Paperwork needed to get funds
Not a quick process to get your Kiwisaver funds when you turn 65 says Shelley Hanna
QA friend of mine turned 65 recently and she was surprised how long it took to get her money out of Kiwisaver. Part of her problem was supplying the right ID. Surely once you are over 65 it should be transferred to your bank account whenever you need it?
ANever assume that a process involving the transfer of money will be straightforward. Everyone must comply with tightened Antimoney Laundering regulations and Kiwisaver providers must also run a number of checks before any money can be paid out.
Your friend struggled to find valid ID to support her application for withdrawal. If you read through a typical Retirement Withdrawal Application, you will realise it is not a simple process.
The preferred forms of identity are a current passport (with signature) or NZ firearms licence. If the applicant does not have a current passport or NZ firearms licence, then a current NZ driver’s licence can be provided but this is not sufficient on its own
— it must be supported by another document such as a Supergold card or recent bank statement in your name. If the applicant does not have a current driver’s licence, passport or firearms licence then they will need to provide an 18+ identity card along with a full birth certificate or certificate of citizenship.
Copies must be certified by a person who has legal authority to take statutory declarations, such as a Justice of the Peace, a lawyer, a chartered accountant or Notary Public.
Any Kiwisaver member who has become eligible for NZ Super (currently age 65) is entitled to withdraw their money. Since April 1, 2020 this includes those 65 or over who have been members for less than five years, if they are happy to forgo any remaining annual Government top up.
Not only do you have to confirm your identity, you also have to provide proof of your address by supplying correspondence showing your name and address from a government agency, utility company or council rates notice less than 90 days old. Any copy must be certified (or you can submit the original).
You must also provide evidence of your New Zealand bank account, to which the money is to be paid either with a pre-printed deposit slip or a certified copy (or original) bank statement in your name. Kiwisaver money will only be paid out to a bank in your name in New Zealand (or a joint account incorporating your name).
Before paying out any Kiwisaver money to eligible members, the provider must check that they were eligible for all the government annual contributions received. Members are asked for information on any periods since they joined Kiwisaver when they were not resident in New Zealand. If they spent time working abroad but continued contributing to Kiwisaver and received the annual contribution in error, it will be returned to Inland Revenue. This part of the form must be signed under oath.
You should allow at least a month to complete the process. The application forms are readily available on the internet — get help at your local library if you don’t have a computer or phone your provider on their 0800 number and ask them to post a form to you. Once you have the form in front of you, you can go through it methodically and gather the information you need.
For subsequent withdrawals members can sign the form themselves and not re-do the statutory declaration — some providers have a different form for subsequent withdrawal applications.
Even if you don’t need the money at 65 it may be a good idea to make a modest withdrawal so that you can get all the paperwork sorted. Then later on if you find yourself in need of funds at short notice you can access your Kiwisaver quickly and easily.
Shelley Hanna is a Financial Adviser with Peak Portfolio Management Ltd which holds a licence FSP702451 issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice services. Disclosure information is available at www.peak.net.nz or call 06 8703838. The information provided in this article is of a general nature and should not be relied on as a recommendation to invest in a financial product. Send your Kiwisaver questions to shelley. hanna@peak.net.nz
Kiwis will be among the first in the world to give Elon Musk’s Starlink a whirl. An update overnight on Starlink’s official Reddit page, listing its next territories for launch, included “New Zealand: launching in parts of the South Island and expanding in the coming weeks”.
Separately, Starlink applied to the US Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to install its terminals on moving vehicles including trucks, RVS, boats and aircraft — although Musk tweeted that Tesla cars would not be part of the picture. The dish is too big.
Starlink — a subsidiary of the Muskowned Spacex — is in the process of creating a global satellite broadband network.
So far, Spacex rockets have launched around 1000 Starlink satellites. As more are launched, coverage expands. Eventually, Musk wants a swarm of 12,000 satellites, which will provide fast internet to every corner of the planet. Musk has talked of a constellation of up to 30,000 birds. (For context, the 1000 Starlink satellites already in orbit account for about 25 per cent of all satellites).
Starlink originally said delivery for most places would be in the second half of this year, but it seems like
South Islanders — or some of them — will have a chance to get a jump on the queue. There’s a $799 up-front payment (plus $114 shipping) for “Dishy” the large pizza-sized dish, a tripod mount, 30m of proprietary cable and a Wi-fi router.
The ongoing service charge is $159 per month. That’s so-so by rural broadband standards. But where most satellite broadband comes with a stingy data cap, Starlink is offering unlimited data (though it’s also worth noting the service adds an “at this time” qualifier).
And its promised speeds are more city landline-like than satellite-like.
Starlink’s low-orbiting birds are capable of 150 megabit-per-second downloads and 30-50 Mbps uploads, with 20-40 milliseconds of lag. That’s faster than other satellite services already — certainly fine for Netflix, multiplayer online gaming or Zoom, if it does what it says on the tin — and Musk promises up 60 times that speed once Starlink’s constellation is fully in place.
It certainly seems tasty on paper, and early — if sketchy — accounts from trial users are promising. Results are enough, or should be enough, to make today’s rural broadband providers nervous — and even to give all landline and mobile internet providers a slight chill of fear.
But as with Version 1.0 of any product, some gremlins are guaranteed. My colleague Juha Saarinen, who lives in a remote corner of Northland, is angling to give Starlink a workout. You might want to wait to see how he goes wrestling with Dishy before you take it on.
South Islanders are promised the actual kit in a few weeks, but anyone, anywhere can place an order — although those who ordered one of Musk’s cars in the early days of Tesla will know he’s at times a tad prone to overly ambitious delivery projections, and those who’ve bought his solar products will know that local support has at times been slow and sub-optimal.
With Starlink, the DIY install looms as a possible pain-point.
The idea is that most punters will install the dish themselves, following instructions provided by an app. What happens if you need help? Will a local agent be appointed to help out?
The Herald emailed Starlink to inquire. A few days later, a reply came back from parent company Spacex, saying it was too overloaded to field questions about local support. Hopefully, the company will be more responsive to customers.
If you want to jump straight in, Starlink says you can return your kit and get a refund within 30 days if you don’t find service up to snuff.