KiwiSaver Contribution Rates: 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%?

If you are an employee enrolled in KiwiSaver, you choose your contribution rate from a fixed list: 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your before-tax pay. There is nothing in between — you cannot elect 5% or a flat dollar amount.

3% is both the minimum and the default. If you were auto-enrolled when you started a job and never filled in a KS2 form, you are almost certainly on 3%. That is a decision by omission, and it is the single most common thing people discover when they look properly at a pay slip.

On top of whatever you choose, your employer must pay the compulsory employer contribution of at least 3% of your gross pay. That contribution is subject to ESCT (employer superannuation contribution tax), which is deducted from the employer's contribution before it lands in your account — so the amount credited is a little less than the headline 3%.

The table below shows, for three common salaries, how much goes into your KiwiSaver each week at each rate, and how much less you take home compared with staying on 3%. Figures assume no student loan and are calculated from current PAYE brackets and the ACC earner levy.

Read it this way: on $80,000, moving from 3% to 6% puts roughly $46.15 more into your KiwiSaver every week and takes the same amount out of your bank account. Nothing is lost — the money changes destination, not ownership.

This is the most common misunderstanding. Employee KiwiSaver contributions in New Zealand are deducted from your pay after PAYE has been worked out on your gross earnings. They are not a pre-tax deduction like salary sacrifice in some other countries.

So if you earn $80,000 and lift your rate from 3% to 8%, your PAYE and ACC levy do not change at all. Your take-home drops by exactly 5% of your gross pay. The upside is the employer contribution of about $2,400 a year on $80,000, which you receive whether you contribute 3% or 10% — which is why not contributing at all (a savings suspension) is the only choice that genuinely leaves money on the table.

1. Decide the rate you want — 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%.
2. Tell your employer in writing. The formal route is Inland Revenue's KS2 deduction form, but most employers accept an email or a change in the payroll self-service portal.
3. The new rate applies from the next practical pay period. Check the following pay slip to confirm payroll actually applied it.
4. You can usually increase your rate whenever you like. Decreases are limited to once every three months unless your employer agrees to do it sooner.

If you need to stop contributing altogether, that is a savings suspension through Inland Revenue rather than a rate change — and while it is in place your employer's 3% stops too.

There is no universally right answer, but three practical rules help:

• Step up with a pay rise. Raising your rate at the same time as an increase means the extra saving comes from money you were not already spending. Our pay rise calculator shows the two effects side by side.
• Check for an employer match above 3%. Some employment agreements match 4% or more. If yours does, contributing below the match is the one case where a lower rate costs you real money.
• Don't suspend if you can avoid it. Suspending forfeits both the employer contribution and the annual government contribution — a much bigger loss than the difference between 3% and 4%.

If you are saving for a first home rather than retirement, the withdrawal rules matter as much as the rate — see when you can withdraw your KiwiSaver.

Every figure on this page is calculated in your browser from the same engine behind our calculators: current PAYE brackets, the ACC earner levy of 1.67% up to the levy cap, and your chosen KiwiSaver rate applied to gross pay after PAYE. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

Rate rules and forms are per Inland Revenue's KiwiSaver guidance for employees. Contribution rates, ESCT thresholds and the government contribution cap are set by legislation and reviewed periodically — always confirm your own situation with Inland Revenue or your KiwiSaver provider. This guide is general information, not financial advice.