Unlocking the Retirement Future: The Pros and Cons of Life Rights Properties
“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.” (Warren Buffett) Choosing a retirement property involves considering location, cost, amenities, and healthcare services. Often, retirees prefer not to deal with the hassle of property maintenance and opt to stay in a property maintained by someone else. This also provides a sense of community. Life Rights […]
The Big Question: Should You Buy a Home or Rent One?
“Home is not a place; it’s a feeling.” (Cecelia Ahern) Deciding whether to buy or rent your home may be one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. Ultimately, the choice comes down to a combination of financial variables and personal factors, which, as we know, fluctuate unpredictably. Rands and cents Let’s start […]
The Two-Pot retirement reform – What members need to know
What was the thinking behind the Two-Pot system? Many South Africans struggled financially through the pandemic because they don’t have “rainy days” funds. The National Treasury came up with the Two-Pot system to provide a way for them to access a portion of their retirement savings for emergencies. But most importantly, to help them preserve […]
Why the Marshmallow Effect Could Derail Your Retirement Plans
“One must learn to give up momentary, uncertain, and destructive pleasure for delayed, restrained, dependable pleasure.” (Sigmund Freud) What is the marshmallow test? The test was devised by Walter Mischel, a Stanford University psychology professor, in the 1960s. While the test has undergone many tweaks over the years, at its essence it is exceedingly simple. […]
Busting the Post-Retirement Jargon
“Often, when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” Fred Rogers Retirement planning 101 If you’re part of a pension or provident fund or have a preservation fund and/or a retirement annuity, you can withdraw up to one-third of your investments to use as you wish. The […]
Demystifying Retirement Planning Lingo
We all dream of a happy retirement, but making it a reality requires early planning. A good rule of thumb is to stash away at least 15% of your pay check before taxes right from the start of your career. Depending on your situation, this might involve diving into some or all of the following: […]
Need to Know: Annualised Returns Versus Internal Rates of Return
“Returns matter a lot. It’s your capital.” (Abigail Johnson) Let’s start at the beginning – Annualised returns The annualised rate of return on investment represents the average yearly return you would have received over a specified period. It expresses an investment’s performance as if it had grown steadily each year, taking compounding into account, even though […]
The Differences Between Life and Living Annuities
New beginnings After working for forty years, the time has come to make really important decisions about how you’ll manage your retirement funds to ensure that your golden years are all you’d hoped for. When you retire, you must transfer two-thirds of your retirement funds to a Life Annuity or Living Annuity. Your retirement funds […]
Retiring Well is About More Than Money
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness.” (Mother Theresa) Loneliness is a subject that researchers and even politicians have started to think about a lot more in recent years. In 2017, former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called loneliness a public health “epidemic”. The following year, the UK appointed a “minister for loneliness” to deal with […]
Retirement Planning: The ins and Outs of Nominating Beneficiaries
“Two main categories of people are needed in your circle; those who give you the necessary support to accomplish your dreams and those who become beneficiaries of what you achieve.” (Unattributed) Pension and provident funds and retirement annuities All retirement funds are governed by the Pension Funds Act, which prioritises financial dependants when distributing death […]
