Programme should be compulsory

Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham
Dunedin accountant Michael Cunningham (23) believes the Government should have taken an extra step in Budget 2011 and made KiwiSaver compulsory.

"There are a few people my age who decided against joining because they have a large student loan to pay off.

"When taking both loan repayments and KiwiSaver from your weekly pay, then you throw in rent and food, it doesn't leave you as much as you would like."

Mr Cunningham, a PricewaterhouseCoopers associate, recommended a small portion of money invested in KiwiSaver being used to pay off a student loan, similar to the way savers could take it out to buy a first home.

"KiwiSaver is a great thing for young people like me.

"For me, it gets me saving when I wouldn't otherwise be doing so. Every day I'm shuffling money around and it's good to know those savings are there."

The added incentive of getting money from both the employer and the Government made the deal even sweeter, he said.

The announcements surrounding Kiwisaver were sensible.

The Government had a big deficit and decreasing its contribution would go some way to decreasing the deficit.

"I understand there have to be cuts given our economic situation but I'm a bit miffed the Government has increased the employer contribution to 3% but has taken away the tax-free portion of it.

"It's like they are saying we will give you money with one hand and take away some with our other.

"This will have more effect on higher-income earners than it will me, but still is not something that I like," Mr Cunningham said.

 

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