Australian Pension Transfers

Key Benefits of Consolidating Your Retirement Savings

A legislation allowing Trans-Tasman portability of superannuation has now been passed and allows the transfer of funds between certain Australian and New Zealand schemes.

If you have worked in Australia at all since 1992 then it is likely you will have money sitting in an Australian Superannuation account. You can now transfer your Australian Superannuation savings to your NZ Funds KiwiSaver account.

For FAQs or more information on the new transfer rules
- Trans-tasman Portability of Retirement Savings

Why Might Someone Transfer Their Australian Super to KiwiSaver?

Convenience

Financial affairs can be complex – even more so when different legal, currency and tax jurisdictions are involved. Having a single retirement strategy that you can easily keep track of makes sense. It also makes sense for that strategy to be based in the country you live and in local currency.

Fees

If you have retirement savings in both New Zealand and Australian schemes you are likely to be paying unnecessary or duplicated fees. Furthermore, it is generally recognised that the fees associated with investing in KiwiSaver are lower than those for other managed funds and superannuation schemes in Australia and New Zealand.

Tax

The New Zealand and Australian tax regimes differ. Generally speaking, under the New Zealand tax regime investments in growth assets are taxed at a lower rate. Given that the majority of KiwiSaver members have a large allocation to growth assets, this equates to a typically lower tax rate for KiwiSaver compared to Australian superannuation.

Download an application form - Complete and send via post to P.O. Box 1100, Rotorua 3040