It's safe to say I never really gave retirement very much thought at all until this year.
But now that I'm not deathly worried about bouncing from cold damp rental to cold damp rental for the rest of my life, I can focus on other things.
Also, some of the things work has sucked me into lately are all about retirement savings and planning for the future. Heavy shit, in other words.
All around the world countries are struggling with the affordability of supporting retirees.
In the future we probably won't be able to rely on superannuation, and will probably have to pay more of our own living costs and health costs.
Currently NZ has low levels of elder poverty - our high levels of home ownership, and NZ Super being universal, non-means-tested, and pegged to 66% of the average wage play a role in that. But soaring house prices mean home ownership levels are falling, and I can't imagine NZ Super will be immune to the kinds of pension reforms that are underway around the world.
Seeing and hearing some of the things people say on this subject makes me shake my head.
I can understand indifference and inertia. I know it feels hopeless. You need to save so much for retirement and it seems like your money isn't going very far. Hell, I know *I* should really be saving more. But something is better than nothing.
What I don't understand is all the ignorance and paranoia out there around KiwiSaver. Seriously. 1) Take the free money, the rest of us are! 2) Your KiwiSaver funds belong to you, not the government. Let go of those tinfoil hats, people.
Save for the futures, dudes. It's one thing to pay for the less fortunate - the non-able, whose who don't earn a living wage - those who aren't able to take care of themselves. It's another (and kinda immoral IMO) thing to be a drain on the system because you simply didn't plan ahead.
As soon as you can, get started. Even if you start small, you can always ramp it up. Every little bit helps. Time, at least, is on our side. Just do it.
