How are you doing in KiwiSaver?

In May 2013, this column published a reader’s letter that included this: “Mary, will you ever desist from your KiwiSaver ramblings? . . . The fact of the matter is for the majority of muppets who are investing in this scam they will be lucky to end up receiving $ 1.05 to their dollar after 20 years of investing.

“It is a good form of compulsory saving, but that’s all it is. Don’t hold it out to be anything more. The returns will be abysmal. I stand to be corrected but I guarantee in 20 years I’ll be right, not you.”

My reply included, “As for your 20- year forecast, I’d be happy to take you on, but 2027 is a long way off. So I’ve made a note to get back to you on KiwiSaver’s 10th anniversary, in July 2017.

“Meanwhile, my own KiwiSaver account balance is almost double what I’ve put in — despite being invested fully in shares through the global financial crisis. And I’m selfemployed so I don’t get employee contributions. Many have done better still.” Since then, I’ve continued to do very well. But I’m interested in seeing how readers’ KiwiSaver accounts have performed.

And you may be interested in your own results too.

If you’ve never made any withdrawals from KiwiSaver, and you’ve made regular contributions throughout — or perhaps skipped just a month or two between jobs — please email me the following: 1. The year you joined KiwiSaver. 2. A close estimate of how much of your own money you’ve put in. Don’t include employer and government contributions and returns. See below for how to get this total. 3. Your current balance. 4. Whether you are ( a) an employee or ( b) self- employed or other non- employee. 5. The name of your provider. 6. Whether your fund is defensive, conservative, balanced, growth or aggressive. To find out, go to this page on the KiwiSaver Fund Finder, tinyurl. com/ CheckFund. Fill in your fund, and on the right side it tells you the fund type. While you’re at it, you might want to read about your fund.

If you’ve switched providers but stayed in the same type of fund, that’s okay. If you’ve changed fund type — for example, from conservative to growth — say “Changed fund type”.

There are three ways to find out how much money you’ve put in. The first way is to phone or email your provider. Almost all providers have told the Commission for Financial Capability that they can give you a grand total since you joined their scheme. If you’ve been with more than one provider, ask both.

Failing that, add up the totals on your annual statements from your provider. These statements have to list your total member contributions and also voluntary additional contributions for the year. Include both. Some providers also put your grand total on the statement, which will save you a bit of addition.

The third way is to go to kiwisaver. govt. nz, click on My KiwiSaver on the top right corner, and sign up if you haven’t already done so. That will give your total deductions from wages or salary and also any voluntary contributions you’ve made through Inland Revenue. It doesn’t include any contributions made directly to your provider, so you’ll need to add those.

If your total isn’t quite up to date, estimate your latest contributions. This doesn’t have to be dead accurate. We’re just trying to get a good idea of how KiwiSaver is going.

Send your numbered info to mary@ maryholm. com with “KiwiSaver performance” in the subject line by Sunday, June 25. I’ll summarise the results in the July 1 column, to mark KiwiSaver’s 10th anniversary.

I won’t publish anyone’s name. Thanks.