Want a comfortable retirement? Here's how much you'll need to have saved by age 30 ...

Numbers crunched by Massey University have revealed how much an individual would need to have in KiwiSaver by age 30, 40, 50 and 60 to afford either a no-frills retirement or more choices.

The figures are based on Massey University's annual retirement expenditure guidelines which show a one-person household would need to have $101,774 saved by age 65 to live a no-frills life in the city or just $30,199 in the provinces.

To be on track for a 'no frills' retirement a person would need to have $25,000 in their KiwiSaver account by age 30, $45,500 by 40 and $66,500 by age 50.

To get there a person would need to save roughly $36.42 a week from the age of 18 until they retire at 65.

But those wanting more choices in retirement - to buy a bottle of wine, go on holiday or just see a movie - would need much more.

‌Massey's figures show a one-person household would need to have $360,620 in savings by age 65 for those in the city and $388,073 for those in the provinces.

To have $400k in savings by age 65 a person would need to have $101k by 30, $182k by 40, $266,500 by 50 and $354k by age 60.

That would require a person to save just over $145 a week from age 18 until age 65.

Massey also worked out how much a person would need to save if they emptied their KiwiSaver account to buy at a house at age 30.

To get to $100k for a 'no frills' retirement they would need to put away nearly $50 a week after age 30 and for a choices retirement they would need to save around $200 a week to get to $400k.

The amount a person had at retirement could also be boosted by one-off lump sums from down-sizing a property, moving to another area or an inheritance.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.