interest-free terms (but "conditions apply"); 5 per cent off new granite memorial headstones and bases (but not accessories, ceramic photos, vases, statues, majolica ware, lettering and permits); and 10 per cent off the service fee if paid in full by the discount date.
One funeral director offers 10 per cent off fees for casket, professional services and monumental work (headstones); another, 12.5 per cent off the casket price "upon presenting the SuperGold Card and payment of the funeral account in full within four weeks of the funeral".
Ten per cent is the most common discount.
Banks and insurance companies have become creative around incentives for you to bank your super and insure with them. Westpac waives monthly account and transaction fees on the account in which you bank your super, and special SuperGold term deposit rates.
Tower offers age-related premium discounts of up to 30 per cent on a new policy.
State offers 15 Fly Buys bonus points for a new policy or renewal of an existing one.
The Public Trust offers 20 per cent off the fee for an Enduring Power of Attorney when you write your will with them.
Food outlets are creative with their discounts and many come with a catch. Cobb & Co offers permanent discounted prices off its two set menus. The catch: the food must be on the "seniors set menu".
Brumby's offers a free sandwich loaf with every date loaf, carrot cake, pear raspberry loaf or banana bread purchase. The catch: applies to large cakes only. And cannot be used with any other special or offer.
McDonalds offers a free cup of tea or filter coffee with any purchase. The catch: this is not available at McCafe.
The Coffee Club offers 10 per cent off the total bill. The catch: not on public holidays. And excludes alcohol.
Discounted goods and services include mobility products, cleaning supplies, transport, furniture-moving and disposal of existing flooring by firms laying new carpet, prescription glasses, shoes, kitchen appliances, digital photos, flowers, key cutting, vehicle rentals, wallpaper, accommodation, automotive services, website design, cinema tickets, weekday golf, museum entry, legal services, cafes, eye and denture care, podiatry, laser treatment, cleaning services, heating, fishing tackle, bicycles and plumbing.
The Guthrie Bowron wallpaper discount stood out - 20 per cent off the regular retail price; with 10 per cent off curtain fabric and paint.
The aptly named Rainbow Relics offers 10 per cent off everything in store - without saying what it sells.
And some offers would surely have limited SuperGold uptake, such as the 10 per cent discount on the monthly adult fee at the Choi Kwang Do Family Martial Art Centre on the North Shore.
In summary: SuperGold will yield modest savings if you are prepared to do your homework and have access to all the services. The metropolitan areas are much more likely to yield "gold".
This is acknowledged by the government department that manages the SuperGold Card scheme, the Senior Services department of the Ministry of Social Development. The MSD Senior Services national manager for service delivery, Sandra Kirikiri, says, "Although we are pleased with how the programme has grown in such a short period of time, we are aware that there is currently a greater opportunity to access discounts in the main metropolitan areas. To address this we have been utilising the local networks of our case managers in the regions who have been personally presenting the benefits of joining the SGC programme to local businesses. This has already had very positive results. For example, over the past few months a case manager in Westport has personally signed up over 20 new business partners."
* SuperGold, initiated in late 2007, operates within the Office for Senior Services. The office is the main contact for entitlements such as New Zealand superannuation and overseas Pensions and also leads, monitors and promotes the New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy and provides advice and support to the Minister for Senior Citizens.
* Office for Senior Citizens contact details:
Ministry of Social Development,
Bowen State Building, Bowen St, PO Box 1556, Wellington 6140.
Phone: (04) 916 3758
Fax: (04) 916 3778
Email: osc@msd.govt.nz or email (website queries): webmaster@msd.govt.nz
Info: the Senior Services website and the Ministry of Social Development website.