Kiwi Wealth Reigns Supreme at Workplace Savings Awards

Kiwi Wealth reigns supreme at Workplace Savings Awards

Kiwi Wealth’s campaign to get more New Zealanders actively engaged with their KiwiSaver accounts has been honoured at the 2017 Workplace Savings Awards.

The Kiwi Wealth KiwiSaver scheme, and its innovative digital tool Future You, won the Best Overall KiwiSaver Member Experience category. Kiwi Wealth was also named supreme winner of the Workplace Savings Excellence in Communication award.

Future You is a digital retirement income planning tool, available to Kiwi Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme members. It makes retirement planning easier by showing people the amount of money, on an annualised dollar basis, their KiwiSaver account is estimated to earn them when they are able to withdraw. It also gives users the power to evaluate the impact of changes to their investments and to see how those changes might help them achieve their desired retirement lifestyle.

Joe Bishop, Kiwi Wealth General Manager Customer, Product and Innovation, said Future You was purposely designed to deal with one of the biggest barriers to retirement savings, making retirement income information more accessible and easier to interpret.

“Evidence shows that people struggle to think properly about their retirement. They just can’t see, or plan, that far ahead into the future.

“The onus is therefore on KiwiSaver providers to help their customers better understand their future wealth and how small decisions now can have a huge impact. That’s precisely what Future You is seeking to achieve.

“For example, Future You users can now set their retirement savings goals, based on their desired lifestyle, and identify if they’re on track to achieve it. People can assess how changes to things like their KiwiSaver contribution rate may bridge any shortfall and implement those changes easily.

“It’s a similar mindset to successful investing – taking a long-term view and adjusting investment settings with a future focus in mind. We want our KiwiSaver customers to be thinking about and planning for their retirement earlier in their lives.”

Launched in April last year, Kiwi Wealth’s Future You tool uses current balance, contribution rates, projected returns and other economic factors like Superannuation to calculate an estimate the lump sum and retirement income. It calculates how changes to factors such as fund type and contribution level could affect the growth trajectory of their investment and members can make those changes, most at the click of a button.

Future You also allows users to model their retirement income requirements using customisable lifestyle line items such as accommodation, food, utilities and even “luxury items” like overseas travel.

“This award is the icing on the cake but the work doesn’t stop. We’re going to keep innovating to add new enhancements and functionality to Future You so that New Zealanders have the best possible information available to make good retirement decisions.”

Richard Klipin, chief executive of the Financial Services Council of New Zealand, said Kiwi Wealth’s innovative approach would help many more New Zealanders make good retirement decisions.

“We’re really impressed with the smarts behind Kiwi Wealth’s Future You tool and its success with helping KiwiSaver members make good retirement decisions. They have raised the bar for how a provider can communicate with its members and, in doing so, have helped improve the financial literacy and confidence of the KiwiSaver community as a whole.”

• The Future You tool is available to members aged 18-65 who have not made a transfer from an Australian complying superannuation fund.

• Kiwi Wealth Limited is the issuer and manager of the Kiwi Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme. The product disclosure statement is available here: www.kiwiwealth.co.nz/kiwisaver/

ENDS

Local judges

The panel includes Haylee King (Whakatāne Beacon), Katarina Ngamoki (owner Ohope and Ktown Pharmacies), Hone Douglas (Drone Patrol Ltd) and Jenna Hudson (Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumata).

Youth Facilitators

Ezekial Raui (Te Rarawa) is studying towards a Bachelor of Business Studies degree. Ezekial has been mentored by Dr Lance O’Sullivan and Mike King due to his scholarships and leadership potential. Charlizza Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāpuhi) is an award-winning youth worker, entrepreneur and social change advocate. She is the founder and CEO of InOvation Trust and 2FACE Drama, a non-profit performing arts company that delivers free leadership workshops to youth.

He kai kei aku ringa

He kai kei aku ringa is the Crown-Māori Economic Partnership and national Māori economic development strategy. It is designed to lift Māori achievement in Employment, Rangatahi, Enterprise, Regions and Education (E RERE). The updated He kai kei aku ringa was released in June 2017 with a goal of achieving a 20 per cent increase in the annual Māori median income from $26,500 to $31,800 by 2021. www.erere.maori.nz

#DreamBig - DreamBig Māori is also part of He kai kei aku ringa. The campaign encourages rangatahi to consider their economic aspirations and future. www.dreambig.maori.nz/

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