How much do I need to retire in NZ?

For most New Zealanders the answer is less than the scary headlines, but more than NZ Super alone. NZ Super pays a couple $854.08 a week after tax and a single person living alone $555.15. The Massey University 2025 guidelines say a typical retired couple outside the main cities spends $1,060.65 a week, leaving a gap of $206.57. Funding that gap from 65 to 95, in 9 of 10 simulated markets at the 2.5% return KiwiSaver statements use, takes about $393,000. Each extra $100 a week you want to spend needs about $190,000 more. Rules checked 12 November 2026.

The short answer, by lifestyle

The Massey University Retirement Expenditure Guidelines describe what retired households actually spend, in eight cells: one or two people, a No Frills or Choices lifestyle, in a main city (metro) or elsewhere (provincial). We take each figure, subtract today's NZ Super, and work out the lump sum you would need at 65 to fund the rest until 95.

The figures are in today's dollars and after tax. They assume you own your home without a mortgage, because that is who the Massey figures describe. The single rows use the living alone rate of NZ Super; the couple rows use both partners' NZ Super together. Our how much do I need calculator runs the same sums with your own spending.

Start with NZ Super: it does the heavy lifting

NZ Super is paid from 65 to almost everyone who meets the residence rules, whatever your income or assets, and it rises each April. From 1 April 2026 the after-tax rates at the M tax code are:

To buy that income privately you would need a very large lump sum. That is why the question for most people is not "how much do I need to live on" but "how much do I need on top of NZ Super". Our NZ Super rates guide covers every rate and how it is adjusted, and the eligibility guide explains the residence test that is now phasing up to 20 years. If you might not get the full rate at 65, check that first with the NZ Super calculator.

Why our numbers are higher than Massey’s

Massey publishes its own lump sums: $181,000 for a single person on a No Frills metro budget, for example. Ours is about $286,000. Both are right for the question they answer. Here is how one figure turns into the other, step by step, for that single No Frills metro retiree:

Three choices push the number up, and we think each one is the honest one to make:

• A lower return. Massey's lump sums come from Sorted's calculator, which assumes 3.5% a year after fees and tax in retirement. The government's KiwiSaver statement rules (FMC Regulations Schedule 7A) use 2.5% after 65, as do several provider calculators. We use 2.5% so this site agrees with your KiwiSaver statement.
• A longer plan. Planning to 90 leaves a real chance you outlive your money. Stats NZ's latest cohort life tables give a woman turning 65 in 2026 a 22.9% chance of reaching 95, and a man 13.7%. For a couple of that age the chance at least one of them reaches 95 is about one in three. Our guide on how long you will live has the full tables.
• Bad markets, not average ones. An average return is a coin toss: half the time it does worse. We run every plan through 1,000 simulated markets and report the amount 9 in 10 of them can hold. The order of good and bad years matters a great deal once you are drawing money out; see sequence of returns risk.

If you reproduce Massey's own method in our engine, you get Massey's numbers to the nearest $1,000 in seven of the eight cells, and within 0.2% in the eighth. So the difference is the assumptions, not the arithmetic.

A rule of thumb: $190,000 for every $100 a week

Because the maths is linear, you can scale it. On our assumptions, each $100 a week you want to spend beyond NZ Super, from 65 to 95, needs about:

• $190,000 at 65 to hold in 9 of 10 markets;
• $146,000 if returns were a steady 2.5% every year;
• $108,000 on Massey's method (3.5% for 25 years).

So a couple who want $300 a week on top of NZ Super need roughly three times $190,000, about $570,000. A single person happy with a gap of $50 a week needs about $95,000. These are starting points; the calculators handle the details such as tax on part-time work, KiwiSaver still locked before 65, and spending that falls as you age.

Worked example: a couple at 55

Our example couple are both 55. One earns $80,000 with $150,000 in KiwiSaver; the other earns $60,000 with $100,000. They have $50,000 of other savings, stay in balanced funds at the default contribution rate, and plan to stop work at 65.

On the Schedule 7A assumptions their KiwiSaver accounts grow to about $235,200 and $163,400 at 65, in today's dollars. Add the $50,000, and NZ Super of $854.08 a week, and our engine finds a retirement pay of about $1,052 a week after tax, for life to 95, that holds in 9 of 10 markets. In a typical market it would be about $1,154 a week.

Compare that with Massey's No Frills provincial figure for two people, $1,060.65 a week. On its own the pay is $8 a week short. But real spending tends to fall later in retirement, and our default plan lets it drop to 90% after 75 and 80% after 85. On that spending pattern their savings last to 95 in every one of the 1,000 markets we tested. Our retirement budget guide explains those spending phases.

Try your own figures on the retirement calculator, or see the earliest date you could stop work with the when can I retire calculator.

What changes the answer most

• Renting. The Massey figures assume you own your home. Massey itself says a room in a shared house costs around $250 a week. Funding that alone from 65 to 95 in 9 of 10 markets needs about $476,000 on our assumptions. See renting in retirement and the renting calculator.
• A mortgage at 65. Repayments come straight out of your weekly budget, or out of your lump sum if you clear the loan. Our retiring with a mortgage guide walks through both.
• Your home as a resource. Selling and buying something cheaper can release a lump sum later on. Try the downsizing calculator or read downsizing.
• Retiring early. Before 65 there is no NZ Super and KiwiSaver is locked, so everything comes from other savings. See retiring before 65.
• Working a little longer. Part-time income after 65 does not reduce NZ Super. See working after 65.
• Being a couple. Two people living together spend less than twice one person, but when one partner dies the survivor's income drops. The couples calculator and our guide on couples retirement planning cover this.
• How you draw the money down. A level amount, a fixed percentage and guardrails give different paths. Compare them on the drawdown strategies tool.

Next steps

1. Check your NZ Super: when you will qualify and which rate applies to you.
2. Pick a spending level. Massey's cells are a useful anchor; your own bank statements are better. Our retirement budget guide helps.
3. Find your gap: spending less NZ Super, less any part-time work or rent.
4. Multiply by about $190,000 per $100 a week, or run it properly in the calculator.
5. Compare with what you are on track to have. If you are short, the calculator shows how much more to save each week, or how much later you would need to stop.

Our retirement checklist lists everything to sort in the five years before you stop. This is general information, not financial advice. A licensed financial adviser can look at your whole situation.

Questions

Is $1 million enough to retire in New Zealand?

For almost every household, yes. $1 million on top of NZ Super would fund a gap of about $525 a week from 65 to 95 in 9 of 10 markets on our assumptions. Only Massey's Choices metro couple, at $1,780.32 a week, needs more.

Can I retire on NZ Super alone?

Some people do, especially a mortgage-free single person outside the main cities: Massey's No Frills provincial figure is only $25.60 a week above NZ Super. But there is no buffer for repairs, a new car or higher costs, so some savings make a big difference.

Why plan to 95 when life expectancy is lower?

Life expectancy is an average, so about half of people live longer. Stats NZ's cohort tables give a woman turning 65 in 2026 a 22.9% chance of reaching 95. Running out of money at 88 is a much worse outcome than leaving some unspent.

Does the lump sum include my KiwiSaver?

Yes. Any savings you can draw on count: KiwiSaver, bank deposits, managed funds and shares. Your home is not counted unless you plan to downsize or use a reverse mortgage.