Pensions in New Zealand

There are arrangements for bringing UK pensions to NZ. To get a NZ pension one has to have lived here for ten years, but you can still get your UK pension. Once eligible, the UK pension is used to offset the New Zealand pension, which is more generous.

Quote from NZ Herald April 5 2009 New Zealand's older citizens are well looked after by the Government - in fact, better than in the world's richest nations.

Only 2 per cent of New Zealand's retirement-age population were classed as below the poverty line in a 2008 OECD study. Just 13 of the 30 countries had poverty rates of less than 10 per cent among older people.

The study of 30 OECD countries compared the income level of retirement-age New Zealanders to median disposable income levels.

1= New Zealand, Netherlands, Czech Rep

4: Luxembourg

5= Iceland, Hungary, Poland

15: United Kingdom

26: United States

27: Australia