KEY POINTS:
More than a third of New Zealanders aged between 18 and 65 say they are going to join KiwiSaver, poll results released today show.
The Research New Zealand poll taken in the four days leading up to the official start of KiwiSaver on July 1 asked 403 New Zealanders if they had either joined a KiwiSaver scheme or intended to within 12 months.
Of respondents aged between 8 and 65, 35 per cent said they had or intended to join a KiwiSaver scheme within 12 months.
The research showed that young people, women and those on low incomes were less likely to join KiwiSaver.
The poll found that 40 per cent of men compared with 31 per cent of women had or were intending to join within a year.
Of those aged 18 to 29, a quarter said they had or planned to have a KiwiSaver account as opposed to 45 per cent of 40 to 49 year olds and 43 per cent of 60 to 65 year olds.
The two main reasons for not planning to join were that the respondent was already a member of a retirement savings scheme (33 per cent) or that the respondent could not afford to join (14 per cent).
Research New Zealand director Emanuel Kalafatelis said a lot of marketing would be needed to convert the potential shown in the poll into actual KiwiSaver accounts.
"Because people say they will join up to KiwiSaver does not mean that they will act on their intention. The actual rate of uptake over the next 12 months will depend on how well KiwiSaver and KiwiSaver financial products are marketed," he said.
- NZPA
