KiwiSaver contributions just went up: what 3.5% + 3.5% actually means for your pay

KiwiSaver contribution rates changed on 1 April 2026. If you're an employee in KiwiSaver, the minimum deducted from your pay and the minimum your employer puts in both rose from 3% to 3.5% each. If your payslip looks different since April, that's why. This covers the payroll rate change only — self-employed members and voluntary lump-sum contributions run under different rules.

Before 1 April 2026, the floor was 3% from you and 3% from your employer — 6% of gross pay combined. From the first pay day on or after 1 April, both minimums rose to 3.5%, taking the combined floor to 7%. It's also the default rate for anyone auto-enrolled without choosing another, and it applies whether you've been in KiwiSaver for years or joined last month.

The employer share is the compulsory employer contribution — paid in addition to your salary or wages, not taken out of them, for most employees. If your employer already contributes more than the minimum, under an existing agreement for example, they don't need to add anything further as long as they're still meeting or exceeding the 3.5% floor.

The next step lands 1 April 2028: both minimums move from 3.5% to 4%, taking the combined floor to 8%. Both dates were set in the same piece of legislation, so 2028 isn't a new decision still to come — it's already locked in. Each step is a change to the floor itself, not a gradual ramp between now and then.

In dollars: on $60,000, the old 3% minimum meant $1,800 a year from each side, $3,600 combined. At 3.5% that's $2,100 each, $4,200 combined — an extra $300 a year, each side. On $90,000, the same shift takes it from $2,700 each ($5,400 combined) to $3,150 each ($6,300 combined). The percentage move is identical at every income; only the dollar figure scales. None of this touches members already contributing above the minimum — the 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% options are unchanged, only the floor has moved.

Separately, eligible members get a government contribution: 25 cents for every dollar you personally put in, up to $260.72 a year, not available once your taxable income passes $180,000. Because most members reach that cap well before their 3.5% contributions do for a full year, this rate change doesn't move the government contribution — the two run independently of each other.

Your current rate shows as a percentage next to the KiwiSaver deduction on your payslip; your own and your employer's contribution totals for the year sit in myIR under KiwiSaver. For most employees the new rate applies automatically — nothing to fill in, just a slightly larger deduction from 1 April 2026, matched by a slightly larger employer contribution alongside it.

If you'd like to see what this means against your own balance and goals, an adviser can put the numbers in context.