Generally, in order to be eligible for a Government contribution you must:
For every dollar you put in between 1 July and 30 June, the Government pays an extra 50 cents to your KiwiSaver savings, to a maximum of $521.43. That means you would need to contribute at least $1042.86 each year to receive the Government contribution (that is about $20 per week). If you have contributed less than $1042.86, the Government contribution is adjusted on a pro-rata basis. If you’ve only been eligible for part of the year, the maximum credit of $521.43 is reduced proportionately (based on the number of days in the year you’ve been a member).
As a general rule, if you are eligible for the whole period and earn an annual salary or wages of $35,000 or more and your contribution rate is 3%, you will likely get the maximum Government contribution. If you earn less than this, or you are self-employed and are not regularly contributing, you may want to consider topping up your KiwiSaver account to get your maximum entitlement.
Each July, we submit claims on our members’ behalf and arrange for this to be automatically credited to their account. If you are concerned you have not contributed enough to access the maximum Government contribution, please get in touch and we can advise the value of your contributions for the current year.