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TysMummy 
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Joined: 03 September 2007
Location: Waikato
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 Topic: kiwi saver and kids
Posted: 29 July 2009 at 1:13pm |
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my brother mentioned about this and has me thinking...has anyone got or getting kiwisaver for there kids? how does this work? aparently they get the thousand put in but dont know if its worth doing........ty has just got his own bank account so thought this would be the same thing
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jazzy
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Joined: 16 January 2009
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 1:18pm |
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We were looking in to this & this is what I found.
Enrolling a Child?
Can you enroll a child in KiwiSaver?
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Yes – and your child will receive the $1000 kick-start from the Government. Children don’t receive the same tax credits that adults do (and there are no employer contributions – at least till they are 18), however the $1000 on its own is enough to make enrolling your children a very smart move.
Will they need to contribute?
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Many KiwiSaver providers don’t require ongoing contributions – but once your child has joined KiwiSaver, if they have or start a job (including part-time work), 2% of their pay will go into their KiwiSaver plan. However, if you or they don’t want this to happen, it’s possible to take a contribution holiday.
Can they access their savings?
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The funds are locked in (currently until age 65) - however some amounts can be accessed earlier - for exampe if your child is buying their first home.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 2:28pm |
 jazzy wrote:
However, if you or they don’t want this to happen, it’s possible to take a contribution holiday.
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i wonder how long the holiday is for? cause eventually they will have to start putting in some of their income and i would hate to have to explain to my 16yr old why he cant get all his pay! lol!
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jazzy
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 2:41pm |
Bizzy wrote:
jazzy wrote:
However, if you or they don’t want this to happen, it’s possible to take a contribution holiday.
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i wonder how long the holiday is for? cause eventually they will have to start putting in some of their income and i would hate to have to explain to my 16yr old why he cant get all his pay! lol! |
But what a good way for him to start saving for his retirement, & who know what it will be like in 10-20yrs.
But alot of money problems come for kids not knowing how to save then they grow up to be adults with big debts.
I have not done it for my kids but am looking at doing it. We have got all 3 bank accounts & pay a small set amount in to them.
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kiwisj
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 2:46pm |
C doesn't have a bank account yet but we'll be looking into this when we come home.
I'm all for getting him started with Kiwi Saver at this stage. Over here everyone pays into "CPF" (compulsory pension fund) as soon as they start working and there are employer contributions as well. People don't know any different because that's just what's expected. I imagine in 16 or so years' time it will be the norm and just what you do, you don't notice the 2% out of your pay but you do notice the savings building up each year!
My DH chooses to contribute to his CPF here even though it's not compulsory for him (being a foreigner) and there's a decent chunk of money that we add to our "savings" spreadsheet each year with minimal effort 
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SJ
Callum - Dec 2008
Daniel - Oct 2010
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clover
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 2:48pm |
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contributions can be put on hold for between 3 months and 5 years I believe.
It means that after age 23 your child has no choice but to contribute 2% of their salary to their KiwiSaver (and who knows if there will be better options available to them by then).
Personally I don't think it is worth it for a $1000 kick start.
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jazzy
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 3:08pm |
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Yip I kinda agree with that, who knows your child maybe overseas or the company they work for may have a good scheem set up, I think I will stick with the bank account for now, lol.
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Bobbie
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 3:13pm |
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Yep I thought holidays were a reasonable length . And they can definitely take a contributions holiday once they've been in the scheme for more than 2 years so they could take the holiday as soon as they start their first job.
Personally I think that they won't miss it and let's not forget that any job they go into will automatically register them with Kiwisaver unless they specifically say otherwise anyway. But by then there probably won't be the $1000 kick start. Not to mention it gives them a chance to save for their retirement. There won't be Super by the time they retire.
The one thing to be aware of is that the account adminstration fees are no longer covered by the government. This can be up to $40/6 months (well it is for the ASB one anyway) so it does pay to shop around as some of the admin fees are far cheaper.
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clover
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 3:24pm |
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It is true that there won't be government super for them, but that is why I think that over the coming years there will be new (and possibly better) schemes that come about.
Although I certainly can't argue with the fact that enforcing some kind of savings on them early isn't a bad thing.
P.S. I am in KiwiSaver myself so am not against the scheme.
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lilfatty
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 5:44pm |
I havent signed our kids up ..
I think that should be their decision when they are old enough, it shouldnt be pushed onto them because I decided that is what is going to happen. Just as I have had the option of signing up or not .. Id be pissed if I HAD TO just because my Mum and Dad said.  (also some employers provide a much better alternative to kiwisaver)
Also the $1k kickstart (especially in todays climate) would probably get eaten by admin fees with the crap returns on investments 
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Genie
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Posted: 29 July 2009 at 8:29pm |
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We don't have kiwisaver for ourselves, but all 3 kids have it. The lady at the bank when I was making changes to their accounts talked me into it, thought it was a good idea while the kickstart was available, also thinking it will probably become compulsory somewhere down the track as well.
We would have it for ourselves, but have gone down to one income again after this baby so will wait until things aren't quite as tight.
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kiwi saver and kids
