38% of Kiwis picture the same retirement: travel often, live comfortably
When we ask New Zealanders to sum up their ideal future lifestyle in one line, a clear favourite emerges. Of the 827 people who answered this question in the My Future Lifestyle quiz, 315 - that's 38% - chose "I'd like to travel often and live comfortably".
It's the single most popular picture of retirement by a decent margin. The next closest answer, keeping on with part-time work doing something enjoyable, was picked by 151 people (18%).
Here's how the full spread looked:
- Travel often and live comfortably: 315 (38%)
- Keep working part-time doing something I enjoy: 151 (18%)
- Spend more time with family, especially grandchildren: 127 (15%)
- Do everything I've always wanted to do, now I have the time and money: 114 (14%)
- Slow down and live quietly near family: 64 (8%)
- Volunteer or mentor, using my time for something meaningful: 56 (7%)
Retirement as a beginning, not a wind-down
What's striking is how active most of these answers are. Travel, part-time work, ticking off the bucket list, mentoring - add those four together and you get 636 people, or 77% of respondents, describing a retirement with plenty of motion in it.
The quieter options are there too, and they matter. Around 23% (191 people) chose one of the two family-centred answers: more time with the grandchildren, or slowing down and living near family. That's close to one in four people whose version of a great retirement is measured in Sunday lunches rather than boarding passes.
The travel answer in context
It's worth putting that 38% beside what people told us about travel in their lives right now. Of 858 respondents, 463 (54%) said they enjoy a trip or two most years, and 99 (12%) said travel is a big priority and they travel often.
So a lot of people are picturing a future where travel moves up a gear from where it sits today. That's a lovely thing to aim for, and it does come with a price tag attached - which is where the next part of the quiz gets interesting.
When we asked people to put a weekly number on the lifestyle they'd just described, 787 had a go. The most popular band was $1,650-$1,920 a week, chosen by 174 people (22%), with another 158 (20%) landing in the $1,920-$2,190 range.
Those are real numbers attached to a real picture - the trips, the comfort, the grandkids, the part-time work you actually like. Whether your own vision looks like the popular 38% or sits somewhere quieter, the useful bit is seeing the lifestyle and the cost side by side.
You can take the My Future Lifestyle quiz yourself to see where your picture lands, or have a chat with a licensed financial adviser about what it might take to get there.
This is general information only and not personalised financial advice.