How much money do I need to retire in NZ?
“How much do I need to retire?” It’s a question many Kiwis ask when they start planning for life after work.
The truth is, there is no single “magic number” that works for everyone. How much you’ll need depends on several factors like how much you plan to spend in retirement, how long you expect to be retired, and what support you’ll receive from the government (e.g. New Zealand Superannuation).
Your desired lifestyle plays a big role too. For some, retirement means a quiet life by the beach. For others, it’s traveling the world. That’s why the amount you’ll need is unique to you.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to estimate what you might need, so you can plan ahead for the retirement lifestyle you’ve always imagined.
How much will I spend in retirement?
A good starting point when figuring out how much you'll need for retirement, is to estimate how much you’re likely to spend. This means thinking about your living costs and any extras you’d like to enjoy.
To help with this, Massey University publishes the New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines each year. In this section, we’ll explore how these guidelines can help you estimate how much you’ll spend.
What kind of lifestyle will you live?
Massey University’s guidelines break down retirement spending into two key categories:
No frills budget (basic): This reflects a basic lifestyle with little room for extras or unexpected costs.
Choices budget (comfortable): This reflects a more comfortable lifestyle and allows for more flexibility and extras, like dining out, hobbies, and travel.
Deciding on the lifestyle you want in retirement helps you understand whether it aligns with a basic or comfortable standard and what level of savings you’ll need.
Where will you live?
The cost of retirement in New Zealand also varies depending on your location. It’s no secret that living in a major metropolitan (metro) center like Auckland or Wellington generally comes with higher costs. In contrast, living in a regional town (provincial) may mean your day-to-day expenses are lower.
When planning, it’s useful to consider where you see yourself living. Do you plan to stay in your current home? Or are you thinking about downsizing or moving to a different part of the country to be closer to family? Your answer will have an impact on how much you may spend in retirement.
What will your spending look like in retirement?
Now you’ve thought about your retirement lifestyle and where you’ll live, you can use the table below (developed by Massey University) to estimate weekly expenditure. Keep in mind these figures assume you’re mortgage-free. If you’re still paying off a mortgage, other debt, or rent, your retirement spendings may be higher.
Total weekly expenditure
| Metro | Provincial | |
|---|---|---|
| One-person households | ||
| No frills budget | $705.34 | $580.75 |
| Choices budget | $790.62 | $771.89 |
| Two-person households | ||
| No frills budget | $937.38 | $1,060.65 |
| Choices budget | $1,780.32 | $1,243.41 |
According to the guidelines, a single retiree living in a metropolitan area, in their own mortgage-free home, and following a no frills lifestyle will need about $705 a week. A no frills budget covers only the essentials such as food, housing costs, utilities, transport, and healthcare, without extras like entertainment, travel, or new clothes.
Though, most Kiwis will want some level of comfort in retirement. In that case, a weekly budget of around $790 might be more suitable. This amount allows for occasional luxuries such as new clothes, travel, treating the grandkids, or going out for a meal.
What does your spending look like pre-retirement?
While the Massey Guidelines offer a helpful baseline for understanding retirement spending in New Zealand, at AMP we often find that many customers need more than what these benchmarks indicate.
One way to estimate what you might need in retirement is to start with what you spend now. Look at your current lifestyle costs to understand what it takes to live the way you do today. Then adjust for expenses that are likely to drop off over time, such as paying off your mortgage or no longer commuting.
Once you have an estimate of your yearly living costs in retirement, multiply that number by how long you expect to be retired. For example, if you retire at 65 and plan for 25 years of retirement, you would multiply your annual figure by 25.
Because everyone’s lifestyle and financial situation is different, this approach may help you create a more realistic plan tailored to your needs.
How long will I be retired?
Once you know your estimated weekly spending, the next step is figuring out how many years you’ll need to budget for. In other words, how long you’re likely to live. It might feel a little dark, and there’s obviously no way to predict an exact number, but having a rough idea is important for planning your retirement savings.
In New Zealand the average life expectancy for both women and men is a little over 80. But it is always rising, and if you make it to 65 the number is even higher: based on current figures, a woman who reaches the age of 65 in 2026 can then expect to live to around 88 years of age.
A wealth of other factors play their part, such as lifestyle, genetics and luck. If your parents and grandparents lived to a ripe old age, and you keep fit and don’t smoke, you are likely to live longer than average. The Stats NZ calculator considers a number of relevant factors, along with historical data, to give you a lifespan estimate.
What support will I receive from the government?
New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super) is a government-funded, fortnightly pension available to eligible New Zealanders aged 65 and over. It’s an important factor to consider when planning for retirement, but NZ Super only goes so far. For many people, there can be a gap between what NZ Super provides and the lifestyle they’d like to enjoy. Even so, it can still play a useful role in supporting and supplementing your personal retirement savings.
How much NZ Super do I get if I’m eligible?
The payment is not means tested, but it does change depending on your tax code and whether or not you have a partner.
Here are the current NZ Super/pension rates from 1 April 2026 using tax code 'M' (the standard tax code if NZ Super is your primary income). For other tax codes, see the Work and Income website.
| Fortnightly amount (gross/before tax) | Fortnightly amount (net/after tax) | |
|---|---|---|
| Single (living alone) | $1,294.74 | $1,110.30 |
| Single (sharing accommodation) | $1,191.14 | $1,024.90 |
| Partners (both eligible) | $984.28 each | $854.08 each |
| Partners (only one person eligible) | $984.28 | $854.08 |
How much do I need to save for retirement?
So, the big question: how much do I need?
A great place to start is with our KiwiSaver Retirement calculator. It looks at your current KiwiSaver savings, makes a projection on what those savings will be at retirement, then compares your projected annual retirement income against what you’ll need to live your desired lifestyle in retirement: basic, comfortable or somewhere in between.
Once you have your baseline, you can tweak variables such as retirement age, lifespan, KiwiSaver contribution rate, KiwiSaver fund choice and the inclusion of NZ Super to understand how you might reach your goal.
Planning for retirement can feel like a lot to wrap your head around, but once you have a clearer idea of how much you might need (and for how long) it can be much easier to create a retirement plan that works for you. Your retirement is personal, and with the right tools and preparation, you can head into the future feeling more confident and in control.
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Explanatory notes:
- The Massey University 'New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines 2025' do not represent recommended levels of expenditure.
- The levels of expenditure shown in the guidelines may be used to assist in the development of projected retirement budgets, by providing information about actual levels of expenditure in retired households in standard expenditure categories.
- The guidelines are based on averages for quintiles.
- There are too few responses for spending in some expenditure sub-classes to permit reliable estimation; however, these responses can be included in the class estimation where there are more responses. As a result, the classes are not always the totals of the sub-classes.
- The Household Economic Survey, on which the guidelines are based, relies on participants to accurately record their expenditure, and is only for a two-week period, which may not represent a typical fortnight for that household.
- The guidelines should not be used as a substitute for professional advice specific to individual circumstances.
- There is no retirement age in New Zealand, but the age of eligibility for NZ Superannuation (currently 65) is commonly used as a proxy for this. The definition of a retired household follows from this, as being a household where one form of income is New Zealand Superannuation, a war pension or other government pension. However, it is recognised that a retired household may include one or more persons who are still working part-time or even full-time.