Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell says: “Future retirees face savings headwinds with declining home ownership, increased debt, and low interest rates.”

The percentage of people who felt they were ‘just treading water’ or ‘sinking’ financially has risen from 48 per cent to 52 per cent, the Commission for Financial Capability’s latest survey says.

“Navigating financial choices across a lifetime has become ever more important in avoiding the jeopardy of reaching retirement with little or nothing,” Maxwell says in a press release.

“The big picture around the summit is that our population is ageing as we live longer and have fewer babies – by 2050 one in four people will be 65-plus,” she says.

“That presents a mountain of challenges we need to traverse to secure a decent financial future for all New Zealanders. This summit will be an important step on that journey.”

The summit, held at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland’s CBD, will bring together experts and those working at the front line of financial education, the commission says.

The day will focus on topics such as the impact of high-cost consumer debt on vulnerable groups, how KiwiSaver could be improved so more New Zealanders benefit from it, and who should have the right to share our financial data.

Experts will also look at why it’s important for people to have an emergency savings account and what other countries are doing to enable workers to build them; and the devastating effect of the rising tide of frauds and scams.

Increasingly, people are working past 65 by choice or necessity, and the summit will look at how Kiwis can equip themselves to stay in the workforce.

To register or for more information, click here.

First published 23 May, 2018

JUNO does not contain financial advice as defined by the Financial Advisers Act 2008. Consult a suitably qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions. This story reflects the views of the contributor only. Content comes from sources that JUNO considers accurate, but we do not guarantee that the content is accurate.