Don’t outlive your money

the term retirement is superfluous for most South Africans, mainly because of bad savings advice or because of no saving at all. However, for those who can retire, it is critical to continue managing their investments and to have a keen interest in what they invest in.

Reforms to align South Africa’s retirement fund rules have been on the agenda for almost a decade. The long-awaited annuitisation of provident funds was only adopted into legislation in March this year.

All retirement funds are now aligned and a retiree may receive one-third of their retirement savings as a lump-sum payment while the rest will be preserved for future income needs in a personal retirement savings product such as living or life annuities.

Retirement savings

Political rumblings about access to the retirement pot in SA have created a great deal of tension in recent years. The socio-economic situation and political instability in the country have seen a massive rise