Photo: 123RF
New Zealand's biggest KiwiSaver balance is probably just under $3m.
RNZ conducted a survey of KiwiSaver providers and found that most were cagey about giving details about member balances.
But many had balances of more than $2 million. Fisher Funds and KiwiWrap said they had members with balances above $2.6m.
KiwiWrap is run by Consilium. Managing director Scott Alman said the biggest balance was between $2.6m and $3m.
According to actuarial firm MJW's data, KiwiWrap has the largest average member balance overall, at $173,300 last year, compared to $33,500 for all schemes.
Alman said big balances could be due to large, one-off contributions being made to people's KiwiSaver accounts, and sometimes those who had worked in Australia might also transfer in their super savings from that country.
If someone wanted to save $3m from scratch in the 18 years KiwiSaver has been operating, they would need to put aside about $5000 a month with a return of 10 percent.
Pie Funds chief executive Ana-Marie Lockyer said the biggest balance at Pie was more than $2m.
She said having such a large amount put people on track for a strong balance at retirement.
"A hypothetical balance today of $2m could increase to $10.1m or $7.5m, inflation adjusted, with continued contribution and a modest 15 year time horizon."
She said some of the factors that helped people build big balances were the level of ongoing contributions being made, being in the right fund for the investor's life stage and regularly checking in on settings and performance.
But she said some of the factors that would help New Zealanders overall achieve bigger balances needed to be driven by wider settings.
"I applaud Nicola Willis for the work she is undertaking now to consider what and how contributions settings may need to change to allow KiwiSaver, which is a necessary complement to NZ Super for future generations, play its part.
"It is right to understand the impact of that on employers and employees and households, and signal the inevitable change required into the future, and stagger that."
She said people with large balances would benefit from the PIE tax regime, which caps tax at 28 percent rather than the 39 percent PAYE maximum rate.
The country's largest KiwiSaver provider ANZ said it had members with balances over $1 million but the average balance was about $33,000.
ANZ Investments managing director Fiona Mackenzie said KiwiSaver was playing an increasingly important role in New Zealanders' wellbeing.
"Be that helping them to buy a home or saving to support the lifestyle they want to enjoy after the age of 65.
"We think it is really positive how many Kiwis are engaged with KiwiSaver and growing their savings, it's a good reminder to go back to the basics - check you are in the right fund, make regular contributions if you can and check you are taking the right amount of risk for your situation."
While about 370 people under 25 have balances of more than $80,000 there are more than 38,000 people aged 61 to 65 who have less than $10,000 in their KiwiSaver accounts.
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