Are you finding it hard to save money?

Monday, June 22, 2009

Finding it hard to save money? Image: Getty

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Saving Financial planning Economy KiwiSaver Retirement

By MSN NZ Money staff

It seems New Zealanders are finding it harder than ever to regularly save their money.

A new survey released by the Retirement Commission has shown that only 49 percent of adults aged 18 and over are putting away cash regularly — down from 53 percent when the survey was first conducted in 2005.

This year's survey was conducted in March and April and coincides with a Research New Zealand poll that reveals New Zealanders are worried more than ever about how governments will be able to provide for them us when they retire.

Do you blame the current economic woes for impacting people's ability to put more cash away?

Are you worried about retirement? Have you joined KiwiSaver? Have your say below.

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User comments

im 19 and i cant save to help my life im with national bank, i have recently found they have a super scheme in which i put money in and cant get for i think 4working days. this may sound silly but i do also have a regular savings account in which i end up using at the end of the week (as im paid weekly) i find the super scheme a good way of saving and knowing its there in time of need is great. i think that everytime the min pay rate goes up so does living expenses leaving us back on step 1. new zealand needs a seroius check if they want us early adults to still be living here in the years to come.

It's obvious why people are finding it hard to save. It's due to ever increasing costs of living, The costs of living increase much faster than the average workers pay rates. Its a good way of controling people, keep them poor. I can't really imagine owning a house, Im 26 and consider myself a good saver. But my savings dissapear once warrant of fitness, rego, dentist bills, food, petrol, power, telephone cost need to be paid, So Im forever being put back to 0.

Im a 20 year old girl, finding it more and more hard to save, I have however joined kiwisaver in a relief to know I will have money there for when I retire...I have also got a savings account but nothing ever goes in...Working just never pays the bills anymore

My husband and I are currently teaching in the UAE in order to retire with a reasonable income. We found it impossible to save more than a few thousand each year in NZ, due to general cost of living. We ran a very modest second-hand car and had two kids. Our mortagage is paid off, but we knew that what we had saved wasn't enough to cover items like health etc in future years. We are teachers and frankly don't want to teach NZ kids again. We've paid our dues to education and would like to retire before 65. We will be expats for some time.

Kiwis are not saving becuase of miserly wages from years of governments trying to deliver a low paid workforce for big business. Also why invest when most investment vehicles have proven to be ripoffs.

I'm still pretty young and I'm not really thinking too much about retirement at the moment.. that being said i'm not putting any money away either so maybe it's time i start saving!

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