The last four years of poor market performance highlighted the risk of relying on capital drawdown in retirement. In this final edition of our Investment Series with Marriott Income Specialists, Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance)...
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Video: Your retirement income options
If you are a member of a pension fund or have a retirement annuity, two-thirds of your final retirement amount must be used to purchase a retirement income. You can select between a guaranteed life annuity or a living annuity. What is important to...
Video: Retirement annuity rules
A retirement annuity is a great, tax-efficient way to save for your retirement, but they do come with certain rules. Many people investing in retirement annuities are not fully aware of these restrictions. Firstly, you cannot access your...
Q&A: Retirement
We answer some reader questions about retirement funding: some want to invest, and others want to cash out. We look at the pros and cons. Listen to Maya and Mapalo Makhu discussing this topic in the My Money, My Lifestyle podcast. How much tax do I...
Listen: The tax implications of cashing in your pension
How much tax do you save by investing into an RA? What is the tax bill when you cash out? Why is it a bad idea to use your pension to settle your debts? If you’re thinking about cashing in your retirement fund or starting one, listen to Maya...
No more pension “debt” on divorce
The long-awaited amendment to the Government Employees Pension Law dealing with divorce debt has been signed into law. With very little fanfare, a very important piece of legislation was put into effect regarding the calculation of divorce benefits...
GEPF benefits are guaranteed
I recently attended a briefing by Abel Sithole, the Principle Executive Officer of the Government Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF), on the state of the fund's finances. What occurred to me during the discussion was how much better off GEPF pensioners...
Your retirement income options
There are two main options when it comes to purchasing an annuity income: a guaranteed life annuity or a living annuity. If you are a member of a pension fund or have a retirement annuity, two-thirds of your final retirement amount must be used to...
Public servants can retire early – with conditions
In his budget address on 20 February 2019, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced an early retirement scheme for public servants whereby members of the Government Employees Pension Fund could take early retirement from the fund without penalties....
Beware of your financial adviser asking you to move your investments
It is not uncommon for investors to move their investments from one insurer or asset manager to another. Whether it is because of the promise of better returns, to lower costs or just not being happy with the current company, investors do move...
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Video: Tax tips for pensioners
One of the great frustrations for pensioners is the fact that they usually pay tax on their retirement income despite having paid tax during their working lives. It is important to do proper tax planning and seek the advice of a professional as there are several ways...
When poor health saves you money
If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may qualify for a higher income in retirement. When it comes to taking out life insurance, underwriting for the cover usually means that a prior illness results in a higher premium. However, when it comes to...
You either sleep well or you eat well
By Sherwin Govender, Business Development Manager at Glacier by Sanlam It's perfectly natural for clients to feel nervous about their investments, given the low-return environment over the past few years, and even more so when the client is nearing retirement. It...
Afraid to ask your adviser about fees? That’s weird.
By Emma Heap, Chief Growth Officer, 10X Investments Even if you feel a tinge of anxiety each time you see another news report about the damage high fees have done to someone’s retirement plans, you remind yourself that your financial adviser is an old family friend...
Is free retirement counselling really free?
What Retirement Benefits Counselling would mean to retirement fund members and the financial advice industry. For years I have been calling on the retirement fund industry to provide financial education to their members. This is a multi-trillion-rand sector that has...
Millennials: it’s time to wake up
Forget retirement and start thinking out of the box! The latest Sanlam Benchmark Survey on retirement reveals that the average retirement savings balance for a person of the age of 37 is only R90 000, and the average for millennials (people between the ages of 22 and...
A Mother’s Day gift worth a thousand boxes of chocolates
Why not skip the chocolates and the bubble bath on Mother’s Day this year, says Emma Heap, Chief Growth Officer at 10X Investments, and give your mother something really meaningful? We know Mother’s Day is upon us when the supermarket shelves are crammed with boxes of...
Is retirement even possible?
I recently had a very interesting conversation with Lourens Coetzee of investment company Marriott, who said that the industry is coming to the realisation that retirement, in the way that we currently understand the concept, is no longer feasible. As we start to live...
GEPF changes benefits for children and divorcees
Children of GEPF members are the biggest winners in the improvement to benefits. One of the more frequent questions we receive from members of the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) relates to the treatment of their pension fund on divorce. This issue has been...
Market returns disappoint retirees
Poor investment decisions at the time of retirement can have serious consequences which are often only realised several years later. You need to fully understand the implications of your investment choices. Retirees who have been relying on market-related investment...