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Get your government contribution

by | 10 May, 2023 | General, Government Contributions, Investment, KiwiSaver

Each year, the government offers an incentive (called a government contribution) towards your KiwiSaver account. This contribution is a small step that could help you get closer to your KiwiSaver goals. So, how can you get the maximum government contribution for KiwiSaver?

 

What is the government contribution?

This is an annual contribution made by the New Zealand government to eligible KiwiSaver members. You are typically eligible for the government contribution if you:

  • are making contributions to your KiwiSaver account,
  •  live mainly in New Zealand,
  • are aged 18 or older; and
  • do not qualify for the retirement benefit.

If you would like more information about eligibility, please click here (this link will direct you to more information on the Inland Revenue website).

You could be eligible to receive up to a maximum of $521.43 per year of government contribution. You need to contribute at least $1,042.86 to your KiwiSaver account per year to receive this amount. You can still receive some government contribution even if you cannot contribute this amount. For every dollar you contribute, the government will contribute 50 cents up to a maximum of $521.43 per year. To illustrate what this may look like, see the table below.

 

Your personal contributions Money from government
Weekly Annual Annual
Over $20 Over $1,042.86 $521.43 max
$20 $1,042.86 $521.43 max
$15 $781.14 $390.57
$10 $521.43 $260.71
$5 $260.71 $130.35

 

How do you get the maximum government contribution?

If you are an employee, your contributions will come from your salary. If your contributions from your salary fall short of $1,042.86, then you can make a voluntary contribution towards your KiwiSaver account to receive the maximum government contribution.

If you are self-employed, you can make voluntary contributions towards your KiwiSaver account.

If you want to receive the maximum government contribution, it is essential to know that the government contribution is calculated on a per-year basis (which is measured from 1 July – 30 June). This means you must ensure you have contributed $1,042.86 by 30 June to receive $521.43 in government contributions.

Getting the maximum government contribution is a helpful savings incentive. If you made sure that you received the maximum government contribution each year, you could have received over $5,000 in your KiwiSaver account of free government contributions after ten years (not taking into account any investment returns or losses). The government contribution can help you get closer to reaching your retirement savings goals.

Helping you reach your investment goals

Helping you reach your investment goals

by | 10 May, 2023 | General, Investment, KiwiSaver

When joining KiwiSaver, one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make is choosing which fund to invest your KiwiSaver money in. Christian KiwiSaver Scheme has three Funds you can invest in, being Growth, Balanced, and Income. Each of our Funds has different risk profiles. However, did you know you can invest in up to all three of our Funds?

 

Understanding your investment goals

Before you rethink which of our Funds to invest in, it may be important to understand your investment goals. One reason to consider this is so that you know what your appetite for risk is. For example, depending on your situation, you may prefer to invest more in our Growth Fund, which contains investments the investments industry expects to have more frequent highs and lows but over time the Growth Fund is expected to provide higher returns. Contrastingly, you may prefer a Fund that the industry considers to carry lower risk than the Growth Fund and lower expected long-term returns. Funds with this profile would be the Balanced Fund and the Income Fund for our scheme.

It can be tricky figuring out your appetite for risk, but understanding this is useful to see if your KiwiSaver is working well for you. One tool to help you understand your appetite for risk is the ‘Investor Profiler’ tool on the Sorted website. You can find that here: https://sorted.org.nz/tools/investor-profiler

This tool asks you some simple questions about your approach to your investment. Based on your answers, the tool gives you an idea of what type of investor you are and other helpful information, such as what you could expect from your investment.

 

This image is a screenshot of example graphs from the results of the Sorted Investor Profiler. The example graphs shown are of $10,000 invested over 25 years with $50 each week. These are based on a range of assumptions and thousands of simulations. Your results will vary.

 

How can you allocate your KiwiSaver across our Funds?

Have you decided that you would like to allocate portions of your KiwiSaver money across our available Funds? Then all you need to do is fill out a Change of Investment form and email it to us. The form will contain simple instructions to follow. You will also see a table where you can specify the percentage of your KiwiSaver you would like in our Funds available.

 

This image is an example from our Change of Investment form which shows you the options of where you can allocate your KiwiSaver funds.

 

Before you do fill out this form, there are just a couple of things to keep in mind:

  • Make sure that there is at least 10% in any selected Fund.
  • Make sure the percentages you choose to invest in are whole numbers.

 

To illustrate what we mean by that, here are some examples:

  • You can choose 10% of your KiwiSaver in our Growth Fund and 90% in our Balanced Fund. 
  • You cannot choose to invest only 9% of your KiwiSaver in our Growth Fund and 91% in our Balanced Fund because you need to make sure you invest at least 10% in any selected fund.
  • You cannot choose to invest 10.5% of your KiwiSaver in our Growth Fund and 89.5% in our Balanced Fund because you need to make sure the percentage you choose is a whole number. In this case, you might choose either 10% in the Growth Fund and 90% in the Balanced Fund or 11% in the Growth Fund and 89% in the Balanced Fund.
  • These examples show a 10%/90% split. You can of course choose different splits for example 25%/75%, 50%/50% across two of our Funds, or 10%/20%/70%, 20%/30%/50% across three of our Funds etc.

 

If you want to change how your KiwiSaver money is allocated across our Funds, please fill in the form here.

Once you have completed the form, please email it to admin@christiankiwisaver.nz.

This is a service that we offer right from the application process to our KiwiSaver Scheme. If you have ever wanted to split your KiwiSaver money across some or all of our Funds, this option may be for you. 

We hope Christian KiwiSaver Scheme continues to help you reach your investment goals.

Kick-starting your children’s finances

Kick-starting your children’s finances

by | 10 May, 2023 | General, KiwiSaver

As a voluntary retirement savings scheme, we do not often think about KiwiSaver in relation to our children. However, did you know that you can start a KiwiSaver account for your children?

As a parent or guardian, we always want to make sure we are looking after our children and doing the best that we can to guide them through life. We think that KiwiSaver is a great tool that may offer some good financial benefits for you and your child. Below, we will go through some of these benefits that Christian KiwiSaver Scheme has to offer:

 

  1. We have no fees for anyone under 18 – we don’t charge any fees for children who have a KiwiSaver account with us.
  2. It is a tool to talk about finance – talking about finance is hard, even for adults. With a KiwiSaver Scheme, you can have the opportunity to have conversations about savings, investments and retirement. You can teach them valuable financial skills and habits they can take with them throughout life.
  3. You can give them a head start to retirement savings – by starting early, you can help start your child’s retirement savings early and help them build a larger nest egg. This may also mean that by the time they are adults, they have already formed good habits around saving for retirement when it is time for them to begin contributing to their KiwiSaver account themselves. There is also the bonus that your child can access their KiwiSaver account in the future to buy their first home.
  4. It shows Christian values put in practice – Christian KiwiSaver Scheme has a strong Christian history. We believe Christian KiwiSaver Scheme invests with your values. As one of the only KiwiSaver Schemes created for Christians, this is a great example to show children how Christian values can be practical in everyday life.
  5. It helps raise awareness about thinking ethically – We are committed to investing ethically as we believe God is active in restoring the world. We have expressed this in our robust ethical investment policy, which you can read here.

 

Retirement might seem such a long time away to be even thinking about KiwiSaver for your children. However, there are several benefits that you and your child can take advantage of here at Christian KiwiSaver Scheme.

If you are interested in signing up your child to Christian KiwiSaver Scheme, you can do so by reading our Product Disclosure Statement. This document also contains our Under 18 application form, which you must complete and return to us. You can view and download our Product Disclosure Statement here.

If you would like to talk to us, please feel free to contact us.

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Investment Outlook for 2023

by | 7 Feb, 2023 | Investment, KiwiSaver, Uncategorized

The same main themes that applied in 2022 will again dominate in 2023. Those key themes revolve around the outlook for inflation, interest rates and growth. These are common every year but are particularly of concern at present.

Central banks have reversed their growth-enhancing policies. Interest rates rose significantly in 2022 and negatively impacted share prices. We believe interest rates will have a significant bearing on future returns. Will interest rates rise further this year? It is widely acknowledged that earlier interest rate rises have a delayed impact on the economy. Exactly how long the delay is and how deep the impact is varies depending on the area of the economy, e.g. mortgages, borrowing, business investment, consumer spending etc. There is still a lot of uncertainty about how labour shortages will affect the outcome. The fear is that labour shortages will result in wage growth, leading to higher inflation. These and other factors should determine how fast inflation numbers come down. Any geo-political developments could also surprise.

The World Bank has revised its 2023 economic forecasts. It was, in January 2023, expecting global economic growth of just 1.7% this year. If its predictions are accurate, that will put economic growth in 2023 at its third lowest level in the past three decades, behind 2009 (Global Financial Crisis) and 2020 (COVID-19).

There is little doubt, though, that whatever eventuates, the markets could fluctuate wildly at times. Rest assured, as we have mentioned previously, we are doing our best in these times of heightened uncertainty to look after our members’ interests. The portfolios remain diverse, and we focus on investments that we believe are more at the quality end of the spectrum.

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Your KiwiSaver checkup

by | 7 Feb, 2023 | General, KiwiSaver, Uncategorized

Just like getting a Warrant of Fitness for your car, we think it is essential to regularly check your KiwiSaver Scheme to ensure it is still set up the way you expect. So, we’ve put together a few tips to help ensure sure your KiwiSaver is the best it can be.

We suggest it be done annually, perhaps at the beginning of each year or when you receive your annual member statement.

 

1. Check if your investment profile is still right for you.

This is about where your funds are invested. Is your choice of investment funds too conservative, too aggressive or just right?

The Sorted website has a useful tool to help you called Investor Kickstarter at www.sorted.org.nz/tools/investor-kickstarter. You answer a few questions, and it provides a guide to what type of investor you are and a typical investment mix for your investment profile.

 

2. Are you contributing enough?

Depending on your situation, consider whether you can afford to increase your contribution rate or make extra voluntary contributions.

If you have suspended making contributions, is it time to recommence contributing?

The Sorted website has another useful tool to help you with these questions, the KiwiSaver Savings Calculator www.sorted.org.nz/tools/kiwisaver-savings-calculator. You will need to complete a few questions, which will estimate how big your balance could be at age 65 and how much you could get per week in retirement. Try different contribution rates to see the impact on your future savings.

 

3. Is your Personal Investor Rate (PIR) correct?

Your PIR is the tax rate we use to calculate the tax on the income from the investment of your contributions. Check you are using the correct PIR. You don’t want to have too much tax taken from your KiwiSaver earnings or too little and face a tax bill by having the wrong PIR rate. Your PIR for the current tax year is based on your total taxable income in either of the last 2 tax years. If that changes, so might your PIR. Inland Revenue can also instruct us to change your PIR if they assess that it is incorrect. We have a handy guide to help you calculate your PIR on the scheme’s website www.christiankiwisaver.nz/documents under the Guides & Policies section.

 

There it is! Checking these three items every so often will help make sure that your KiwiSaver account is working for you.

Our staff are happy to help you with any questions you have on this.

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AML requirements update

by | 7 Feb, 2023 | General, KiwiSaver, Membership, Uncategorized

We continue updating our customer records for Anti Money Laundering (AML) purposes

We want to say a big thank you to those customers who we have contacted and who have returned their completed consent form for electronic identity verification purposes, so that we can update your details for our compliance with anti-money laundering requirements. If we haven’t contacted you then you don’t need to do anything, your information is up-to-date!

 

We now have more than 70% of the consents that we need so that we can check whether or not you are a politically exposed person. This is a great result, and we are on track with updating our customer records. Paul has joined our member services team and the team will continue to follow up with those customers who we need consents from. Alternatively, if you haven’t already, you can provide your consent to electronic identity verification in any of the following ways:

  • through the Christian KiwiSaver Scheme website – this form of consent is online, so it is still a quick and simple way to complete the consent form. You can go direct to the website, or click the link to that form here: https://christiankiwisaver.nz/AMLConsent/
  • through your member portal – you can login to your account and find the link to the consent form on your dashboard. You can login here: https://christiankiwisaver.nz/login/ (if you need help logging in please email or call us)
  • by signing and dating a hard copy consent form – we can either email or post you a consent form (and you can post it or scan it back to us). Please email us or call us if you would prefer to provide your consent this way. 

 

One final request from us is that if you have moved address or changed your phone number or email address, could you please let us know? If so, our friendly member services staff can update your records for you.

Thank you for your assistance with this – we have greatly appreciated the understanding and positive response to date.