Retirement guides
Plain English guides to retiring in New Zealand, checked against the law and official sources, with every number from the same engine as the calculators.
Annuities in NZ: why the market is thin and what to do instead
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 →Retirement planning for couples in NZ: two ages, two KiwiSavers, one plan
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 →Downsizing in retirement: how much does selling up add to your pay?
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 →Drawdown strategies explained: four ways to spend your retirement savings
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 →Conservative, balanced or growth after 65? Fund choice in retirement
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 →Guardrails drawdown: how the rule works in good and bad markets
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 →How long will I live? NZ life expectancy and planning your retirement
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 →How much do I need to retire in NZ?
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 →Inflation in retirement: today's dollars and how NZ Super keeps up
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 →KiwiSaver at 65: withdraw it or leave it invested?
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 →Lump sums and inheritances: how they change your retirement pay
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 retirement guidelines 2025: the eight spending figures explained
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 →NZ Super and moving overseas: what you keep and what changes
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 and tax: tax codes, working, and why there is no income test
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 and the 2026 election: what each party proposed (NOT LAW)
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 →NZ Super eligibility: age 65 and the residence rule
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 →NZ Super rates 2026: what you get each week and fortnight
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 →Renting in retirement in NZ: why renters need much more saved
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 →How to build a retirement budget in NZ
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 →Retirement checklist NZ: 10 years, 5 years, 1 year out and your first year
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 →Retirement pay explained: what our calculator's numbers mean
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 →Retiring before 65 in NZ: how to fund the bridge years
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 →Retiring with a mortgage in NZ: pay it off first or keep investing?
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 →Reverse mortgages in NZ: how they work and what they cost
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 →Safe withdrawal rate NZ: the 4% rule and what works here
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 →Sequence of returns risk: why the first years of retirement matter most
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 →Tax on retirement savings in NZ: PIR, interest, rent and part-time work
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 →When a partner dies: NZ Super, spending and the survivor's retirement pay
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 →Winter Energy Payment: rates, dates and who gets it
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 →Working after 65: NZ Super, tax and KiwiSaver
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
Every retirement question, one engine
Your retirement pay
Your weekly pay for life from NZ Super, KiwiSaver and savings, in 1,000 markets.
Open →When can I retire?
The earliest month you could stop work for the pay you want.
Open →How much do I need?
Massey spending, the lump sum you need and the extra saving to get there.
Open →Drawdown strategies
Four ways to spend your savings, side by side, with a plain verdict.
Open →NZ Super calculator
Rates for your situation and code, the residence rule and the Winter Energy Payment.
Open →Couples and survivors
What the survivor has when NZ Super drops to the single rate.
Open →Renting in retirement
What is left each week after the rent, and what rent needs.
Open →Downsizing
What releasing money from your home adds to your pay.
Open →