Current rates for New Zealand Superannuation.

The current Government had as one of the commitments made by its leader to " reverse the 1999 cuts to superannuation rates. This they have done and the current rates are as follows.

 

Gross weekly rate

Net weekly rate

After tax at ‘M’

Single living alone

$271.49

$225.55

Single sharing

$249.52

$208.20

Married person

$205.58

$173.50

Married couple , both qualify (total)

$411.16

$347.00

Married couple , with non-qualified spouse included ( total )

$390.80

$330.84

Married couple , with non-qualified spouse included (each)

$195.40

$165.42

Married couple, with non-qualified spouse included before October 1991 (total)

$411.16

$347.00

Married couple, with non-qualified spouse included before October 1991 (each)

$205.58

$173.50

Partner in rest home , with non qualified spouse included

$221.23

$185.79

Hospital Rate

$32.02

$27.22

Non taxable amounts

   

War Pensioner’s Funeral Grant

$1,736.91

  

World War 1 veteran’s lump sum payment on death

$10,382.39

  

Other veteran’s lump sum payment on death

$4,117.68

  

Veteran’s spouse’s lump sum payment on death

$3,139.84

  

It should be noted that the married rate , on which the other relevant payments are based is now approximately 67% of the nett average after tax ordinary time weekly wage if this criterion was calculated on the basis of previous years . The NAATOTWW is calculated using the Quarterly Employment Survey undertaken by NZ Statistics – this QES now includes a wider range of lower paid jobs so that this has the effect of lowering the NAATOTWW so that New Zealand Superannuation is now to be adjudicated using a lower weekly wage. Effectively this means that the NZS is a higher percentage of the weekly wage based on the new calculation of weekly wage and that there will be only increases in NZS by the change in the CPI until the level drops to 65% which will take some years.

In November 1998 under the old value of QES the weekly wage would be $653.56 while the calculation using the new QES would give $634.70 a difference of $18.86. In November 1999 the old QES was replaced by the new QES , the nearest figures we have is August 1999 where old was $663.86 and new $643.63 a difference of $20.23..

The value of NZS when the relationship to weekly wage is 65% in a few years time will be such that we will be worse off by about $21 compared to the sum established for this April as it is then that we will feel the effect of the change in the QES.

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