Let's get Kiwis saving for retirement, says Copeland

United Future finance spokesman Gordon Copeland today again urged the Government to bring in tax incentives to encourage New Zealanders to save for their retirement.

Citing research released this week showing that no more Kiwis were saving for retirement than was the case five years ago, Mr Copeland asked Finance Minister Michael Cullen in Parliament's Question Time today if he was concerned at New Zealanders' complacency in this matter.

He said the time was right for the introduction of tax incentives, with research showing 79 percent of New Zealanders believed that such incentives would increase their savings for retirement, and overall, 92 percent supporting the idea. Earlier this month, Mr Copeland told the Government that it had to turn around New Zealanders' attitude to savings: "First, we need to encourage private savings, and realistically we are not going to build this country a savings culture unless we are prepared to give some front end incentives via tax rebates or tax credits."

One of the most worrying aspects of Research Solutions' findings was that the proportion of people who think government will be able to adequately look after them in their retirement has doubled in the past three years to 18 percent.

"That is a truly frightening statistic and something the Government must move to change.

"It is a real worry that after all the effort put in in the past few years to making people think about retirement savings, that we can see that kind of figure. The message is just not getting through," he said.

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