How It Works

NZ Superannuation

• Eligibility from age 65 (universal, residence-based)
• Flat-rate payments based on living situation (single, couple, sharing)
• NZ Super rises each year by at least the rate of inflation (and in line with wages over time), as set each 1 April
• Single living alone, single sharing and per-person couple rates (current from 1 April 2026), including when only one partner qualifies
• Net-of-tax Super rates using current PAYE thresholds

NZ Super Optimiser (Pro)

Explore how different retirement timing and living arrangements affect your NZ Super entitlements.

• Living arrangement comparisons (single, couple, sharing)
• After-tax Super projections
• Coordination with KiwiSaver drawdown timing
• Lifetime benefit estimates based on your inputs

NZ PAYE + ACC

• Current NZ marginal PAYE tax brackets (10.5%, 17.5%, 30%, 33%, 39%), applied to each person separately
• ACC earner levy on salary and wages (1.75% up to $156,641 for 2026/27)
• Tax thresholds are assumed to rise with inflation over the projection
• Self-employed income tax and ACC levies
• NZ Super taxed as regular income via PAYE

Capital Gains & Investment Tax

• New Zealand has no general capital gains tax
• Return assumptions are before tax and after fees
• KiwiSaver and investment fund returns are taxed at each person's prescribed investor rate (PIR: 10.5%, 17.5% or 28%)
• Bank interest is taxed at your marginal rate (RWT)
• KiwiSaver withdrawals are tax-free

Investments outside KiwiSaver are treated as PIE funds. Bright-line property rules and FIF rules for directly held overseas shares are not modelled separately.

KiwiSaver

• Employee contribution rates (3%, 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%)
• Employer contribution (minimum 3.5%)
• Government contribution (up to $260.72/year)
• Withdrawal eligibility at age 65 or first home purchase
• Fund type modelling (defensive, conservative, balanced, growth, aggressive)
• KiwiSaver can't be used to pay for spending before 65 — if other savings run out first, the plan shows money running out
• No required minimum distributions — flexible drawdown

Tax Insights (Pro)

See how PAYE applies to each person's income across the projection.

• Withdrawal order used in projections (cash → investments → KiwiSaver from 65)
• Marginal PAYE rate projections year by year
• NZ Super interaction with other income sources

Goal Planning (Pro)

Track specific financial goals and see how they fit into your overall projections.

• Custom goals for travel, education, home purchases, and more
• Feasibility scoring based on projected balances
• Impact analysis on retirement outlook

Expense Phase Modelling (Pro)

Research suggests spending patterns often change throughout retirement. This optional feature models three phases:

• Go-Go phase: Early active years at full planned spending
• Slow-Go phase: Moderate reduction as activity decreases (default 85%)
• No-Go phase: Lower discretionary spending in later years (default 75%)

Monte Carlo Simulations (Pro)

Monte Carlo runs 1,000 simulations, each with different year-by-year investment returns and inflation, to show how market ups and downs (and the order they arrive in) affect your plan. Success means every year of planned spending is paid for until age 95 (the younger partner, for couples). Results are in today's dollars and show a range of possible outcomes, not a prediction.

• Percentile bands (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) showing the spread
• Estimated success probability: how often the money lasts to age 95 (the younger partner, for couples)
• The middle (median) outcome lines up with the standard projection

How results are shown

• All amounts are in today's dollars — adjusted for inflation so you can compare them with what things cost now
• Plans are tested to age 95: money "runs out" in the first year planned spending can't be paid for
• The current year counts only the months remaining
• Amounts you enter for future years (one-off costs, windfalls, new salary or spending) are in today's dollars