The founder and managing director of kōura Wealth says many New Zealanders are missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings because they have not made the right KiwiSaver decisions.
"People aren't engaging properly with KiwiSaver," he says. "They're not getting the right advice so they're not making the right fund choices. And the cost of making the wrong decision with KiwiSaver is huge."
"There is a real issue with KiwiSaver outcomes in New Zealand at the moment. People have expectations of what their KiwiSaver will give them and unfortunately the reality is likely to be very different. The most frustrating thing is that making the right decisions early on (fund selection and contribution rates) can make a huge difference in the long run. People put off making KiwiSaver decisions because it is too hard and it is confusing. Still, every day that a decision is delayed is a day less than your KiwiSaver is working for you," says Carlyon.
"It is not surprising people are not making the right decisions as less than 20 per cent of people talk to a financial adviser. People will often turn to their parents or Google for KiwiSaver advice. As an industry, we need to become better at helping our customers."
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