By Jean Strock, Financial Adviser – 23 November 2021
Up until now New Zealand Superannuation has been universally available to anyone over 65 ordinarily resident in New Zealand on the date of application, who is a NZ citizen or has residency.
You must have lived in New Zealand for at least 10 years since the age of 20, 5 since the age of 50. In other words you could spend 35 years of your working life offshore and receive the same benefit as someone working and paying tax in New Zealand for their entire life.
The New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Fair Residency) Amendment Act 2018 sets out to increase the required period of residency from 10 to 20 years but has now been amended to phase in changes more slowly. Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson felt the timeline did not allow older people time to adjust their plans.
Time spent in countries with which New Zealand has social security arrangements is included. These include Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands. South Korea will be included in 2022. Those who have lived in Australia for most of their working life will have to wait until the age of eligibility for the Australian pension which will increase to 67 by 2023.
The new time line is below
Source : NZ Herald