Membership Options

Employees aged between 18 and 65
Self-employed and not employed aged under 65
Under 18s (working or not working)
60s and pushing 60s
Shareholder employees
Membership Overview

EMPLOYEES AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 65

Membership definition

You would join KiwiSaver as an employee if any of your income is subject to PAYE deductions.

Incentives

Employee KiwiSavers receive:

• $1,000 government kickstart grant
• Your contributions will be matched by a tax credit of up to $20 per week ($1,043 per year)
• Employer contributions 2% of gross annual salary

How employees join

You have two options for joining KiwiSaver. We‘re after members who fit into the first category:

• If you care about who‘s going to look after your KiwiSaver investments, join directly with your preferred KiwiSaver provider by filling out their application form. Our application form is here.
• If you don‘t care who looks after your savings, fill in a KS2 form and give it to your employer. You will either be allocated to your employer‘s chosen provider or to one of the six government-chosen default providers. Don‘t worry, it‘s not a life sentence. You can change providers whenever you like.

How employees make contributions

You make contributions via your employer who deducts either 2%, 4% or 8% of your gross salary and sends it to IRD with your PAYE deductions. IRD will transfer the money to your provider.

If you want to, you can also make additional voluntary payments directly to your GMK account by direct debit or cheque.

You can also make voluntary KiwiSaver contributions through IRD. IRD contribution options include electronic bank transfers, over-the-counter payments and cheque payments. Details here.

Contribution rates for employees

• Through your employer: 2%, 4% or 8% of your gross salary, and you can switch between these percentages by agreeing with your employer.
• Voluntary additional payments directly to GMK: direct debit ($50 minimum per transfer) or cheque ($100 minimum per cheque). Details and forms here.
• Voluntary additional payments through IRD: electronic banking, cheque, or cash. Any amount. Details here.
• There is no maximum contribution

Exclusions and exemptions

• Some employers may be exempt from making KiwiSaver contributions, if they are already contributing to another Superannuation scheme for their employees. This does not mean you cannot join KiwiSaver. It just means your employer doesn‘t have to contribute to your account.
• Employees can apply for a contributions holiday after they have been contributing to the scheme for 12 months. Check here for the rules and how to apply.

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SELF-EMPLOYED AND NOT EMPLOYED

Membership definition

You can join KiwiSaver as self-employed or not employed if you are between the ages of 18 and 65 and you are either:

• Self-employed, i.e. none of your work income is subject to PAYE deductions
• Retired
• Between jobs
• Unemployed
• On ACC
• On maternity leave and not receiving pay from an employer

Incentives

Self-employed/not employed KiwiSavers will receive:

• $1,000 government kickstart grant
• Your contributions will be matched by a tax credit of up to $20 per week ($1,043 per year)

How self- or non-employed join

Contract directly with a KiwiSaver provider by filling out a KiwiSaver application form. Our application form is here.

How self- or non-employed make contributions

You can make voluntary contributions directly to GMK by:

• Direct Debit (more information and forms here)
• Cheque (more information here)
• You can also make KiwiSaver contributions through IRD. IRD contribution options include electronic bank transfers, over-the-counter payments and cheque payments. Details here.

• People on ACC can either make voluntary payments as described above, or contact ACC and arrange to have a 2%, 4% or 8% KiwiSaver contribution taken from their payments. If you do contribute though, you will have to qualify and apply for a contributions holiday if you want those payments to cease. ACC does not pay an employer contribution. There is detailed information about KiwiSaver for people on ACC here.
• People on maternity leave can either make voluntary payments as described above or contact IRD and arrange to have a 2%, 4% or 8% KiwiSaver contribution taken from their payments. If you do this, you will have to qualify and apply for a contributions holiday if you want those payments to cease. 

Contribution rate

You are not required to make contributions to your KiwiSaver account, however if you do make a contribution directly to GMK, the following minimum amounts apply:

• $50 per payment for direct debit contributions
• $100 per payment for cheque payments
• There is no maximum contribution
• You can make lump sum contributions or regular payments as you wish

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UNDER 18 (WORKING OR NOT WORKING)

Membership definition

Children (under 18) can join KiwiSaver. They must join under their own IRD number, not a parent‘s IRD number.

Incentives

Minors will receive the $1,000 government kickstart grant

How under 18s join

Contract directly with a KiwiSaver provider by filling out a KiwiSaver application form. Our application forms are here.

Voluntary contribution rates for minors

You are not required to make voluntary contributions to a minor‘s KiwiSaver account, however if you do make a contribution directly to GMK, the following minimum amounts apply:

• $50 per payment for direct debit contributions
• $100 per payment for cheque payments
• There is no maximum contribution
• You can make lump sum contributions or regular payments as you wish
• Minors who are in paid employment must contribute 2%, 4% or 8% via their employer.

How under 18s make contributions

• You can make voluntary contributions for minors directly to GMK by: Direct Debit  or cheque (more information and online form)
• You can also make KiwiSaver contributions for minors through IRD. IRD contribution options include electronic bank transfers, over-the-counter payments and cheque payments. Details here.
• If minors are working, they must contribute 2%, 4% or 8% of their gross income via their employer. They can also make top up payments by direct debit, cheque or via IRD, as described above.

Exclusions

Minors will not receive:

• The government tax credit of up to $20 per week ($1,043 per year)
• Employer contributions. Employers are not required to contribute to a minor‘s KiwiSaver account, but they may choose to.

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60s AND PUSHING 60s

Membership definition

If you’re over or pushing 60 and can afford to pay $20 per week into your KiwiSaver account, you will be able to take full advantage of the KiwiSaver incentives. You can join KiwiSaver any time before your 65th birthday. It does not matter if you are retired already, unemployed or on a benefit.

What‘s the point of KiwiSaver for over 60s?

If you contribute $20 per week for five years ($5,200) you would be eligible for approximately $6,000 of Government contributions over the five years you are a member. You will get:

• $1,000 government kickstart grant three months after you join
• Your contributions will be matched by a tax credit of up to $20 per week ($1,043 per year) until you are eligible to withdraw. Member tax credits don't necessarily stop when you are 65 -- they stop when you are eligible to withdraw from KiwiSaver, which is either 65 or 5 years after you join, whichever is the latest.
  

Withdrawal for over 60s

Most KiwiSavers will be able to withdraw from their account when they turn 65, but you must be a member for a minimum of 5 years before withdrawing. This means that if you join when you‘re 64, you would not be able to withdraw your money until you are 69. When you are eligible to withdraw, these are the rules:

• You can take the money out either as a lump sum, or as partial withdrawals.
• You can leave the money in your account and you can keep contributing indefinitely.
• You will no longer be eligible for the Government tax credit after you are eligible to withdraw from the scheme.

Investment direction for over 60s

Lots of over 60s ask us what their investment direction shoud be. Conservative, Balanced or Growth?

It really depends on how flexible you are when it comes to accessing the funds.

• If you know you will need to access your funds at a particular time, we would suggest a Conservative portfolio.
• If you know you will be flexible about when you access the funds, you could select a Balanced or Growth portfolio.
• It is also important to know that you will be able to change your Investment Direction up to three times a year. There will be no charge for this service until after 30 June 2010. After that date you will have one free portfolio change per year, and additional changes will cost $50 each. Read more about your investment options here.

How over 60s join and contribute to KiwiSaver

• If any of your income is subject to PAYE deductions, read the section for employees. and join using this form.
• If you have no income that is subject to PAYE deductions, read the section for self- and non-employed, and join using this form.

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SHAREHOLDER EMPLOYEES

If you are an employee of your own company, you can join KiwiSaver and benefit as an employee and employer, but you must meet the criteria of an employee as defined by the Income Tax Act 2004. This means:

• The salary you pay yourself must be a fair market value for the work you do, and
• This salary must be subject to PAYE deductions.

You cannot pay yourself a token salary of $26,000 in order to generate approx $1,040 in KiwiSaver contributions (4% contributions rate), so you qualify for the $1,043 tax credit.

As an employer (even of yourself) you will be required to make the compulsory employer contributions of 2% .

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MEMBERSHIP OVERVIEW

* Details about direct debit and cheque payments here.

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