Apex Group Country Head New Zealand, Donna Mason, talks about some of the big things women should think about, particularly approaching retirement. While these are tailored to women, men can also benefit from them too.
1. Make KiwiSaver work for you
A woman’s financial journey is often longer and has more twists and turns. Since women tend to live longer, your retirement savings need to be a reliable companion for the long haul. KiwiSaver is designed for this entire journey, offering ways to keep your money working as long as you need it to.
KiwiSaver isn’t just for the young. Even if you’re at or near retirement, you can still contribute towards KiwiSaver and put your money to work for longer. Retirement is a journey, not a destination, and hard-earned nest eggs are meant to support this journey – which can potentially span multiple decades – so it could make sense to continue investing in some capacity.
A key action for all women is to check your fund choice too. Make sure your chosen fund’s investment strategy aligns to the timeframe in which you want the money invested for. For example, a growth fund may make sense for money you won’t touch for 10+ years, while a conservative fund could suit the portion you’ll use sooner.
2. Keep some growth in your portfolio
It’s often tempting to move everything into cash or lower risk investments as you get older. While this can be prudent, it doesn’t need to apply to your entire portfolio.
As a women, you may be retired for 30+ years – plenty of time to ride out periods of volatility. At the same time, if you hold everything in cash, inflation will slowly erode your spending power.
The key is balance. Consider thinking about the money you have invested as different ‘buckets’ and each bucket has a different job to do; one bucket you might not need for 10+ years, one bucket you might need in 2-5 years and another bucket you might need now. You can choose different investment options for each of these buckets. For example, keeping money you’ll need in the next few years in conservative investments, while leaving a portion you don’t need for a longer time invested in growth assets like shares.
Even a 30 – 40% allocation to growth can help your portfolio keep up with rising costs over a long retirement.
3. Be proactive about pay and contributions
Lower lifetime earnings mean many women reach retirement with less in the tank compared to men. Regardless of if you work full time or part time, or however much you’re paid, it’s important to get the most out of your income.
That could mean:
- Asking your employer about topping up KiwiSaver while on leave.
- Negotiating pay if you’re still in the workforce (every extra dollar saved now, matters later).
- Reviewing whether you’re contributing enough to KiwiSaver to get the full government contribution.
- Use a KiwiSaver calculator to determine how much you will need in retirement and increasing your contributions to make sure you get there.
Small adjustments in your final working years can make a meaningful difference to the amount you’ll rely on in retirement.
4. Build your confidence with education and action
Reports have shown many women feel a lack of confidence in financial matters, despite evidence to show they are more than capable.
Confidence comes from learning and experience – no one is an expert when they start out. Women are often good planners and budgeters, so have a head start in knowing how much they can afford to invest.
A few easy ways to build financial confidence:
- Use the Sorted KiwiSaver calculator to see how your balance will last through retirement.
- Listen to investing podcasts like Friends That Invest (formerly Girls That Invest) or The Curve for practical insights tailored for women (it’s also often relevant for men too).
- Open an investment account and actually do it. Investing isn’t a game, and shouldn’t be treated as such, but doing it for real, figuring out how it works and watching how it performs is one of the best ways to learn.
The more you engage, the more in control you’ll feel.
5. Stay focused on the end game
Another important lesson is not to make decisions in the short term if you are investing for the long term. What I mean is, the market, by nature, will have its ups and downs and it’s easy to get worried when the markets are going down and you see your balance dropping. However, if you’re investing money for something you don’t need for another five, 10 or 20 years, then it doesn’t actually matter what the markets are doing today.
If you’re older, market volatility may feel like a bigger deal than it is – again, you can be retired for a long time, so you can afford to ride out fluctuations.
The key is to have a strategy and stick to it. Monitor your portfolio and review your strategy every year to make sure it’s working for you. If you want to make changes to optimise it, make sure it’s a considered approach, rather than a knee-jerk reaction to what the market is doing.
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