Campaign launches to encourage young women to connect with their accounts
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KiwiSaver members are being urged to check their annual statements this year to find out whether or not they’re getting good value for money.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has developed a KiwiSaver health checker, which claims to help Kiwis answer four important questions about their account: Am I in the right fund? Could I be saving more? Am I paying the right amount of tax? Am I paying too much in fees?
“For the first time all KiwiSaver members will be able to see fees in dollar amounts on their statements,” the FMA said. “Many people are unaware of the costs and charges in KiwiSaver because, besides the annual administration fee, these fees have previously been set out as a percentage.”
The FMA also launched a campaign targeting young women to encourage them to connect with KiwiSaver. The move follows its own research, which shows that this age group is the least engaged with their KiwiSaver materials and is the least likely to take action.
According to the FMA, one-third of all KiwiSaver members are in the 18-35 age group. There are 355,000 women aged between 18-30 in KiwiSaver, and this demographic has the most to gain from getting more involved with its retirement savings account.
“Women tend to be less confident than men about investing; however they often make better investors over the long-term because they are less likely to chop and change direction,” says Simone Robbers, FMA acting director of external communications and investor capability.
“We encourage everyone to check their annual statement this year and look at how much their fees are. Many will be surprised.”
This change to annual statements from April 1 this year is a result of work by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC) and the FMA.
