KiwiSaver Deposit

For many NZ’s KiwiSaver has been a great tool to enable people to get into their first home.

The beauty of it is, that if you are employed you put in money, as does your employer and the government put in funds too.

When it comes time to withdraw for a home you can use all these funds except $1000. Meaning that the money you can use isn’t just the funds you have saved yourself.

There are no restrictions around how much you earn, or the house you can buy, which makes it suitable for everyone.

The main criteria is that you have contributed for 3 years – typically this is not a problem as you’ll need to do this to build up a sufficient level of savings, and that you are going to live in the home – so you can’t be buying an investment property.

I’ve had examples where this has impacted people wanting to buy in another city, as they can’t afford to buy in their own. Unfortunately, it means they can’t access their KiwiSaver to buy.

A common question is about transferring back your Australian super to KiwiSaver. Unfortunately, you can not use these funds to grow your deposit.

You also must be buying your own home which means you have to live in it for at least 6 months.

So, KiwiSaver provides a great foundation for your home savings.