Family Budgeting Services says there is more pressure than ever on young people to sign up to KiwiSaver as concerns mount about peoples' ability to save for retirement.
New research by the Commission for Financial Capability has found 86 percent of Kiwis are concerned they won't have enough save for retirement. More than half expect their standard of living to drop once they retire, despite superannuation.
Spokeswoman Raewyn Fox says it proves how important it is to start saving when you're young.
"The younger people are now, the more options they've got to think ahead. If you're maybe 50 to 60 and you're struggling to make ends meet, you've got not much time to put money away."
Some of those surveyed had just retired, and found their savings weren't stretching as far as they'd hoped.
"I am renting. My rent costs me half my wages," one participant commented.
"It is a struggle to exist now, and I am working 30 hours a week in the school term. I will be even worse off with the pension. I will need to find a cheaper rental, which I have already tried to find. How will I afford to eat? Live? It is hard enough now, and I live alone."
Long-term renting was a common reason why people had found it difficult to save. With home ownership rates falling in recent years, a bigger proportion of retirees in the future will still be paying rent.
Ms Fox says it's making it impossible for some people to save.
"A lot of people have started putting money into KiwiSaver, and things are getting so tight for them now they have to stop their KiwiSaver contributions, and are often trying to withdraw their KiwiSaver contributions under hardship because they're just not getting by."
Being single was another common barrier to saving.
"I'm in my fifties," one person commented. "I have KiwiSaver. I can't afford to put a higher rate in my fund as I have a mortgage. It does concern me. I won't have anyone to rely on."
The Government canned the KiwiSaver $1000 kick-start in 2015.
Newshub.
