On the surface, the answer is simple. Kiwis who meet the general eligibility criteria to claim NZ Super can claim their super in Costa Rica, Cambodia, Kazakhstan or the vast majority of other countries - provided they jump through a few standard hoops.
There are some big “buts”, however, that catch a number of retirees out. Dig into the Social Security Act and you’ll find Kiwis get treated differently according to where they want to retire and some of the harshest outcomes relate to retiring in Australia or the UK. There are special rules for these countries and others such as Ireland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, that New Zealand has Social Security Agreements with.
In Australia, for example, the Social Security Agreement means you only get to keep your NZ Super payments if you would qualify for the Australian Age Pension. That’s means tested, not universal like our NZ Super. The rules are too detailed to include here. But if as a home-owning couple, you have more than $511,000 (A$470,000) in assets, or $784,000 (A$722,000) for non-homeowners you will be stripped of your NZ Super. You can read the full rules here.
That’s unfair, says a reader who we’ll call Graham. “I have daughters on both sides of the Tasman, and it seems very inequitable that as a NZ citizen I am restricted from freely visiting them as the current [Social Security] Agreement means one day over six months would wipe my NZ [Super].
“Own a house in New Zealand and go to live [anywhere] except the UK, Australia, Malta, Isle of Man and a couple of similar places, and you can receive [NZ Super]. Italy, France, Greece anyone? But go to Australia you will probably get zip, not a sausage, stuff all,” Graham said.
“It doesn’t seem fair that if an Australian moves to NZ, they get the full pension no matter what their assets in Australia [are].” More info here about that: Tinyurl.com/NZSuperForAustralians
It’s not just retirees who think we need to put more thought into this as a country. Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission wrote a policy paper on this issue in 2023, calling for NZ Super settings on portability to be changed to reflect a globally mobile population.
There is another group of Kiwis who miss out. That’s those who have already moved overseas before they apply for NZ Super. You have to be ordinarily resident here in New Zealand when you apply for “portability”, which means taking your NZ Super with you.
One New Zealander who complained to the Social Security Appeal Authority had his NZ Super stripped because he applied for “portability” from Japan. He’d been receiving NZ Super since 2002 and applied for portability in 2011 to spend the rest of his years in his wife’s country. His NZ Super was cut off at that point because he was living his day-to-day life in Japan when he applied.
I heard a related story from someone who now works in the retirement field. In his 60s, her father-in-law met a partner in France while on contract there. They travelled back and forth for a while before making France their permanent base. “When he turned 65 he was frustrated to learn he wasn’t eligible to access NZ Super, despite having worked the majority of his life here. He became reliant on his savings and his partner.”
If you’ve lived the majority of your life overseas then it’s likely fair that you don’t qualify for NZ Super. But if you’re 59 or even already retired and have worked here your entire life, you might be aggrieved. Plenty of Kiwis move overseas for love, work, or to be with their children.
Needless to say, the rules are complex and it’s worth understanding them before even considering moving overseas. They can be found here.
