retirement.org.nz

The Retirement Commissioner is an autonomous Crown entity listed in Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Crown Entities Act 2004. Under legal mandate the Retirement Commissioner is required to fulfil the relevant functions and requirements of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 and certain functions under the Retirement Villages Act 2003. The Retirement Commission is the office of the Commissioner.

Our activities include:

• Raising awareness of the need to plan for retirement.
• Providing education on financial management and planning tools.
• Collecting research on retirement planning behaviour and attitudes.
• Providing information that aids development of national policies impacting on retirement.

And under the Retirement Villages Act:

• Monitoring the legislation.
• Approving members of disputes panels.
• Providing information as required by the Act.
• Making recommendations to the Minister for Building and Construction on any draft codes of practice.

The Retirement Commissioner’s education and general information responsibility is delegated to the Department of Building and Housing. The advice responsibility is also delegated to the department apart from specific advice relating to our monitoring and Code of Practice functions.

The Commission operates three websites:

• www.retirement.org.nz – home of the Retirement Commission and the Retirement Income Research Unit
•  www.sorted.org.nz – offering free, impartial information and calculators to help Kiwis understand money
• matters and manage their personal finances throughout life
• www.financialliteracy.org.nz – home of the Centre for Financial Literacy and the national strategy for
• financial literacy.

The Commission reports to two Ministers – the Minister for Social Development and Employment (the responsible Minister for the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001) and the Minister for Building and Construction (the responsible Minister for the Retirement Villages Act 2003). We also keep the
Minister of Education informed about our work in schools and tertiary institutions and the Minister of Finance informed about our work in financial education.