Think of this as the umbrella term for the whole retirement savings plan you’re signed up to. It's a government-backed initiative created to help you save for retirement, combining contributions from you, your employer, and the government.

Your KiwiSaver provider is the company that you choose to manage your balance. They handle your contributions, pick where to invest your money, and work to grow your savings.

This is where your money is allocated within the KiwiSaver provider. There are different types of funds, each with its own strategy and risk level, so you can choose one that fits your goals and comfort level. You can also split your investment across multiple funds.

These are the places where investments are bought and sold using your funds, such as stock exchanges. Understanding financial markets can help you make sense of where and how your money is being invested and how it might perform.

This is a measure of how much investment risk you're willing to take, influencing the type of fund you choose. It reflects your comfort with potential ups and downs in your investment returns. The following covers the different types of investment risk.

Look at this as a “set and forget” approach. Passive investing means putting your money into a broad market index and letting it grow over time without frequent trading. It’s generally a low-fee, long-term strategy.

This one is more hands-on. Active investing involves regularly buying and selling investments to try to beat the market. It picks stocks or other assets they believe will perform better than the average. Funds that use active investing often charge higher fees as more work is involved.

If you like the idea of keeping things low-risk, defensive investing is for you. It focuses on investments that are more stable and less likely to fluctuate wildly, focusing on preserving your investment over high returns.

Similar to defensive investing, conservative investing is all about playing it safe. The goal is to protect your capital while aiming for modest returns, making it a good choice if you’re risk-averse or closer to retirement.

Balanced investing strikes a middle ground. It blends a mix of safe and growth-oriented investments, aiming to provide a steady return while still capturing some of the market’s potential upsides.

This strategy is for those who want to aim high. Growth investing focuses on investing in assets that are expected to grow faster than the market average, even though it comes with higher risk.

For those who can handle more risk in exchange for potentially higher returns, aggressive investing is the way to go. It involves investing heavily in high-risk, high-reward assets with the goal of achieving substantial growth.