The same savings, spent four ways: the same amount each week, a fixed percentage, guardrails, and spending down by an age. Each tested in 1,000 markets, with a plain verdict.
The short answer
With $450,000 at 65 and NZ Super of $854.08 a week for a couple, spending the same amount each week gives a steady $1,091 a week that lasts to 95 in 9 of 10 markets. A fixed 5% of the balance starts higher at $1,285 but can fall to $972 by 85 in a poor market. Steadiest: Same amount each week. Lasts longest: Fixed percentage. Most early on: Fixed percentage.
Each card shows your weekly pay (savings plus NZ Super) from 65 to 95 across 1,000 markets: the line is the middle result, the shading the middle half and middle 80%.
Steadiest payLasts longestMost early onMost paid in totalBest in a poor market
Take the same real amount every year: $236 a week, the most that lasts to the end in 9 of 10 markets.
| First year, a week | $1,091 |
| At 85, typical market | $1,091 |
| At 85, poor market | $1,091 |
| Lowest pay, poor market | $1,091 |
| Money lasts to 95 | 90% |
Steadiest pay. You know what you get, and it keeps pace with prices. In good markets you leave money unspent; in the worst 1 in 10 it runs out before the end.
Steadiest payLasts longestMost early onMost paid in totalBest in a poor market
Take 5% of whatever the balance is at the start of each year.
| First year, a week | $1,285 |
| At 85, typical market | $1,021 |
| At 85, poor market | $972 |
| Lowest pay, poor market | $924 |
| Money lasts to 95 | 100% |
Never runs out, because you only ever take a share of what is left. The cost is a pay that moves with markets and drifts down if the percentage is above what the fund earns.
Steadiest payLasts longestMost early onMost paid in totalBest in a poor market
Start at the same safe pay ($236 from savings). Each year, if savings are below 80% of what the plan expected by then, cut pay 10%; above 120%, raise it 10%. After any change, the plan is reset to the new pay. No changes once the plan holds under 2 years of draws (our rule).
| First year, a week | $1,091 |
| At 85, typical market | $1,091 |
| At 85, poor market | $1,065 |
| Lowest pay, poor market | $1,046 |
| Money lasts to 95 | 99% |
A middle path. Pay holds while markets track the plan, falls in steps when they lag and rises when they run ahead, so it lasts about as often as the same amount each week while sharing good years with you.
Steadiest payLasts longestMost early onMost paid in totalBest in a poor market
Spread what is left evenly to age 90, recalculated each year with the fixed return.
| First year, a week | $1,221 |
| At 85, typical market | $1,210 |
| At 85, poor market | $1,105 |
| Lowest pay, poor market | $854 |
| Money lasts to 95 | 0% |
Most money early and the most paid out in total, but by design the savings are gone at the chosen age and you live on NZ Super after.
Savings left, typical market
| Strategy | First year | At 85 | At 85, poor market | Lowest pay, poor market | Lasts to 95 | Runs out by, poor market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Same amount each week | $1,091 | $1,091 | $1,091 | $1,091 | 90% | 95 |
| Fixed percentage | $1,285 | $1,021 | $972 | $924 | 100% | never |
| Guardrails | $1,091 | $1,091 | $1,065 | $1,046 | 99% | never |
| Spend down by age | $1,221 | $1,210 | $1,105 | $854 | 0% | 90 |
Rules as at 12 November 2026. All figures are after tax and in today’s dollars. General information, not financial advice.
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Every strategy starts with the same savings at retirement and faces the same 1,000 markets, so the differences come only from the rule. Returns after retirement average 2.5% a year after fees and tax, with inflation of 2%. NZ Super is added to every figure.
The same amount each week uses the most that lasts to your planning age in 9 of 10 markets. Guardrails (our rule) start at that same safe pay and compare your savings each year with the balance the plan expected at that age with steady returns: below 80% of plan, pay is cut by 10%; above 120%, it rises by 10%; after any change, the plan is reset to the new pay; at most one change a year, never below NZ Super alone, and no changes once the planned balance is under 2 years of planned draws. With steady returns there are no changes at all.
Sorted’s retirement navigator, built with New Zealand actuaries, offers four rules of thumb: 6% of your starting balance, an inflated 4% rule, a fixed date rule and a life expectancy rule. Our spend-down strategy is the fixed date rule with the return built in.
None wins on every count. The same amount each week is the steadiest; a fixed percentage never runs out; guardrails sit between; spending down by an age pays the most early. Our verdicts show which does best on each measure for your numbers.
An American rule of thumb: take 4% of savings in the first year, then the same amount rising with prices. Sorted’s navigator has an “inflated 4% rule”. With New Zealand’s lower assumed returns after 65 (2.5%), a level amount that lasts 30 years is lower than 4% of savings.
Ours is a plan-relative rule. You start at the same safe pay as the headline (the level amount 9 in 10 markets hold), and we work out the balance that pay would leave at each age with steady returns. Each year, if your savings are below 80% of that planned balance, pay is cut by 10%; if above 120%, it rises by 10%. After any change, the plan is reset to the new pay from your balance that year, so the test always measures the plan for the pay you are actually on. At most one change a year, never below NZ Super alone, and no changes once the planned balance is under 2 years of planned draws, when the test would turn twitchy. With steady returns it never changes. The classic Guyton and Klinger rules compare your withdrawal rate with the starting rate instead, which suits money meant to last for ever but cuts pay in a plan that spends down.
Yes. Every figure is your weekly pay including NZ Super ($854.08 a week for a couple), which lasts for life whatever markets do.
Guides
An annuity swaps a lump sum for income for life. New Zealand's market is thin: the Retirement Commission says the last traditional provider left in 2013. NZ Super is itself an annuity, worth about $808,000 to a single person at 65 on our figures.
Read the guide →A couple who both qualify get $854.08 a week of NZ Super between them after tax at M. Plan as one household, but remember each of you has your own KiwiSaver, your own NZ Super start date and your own life expectancy.
Read the guide →For our example couple, releasing $300,000 at 75 lifts their retirement pay from about $1,052 to $1,239 a week for life: roughly $62 a week for every $100,000 released. The later you move, the less it adds.
Read the guide →No drawdown rule wins on every count. The same amount each week is steadiest, a fixed percentage never runs out, guardrails sit between, and spending down by an age pays the most early.
Read the guide →A growth fund raises the typical outcome in retirement but also widens the bad ones. In our simulations the pay that holds in 9 of 10 markets was almost the same for conservative, balanced and growth; the difference is in the typical and the worst cases.
Read the guide →Our guardrails rule starts at the same safe pay as the same amount each week, then checks your savings against the plan once a year. It cuts pay 10% when you fall well behind and raises it 10% when you get well ahead, and it lasted to 95 in 99% of our markets.
Read the guide →A woman turning 65 in 2026 has about a 1 in 2 chance of reaching 90 and nearly 1 in 4 of reaching 95, on Stats NZ's cohort tables. For a couple, there is a 1 in 3 chance one of them reaches 95. That is why we plan to 95, not 90.
Read the guide →NZ Super covers most of a modest retirement. On top of it, a mortgage-free couple living a No Frills provincial life needs about $393,000 at 65 to last to 95 in 9 of 10 markets; a single person in a city needs about $286,000.
Read the guide →At 2% inflation, a dollar loses a third of its buying power in 20 years. We show everything in today's dollars so figures mean what they say. NZ Super rises each April with prices, and the law stops it falling below 66% of the average wage.
Read the guide →At 65 you can take out any amount of your KiwiSaver whenever you like, or leave it invested and draw on it. Most people are better off leaving it invested and taking what they need.
Read the guide →In our example, $100,000 adds about $49 to $65 a week to a couple's retirement pay in 9 of 10 markets, depending on when it arrives. Money that comes later supports more a week from then on, but only count on it once it is certain.
Read the guide →Massey’s guidelines show what retired New Zealand households actually spend: from $580.75 a week for one person on a No Frills provincial budget to $1,780.32 for a Choices metro couple. They are the most used benchmark for retirement spending.
Read the guide →Trips of up to 26 weeks do not affect NZ Super. If you move overseas, what you get depends on where you go and how long you lived in New Zealand between 20 and 65. You must apply at least 6 weeks before you leave.
Read the guide →NZ Super is taxable and Work and Income deducts the tax. On NZ Super alone you use M. If you also work, one income uses M and the other a secondary code chosen from your total income. Earning more never reduces your NZ Super.
Read the guide →NZ Super is still paid from 65 under current law. Several parties proposed changes, including raising the age to 67 and limiting it to citizens. None of these is law, and no government had been formed as at 12 November 2026.
Read the guide →You qualify for NZ Super at 65 if you have lived in New Zealand long enough since age 20, including 5 years since 50. The years needed are rising from 10 to 20, depending on when you were born.
Read the guide →From 1 April 2026 NZ Super after tax at M is $555.15 a week for a single person living alone, $512.45 if sharing, and $427.04 each ($854.08 together) for a couple. Rates rise every 1 April.
Read the guide →Most retirement figures assume you own your home. If you rent, the rent comes on top. Covering $450 a week of rent from 65 to 95 needs about $856,000 at retirement in 9 of 10 markets, over and above everything else.
Read the guide →Start from what you spend now, take out work costs and savings, add the things retirement brings, and plan for spending that falls with age. Budget one-off costs separately: a $30,000 car at 75 costs our example couple about $19 a week for life.
Read the guide →Ten years out, find your number and fix the big levers. Five years out, test your date and your spending. One year out, line up NZ Super, KiwiSaver and tax. In the first year, check your spending against the plan.
Read the guide →Your retirement pay is the most you could spend each week for life, after tax and in today's dollars, counting NZ Super and a steady draw from savings. We show the amount that holds in 9 of 10 simulated markets, plus a very poor market, a typical market and fixed returns.
Read the guide →Before 65 there is no NZ Super and your KiwiSaver is locked, so the bridge years run on other savings alone. Our example couple could retire at 60 on $156 a week until 65; with about $350,000 outside KiwiSaver they would have about $1,016 a week until 65 and $1,018 from 65.
Read the guide →For most retirees, clearing the mortgage at retirement beats keeping it, because the interest you save is usually more than your savings earn after tax. In our example, paying off $100,000 at 65 leaves about $16 a week more for life than repaying it over 10 years at 6%.
Read the guide →A reverse mortgage lets you borrow against your home and repay nothing until you sell, move out or die. The interest compounds, so the loan can double in about seven years at 10.5%. Our calculator does not model them.
Read the guide →With the 2.5% return New Zealand assumes after 65, an inflation-linked 4% lasts to 95 in fewer than 1 in 4 of our markets. A level amount that holds to 95 in 9 of 10 markets is about 2.7% of savings; NZ Super sits underneath.
Read the guide →Two retirees with the same average return can end up far apart: poor returns early, while you are withdrawing, do far more damage than the same poor returns late. The first ten years matter most.
Read the guide →NZ Super is taxed like wages. Most retirees on NZ Super alone should use a 17.5% PIR on KiwiSaver and managed funds, not 28%. Interest, rent and part-time wages are added on top of NZ Super and taxed at your marginal rate.
Read the guide →NZ Super moves from $854.08 a week for the couple to $555.15 for the survivor living alone, a drop of about 35%. Costs fall too, but by less, so the survivor usually leans harder on savings.
Read the guide →Everyone on NZ Super gets the Winter Energy Payment automatically from 1 May to 1 October: $20.46 a week if single, $31.82 a week for a couple. It is not taxed and adds about $450 or $700 over a winter.
Read the guide →You can work after 65 and still get full NZ Super. Your job takes a secondary tax code, employer KiwiSaver contributions become optional, and a few years of part-time work can lift your pay for life.
Read the guide →More calculators
Your weekly pay for life from NZ Super, KiwiSaver and savings, in 1,000 markets.
Open →The earliest month you could stop work for the pay you want.
Open →Massey spending, the lump sum you need and the extra saving to get there.
Open →Rates for your situation and code, the residence rule and the Winter Energy Payment.
Open →What the survivor has when NZ Super drops to the single rate.
Open →What is left each week after the rent, and what rent needs.
Open →What releasing money from your home adds to your pay.
Open →