THR

Just out of curiosity from my European point of view I'd like to ask you New Zealanders how much do you pay money from your each salary to finance your future pension.

I mean, it must be something else than we pay here in the old continent, after all, the birth rate in NZ is very high, the death rate is very low, surely there are a lot of immigrants but they are almost all of them young.

I'm sure those who have emigrated to NZ from Europe know what I'm talking about but to those who don't know what I'm on about it is that in Europe the birth-rate in the late 1940's was exceptionally high after which it steadied and has declined. This has led to a huge current pension-problem as those late 40-s people are entering the retirement-age and there are a lot of them and the younger generations are smaller.

So, who's going to pay the pension? You in NZ can count yourselves lucky in this respect that you will have none of this problem.

bananalana

To be honest, when I was in NZ (now in Oz) I didnt pay anything towards my pension.

My dad always told me, from th eminute you start working you should save 10% of your wages and by the time you retire you will have plenty. I didnt listen.

I am now in Oz and have a super fund (its compulsory here) and if I ever go back to NZ I will definitely be putting at least 10% of my earnings towards retirement.

In NZ you get a pension fromt he government but I am not sure how much it is.

Kiwiprincess

This has led to a huge current pension-problem as those late 40-s people are entering the retirement-age and there are a lot of them and the younger generations are smaller.

Out of interest, what makes you think the birthrate is high? Or that the potential pool of people paying towards superannuation/pension is high? Wat you have said sounds reasonably similar to what is happening in NZ and is one of the reasons that Kiwisaver (contributory private superannuation scheme with a few benefits)has been pushed so much since it was brought in.

simonsi

You are in good company, the UK state pension worked on the same basis which is why it is in the state it is, ie those who were going to benefit didn´t pay enough towards their state pension, the funds for the pension payments come out of funds paid by those contributing at the same time the pensions are being drawn.

So the current (large and getting larger) number of state pensions being paid out is being paid for by the (small and declining) number of people in work.

Just tell your kids you will expect them to pay your pension, that is what the UK state has done

No answer to it I fear, too late is too late...

PS I´m not sure the baby-boom was a UK/US only phenomeneh (sp??), have you got data to support that, esp from the NZ point of view???

THR

It is, 14/1000 which is high by western standards, in many European countries it is below 10/1000. The death-rate in your country is very low, 7/1000, when as in Western-Europe it is 10-11/1000.

However, the most alarming demographic scenario is not in Europe but in Japan. They estimate that by the year 2040 their current population of 125m will have fallen to 90m and of that population 40% will be 65 years or over. Needless to say, that the Japanese do anything to avoid that, if nothing else helps, then open their doors to immigration, because no country could sustain such a population-structure.

You in NZ probably also have a problem with rapidly ageing population and the pressure that puts on the future-pensions but not nearly on the same scale as in Europe.

simonsi

Errrrrr I'm rapidly getting lost in the maths but that seems a HUGE difference in death rate however everyone dies eventually so that difference must be reflected in an equally HUGE difference in life expectancy in NZ vs Europe....is the death rate not being influenced by the immigration factor???

THR

Of course, the rate is compared to the overall population and as NZ receives a lot of immigrants who tend to be young, the relative death-rate is low. I don't think the average life-expectancy in NZ is much higher than in Europe.

The same with the birth-rate, it is natural that a young population produces more offspring than an older population. I checked some statistics and the proportion of over 65's in NZ is 13%, in the UK it is 16%, not such a big difference there but a difference nevertheless but in Germany the proportion of over 65's is as high as 20%, which is already alarming.

simonsi

That is reassuring, for a minute I thougt it would have been "adjusted for immigration factors" which would have me worried that everyone else might think it the land of immortality!

No doubt as long as immigration helps out the pension situation is good - which makes it sound as stable as a pyramid-selling scheme in that it relies on new blood entering the system....

macmattom

Does anybody know how the pension transfer works? By the time I hopefully emigrate to NZ, I'd have worked for 32 years in the UK, and paid tax & NI for the whole period. Will I qualify for a full UK pension, or a percentage of a full pension, and how long will I need to work in NZ to qualify for a state pension there? Would I ever be in a position to get both (not being greedy - just curious ).

Cheers,

Mac

bananalana

The high birth rates in NZ can probably be attributed to beneficiaries hoping for a pay rise.

BEVS

No. You can't claim both.You will choose to take one or the other.

You can request a UK state pension forecast. Please click THIS LINK

To be entitled to an NZ state pension , I believe you need to be resident in NZ for 10 years, 5 of which should be over the age of 50. It is not dependant on work.

The line of thought is that one shouldn't think to transfer the UK state pension over & receive an NZ one instead if there is any possibility you would return to live in the UK.