Back in the eighties, a colleague sent a letter (remember them?) to a client suggesting that they could, if they want, pay their fees "anally, rather than quarterly". Rather brilliantly, the client responded that they were happy to continue paying through the nose!
Fees are very important, particularly in KiwiSaver. For employees, most people are paying small contributions regularly. At the same time, small and regular fee deductions are made.
Fees tend to be charged in two broad ways; a set $ admin fee and a % deduction also comes off to pay for the investment management, the trustee and distribution costs.
If the set $ admin fee is low - that doesn't mean that you are paying low fees across the board. This is all due to be made much simpler in April 2013 - but in the meantime, there is a way you can check that for yourself.
My Truly Independent Quick KiwiSaver Fee Guide on YouTube shows you how.
You might discover that you are paying relatively high fees. That is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are in a specialist/boutique KiwiSaver fund, then those do tend to be more expensive to run. If that provider is delivering for you, then perhaps they're well worth it.
Having said that, if your fund turns out to be very expensive compared to others and you can't see why...then you are perfectly entitled to ask your provider to explain. This is all publicly available information.
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