Here's something we never thought we'd say: KiwiSaver might be the biggest issue of this election.

National, Labour, NZ First and ACT have all now put KiwiSaver at the centre of their campaigns. That's a long way from 2007, when it was derided as a glorified Christmas club. Today there are almost 3.5 million members, and it's firmly part of the furniture of Kiwi life.

It's not hard to see why. Kiwis love KiwiSaver: it's how a lot of us got our first home deposit, and it's what most of us are counting on for retirement. And politicians love it too, because KiwiSaver policies are popular, and many of them don't cost the Government a cent. Asking employers and employees to put more in is a lot cheaper than writing a cheque from the Crown accounts.

We think the fact everyone wants to talk about KiwiSaver is a great thing. But the details matter, so here's our take on what each party is proposing, what we like, and where we'd push back.

Before getting into the detail, though, we need to have a real conversation about NZ Super. Let's be clear: this is all the first step towards either lifting the NZ Super age or means testing it. We don't need to save 12% of our salary if we're all going to get NZ Super forever.

These policies also aren't quite as free as they look. Lifting combined contributions from 7% to 12% over the next five years will be a real drag on the economy, with more money going into savings and less into people's pockets to spend.

The quick and dirty: who's promising what

For context, today's minimum is 3.5% from you and 3.5% from your employer, rising to 4% each in April 2028. The Government contribution is up to $260.72 a year. Here's how each party would change that.

National: KiwiSaver becomes compulsory for all workers from 1 July 2028, with contributions rising to 6% from you and 6% from your employer by 2032. Newborns are auto-enrolled with a $1,500 "Baby Boost", parents on paid parental leave get a Government contribution, and employer contributions continue past 65.

Labour: Only the employer contribution becomes compulsory, rising to 6% by 2032 and continuing even if you pause or reduce your own. The employee default rises to 4% but stays optional. Labour would also ban new total remuneration contracts and extend employer contributions to over-65s and parents on paid parental leave.

NZ First: KiwiSaver becomes compulsory from birth, with a $1,000 Crown contribution for citizens, and compulsory across the workforce. Contributions rise to 8% from you and 8% from your employer, eventually reaching 10% each. NZ First also wants KiwiSaver to become "a serious New Zealand asset-owning entity".

ACT: KiwiSaver stays voluntary with no change to contribution rates. Instead, ACT would remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings, and remove the Government contribution for members who get employer contributions.

The Opportunity Party is also pitching a compulsory "KiwiSaver 2.0", with contributions rising to 6% each, but we've focused here on the four parties that have put KiwiSaver front and centre.

What we like, and where we'd push back

National: love 6% + 6%, less sure about compulsion

We've said for years that 3% wasn't enough, so a move to 6% from you and 6% from your employer is something we genuinely support. It brings us much closer to Australia, and over a working life it could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a typical balance. We also like the Baby Boost: getting kids saving early teaches them the value of compounding from day one.

Where we're less convinced is compulsion. Our worry is that if people are simply told they have to save, without any real incentive, KiwiSaver starts to feel like a tax rather than something people want to do. Other countries have used incentives and tax breaks to make people feel good about saving, whereas here we're saying "there's no real incentive, it's just you have to do it".

Affordability is the other question. Plenty of households are stretched right now, and National's plan to let people opt out using the hardship test would be very hard for providers to administer in practice.

And the big one for us is total remuneration, where your employer's KiwiSaver contribution comes out of your pay packet rather than on top of it. Around 45% of employers use it for at least some staff. Unless it's dealt with, many employees will see their take-home pay fall as contributions climb to 6%.

Labour: a big step for lower-income Kiwis, and a ban on total rem

We like the settings here, particularly for people on lower incomes. Making the employer contribution compulsory, even when someone has to pause or reduce their own, means the people who can least afford to save still keep building a balance. That's the Australian model, and it works.

But the part we really love is the ban on new total remuneration contracts. We think total rem is one of the biggest drivers of inequity in KiwiSaver, and banning it is a fiscally neutral way to boost retirement savings.

The trade-off is that with employee contributions optional, some people will save less overall than under a 6% + 6% compulsory model. Labour's approach favours flexibility today over the biggest possible balance at 65.

NZ First: big ambition, but let the money go where the returns are

There's a lot of ambition here, and contributions of 10% each would make Kiwis some of the best-funded retirees in the world.

Our concern is the push to make KiwiSaver "a serious New Zealand asset-owning entity". We understand the appeal of Kiwi savings building Kiwi infrastructure. But our job is to invest members' money where we can get the best risk-adjusted returns, not where politicians would like it to go.

New Zealand is a tiny slice of global markets, and the NZX 50 has returned just 0.7% a year over the past five years. Directing retirement savings toward local assets risks lower returns and less diversification for members. If New Zealand assets are a good investment, fund managers will buy them on their merits.

ACT: finally, a real incentive

ACT's plan to remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings is the first policy this election that tries to make people want to save, rather than telling them they have to.

We really like this. Tax on your returns compounds against you every year, so removing it can make a huge difference over a working lifetime. It's also the kind of incentive that has worked overseas: Australia taxes super far more lightly than we tax KiwiSaver, and people value it accordingly.

It's not without trade-offs. Losing the Government contribution (up to $260.72 a year) will sting for some lower-income savers in the early years, and because the benefit grows with your balance, people with larger balances gain the most. There's also a cost, around $2.4 billion over four years by ACT's own numbers.

Our dream KiwiSaver

If we could pick and mix, our ideal KiwiSaver would take the best ideas from across the spectrum:

• Get rid of total rem. As Labour proposes. It's fiscally neutral, and nobody should be paying their own employer contribution.
• Delink employer and employee contributions. Also from Labour. Your employer's contribution shouldn't stop just because you need to pause yours, so balances keep growing when money is tight.
• Remove tax on investment earnings. As ACT proposes. For the first time, KiwiSaver would come with a genuine reason to want to save, not just a rule that says you have to.

Put together, that means more saved by lower-income Kiwis, a real incentive for everyone, and no need to lean on compulsion to get there.

So what does this mean for you?

Right now, nothing. None of these policies kicks in before 2028 at the earliest, and whatever government forms after the election will almost certainly be a coalition, so the final shape could look quite different from any single party's plan.

In the meantime, the best thing you can do is the same as ever. Check you're contributing at least enough to get your full employer and Government contributions, make sure you're in the right fund for your timeframe, and check your employment agreement to see whether you're on total rem. If you're not sure where you stand, our free KiwiSaver calculator is a good place to start.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Kōura Wealth and are not an endorsement of any political party. This content is for informational purposes and should not be considered financial advice. Before making any financial decisions, consider consulting a financial adviser. Kōura Wealth Limited is the issuer and manager of the Kōura KiwiSaver Scheme. A copy of the Product Disclosure Statement is available at kourawealth.co.nz/documents. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.