Bookcase : KiwiSaver Max – How to get the best out of it

• Mary Holm
• Random House
• RRP $16.99

A year in to KiwiSaver, personal finance writer Mary Holm takes second look at the retirement savings scheme with this book aimed at helping potential participants decide who to sign up with.
She says every New Zealander under 65 who hasn’t joined yet has already missed out, forever, on more than $1000 from the Government.
Acknowledging that there is widespread confusion around KiwiSaver, Holm is fan, saying the usual excuses of “I can’t afford it” to “a new government might change the scheme” and “KiwiSaver returns so far have been lousy” are usually not valid.
Following on from her earlier KiwiSaver – How to make it work for you, this volume puts over 80 questions to the 31 current KiwiSaver providers. Holm has surveyed the providers on topics from ethical investing, flexible contributions and mortgage diversion through to “has the chief executive invested in KiwiSaver?”. Some of the information stems from questions she’s received for her widely published newspaper columns over the past year.
In this book, she aims to clear up some common misconceptions around the scheme and to help people find the fund that is right for them.
It’s full of easily digestible infor­mation which should answer just about any questions you can come up with.