New Zealand does not need to increase the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation and can afford to keep it at 65 for at least the next 30 years, according to the Retirement Commissioner. 

The view is in sharp contrast to two previous reviews of retirement income policy which both recommended an age rise to 67 due to the rising cost of NZ Super as more people head into the over 65 age group.

The previous National-led Government announced plans to raise the age from 65 to 67 by 2040 in March 2017, on advice from the previous Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell after her 2016 review.

But when National lost the last general election in 2017 Labour scrapped the idea and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she would resign before raising the NZ Super age.

Recommending an age rise would have been politically unpopular with the Labour Coalition Government and unlikely to get any traction in an election year.

Treasury predictions in 2016 showed the cost of NZ Super is due to rise from 4.8 per cent of GDP to 7.9 per cent of GDP by 2060 while the cost of financing debt will rise from 1.6 per cent of GDP to 11 per cent driven in part by the increased cost of NZ Super and providing healthcare to an ageing population.

But the report notes that the figures have been criticised for not taking into account the fact that tax contributions from those 65 and over will also rise and the impact of the New Zealand Superannuation fund which will start to contribute towards the cost of NZ Super by the mid 2030s.

Interim Retirement Commissioner Peter Cordtz says young people have pretty much dismissed any chance of owning a home.

He says that means they're going to arrive in retirement in worse financial shape than those in the past.

Cordtz told Mike Hosking many people are having to look at investments other than housing.

"KiwiSaver's a great start, but many New Zealanders still treat that reasonably passively and hope for the best." 

Cordtz says the latest review shows the current model is delivering value and is affordable for at least the next 30 years.

But he says there are challenges ahead like declining home ownership, increasing levels of debt, and less income compared to the cost of living