For generations of New Zealanders, a lifetime of work has come with the promise of a secure and happy retirement.

Today, however, that notion of golden years spent in relative comfort is slipping out of reach for a growing number of struggling retirees. Without a serious policy rethink, younger New Zealanders may face an even tougher reality when their time to leave the workforce comes.

Despite these challenges, policies tabled this election year amount to little more than tinkering around the edges.

National has proposed making it compulsory for all workers to contribute to KiwiSaver from mid-2028, while increasing default contribution rates and automatically enrolling newborns. It has also signalled it will campaign on raising the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super).

Labour, meanwhile, has ruled out raising the superannuation age or means-testing NZ Super, arguing KiwiSaver should remain a supplement rather than a replacement to the scheme.

Other parties have similarly focused on individual elements of retirement, rather than recognising it as a complex system of interconnected parts – where changes to one inevitably affect the others.

A bridge beginning to buckle

Imagine New Zealand’s retirement system as a suspension bridge. The three cables stabilising it........

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