INCORPORATING SHAPENZ

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Savings

1.6 million adults in a 24 day Christmas shopping rush

29 Nov 12 – 1.308 million will spread their present shopping in December right up to Christmas Eve. They will be joined by another 311,000 who say they’re going to leave present buying until the last few days before Christmas. According to a new survey by Horizon Research, the adult shoppers will...
58% back higher KiwiSaver payments

1 Apr 13 – A majority of New Zealanders (58 per cent) support the Government’s move to increase the minimum KiwiSaver contribution rate by 1 per cent from April 1, says Financial Services Council Chief Executive Peter Neilson. “This strong cross-party support should encourage policy-makers to set...
63% of New Zealanders say they are not saving enough

7 Mar 12 – 63% of New Zealanders say they are not currently saving enough to retire on a comfortable income. There is widespread concern among New Zealanders over how much income they will have in retirement. Nearly 80% think their savings will run out before the end of their lives. Only one third of adults...
Act breaks through 5% support threshold

15 May 11 – The Act Party now has 5.3% voter support. A new HorizonPoll conducted between Thursday and Friday shows Act is up from 3.7% in April after making Don Brash its leader. The first result for the new Mana Party shows it has 2.3% party vote support nationwide, ahead of the Maori Party on 2.1%. Mana is...
Budget unlikely to change KiwiSaver savings levels

14 Jun 11 – Research commissioned by the Investment Savings and Insurance Association (ISI) shows that while few New Zealanders support the KiwiSaver changes announced in the Budget, most are likely to remain committed to the scheme. Not surprisingly, the HorizonPoll survey found that 75% of those surveyed...
Government announces savings working group

24 Aug 10 – An independent Savings Working Group announced today by the Government has a wide brief to consider how New Zealand can improve its national savings, Finance Minister Bill English says. "Improving the level of national savings is the next step in the Government's programme for tilting the economy...
Only 9% think NZ Super alone enough to live on

25 Mar 13 – Only 9 per cent of New Zealanders believe that NZ Superannuation alone will give them an adequate income in retirement according to Horizon Research survey results* released by the Financial Services Council. Another 65 per cent of New Zealanders disagree, 10 per cent are unsure and 15 per cent are...
Public back compulsory savings policy idea

22 Jun 12 – New Zealanders are firmly in favour of making contributions to employees’ personal retirement savings accounts compulsory. The Financial Services Council (FSC) has released results of a HorizonPoll, saying it has not taken a position on whether savings contributions by employees and employers...
Public mandates one of four major Budget policy proposals

22 May 11 – The first nationwide post-Budget HorizonPoll shows the Government would not get a mandate to make changes to KiwiSaver, sell up to 49% of state-owned energy company shares or reduce its shareholding in Air New Zealand. It would get a mandate to make changes to the Working for Families scheme. Some...
Savings research results: NZ Super not enough

13 Jun 12 – Most people understand that New Zealand Superannuation will not provide them with enough money to live comfortably. According to results of a HorizonPoll survey conducted for the Financial Services Council, New Zealanders felt the average income needed to live comfortably in retirement was $632 per...
Serious illness equals serious financial trouble

18 Feb 13 – Key point summary: 972,700 households with annual incomes $20,000+ do not have income protection Each year the primary income earner in 14,980 of those households will fall seriously ill and be unable to earn for six months or more Those households plunge into The Great Financial Vulnerability Gap...
Strong support for universal KiwiSaver

14 Jan 13 – New Zealanders today regret the decision to abolish compulsory superannuation in 1976, and a solid majority of New Zealanders now favour the reintroduction of a universal KiwiSaver scheme. Almost three out of four New Zealanders agree now that it was a mistake to scrap the 1975 scheme, according to...
Support for lifting retirement age, close call on KiwiSaver policies

6 Nov 11 – More New Zealanders support raising the age of eligibility for NZ Super from 65 to 67 years old than oppose. However, it is a close call when people are asked which of the main parties' KiwiSaver policies they support and whether or not the country should borrow to restart contributions to the New...
Third of households can't pay bills after 3 weeks' illness

18 Feb 13 – In New Zealand serious illness is 2.6 more times more likely to strike than a serious accident putting an earner off work for six months or more. The accident victim will get 80% of income from Accident Compensation. The illness victim without income protection will have their household income...
What Kiwis say on growth forecasts

22 May 11 – Here’s what New Zealanders are saying on the economic and job growth forecasts, which underpin the 2011 Budget. The information provided and question results are shown first, followed by responses when HorizonPoll asked “why do you say that?” 2011 Budget Firstly, some background...
Whopping 92% say Kiwis need to save more

25 Aug 10 – Kiwis know they need to save more. In a current HorizonPoll on compulsory savings policy options, a whopping 92% so far are saying that generally there is a need for New Zealanders to save more . Only 4% disagree and 4% don’t know. After 300 responses (margin of error +/- 5.7%), it's too...