Over 100,000 early KiwiSaver withdrawals were made in the June year, worth more than $2.8 billion. By volume just over half were due to financial hardship, but by value the bulk went towards first home purchases.
Releasing its KiwiSaver annual update on Wednesday, Inland Revenue (IRD) data shows for the June year, people made $2,810,516,900 worth of early KiwiSaver withdrawals, with $2,272,349,800 (nearly $2.3b) going towards first home purchases and $538,167,200 ($538m) for financial hardship.
In terms of the number of withdrawals, there were 102,800 KiwiSaver fund withdrawals in the year to June. Of those, 52,330 were for financial hardship and 50,470 were for first home purchases.
The figures come from Inland Revenue (IRD), which rounds the number of KiwiSaver fund withdrawals up to the nearest 10. Members can also withdraw funds under both categories during the year.
People usually take money from their KiwiSaver when they reach 65, which is retirement age, but you can also apply for early withdrawals to buy your first house or because of financial hardship.
Auckland topped the number of KiwiSaver fund withdrawals by region, with 22,860 financial hardship withdrawals and 15,930 withdrawals for first home purchases.
Meanwhile Canterbury had 8130 early withdrawals for first homes and 4750 for financial hardship. Waikato had 5380 for first home withdrawals and 4900 early withdrawals for financial hardship, while Wellington had 5180 for first homes and 4540 for financial hardship.
As for dollar value, those dipping into their KiwiSaver for first home purchases in Auckland took out $758.7 million and $237.7 million for significant financial hardship - the highest figures regionally.
When it came to savings suspensions, which is when people temporarily stop their contributions, in the year to June, 83,936 suspensions were made. Of those 1161 were for financial hardship.
IRD data shows that 30,052 people on savings suspensions were in the 35 to 44 age group. Of those, 29,759 were on ordinary suspensions while 293 were on financial hardship suspensions.
This was followed by 22,469 in the 25 to 34 age group - with 360 on savings suspensions because of financial hardship and 22,109 on ordinary savings suspensions.
Closed accounts and opting out
In the year to June, 649,621 members had their accounts closed, mostly due to people entering retirement followed by death.
Other reasons members have their accounts closed include permanently leaving the country, serious illness or other reasons (this could be invalid enrolment or a court order).
Meanwhile, 189,741 people had made the decision to opt out of KiwiSaver. Members who were automatically enrolled have a provisional period of eight weeks in which they can decide to opt out.
IRD data shows that of those who opted out in the year to June, 4925 (35.0%) were in the 25 to 34 age group, followed by 2939 (20.9%) who were in the 35 to 44 age group. About 3568 individuals in the 18 to 24 age group also opted out, making up about 25.4%.
And the income of individuals with a current opt-out status revealed that 17.9% were making $1 to $10,000, 17.6% were between $20,001 to $30,000 while 10.7% had an income between $30,001 to $40,000.
In the year to June, according to enrolment methods, KiwiSaver had a total of 3,468,257 members.
When it came to KiwiSaver schemes, 1,395,873 were automatically enrolled via their employer, 320,410 opted in via their employer and 1,751,964 opted in via a provider, making an active choice.
In terms of the age of KiwiSaver members, there were 1461 people aged under one. About 2290 members were a year old and 2316 were two years old.
Meanwhile 86,603 members were aged 35 - the highest member count for those aged 0 to 65. There were 38,630 members aged 65 in the year to June.
These numbers may include people living overseas as you can choose to remain a KiwiSaver member even if you no longer live here and people who have died as the process of closing accounts can take some time to complete, IRD said.
Over a million members not making contributions
When it came to contribution rates, 1,360,328 members were making no contributions.
IRD said those in the “no contribution category” were members who were children, not in work including retirees and on a savings suspension.
This also included people who were receiving accident compensation, benefit or paid parental leave which was not subject to compulsory deduction, people who have died, people who were overseas or contributing to other work-based savings schemes.
About 1,180,164 members were on a 3.5% contribution rate. This 3.5% rate is considered the default rate and the minimum rate people can contribute following changes the Government announced at Budget 2025.
The next most popular contribution rate was 4% with 347,932 members on this rate. This was followed by a 3% contribution rate - people can apply to decrease their contribution rate to 3% temporarily for three months to a year. In the year to June, 185,949 members went with this option.
About 152,400 members were contributing 6%, 109,149 were contributing 8% and 132,335 were contributing 10%.
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