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Jane Wrightson: Retirement Commissioner on the number of self-employed people contributing to their KiwiSaver · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed B.
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: You're report into our retirement readiness. There's a concern out
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: of the growing gap between the self employed and the employee.
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  Speaker 2: So what we got is forty four percent of the
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  Speaker 2: self employed contribute to key. We say, but not many,
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  Speaker 2: especially when you compare it to the seventy eight percent
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  Speaker 2: of employees. Jane Wrightson is, of course the Retirement Commissioner
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  Speaker 2: anders with us. Jane, morning to.
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  Speaker 3: You, Good morning mat that do we have good.
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  Speaker 2: Data on this? Is that gap widening? What do we know?
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  Speaker 4: This is the first time we've managed to pull it
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  Speaker 4: all together because it takes it hasn't been any data before.
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  Speaker 4: So we've pulled together some information from the Henry people
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  Speaker 4: who have a really large database of course for sole
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  Speaker 4: traders and single earner people, plus some stuff from stats
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  Speaker 4: and the rest of it. It's taken quite a while,
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  Speaker 4: but it's given us a really interesting picture which we
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: didn't have before.
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  Speaker 3: And as you say, four hundred.
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  Speaker 4: And twenty thousand at minimum, because I think there'll be more.
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  Speaker 4: Now are people identify is self employed and their retirement planning?
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  Speaker 3: Isn't great.
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  Speaker 2: Well, when you say that just because they're not in key,
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  Speaker 2: we say it doesn't mean it isn't great. They'll have
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  Speaker 2: an asset. That'd argue, we've got an asset, I've got
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  Speaker 2: a business, I've got good will, I'll sell it um rich.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a really good point.
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  Speaker 4: And some people, indeed, I'm sure we'll be saying exactly
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  Speaker 4: that they're investing in their.
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  Speaker 3: Business and they're investing in themselves.
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  Speaker 4: But what we know is that nearly half of the
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  Speaker 4: respondents in this survey are saying that the reason is
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: the lack of spare income and nineteen percent of saving
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  Speaker 4: nothing at all.
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  Speaker 3: So it's still a reasonable chunk.
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  Speaker 2: Do you reckon that's real? Because I go back to
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  Speaker 2: the Singapore story and though were a third world country
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  Speaker 2: when League one you came along and said you've got
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  Speaker 2: a twenty eight percent or whatever it was, And what
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  Speaker 2: are you talking about. We've got no money. You've got
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  Speaker 2: no money. If you think you've got no money, isn't
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  Speaker 2: that really the problem?
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  Speaker 4: Possibly it's I mean it's pretty tight out there as
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  Speaker 4: you know. So again I think the self employed and
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  Speaker 4: sole traders have always got this trade off, haven't they?
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  Speaker 4: To go sho I invest in the business or have
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  Speaker 4: I justining enough to cover my overheads? I'm not really
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  Speaker 4: sure what employee is have. God, of course is the
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  Speaker 4: employer contribution, and there's nothing there for self employed. So
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  Speaker 4: they've got to kind of pay themselves if you like,
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  Speaker 4: and they could pay themselves through their business. But they
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  Speaker 4: also need to think a bit more about the future
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  Speaker 4: because don't we all yes, and it's going to be
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  Speaker 4: a bit tricky for them. And the reason this is
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  Speaker 4: important is you don't want them rocking up to pension
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  Speaker 4: age and having basically nothing put away, particularly if the
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  Speaker 4: business has failed or something else has happened, because then
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  Speaker 4: you start talking about what they need in terms of
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  Speaker 4: additional government assistance. So it starts getting an important conversation.
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  Speaker 2: So well done for doing the work for the first time.
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  Speaker 2: That's surprise Weld. There's anything surprise me in this country anymore.
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  Speaker 2: But they've done that work for the first time. Jane
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  Speaker 2: Writes and Retirement Commissioner.
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