Wellington, July 15 NZPA - More than a third of New Zealanders
aged between 18 and 65 say they are going to join KiwiSaver, poll
results released today show.

The Research New Zealand poll taken in the four days leading up
to the official start of KiwiSaver on July 1 asked 403 New
Zealanders if they had either joined a KiwiSaver scheme or intended
to within 12 months.

Of respondents aged between 8 and 65, 35 percent said they had
or intended to join a KiwiSaver scheme within 12 months.

The research showed that young people, women and those on low
incomes were less likely to join KiwiSaver.

The poll found that 40 percent of men compared with 31 percent of
women had or were intending to join within a year.

Of those aged 18 to 29, a quarter said they had or planned to
have a KiwiSaver account as opposed to 45 percent of 40 to 49 year
olds and 43 percent of 60 to 65 year olds.

The two main reasons for not planning to join were that the
respondent was already a member of a retirement savings scheme (33
percent) or that the respondent could not afford to join (14
percent).

Research New Zealand director Emanuel Kalafatelis said a lot of
marketing would be needed to convert the potential shown in the poll
into actual KiwiSaver accounts.

"Because people say they will join up to KiwiSaver does not mean
that they will act on their intention. The actual rate of uptake
over the next 12 months will depend on how well KiwiSaver and
KiwiSaver financial products are marketed," he said.