KiwiSaver Switch Break-Even Calculator NZ 2026/27

Quick answer: Switching to a genuinely lower-fee KiwiSaver fund almost always pays off, and usually fast, because most transfers are free and the days your money sits out of the market cost only a small amount of foregone growth. On the defaults this page starts with, a switch saving $150 of fees in year one recovers its cost in 2 months and leaves you $15,111 better off after 20 years, $206,255 rather than $191,143. Enter your balance, fees and expected return below to see your own break-even point in months, and how much extra you could build by staying invested afterwards.

This calculator works out whether switching KiwiSaver provider or fund is actually worth it, by weighing the ongoing fee saving against any one-off cost of switching and any days your money spends out of the market during the transfer. KiwiSaver fees are charged as a percentage of your whole balance every year, so even a small difference between two funds compounds into a large sum over decades, but the switch itself is not always completely free of friction. Enter your current balance, your combined annual contributions from you, your employer and the government, your risk profile, which sets the expected long-run return using the Financial Markets Authority's standard projection assumptions, your current and prospective fund's annual fees, any one-off switching cost, and how many days your money might sit out of the market during the transfer. The calculator returns your break-even point, meaning how long it takes for the fee saving to cover the switching cost, plus the extra balance you end up with over your chosen investment horizon once that break-even point has passed. It is built for anyone comparing KiwiSaver funds or providers, whether you are chasing a lower fee, a different risk profile, or better service. Results are estimates for planning, not a guarantee of future performance.

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Verification & Methodology
Return assumptions: Defensive/Conservative 2.5% · Balanced 3.5% · Growth 4.5% · Aggressive 5.5% a year, net of typical fees and after tax at the 28% prescribed investor rate (PIR). These are the standard long-run projection figures used in KiwiSaver Fund Updates, set under the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014.
Contribution settings: default employee and employer KiwiSaver rate 3.5% from 1 April 2026 (rising to 4% from 1 April 2028). Government contribution: 25 cents per $1 of member contributions, capped at $260.72 a year, requiring $1,042.86 of member contributions to receive the full amount, and removed above $180,000 income from 1 July 2025.
Switching cost: New Zealand KiwiSaver providers cannot charge an exit fee. Enter a switch cost only if your specific arrangement, for example an advised platform, charges one.
Method: the calculator holds investment performance constant between the two funds you enter, applies only the fee difference to the projected return, deducts any switch cost and time-out-of-market cost once at the start, then compounds each balance plus annual contributions over the years you choose.
Last verified: July 2026, against Inland Revenue and Financial Markets Authority published figures.
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2 months
to recover the cost of switching, then pure saving after that
Fee saving in year one$150
Extra from switching after 20 years$15,111
Balance if you stay$191,143
Balance if you switch$206,255

This is a projection, not a promise. It holds investment performance constant between the two funds and treats time out of the market as a one-off loss applied at the start. It assumes a constant average annual return, a fee and PIR that do not change, and contributions added steadily each year. Actual switch processing times and actual fund returns will vary by provider. Not financial advice.

Next step: If switching clears its break-even point quickly, get the actual current fee and net return for the specific fund you are considering, for example from its Product Disclosure Statement or quarterly Fund Update (Generate KiwiSaver publishes both), or compare funds side by side on the Sorted KiwiSaver Fund Finder, then run those exact figures back through the calculator above before you request a transfer.

How this calculator works

This calculator compares two futures for your KiwiSaver money: staying where you are, or switching to a different fund or provider. Both scenarios start from the same current balance and receive the same annual contributions from you, your employer and the government, so the only real difference between them is the fee you pay and, for the switching scenario, any one-off cost or delay involved in making the move. Your expected return is set by your risk profile, using the Financial Markets Authority's standard long-run projection assumptions of 2.5% for Defensive/Conservative funds, 3.5% for Balanced, 4.5% for Growth and 5.5% for Aggressive, each already net of typical fees and tax at the 28% prescribed investor rate (PIR). The calculator then adjusts that reference return by the exact percentage-point gap between your current fund's fee and the fee of the fund you are considering, since a lower fee adds directly to your net return when the two funds hold broadly similar underlying investments. If you enter a one-off switch cost or a number of days your money may sit out of the market during the transfer, that amount is deducted once, at the start of the switching scenario, as a small opportunity cost, before both balances are compounded forward over the number of years you choose. The result is your break-even point, meaning how long the fee saving takes to repay the cost of switching, plus the projected balance under each option.

Worked example

Take someone with a $25,000 KiwiSaver balance, adding $5,000 a year in total from their own pay, their employer and the government, invested in a Balanced fund. Their current provider charges a 1.00% annual fee, and they are considering a fund charging 0.40%, a saving of 0.60 percentage points. Using the FMA's 3.5% Balanced return assumption, that fee gap lifts their net return to about 4.1% if they switch. Assuming the transfer itself is free but their money sits out of the market for 5 business days, the only cost is a small amount of foregone growth of around $14 on their balance. Because the ongoing fee saving on a $25,000 balance is about $150 in the first year alone, the break-even point arrives in about 2 months, after which every extra month invested is a genuine saving rather than a cost being repaid. Left to compound for 20 years, the calculator projects a balance of about $191,000 if they stay put, versus about $206,000 if they switch, a difference of roughly $15,000, entirely from paying a lower fee on the same underlying investment performance. If a specific switch carried a real cost, for example an adviser fee, entering that figure simply pushes the break-even point out further, without changing the size of the eventual saving once it has been recovered.

Why time out of the market matters, and why it is usually small

When you switch KiwiSaver provider, your old scheme sells down your investments and transfers the proceeds to your new provider, who reinvests the money once it arrives. For however many days that takes, your balance may sit as cash rather than being invested, so it misses out on the fund's normal daily movement, up or down. In New Zealand this window is usually short, often around ten working days, and KiwiSaver providers are not permitted to charge an exit fee for leaving, so most switches cost nothing beyond this brief gap. Because the gap is measured in days rather than years, the dollar cost is typically small next to the ongoing fee saving from a genuinely cheaper fund, which is why break-even points are often measured in weeks or months rather than years. The exception is if your specific arrangement does carry a real switching cost, in which case entering that figure shows exactly how much longer the fee saving needs to work before it is worthwhile.

What this calculator assumes

  • The fund you are switching to invests in a broadly similar way to your current fund, so the same underlying gross investment performance is assumed for both. This calculator isolates the fee difference and does not predict which specific fund will outperform.
  • Investment returns follow the FMA's standard projection assumptions for your chosen risk category, already net of typical fees and tax at the 28% PIR. These are long-run planning figures, not a guarantee of future performance.
  • Contributions are added once a year and compound at the same rate as the rest of the balance, an approximation of a regular pay-cycle contribution.
  • Any one-off switch cost and days out of the market are applied once, at the start, as a reduction to the switching scenario's starting balance.
  • KiwiSaver contribution settings: employee and employer default rate 3.5% from 1 April 2026 (rising to 4% from 1 April 2028); government contribution of 25 cents per $1 of member contributions, capped at $260.72 a year, requiring $1,042.86 of member contributions, and removed above $180,000 income from 1 July 2025.

Who this calculator is for

This is for any KiwiSaver member weighing up a switch, whether to a lower-fee fund with the same provider, to a different provider altogether, or to a different risk profile at the same time. It is especially useful if you already know there is a meaningful fee gap between your current fund and an alternative, and want to check whether any switching cost or time out of the market is worth clearing before the ongoing saving takes over. It is also a useful sanity check if a fund you are considering is actually more expensive, since the calculator will show plainly that there is no fee-based case to switch.

Related calculators

Official NZ sources

This calculator is built from primary New Zealand sources. Always confirm current figures against the official source for your situation:

Frequently asked questions

Does it cost anything to switch KiwiSaver provider or fund?

In almost all cases, no. KiwiSaver providers cannot charge an exit fee to leave, and most transfers between schemes are free. Some advised or bundled products occasionally build in a cost, which is why this calculator lets you enter one if it applies to you. For a standard direct transfer, enter $0.

What does time out of the market mean in a KiwiSaver switch?

When you switch schemes, your old provider sells down your investments and transfers the proceeds to your new provider, who then reinvests the money. For however many days that takes, your balance may sit as cash rather than being invested, so it misses out on the fund's normal daily movement. This calculator treats that as a small one-off opportunity cost, measured in days.

How much difference does a 0.5 percentage point fee gap actually make?

A 0.5 percentage point lower fee adds roughly 0.5 percentage points to your net annual return, because the fee is charged on your whole balance every year, not just new contributions. Compounded over 20 to 30 years that can be tens of thousands of dollars, which is usually far more than any realistic switching cost.

What return assumptions does this calculator use?

The standard Financial Markets Authority (FMA) long-run projection assumptions used across KiwiSaver Fund Updates: 2.5% for Defensive/Conservative funds, 3.5% for Balanced, 4.5% for Growth and 5.5% for Aggressive, each stated net of typical fees and after tax at the 28% prescribed investor rate (PIR).

Is my current fund guaranteed to keep performing at the assumed rate?

No. These are long-run planning assumptions, not a forecast or a promise. Actual returns vary by year and by fund. Use this calculator to compare the fee difference between two options on a level playing field, not to predict your exact future balance.

Should I switch KiwiSaver provider, or just switch fund with my current provider?

Both are covered by this calculator. You might move to a cheaper fund with the same provider, to a different provider entirely, or change both provider and risk profile at once. Enter the fee for whichever fund you are actually moving to.

How long does a KiwiSaver transfer take?

It varies by provider, but most switches in New Zealand are free and take around ten working days. Check the expected transfer time with your new provider and enter it as the number of days out of the market; if you are unsure, a conservative estimate is safer than assuming zero.

Does this include my employer and government KiwiSaver contributions?

Yes. Enter your combined annual contribution figure, meaning your own contribution plus your employer's (at least 3.5%, rising to 4% from 1 April 2028) and the government contribution of up to $260.72 a year, added together.