Skip to main content

Find Your Lost KiwiSaver or NZ Pension

Inland Revenue holds the link between a KiwiSaver member and their provider, and reaching it needs myIR or RealMe credentials many emigrants no longer have. We identify what is in your name and hand you the contact details and every contact route, ready to use. $99, full refund if we find nothing material.

Find my pensions in New ZealandSee a sample report
  • ICO registered
  • No percentage, no commission
  • Refund if nothing material

Since 2007

KiwiSaver enrolment

30+

KiwiSaver providers

12 months

Overseas period for emigration withdrawal

If you worked in New Zealand and moved on, changed employers, or lost the paperwork years ago, you are in the right place. Pensions are rarely gone. Most of the time the scheme simply lost track of you.

New Zealanders who emigrated to Australia, UK or elsewhere, expats who worked in New Zealand on a visa, and workers who enrolled in KiwiSaver and then moved abroad.

Why New Zealand pensions go missing, and what a Pension Identification Report finds

KiwiSaver enrolment has been automatic for new employees since 2007, which means a great many people were signed up to a provider they never chose and may never have named. Inland Revenue holds the link between member and provider, but reaching it needs myIR or RealMe credentials, and those are the first thing to lapse after you leave New Zealand.

A PensionHunter Pension Identification Report works from what you already know, employer names and rough dates, and identifies the providers and administrators your New Zealand work history points to. One fixed fee, one clear picture, and a refund if we find nothing material.

What we search in New Zealand

  • Inland Revenue KiwiSaver register
  • All registered KiwiSaver providers, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac, Fisher Funds, Milford, Simplicity, SuperLife and all others
  • Workplace superannuation schemes
  • Defined benefit schemes, particularly government and education sector
  • Unclaimed money held by the New Zealand government

What your Pension Identification Report delivers

Nobody sits between you and your pension. You act the moment the evidence lands.

Honest access-map for New Zealand: who holds it, who to contact, what to ask

For New Zealand, the central record is not publicly searchable from your employment history alone. Your Pension Identification Report delivers the honest access-map: what exists, where your record sits, the deadlines and traps that affect your entitlement, the exact route in, and your entitlement position. At Enhanced and Global we prepare a complete information request for every fund we identify, ready to send. Not at Country level.

Identification & research only, no financial advice

Start here

$99

Country Pension Identification Report, New Zealand

Within 24 to 48 hours

Find my pensions in New Zealand

Full refund if we find nothing material.

Enhanced Pension Identification Report ($499): your Action Pack, a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, delivered within five working days of your intake form. Global Pension Identification Report ($799): the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days. Full refund if we find nothing material, decided at identification.

At the Country Report you contact the administrators yourself, using the routes in your report. On Enhanced and Global: We stay with your case after delivery. If an administrator asks you a question, refuses, or simply does not reply, send it to us and we will tell you exactly what to send next. That continues until every fund we identified has answered you, or the route is exhausted and we say so plainly.

Your New Zealand report, see the full sampleNEW ZEALAND SAMPLEThis is the New Zealand sample, produced by the same methodology that runs every real case.Open the sample

PensionHunter is a team of pension researchers working across 41 countries. We do not touch your money, we take no percentage, and every report is reviewed by a human before release.

How we workAbout us

Or do it yourself, here's what that takes

Doing it yourself

Means working through all of this:

  • Tracking down employers that merged, rebranded, or wound up
  • Navigating KiwiSaver providers and Inland Revenue (IRD) separately
  • Writing to each provider and waiting weeks for replies
  • Working out which entitlements you actually have, in New Zealand's system

What we do

Human experts + AI, fixed fee:

  • Registry searches across the public systems that apply to you (Country Pension Identification Report)
  • Employer tracing through decades of corporate change (Country Pension Identification Report)
  • A written shortlist of the schemes most likely to hold your entitlement, pay $99, see findings, then decide (refunded if nothing material)
  • Decide after the Pension Identification Report: act on the shortlist yourself, or go further. Search, $499: a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, within five working days of your intake form. Global, $799: the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days.

Identification only. We do not claim, transfer, negotiate, or make decisions regarding any pension.

Verified country facts

Every line below is drawn from the verified country dossier. We never fabricate facts; candidate items are gated out of customer-facing copy.

Why it matters

NZ Super is never backdated and never automatic; and the KiwiSaver emigration cash-out forfeits ALL government-contribution principal (interest on it kept).

If you do nothing

NZ Super loses every unclaimed month (never backdated); KiwiSaver simply sits (no escheat mechanism found) but the route-choice fork is irreversible once cashed out.

Deadlines that matter in New Zealand

  • Apply from 12 weeks before 65; late application costs every week of delay: NZ Super is not automatic: you must apply, from 12 weeks before your 65th birthday. Apply late and payment starts only from the date you apply; the missed weeks are not paid. From overseas, applications go through the International Services team.Source: workandincome.govt.nz/online-services/superannuation (Work and Income official), checked 30 July 2026
  • Trans-Tasman NZ Super window: 26-week application window for existing recipients moving to Australia (fail it and NZ Super is lost too)
  • KiwiSaver non-Australia withdrawal: 1-year wait → withdraw own + employer contributions + returns; government-contribution PRINCIPAL forfeited
  • NZ Super residence requirement rising: The New Zealand Superannuation residence requirement is rising from 10 years to 20 years by birth cohort. Anyone born on or after 1 July 1977 needs 20 years.Official source, checked 21 August 2026
  • Applying before leaving New Zealand: New Zealand Superannuation applications are made while ordinarily resident in New Zealand. Work and Income states that an application should be made at least 6 weeks before leaving the country.Official source, checked 21 August 2026
  • Proportional rate in non-agreement countries: In countries with no social security agreement, a proportional rate can be paid, based on months of New Zealand residence between ages 20 and 65 divided by 540.Official source, checked 21 August 2026
  • KiwiSaver emigration route fork: A KiwiSaver permanent-emigration withdrawal excludes government contributions. A transfer to an Australian complying scheme preserves them.Official source, checked 21 August 2026
  • Locating a forgotten KiwiSaver account: A forgotten KiwiSaver account can be located through myIR, which lists the scheme provider held for each member.Official source, checked 21 August 2026

How records are reached

Personal-record access wall: myIR / RealMe (the IRD member→provider link)

IRD holds the KiwiSaver member→provider link (myIR works from overseas)

From abroad: myIR is usable from overseas, but the genuinely hard call in New Zealand is the irreversible fork at the KiwiSaver emigration cash-out, taking it permanently forfeits the government-contribution principal, and that fork is triggered without the leaver always realising what they are giving up.

Cross-border

AU↔NZ trans-Tasman (transfer preserves government contributions; claim-AU-first rule; 444-visa correction); NZ↔NL voluntary-AOW carve-out.

Primary sources: ird.govt.nz · KiwiSaver provider statutory-declaration route

KiwiSaver emigration withdrawal

If you have permanently emigrated from New Zealand you are eligible to withdraw your entire KiwiSaver balance as a lump sum after 12 months overseas. This is a significant entitlement that thousands of New Zealanders abroad have never claimed. We find your account and provide you with the information needed for withdrawal.

Worked in more than one country? One Global Pension Identification Report covers every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover.

See all countries

Cross-border KiwiSaver and UK pension cohorts

Country and cohort-specific guidance for Kiwis abroad and expats with NZ entitlements.

Whether anyone officially counts unclaimed pensions in New Zealand is a question with a published answer, and we keep it on one page: the New Zealand row on our pension scoreboard.

Confirmed by the body, 7 Aug 2026

For pension schemes and trustees with members in New Zealand, see our cross-border member tracing services

Questions people ask before they start

I worked in New Zealand on a working holiday visa, do I have KiwiSaver?

Possibly. If your employer enrolled you in KiwiSaver, which was mandatory for employers, you have an account. Many working holiday makers have no idea contributions were made for them.

I emigrated years ago, can I still withdraw my KiwiSaver?

Yes. New Zealand emigrants can apply for a KiwiSaver withdrawal once they have been living outside New Zealand for at least 12 months and have permanently emigrated. We find your account and help you apply.

How long does a New Zealand search take?

Country Pension Identification Report: within 24 to 48 hours. Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Reports: full report within five working days of your intake form. KiwiSaver is well organised, providers typically respond within 4-8 weeks. You send the requests and we answer your questions by email about whatever comes back, on your workplace and state pension alike, for as long as your case is open.

How do I find a forgotten pension in New Zealand?

To find a lost KiwiSaver account in New Zealand, you can check with Inland Revenue, but this requires NZ tax credentials (myIR / RealMe) that many emigrants no longer have. We do not access myIR or RealMe-protected data. Instead, PensionHunter researches the 30+ registered KiwiSaver providers using your employment history; at Enhanced Pension Identification Report ($499) and Global Pension Identification Report ($799), we prepare a complete request pack for each fund we identify, written and ready to send under your signed Information Request Authority (IRA). Country Pension Identification Report ($99) is identification-only and does not require an IRA. If you have permanently emigrated from New Zealand and lived outside the country for at least 12 months, you may be eligible to withdraw your entire KiwiSaver balance as a lump sum.

New Zealand expat guides

Specific situations we cover. For expats, returning citizens and cross-border workers.

Find a lost KiwiSaver from abroad

KiwiSaver and legacy scheme records for people who no longer live in New Zealand.

Read guide

The same kind of guide, other countries

See also

Last reviewed: · Facts verified against the dossier-pipeline gate.

Free: The Complete Guide to Finding Forgotten Pensions Abroad

15 pages. 41 countries. Join the list to receive it.

Guide sent to every signup. Occasional PensionHunter updates only if you tick above. Unsubscribe any time.

Some clients order a Pension Identification Report for themselves. Many order it to get their affairs in order: one document their family can find, whatever happens.

We identify what is in your name in New Zealand and hand you the contact details and every contact route, ready to use. $99, full refund if we find nothing material.

Find my pensions in New Zealand

Important Information

PensionHunter is a research and administrative assistance service only. We search pension registries and employer records to identify whether pension entitlements may exist in your name, we do not provide financial advice, manage pension funds, arrange pension transfers, or assist with claiming or accessing pension funds.

PensionHunter is not regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) or any equivalent financial-services or pensions regulator in New Zealand. Our service is limited to research and information provision. We charge a fixed research fee paid in advance, Full refund if we find nothing material.

All decisions about your pension, including whether to contact providers, transfer funds, or take any other action, remain entirely yours. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified independent financial adviser regulated in your jurisdiction before making any decisions about any pension we locate.