KiwiSaver Contribution Rate Calculator NZ
This calculator shows what different KiwiSaver contribution rates cost you now and build for you later, using the rates New Zealand employees can choose: 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% of gross pay. You enter your gross annual income, current KiwiSaver balance, years until retirement, an assumed annual return, and your employer's contribution rate. For every rate side by side, the calculator works out your yearly contribution in dollars, your take-home pay per week after tax and the ACC earner levy, and your projected balance at retirement, combining your own contributions with your employer's over the years remaining. This shows the real trade-off in one place: moving up a rate reduces your weekly pay by a modest amount, while the extra contribution compounds with your employer's money and your assumed return into a meaningfully larger balance by retirement. Use it to test whether you can afford a higher rate, to weigh a small pay cut now against a larger nest egg later, or to see what a lower rate is really costing you long term. The results exclude the government contribution and tax on investment returns within your KiwiSaver fund, and rely on your own assumed return rather than a guaranteed one, so treat the figures as an indicative guide to the trade-off, not a guaranteed forecast, and check current KiwiSaver rules for the latest rates.
| Your rate | Your yearly contribution | Take-home per week | Balance at retirement |
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Balances include your contribution plus the employer contribution, grown at your assumed return; the government contribution and contributions tax are not modelled here. Take-home is after tax and the ACC levy. Check current KiwiSaver rules. Estimate only, not financial advice.
How it works
For each rate, the calculator works out your yearly contribution as that percentage of your gross income, your take-home after tax, the ACC levy and your contribution, and your projected balance at retirement. The balance grows your current balance and each year's combined contribution, yours plus the employer's, at your assumed return. Laying the rates side by side shows what a higher rate costs your weekly pay against what it builds by retirement.
Worked example
On $70,000, moving from 3.5% to 6% costs about $34 a week in take-home, but over 25 years at a 5% return the extra contributions can add tens of thousands of dollars to your final balance. The table shows the exact figures for your situation so the trade-off is concrete.
Related calculators
- KiwiSaver Calculator: project your balance.
- Bonus to KiwiSaver Calculator: a bonus into KiwiSaver.
- PAYE Calculator: take-home pay.