New KiwiSaver glossary released


CFFC has teamed up with KiwiSaver providers, the industry group Workplace Savings, and the Financial Markets Authority to create a new KiwiSaver glossary. The effort promotes standard, accessible language across the industry to help the public navigate the scheme.

The list of definitions covers the key terms that KiwiSaver members might come across on a website or disclosure document, ones that could remain just jargon to readers were it not for a helpful explanation.

“KiwiSaver has come a long way in the past 10 years to become a mainstay in retirement savings,” said David Boyle, CFFC’s GM of Education. “But like the funds management industry in general, it can certainly fall into having its own separate language.

“The new glossary will help people with plain English definitions to make sure they can understand the terms and make more-informed decisions.”

The glossary also introduces alternatives to complicated terms like “contributions holiday” or “member tax credit”, which are not either as pleasant as a holiday or related to tax, respectively. The preferred terms, for example, are “savings suspension” and “government contribution”.

You can find the Sorted version of the new KiwiSaver glossary here.