Catherine Nola thinks KiwiSaver is a great idea. Photo / Richard Robinson
It seems a no-brainer. Put money into a KiwiSaver account and watch it multiply overnight as the Government and your boss put in more.
But Jen Ferguson won't touch KiwiSaver with a barge-pole.
She's a 32-year-old public relations account director, single and on a good wage. She has
her own home with a mortgage, a "huge" student loan and no plans to marry or have children.
Jen could earn top-ups of over $4000 a year under the scheme, but she doesn't want her money tied up until retirement.
"When I'm 65 is a long way down the track so having a house is my big investment. I'd rather chug away at paying off my mortgage. That is my retirement fund. There's a lot more immediate priorities I could be putting it towards at this stage."
On the other side of the divide is Catherine Nola, a 30-year-old in Auckland who has long given up on dreams of ever owning a home in Auckland.
She and her partner work in the arts, earning about $60,000 between them. All their savings go on visiting her partner's family in Denmark every 18 months. She intends to sign up to KiwiSaver.
"I'm of the age where you think about future things. You hit 30, you think about marriage and kids and that sort of stuff and I don't have the ability to be able to afford investment properties or anything. So this is an opportunity to know when I'm 65 I won't necessarily still have to work."
Jen and Catherine are among those targeted in the incentives by a Government frantic to get people saving.
They are in their 30s and there are other places for their money to go.
They are now starting families, trying to buy homes or pay off mortgages, travelling and may have student loans. They're taking on debt to do it all.
Foreign exchange broker Michael Johnston, 37, has already come to that conclusion. He has two young children and a third on the way.
The family home is paid off, but there is debt on investment properties he owns. There are plenty of places to put his money but he reckons joining KiwiSaver is an obvious choice and earns enough that he does not think he'll notice the small payments.
