Te whiwhi i taku pūtea KiwiSaver mō ngā pūtake hauora Getting my KiwiSaver savings for health reasons

You may be able to withdraw some, or all, of your KiwiSaver savings early for health reasons. These can be either:

• an illness, injury or disability that permanently affects your ability to work or poses a risk of death
• a life-shortening congenital condition that lowers your life expectancy below the age of eligibility for New Zealand superannuation (currently 65).

Applying for a KiwiSaver withdrawal for health reasons

You may need to provide medical evidence to support your application.

If you receive salary or wages, applying for early withdrawal is different for a serious illness and life-shortening congenital condition. If you're applying because of a:

• serious illness:

• apply to us if you're within the first 2 months of membership
• contact your KiwiSaver provider if you've been a member longer than 2 months.

• life-shortening congenital condition contact your KiwiSaver provider. They apply for you. 

What happens when your withdrawal application is approved

If your application to withdraw is approved, you can withdraw some, or all, of your savings. This includes:

• your contributions
• your employer's contribution
• the $1,000 kickstart (if you got it)
• the government contributions
• fee subsidies (if you got these)
• interest you have earned.

And, if you applied because your condition was life-shortening and congenital:

• you'll stop getting the government contribution (GVC)
• your employer will stop contributing to your KiwiSaver.

Stopping KiwiSaver contributions for serious illness

If you have a serious illness you can stop any further contributions being made from your salary or wages. You do this by applying for a savings suspension.

You can apply for a savings suspension within the first 12 months of your membership if you’re experiencing, or likely to experience, financial hardship.

Applying for a savings suspension