Your goal. Spending is in today's dollars and rises with inflation. From the date you start living off your savings, the planner works out the smallest pot that would cover your spending (less NZ Super) until the age you chose. For a couple, that's until the younger of you reaches that age. The pot is invested at the rate you choose for retirement and drawn down monthly. It's all worked out in today's dollars, using the investment rate less inflation.

What you have. Each asset grows month by month until you start drawing, then it's added to one pot.

• KiwiSaver. The balance grows at the fund type's rate. Contributions are a % of salary, held flat. The default rate is 3.5% for both employee and employer from 1 April 2026, rising to 4% from 1 April 2028. Employer contributions are shown before ESCT. The government adds 25c per $1 you put in, up to $260.72 a year, and nothing if you earn over $180,000. Contributions stop when that person retires. KiwiSaver can generally only be withdrawn from 65.
• Investment property. Grows at the rate you set (5.0% to start). NZ house prices have risen about 7% a year since 1992 (REINZ HPI), but about 4.3% a year over the 10 years to May 2026 (Opes Partners), and economists expect around 5% from here. With debts & costs on, it's assumed to be sold when you start drawing. What's added to the pot is the value less the loan still owing and selling costs. The weekly top-up needed to hold the property along the way (rent less costs and repayments) is shown on the card. It isn't taken out of the pot, so make sure your budget covers it.
• Managed funds and term deposits. Grow at the fund type's rate (or your own), plus any monthly top-ups until you start drawing. Term deposits use the main-bank 1-year rate as at November 2026 (4.0%).
• Something else. A lump sum such as an inheritance, counted from the age you expect to receive it. If it arrives after you've started drawing, it's added to the pot in that year.

Fund types. Morningstar KiwiSaver Survey (December 2025), 10-year average returns after fees but before tax: Defensive 4.2%, Conservative 5.0%, Balanced 6.9%, Growth 8.2%, High growth 9.5%.

NZ Super (from 1 April 2026, after tax at the M code) is $28,868 a year for a single person living alone, or $22,206 a year each for a couple. It's paid from each person's 65th birthday and is assumed to keep pace with inflation. For a couple, choosing the later retirement assumes your spending in the years between is covered some other way, such as the working partner's income.

Closing the gap shows the extra monthly saving needed from now until you start drawing, invested at your retirement rate and rising with inflation. "Or spend up to" is the most you could spend each year and still make your money last until the age you chose.

Spending suggestions are from Massey University's Retirement Expenditure Guidelines (2025, metro households). All figures are before tax and assume steady returns. Real returns go up and down, and a run of poor years early in retirement can make money run out sooner. This is general information, not financial advice. Talk to an adviser about your own situation.