Glossary of terms
Employer subsidy
The contribution your employer makes to your retirement savings. Once you have received your employer subsidy it becomes part of your retirement savings and remains in your chosen SSRSS scheme until you become entitled to withdraw it.
Fund Withdrawal Tax (FWT)
Scheme benefits are generally paid to you free of tax. It is possible that fund withdrawal tax may be payable on certain withdrawals from the employer contribution or salary sacrifice balances in your scheme account. There are a number of exceptions to when FWT is payable. Your scheme provider can give you more information on whether any particular withdrawal is likely to attract this tax.
Gross base salary
Means for:
- most SSRSS members - the annual before-tax amount of base salary or wages
- a teacher at a school - the sum of the annual before-tax amount of base salary or wages plus permanently allocated salary units
- a principal of a school - the sum of the annual before-tax amount of base salary (including supplementary component) plus decile funding.
This excludes any fixed-term salary unit and any other allowance or remuneration allocated either through an employer's payroll facility or otherwise.
Participating employer
For SSRSS purposes, refers to those employers in the State sector who have signed agreements with the SSRSS schemes' trustees, to participate as employers in the SSRSS schemes. You can find a list of the participating employers here.
Salary sacrifice agreement
An agreement between you and your employer under which your remuneration is reduced in consideration of your employer agreeing to contribute to a salary sacrifice account in the SSRSS on your behalf. Not all participating employers offer salary sacrifice arrangements.
Scheme provider
A company managing one of the three SSRSS schemes - they are AMP, ASB and AXA.
School
A State or State-integrated school in New Zealand.
Serious illness
Serious illness as defined in the KiwiSaver scheme rules, which includes (but is not limited to) an illness that puts you at 'serious and imminent risk of death'.
SSRSS scheme
One of the three State Sector Retirement Savings Schemes (AMP, ASB and AXA) established under agreements between the State Services Commissioner and AMP, ASB and AXA.
Total and permanent disablement (TPD)
Means your absence from service with your employer for six consecutive months (or such lesser period as the trustee of your SSRSS scheme may determine) by reason of injury or illness of such extent that in the trustee's opinion (after obtaining and considering such medical evidence as it considers appropriate) you are unlikely ever to engage in or work for reward to a significant extent in any occupation or work for which you are reasonably qualified by education, training or experience.
Total value of your savings
Is the value at any time of:
- your own contributions,
- plus your employer contributions,
- plus investment returns (or losses) after tax,
- less any withdrawals made,
- less any fees charged.
The amount may be more or less than the total contributions made depending on the performance of the investment fund (or funds) you have selected.
Trustee
The entity with the legal responsibility for managing your investment in an SSRSS scheme, in accordance with the rules of that SSRSS scheme.
A glossary of financial terms can be found here at www.sorted.org.nz
Note: The State Services Commission takes no responsibility for any information contained on this linked website.