Flexi-super not really such a great idea

Geoff Rashbrooke is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Actuaries, with a work background in life insurance and pensions, including spells as a consultant and as New Zealand Government Actuary. This article is an abridged version of an IGPS working paper of the same title published October 2013. The working paper was commenced earlier in the year, but completion became timely after the government put out a discussion document outlining the Flexi-Super concept and invited submissions. Accordingly, this is not a response to the discussion document per se, but rather a holistic review of the policy option of letting people select starting dates for New Zealand Superannuation (NZS).