Choosing the correct KiwiSaver fund is particularly important for young savers as they will spend the most time invested in the schemeForsyth Barr savings specialist Damian Foster is hoping that moves across the Tasman will also encourage greater engagement by young savers with their KiwiSaver accounts.
"Like Australia, as account balances grow we should expect to see an increase in engagement from young KiwiSavers over the next few years.
"Choosing the correct KiwiSaver fund is particularly important for young savers as they will spend the most time invested in the scheme," he said.
The Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals Association of Australia predicted that a trend of younger Australians being more engaged with their superannuation and retirement plans would continue in coming decades.
Association chief executive Andrea Slattery said the Australian Tax Office statistics showed that the self-managed super funds model was increasingly attracting younger investors.
About 11% of new self-managed fund members were under the age of 35 in the June 2010 quarter compared with 5% for the whole self-managed funds population.
"These figures indicate that younger Australians are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about and interested in the performance, management and control of their superannuation savings."
That was understandable given the big dip in many superannuation fund balances as a result of the global financial crisis and an unsteady global economic recovery, Ms Slattery said.
Mr Foster said that although KiwiSaver was still in its infancy, the average KiwiSaver balance was creeping up with some providers now reporting average account balances of more than $10,000.
About half of KiwiSavers were under 35 and about 36% of all KiwiSavers had enrolled in default conservative funds.
"This number is likely to be higher for younger savers as they enter the workforce and frequently change employers."
One of the changes Mr Foster was looking forward to was the introduction of transtasman superannuation portability.
Once the legislation was in place, KiwiSavers would be able to transfer their accounts over to Australia if they moved and New Zealanders could bring their superannuation home.
"The most exciting prospect regarding this legislation is the opportunity for Kiwis to bring home any inactive or 'lost' Australian superannuation accounts."
There was about $A1.8 billion ($NZ2.34 billion) sitting in those lost superannuation accounts, some belonging to New Zealanders who might have worked in Australia at some stage, he said. Some of the 200,000 of the lost accounts now had a balance of more than $A10,000.
