Sworn staff will soon have the option of reducing standard member contributions from 7.5% of salary to 5%, 3% or 0%. Deductions will continue to be made from your pay at the default rate of 7.5% unless you make a change. You will be able to reduce your contributions for a short period if you need to and then change them back again. You will also continue to have the option of making additional voluntary contributions between 1% and 10% of salary (in 0.5% increments). These flexible member contribution rates mean you can effectively choose any rate between 0% and 17.5% of salary. Whichever rate or combination of rates you choose, Police will continue to contribute 15.2% of salary on your behalf (less tax).

You will be able to change standard and voluntary member contributions via the Police payroll system from Monday 28 April. We’ll be in touch before then with details of how to change your contributions. Make a time to talk to someone from Mercer’s financial advice team if you’re not sure what the best option is for you.

There are several ways to measure PSS performance against its KiwiSaver peers. One is to track where PSS funds sit against KiwiSaver funds ranked from lowest to highest. Over the long term, we expect to place consistently in the second quartile (top 50–75%) of KiwiSaver funds with a similar mix of assets.

Employer Superannuation Contribution Tax (ESCT) is deducted from employer contributions before they are paid to PSS. The tax rate depends on your personal income. ESCT is not applied in the same tiered way as personal income tax rates and only one rate applies to the total amount of the employer contribution. Income thresholds for the various ESCT rates will change on 1 April 2025. They have increased by between $2,000 and $10,000 with no change for those earning over $216,001.

Payments and investment strategy changes will be suspended between Friday 28 March and Friday 4 April 2025. This suspension is necessary for us to calculate tax for individual members to the end of March which is part of our responsibilities as a portfolio investment entity.

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner recently launched its strategy to help New Zealanders improve their financial preparedness and wellbeing. This year, we’ll be covering a series of topics that support that strategy. One goal is to help build resilience for the unexpected, including encouraging more emergency savings. Murphy’s law says that the car/washing machine/hot water cylinder never blows up at a time that’s financially convenient. PSS offers a partial withdrawal facility that may provide an avenue of support if life throws you a curve ball. However, there are limits on withdrawals, so you might also want to think about building up an emergency fund over time. A rule of thumb is to salt away enough cash to cover 3 months’ worth of expenses. This article by financial journalist Mary Holm includes some tips and tricks.

Your investment mix will change on 1 April if you’re invested in Super Steps and you’re aged 45 or over. Super Steps is a ‘set and forget’ investment option where your investment mix changes automatically as you get older. From age 45, your investments are gradually transitioned from mainly growth assets to mainly income assets at 64. The change happens on 1 April each year rather than on your birthday or the anniversary of the date you joined the scheme.

• Read more about Super Steps

Late last year, our administration manager Mercer moved to a login system that uses a combination of a password of your choosing and the email address it has on file. The first time you log in to your account following the change, you’ll be asked to follow a once-only authentication process. First, you’ll be asked to enter your member number, date of birth and the email address you have registered with PSS (your QID email, another Police email or your personal email). Then, you’ll be prompted to set up your security methods: email, password and mobile phone number. This allows for multi-factor authentication which provides an additional layer of security. For example, if you attempt to log in from a new device, we’ll send a verification code by email or SMS just to make sure it’s you. Contact the helpline if you have trouble with the authentication process.

Predicting returns over a single year is always fraught, as demonstrated by Mercer’s periodic table of investment returns. Produced each year, the table colour codes 16 major asset classes and ranks how each performed on an annual basis over the last 10 years. The table illustrates the adage that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

Economic and market outlook for 2025 from our investment manager Mercer.

It's been widely reported in the New Zealand media that cost of living pressures have seen a rise in the number of significant financial hardship applications from KiwiSaver members. We’ve noticed a similar trend.

As you know, you can use your savings as security for a loan with the Police and Families Credit Union or other lender. If you do, a charge is registered against your account. This gives the lender the option of having any outstanding balance repaid at the time you make a withdrawal from the scheme. When you apply for a benefit, Mercer contacts the lender. The lender assesses the security of the loan and either authorises Mercer to process the payment or contacts you if an amount needs to be repaid or retained in your account as security. If there’s a charge against your account, Mercer needs to follow this process whether or not you have repaid the loan. Expect your payment to be delayed by up to a week while the charge matter gets sorted.

You’ll be aware that, after 3 years’ membership of the scheme, you are entitled to make partial withdrawals from your member’s account subject to certain limits. There is a second benefit still in play that was introduced before the partial withdrawal facility. The in-service benefit allows you to make one withdrawal from your member’s account on reaching age 45 and/or 20 years’ service. However, the limits on these withdrawals are intertwined – they apply across both benefits. Our current policy is that each amount you withdraw under these benefits will be expressed as a percentage of the total amount available on the occasion of that withdrawal. When the aggregate sum of all withdrawals under these benefits reaches 100%, subsequent withdrawals are limited to 5% of your member’s account balance each year. For example, if you meet the criteria for an in-service benefit and have previously made partial withdrawals totalling 60% of your member’s account balance, the most you could withdraw as an in-service benefit is 40% of your member’s account balance.

PSS offers all members (including retained members) access to a limited financial advice service provided by Mercer. Its financial advice team can help with questions about PSS and KiwiSaver, choosing the best investment option for your circumstances, saving for a first home, managing your PSS funds in retirement and more. The team can provide specific advice in relation to your savings in PSS and general information on other types of financial products.

You can change your investment choice online by signing in to your account or downloading a form from our website. You can choose one (or more) of five investment options, each with a different mix of assets, or Super Steps where the mix of investments changes automatically based on your age. You can choose a different strategy for your current account balances and for future contributions (unless you select Super Steps where this doesn’t apply). Make sure you read this part of the form carefully and double check your choices before you submit the change online or send in the completed form.

We will pay your benefit to your legally nominated personal representative(s) if you die while you are an active member of PSS or while you are entitled to a deferred benefit from the scheme. ‘Personal representative’ means the person(s) granted probate (where the deceased left a will) or letters of administration (where the deceased did not leave a will).

It’s never too early – or too late – to start planning for retirement. The Financial Services Council’s retirement planning guide might be a useful starting point to help get you thinking about how you might create an income in retirement.

You’re eligible for employer contributions while on parental leave and some other kinds of leave without pay. You just need to pay the member contributions you’ve missed. For most members, Police contributes around $1.35 (after tax) for every dollar you make up, so it’s well worth making up your contributions if you can. 

The scheme is a popular way of salting away extra cash either for a first home or for retirement. Around one in 10 members choose to make additional voluntary contributions which totalled more than $4 million last year. You can make additional voluntary contributions of between 1% and 10% of salary. Complete the following form and return it to Payroll.

• Constabulary members: voluntary contributions form
• Non-constabulary members and savings contributors: vary contributions form

Regulations mean that we can’t accept contributions from retained members.

Most PSS members are also in KiwiSaver. Many choose to take a savings suspension, but still top up their KiwiSaver account by $1,042.86 each year (around $20 a week), so they qualify for the full government contribution of $521.43. If you’re not already in KiwiSaver, there’s nothing to stop you joining so you can take advantage of this extra money from the government. However, you will have to contribute 3% of your salary for a year before you can take a savings suspension. Read more about PSS and KiwiSaver.

We can only pay benefits into an account in your name. This means we cannot pay benefits into family trust accounts, business accounts or accounts in someone else’s name. That’s why we need to ask for supporting evidence of your bank account details when you make a withdrawal, and it also helps prevent a slip-up in transcribing your account number. The evidence needs to show the name the account is in and the bank account number. The simplest way is to take a screenshot from your internet banking or a photocopy of the top of a bank statement or ask your bank to print and sign a verification of account slip. Once Mercer has this information on file, you won’t need to provide it again unless you change your account. This extra step is designed to help protect members against fraud. It’s also required by our auditor.