Working out how much you’ll need
How to estimate the retirement income you’ll need on top of New Zealand Superannuation.
Use a handy budget worksheet to estimate your expenses in retirement. Then check the current New Zealand Superannuation payment for someone like you. The difference is the extra you could need each year.
Expenses
Begin by preparing a retirement budget. If you already have a budget for your current living expenses, you could use that and simply change the information to suit retirement. Our budget worksheet can help. Fill in all your expenses so you can see what you’ll spend each month and over the year.
If you want to do this online so that it’s easier to add up all the rows, you’ll find easy-to-use personal budget worksheets on websites like sorted.org.nz.
New Zealand Superannuation
Once you’ve worked out all your expenses, the next step is to find out how much you’ll receive in New Zealand Superannuation payments. It’s currently about $15,000 a year after tax if you’re single and $24,000 a year for a couple.
However, the exact amount will depend on your tax rate and personal circumstances. You can read more about tax on retirement income by visiting ird.govt.nz. Information about New Zealand Superannuation, including a table of the current rates, is available on workandincome.govt.nz.
Once you have an idea of your New Zealand Superannuation payments, you’ll be able compare them with your living expenses. The difference between the two is the extra amount you’ll need to find each year.
