Career breaks and KiwiSaver
One of the most financially consequential trade-offs many women face is stepping out of the workforce to care for children or family.
Consider a woman earning $80,000 who takes a five-year career break at age 30. The lost salary is significant, but the compounding effect is larger.
Depending on contribution rate, investment returns, and time to retirement, the forgone KiwiSaver contributions and their projected growth can reduce a retirement balance by $100,000 or more. The gap widens further if the return to work is part-time, which is common in New Zealand, particularly while children are in early childhood education.
We often see women in their early 40s, recently returned to part-time work after children, who assume the compounding gap is small. When we model it, the projected shortfall at retirement can be substantially larger than expected. Identifying this early is usually the single most valuable outcome of a first meeting.
Recent policy changes now allow KiwiSaver contributions during paid parental leave with employer matching. Default employee and employer contribution rates are also rising. These are positive steps, though they primarily benefit women entering career breaks from here. For women who have already experienced years of reduced or paused contributions, targeted planning remains the most effective response.
What does this look like in practice? We can model the specific shortfall, test different contribution and investment scenarios, and build an approach calibrated to close the gap within a realistic timeframe.
Separation, divorce, and relationship property
Roughly one in three New Zealand marriages end in dissolution. When a relationship ends, the financial consequences tend to be more severe and longer-lasting for the partner who reduced paid work to manage the household or raise children.
Under the Property (Relationships) Act 1976, relationship property is generally divided equally after three years. KiwiSaver balances accumulated during the relationship are treated as relationship property. While division is often equal in principle, financial outcomes can diverge significantly depending on future earning capacity and the decisions made about how assets are structured after settlement.
Research from the University of Otago found 84% of people going through property division reported impacts on their mental health, and 80% reported significant effects on their financial wellbeing. These are difficult decisions made during a difficult period. Having someone across the financial detail means you can focus on the decisions only you can make.
Getting advice early, ideally before settlements are finalised, produces measurably better outcomes. The decisions made at this point about how KiwiSaver is divided, how investments are restructured, and what the financial roadmap looks like for the years ahead will shape your financial position for decades. Our advisers work alongside your legal team to ensure the financial picture is complete and the choices you make are fully informed.
Separately, financial transparency between partners is worth considering well before any relationship difficulty arises. Undisclosed debts, hidden accounts, or undiscussed financial commitments can materially affect relationship property settlements and long-term outcomes.
Wealth transfer and inheritance
Over the next two decades, New Zealand will experience the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in its history. Women will sit at the centre of this, as both recipients and custodians.
Women are more likely to outlive their partners and therefore more likely to be the ones receiving, managing, and eventually passing on family wealth. Many find themselves responsible for investment portfolios, trust structures, and financial arrangements they had limited involvement with during the relationship.
Receiving an inheritance or a partner's estate brings planning requirements: restructuring investments to suit a single income, reviewing trust arrangements, updating estate plans, and ensuring wealth is positioned to support both the current generation and the next. It also presents an opportunity to align the portfolio with your own goals and priorities, rather than inheriting a structure designed for someone else's circumstances.
Losing a partner or parent is not a financial event first. But the financial decisions it requires are time-sensitive, and getting them right is one of the most meaningful things you can do for yourself and your family.
