FAQ

Here are the questions we are asked most often:

BURNING ISSUES

MEMBERS

NON-MEMBERS

 

 

What's the deal with the 1 April 2010 changes to Prescribed Investor Rates (PIR)?.

On 1 April 2010, new Prescribed Investor Rates came into effect.

The changes are as follows: the 19.5% rate has been removed, a 12.5% and 21% rate have been introduced and the income threshold for the top rate of 30% has changed. 

To calculate your correct PIR, follow the instructions from IRD here. If you are still unsure about which PIR you should choose, please phone the IRD on 0800 227 774.  GMK is not able to provide advice to members regarding their PIR.   

It is your responsibility to keep us informed of your correct PIR. You can do this on your Personal Details page in your GMK member webpage. Log on to your account at www.gmk.co.nz. If you don’t know your username and password, find out how to get it here.

If your PIR was previously 19.5% and you do not update your rate, your new PIR from 1 April 2010 will default to 21%.
 


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How come I‘m paying tax on my KiwiSaver when it‘s lost money? I thought the tax was only applied to earnings.

There are a number of reasons members may be required to pay tax despite the value of their investments having gone down. The main reason is that tax is paid on certain types of income received (such as dividends and interest), while changes in the value of their local shares are not considered income, thus are not taxable. Conversely, foreign shares are taxed using a deemed income approach, which means tax is paid on the value of the shares, not how much they increase or decreases during a period.

For more information about tax and KiwiSaver, see What Returns Will I Get? section in the investment statement.


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What happens to my KiwiSaver if I lose my job, or stop working? 

If you stop working for any reason, your workplace KiwiSaver deductions will stop, just like your PAYE deductions will, but your KiwiSaver account will stay open.

You have the option to continue contributing to KiwiSaver on a voluntary basis -- and if you want to receive the annual Government tax credit payment of $1043, you will need to contribute at least that much yourself. The details for contributing on a voluntary basis are available here.

If you don‘t want to keep contributing, you don‘t have to. Just do nothing.

When you are employed again in the future, workplace contributions will start again automatically.

 


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How come a conservative KiwiSaver fund can perform worse than the bank interest rate? Shouldn’t it perform at least as well? 

Not necessarily.

There is a difference between a conservative fund and a cash fund.  

Conservative funds still have an allocation to growth assets – typically 20% of the fund may be invested in shares (this is the limit for our conservative fund, as well as the default conservative schemes of AMP, ING, ASB etc). The conservative fund will also be invested in longer dated bonds (fixed interest securities that might not mature for 5-10 years).

A cash fund would be 100% invested cash or 90-day bank bills.

A cash fund should replicate the returns of a simple bank account, but the conservative fund might not for a number of reasons:

  • Even if growth assets form only 20% of a conservative fund, this 20% can have a disproportionate effect on returns (especially in extreme environments as we are experiencing now). For example, if the shares go down 20%, this will take 4% off the fund’s total return (20% * 20% = 4%).  (Note however that even though GMK can invest up to 20% of the conservative fund in shares, our conservative fund has on average only had 11% invested in shares over the last 12 months, due to our investment strategy team caution in current market conditions).            
  • When investing in longer dated fixed interest bonds, the return is not only affected by interest payments received. The price of a bond moves in conjunction with changes in market interest rates, which results in capital gains or losses. A cash fund doesn’t experience these price movements to the same extent as a longer-dated bond portfolio.
  • The fees on a conservative fund will be higher than a cash fund, as there are more assets and types of assets to manage.


So given the points above, why would a provider hold any shares in the conservative fund?  

Over the long run, the returns of the share portion of the fund should outperform the cash and bond portion of the fund, which in turn should mean that over the long term the total return of the conservative fund should be higher than the cash fund. A small allocation to shares is still appropriate for many investors.

If your circumstances dictate that you cannot tolerate any capital losses, then you should invest in the most conservative option of all – a 100% cash fund. There is a list of cash KiwiSaver funds here. GMK does not operate a 100% cash fund.

Sorted also has a risk recommender here. Use this to help you decide if a cash fund is right for you.


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What happens if Gareth gets eaten by a lion (or a penguin)... or just takes off and doesn‘t come back?

When we asked Gareth about this he said, “Dick Smith! Colonel Sanders! Betty Crocker! Morgan Stanley! Walt Disney!” We got it. Nobody goes to Dick Smith‘s these days expecting Dick to sell them a telly. Everyone knows Betty isn’t baking those pies. (But you can be sure they’re still using her recipes!)

Although Gareth is currently an active figurehead for GMK, he’s not in the engine room running the business. The team at GMK and GMI have ‘skin in the business‘. 40% of the staff are shareholders in the company. The investment strategy team consists of Gareth and 5 other staff, plus associated economics consulting company, Infometrics. The team is well used to day-to-day investment management of the portfolios in Gareth‘s absence -- after all he‘s been spending half his year motorcycling the world since 2001 --  so in many ways he‘s just another demanding client!


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How to transfer funds from other super schemes

If you have funds in another super scheme, you may be able to transfer them to your KiwiSaver account. Here’s what to do:

  • Contact your existing super scheme administrator to check that they allow transfers to registered KiwiSaver schemes.
  • Make sure you understand the terms of transferring out. Are there any fees or penalties? What will be your final balance?
  • Be aware that any money you transfer into a KiwiSaver scheme will be subject to all the KiwiSaver rules, e.g. you will not be able to access that money until you are eligible to withdraw from KiwiSaver (at age 65, or if you joined after age 60 it will be 5 years after you joined.)
  • If you are satisfied with the terms, fill in our Authority to Transfer form. Download a transfer form here.
  • We will contact the scheme and arrange the transfer of funds to your GMK KiwiSaver account.

 

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What is GMK‘s philosophy and approach to responsible investment?

 

You can read our Responsible Investment Policy here.

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How do I get a username and password to log in to my account?

It‘s simple:

  • Go to the member login page
  • Click the link that says: Forgot your login details?
  • Enter your email address. If you share an email address with someone else, also enter your IRD number.
  • Press Continue. An email containing your username and password will be sent to you right away.

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The password you supplied me doesn‘t work. How can I log in?

OK, every time we get this question, the problem is one of the following:

  • Not matching the capital and lower case letters in the password. Passwords are case-sensitive.
  • Typing a capital letter I instead of a number one.
  • Entering a space on either end of the password.
  • Entering a password that is so completely wrong that it must be for someone or something else!

To get your correct password, use the instructions above.

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Why aren‘t all my contributions showing in my Investment Position report?

  • Your contribution report shows all the money that is transferred into your GMK account. It is updated every day a transfer is made.
  • The Investment Position reports shows where your money was invested on the last day of each month. It is updated monthly.

So if you got money transferred into your account on April 5, for example, it would not show on your March Investment Position report. It would show on your Investment Position report for 30 April.

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Why do I see my wife‘s (partner‘s, husband‘s, child‘s) details, and not my own when I log in to my account?

This happens when one person logs into their account and does not log out properly before the next person logs on. Here‘s the proper KiwiSaver login etiquette.

  • Person one logs in
  • Person one checks account
  • Person one logs out [Click the Log Out button, top right-hand side of the page]
  • Person one shuts down the browser (not always necessary, but a precaution.)

Now it‘s person two‘s turn. Do exactly the same steps as person one, and you should be all set.

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Why are the amounts in my KiwiSaver account not what I expected?

There are all sorts of reasons why what you see in your account might not be what you expected to see. We have covered all the scenarios we‘ve encountered on this page in the members‘ area (you‘ll need to log in to access the page: Where‘s my money?

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How do I make KiwiSaver payments to the GMK Scheme?

Members who are not employees, and employees with lump sums or top-up payments, can contribute directly to GMK by two methods:

Direct Debit

  • The minimum payment is $50. There is no maximum.
  • Payments can be made monthly, bi-monthly (every two months), 6-monthly or annually.
  • Fill out the online form, print it, sign it and mail it to us. Sorry, but we need an original signature for the bank. Don‘t fax us Direct Debit forms. We won‘t be able to process them.
  • Address the envelope to Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Scheme, Free Post 210729, P.O. Box 10068, Wellington. Note: it can take up to 2 weeks for banks to process direct debit authorities.
  • The Direct Debit form is here.

Cheque

  • Cheques must be made out to Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Scheme Trust.
  • Send cheques with a lump-sum deposit form that includes your full name, date of birth and IRD number. The lump sum deposit form is here.
  • Cheque payments must be a minimum of $50. There is no maximum.
  • Address the envelope to Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Scheme, Free Post 210729, P.O. Box 10068, Wellington.

What about automatic payments, electronic banking, and over-the-counter payments?
No problem, you just need to do it through IRD. They’re all set up to take these KiwiSaver payments. The instructions are on their website. Read the whole page.

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Do you accept kids in your KiwiSaver scheme?

 Yes we do accept children into our scheme, and if they are not employed there are no minimum contributions required for children. If they are working they will need to contribute either 2%, 4% or 8% of their pay to KiwiSaver unless they are on a contribution holiday. All the information you need and links to the application forms are here.

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Do I have to join before a certain date to get the $1000 kick-start?

 No, there is currently no expiry date on the $1,000 kick-start payment. Under current legislation, everyone who joins KiwiSaver for the first time receives the $1,000 kick-start approximately 3 months after they join. This money is transferred from IRD to your KiwiSaver account.

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If I join KiwiSaver now, will I get the tax credits?

 Tax credits are complex and we‘ve demystified them on our Beyond the Basics page. Member Tax Credits. What are they and how are they calculated?

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