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30 March 2015
Reading time: 2 minutes
Posted
by
Tom Hartmann
, 4 Comments
See our guide for the latest rates of NZ Super.
With the NZ Super weekly rate for individuals rising to $375, a question comes to mind: how can anyone pay rent with that amount and still have anything left over for living expenses?
NZ Super seems to do a good job of keeping people out of hardship – if you don’t have high housing costs. And KiwiSaver can help you get on the property ladder sooner and pay off a mortgage well before retirement.
As of this week, the amount of your KiwiSaver savings you can withdraw to buy a first home is increasing.
Now even what we call “the big five hundy” – the $521 you can get from the government each year – can be used. So you can take out all but the $1,000 kick-start that you get when you join.
There's also the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant, which means that, depending how long you’ve contributed to KiwiSaver, the government will give you:
Taking into account housing prices these days, you can use the HomeStart first home buyer's grant for houses that cost up to the following amounts in these areas:
As always, there are conditions for this first home buyer's grant, so for the details try kaingaora.govt.nz/home-ownership/first-home-grant/, email kiwisaver.enquiries@hnzc.co.nz or call 0508 935 266.
The new KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal amounts and HomeStart grants can give you a boost if you’re buying a first home – it’s worth looking into to use them to your advantage.
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Comments (4)
Comments
5 October 23
Julie MM
Can I use my KiwiSaver to buy a new home for me and my family??
4 September 22
Jennifer
By the end of the year, I should be able to buy my first home with the help of my KiwiSaver hopefully.
I am at the moment on a ‘balanced fund’, should I change over to a ‘first time home buyer fund’ now to make it easier to withdraw.
21 August 18
Tom
Thanks for your comment. The cap does not apply to a KiwiSaver withdrawal of your savings. When buying your first home you may be able to make a one-off withdrawal of most of your KiwiSaver savings – as long as you’ve been a contributing KiwiSaver member for at least three years. You also may even qualify if you have owned property previously.
17 August 18
is the cap on house prices only for the homestart grant? or does it apply to withdrawal of saving as well? If you were to only use withdrawal could you get a house for more than your regions cap?
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