What ACT's tax-free KiwiSaver would be worth at 65, and why NZ First's figures rest on a disputed rate

A 25-year-old earning $60,000 with $10,000 in KiwiSaver would reach 65 with about $859,000 under ACT's plan to stop taxing KiwiSaver earnings. Under current settings, the same person ends up with about $651,000. Those figures come from modelling in a Greg Smith column in the NZ Herald.

It is the first modelling of ACT's policy alongside those of National, Labour, NZ First and TOP. The Herald ran five example New Zealanders through each party's settings and reported their balances at 65 in today's dollars. It assumed a 7% annual return after fees and tax, 2% inflation and 3% annual wage growth.

ACT would leave contribution rates on the path already set in law, and it opposes compulsion. Instead, it would remove tax on qualifying KiwiSaver and superannuation investment earnings. It would also end the Government contribution for members who get employer contributions. The Herald treated the tax change as a 1.25 percentage-point boost to returns, and also tested 1% and 1.5%.

The policy is recent. A KiwiSaver adviser's comparison dated "as at 14 September 2026" still listed ACT as having "no standalone policy released". The same page said Labour had "just released" its KiwiSaver policy.

Here is how the five people fare, according to the Herald:

Person	Now	Labour	National	TOP	ACT	NZ First
25, $60k income, $10k saved	$651k	$743k	$874k	$853k	$859k	$1.36m
35, $80k, $26k saved, takes $40k out for a first home at 38	$381k	$443k	$534k	$517k	$457k	$873k
45, $90k, $45k saved	$337k	$368k	$413k	$401k	$390k	$590k
55, $70k, $73k saved	$182k	$189k	$198k	$192k	$197k	$242k
40, part-time on $35k, $15k saved, not contributing	$50k	$132k	$242k	$236k	$66k	$355k

ACT's plan does well for the young earner, who has 40 years of tax-free growth ahead. It does least for the part-timer: $66,000, against $242,000 under National. Removing tax only helps money in the account, and this person has $15,000 there and isn't adding to it, so their balance rises only from $50,000.

That group is large. Around 41% of KiwiSaver members weren't contributing regularly at the end of the latest reporting year, the Herald reported, though that figure includes children, retirees and people outside paid work.

Labour and National both end up with a 6% employer contribution by 2032. National has published its phase-in: employee and employer rates each rise 0.5 percentage points a year from 2029, reaching 6% in 2032. Labour has given the 2032 employer figure but not the full schedule. The real difference is on the employee side. National would require workers to put in 6%, while Labour's default employee rate would stay at 4%. For the 25-year-old, that adds up to $131,000 by 65.

Higher contributions cost take-home pay. The Herald calculated that a $60,000 earner putting in 4% gives up about $46 a week before tax, and $69 a week at 6%. For a $35,000 part-timer, going from nothing to 6% costs $40 a week.

National's compulsion would also reach the self-employed. They would have to contribute 4% of their income from 1 July 2028, rising to 6% by 2032, with no employer contribution alongside it, according to the adviser's comparison.

NZ First produces the biggest balances in every example. But the sources disagree on what its policy actually is.

The Herald describes compulsory membership, with employee and employer rates each rising to 8% at first and 10% eventually, offset by tax cuts. NZ First hasn't published a timetable, so the Herald assumed 8% in 2028 and 10% in 2032. The Spinoff reported in May that the party wants minimum contributions raised to 8%, with a goal of 10%. The adviser's table lists NZ First at 5% from the employee and 5% from the employer, or 10% combined.

Two of the three sources support 8% rising to 10%. If the adviser's figure is right, the Herald's NZ First balances would be far too high, and NZ First hasn't published a schedule that would settle it.

All three agree on the newborn policy: every citizen enrolled at birth with a $1,000 Crown contribution. RNZ reported that the $1,000 wouldn't apply retrospectively, so children already born would miss out. National now has a similar idea, and Peters said National "blatantly stole" it, the Herald reported. The Greens and Te Pāti Māori hadn't released specific contribution policies when the Herald column was written.

None of this is law. Each policy needs an election result on 7 November and then legislation, the adviser notes. For now, the minimum is 3.5% from the employee and 3.5% from the employer. Both rise to 4% on 1 April 2028, and that change is already law.

The Government also adds 25 cents for every dollar a member puts in, up to $260.72 a year, for people aged 16 to 65 earning $180,000 or less. Under ACT, members who get employer contributions would lose that payment. To get the full amount under current rules, you need to put in at least $1,042.88 a year. Your provider can tell you whether you're on track to reach that before the scheme year ends.

If you want to see where you'd land, start with the Herald's row closest to your age and income.