January 29, 2020
Higher super age bad for Maori
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Interim Retirement Commissioner Peter Cordtz says raising the age of eligibility for Superannuation would do more harm than good.
In the Commissioner's three-yearly review of retirement income policies, projections from the Treasury suggest the price of Super is sustainable for at least the next 30 years
Mr Cordtz says the life expectancy of Māori compared to non-Māori means keeping the age of eligibility down is important
He says inequities and a financial inability to store money away with schemes like KiwiSaver mean many Māori struggle later in life.
"Many Māori are largely disengaged with KiwiSaver – not contributing. Which means in a lot of cases, they're missing out on free money, a government contribution of up to $521 a year and employer contributions. The many reasons don't is because of the fear of emergencies and because in many cases their budgets are stretched and they feel like they cannot risk locking that money away until they're 65." Mr Cordtz says
The Commissioner's latest three-yearly report puts forward 19 recommendations, including auto-enrolling beneficiaries in KiwiSaver through a government contribution and adding a sidecar savings facility to KiwiSaver for short-term emergencies.
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