In July of last year the Government’s retirement savings initiative KiwiSaver was launched. So far, the uptake has been higher than anticipated with over 200,000 accounts already opened. And in April of this year, it’s expected that there will be another surge of interest as employer contributions become compulsory. New Zealanders have warmed to the idea of “free money” – a $1,000 kick start, $1,040 per annum tax credits, and soon employer contributions.

So this raises the question – should we all be opening accounts for our kids? The reality is that there is no right or wrong answer. It’s just a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. Some of these include:

Pros:
* They are entitled to the $1,000 kick start ... read more >>