The Super Steps glide path will change from 1 April 2026. Under the new structure, Super Steps members will be invested at 80% in growth assets for longer (an extra 5 years to age 50), reducing to 40% in growth assets at age 64 (previously this reduced to 20%).

Member funds under management ticked over $3 billion in October 2025. Around 80% of funds are invested in Balanced or Growth, evenly split between the two. PSS is the largest workplace savings scheme in New Zealand. As funds under management grow, costs to members continue to fall. For example, total fund charges for the Growth option decreased by 22.5% from $40 for every $10,000 invested to $31 over the last two years (not including the $66 annual per member administration fee). PSS fees are lower than most workplace savings or KiwiSaver schemes. 

Thank you to the more than 3,000 members who completed our recent survey – a response rate of 26% (2021: 20%). Initial results show overall satisfaction with the scheme remains high at 65% (2021: 67%). Satisfaction with investment performance remains a work in progress at 47% (2021: 54%). There is evidence that members are engaged in planning for retirement. For example, 75% of members have at least some idea of how much they need to save for a comfortable retirement (2021: 68%). We’re looking forward to receiving the full report. Themes that emerge from the open-ended question are always particularly useful as we chart the course for the years ahead. We will report back to you with key findings in the next issue of 2 Minutes on Super. And, of course, $200 Prezzy cards will be winging their way to two lucky members over the next few weeks.

Plan to top up your New Zealand Superannuation by around $980 a week if you and your partner want to enjoy a reasonably comfortable retirement in one of New Zealand’s larger cities. You’ll need a lump sum a little over $1 million to fund that gap over 25 years of retirement. That’s according to research from Massey University.

The last payment date for benefits for 2025 will be Friday 12 December. You need to factor this in if you are planning to withdraw money over the holidays. This applies to all benefits including partial withdrawals, first-home benefits, leaving service payments, significant financial hardship payments and withdrawals from retained member accounts. For a pre-Christmas payment, Mercer needs to receive the completed form from you (or Payroll in the case of leaving service payments) by Friday 5 December. At this point, a pre-Christmas payment may not be possible if you have a charge registered against your super. Investment changes requested and regular payments for retained members will be processed as usual. The helpline will also operate as usual over the holiday period.

Mercer’s financial advice team will be working until Friday 19 December and then taking a break until Monday 5 January. They will respond to any call-back requests submitted during the holiday period on their return.

A review New Zealand and international markets for the quarter ended 30 September 2025 from our investment manager, Mercer. Read now

Investment switches do not happen in real time even if you make the change online. If you decide to change your current investment, your account balance will be valued based on the unit price for the day you request the change, which is typically known two business days later. Your online account shows an estimated balance based on the latest available unit price, which could be two days old, so your balance will always be different at the time your switch (or withdrawal) takes effect. The value of your holdings may have increased or decreased when the change is processed. This is something to be aware of and important to consider particularly during times of increased market volatility.

As you know, sworn staff now have the option of reducing standard employee contributions from 7.5% of salary to 5%, 3% or 0%. You can also boost your savings if you wish by making additional voluntary employee contributions between 1% and 10% of salary. You can reduce or increase your contributions online by visiting the MyPolice Employee Self Service portal.

Predicting returns over a single year is always fraught, as demonstrated by Mercer’s periodic table of investment returns. Produced each year, the table colour codes 16 major asset classes and ranks how each performed on an annual basis over the last 10 years. The table illustrates the adage that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

It's been widely reported in the New Zealand media that cost of living pressures have seen a rise in the number of significant financial hardship applications from KiwiSaver members. We’ve noticed a similar trend.

You’ll be aware that, after 3 years’ membership of the scheme, you are entitled to make partial withdrawals from your member’s account subject to certain limits. There is a second benefit still in play that was introduced before the partial withdrawal facility. The in-service benefit allows you to make one withdrawal from your member’s account on reaching age 45 and/or 20 years’ service. However, the limits on these withdrawals are intertwined – they apply across both benefits. Our current policy is that each amount you withdraw under these benefits will be expressed as a percentage of the total amount available on the occasion of that withdrawal. When the aggregate sum of all withdrawals under these benefits reaches 100%, subsequent withdrawals are limited to 5% of your member’s account balance each year. For example, if you meet the criteria for an in-service benefit and have previously made partial withdrawals totalling 60% of your member’s account balance, the most you could withdraw as an in-service benefit is 40% of your member’s account balance.

PSS offers all members (including retained members) access to a limited financial advice service provided by Mercer. Its financial advice team can help with questions about PSS and KiwiSaver, choosing the best investment option for your circumstances, saving for a first home, managing your PSS funds in retirement and more. The team can provide specific advice in relation to your savings in PSS and general information on other types of financial products.

Mercer will ask for proof of bank account before paying a withdrawal unless they already have it on file. If you want a payment made to the same account number but with a different suffix, you will need to provide verification for that account. The evidence needs to show the name the account is in and the bank account number. The simplest way is to take a screenshot from your internet banking or a photocopy of the top of a bank statement or ask your bank to print and sign a verification of account slip. We can only pay benefits into an account in your name (the exception is hardship payments made direct to creditors). This means we cannot pay benefits into family trust accounts, business accounts or accounts in someone else’s name. These rules are about protecting you against fraud. It’s also required by our auditor. 

We will pay your benefit to your legally nominated personal representative(s) if you die while you are an active member of PSS or while you are entitled to a deferred benefit from the scheme. ‘Personal representative’ means the person(s) granted probate (where the deceased left a will) or letters of administration (where the deceased did not leave a will).