News and Views

How do you weigh up the pros and cons and make a balanced decision on whether a retirement village is the right move for you? The role and requirements of the 'retirement village' are constantly changing with many establishments modernising their facilities to support the needs of their residents. Do your homework, draw up a realistic budget and most importantly chat to your financial adviser so you're well informed to make the right decision for you and your family/support system.

Gareth Stokes chatted to Just SA CEO Deane Moore about a pension funding solution that allows clients to incorporate aspects of both life and living annuities into a blended annuity solution. 

Now is a good time for retirees to secure a guaranteed income for life. According to retirement income specialist Just, if your retirement savings were invested in balanced funds through the market turmoil of 2020, it is currently possible to secure a guaranteed income for life that is more than 15% higher than it would have been had you invested on 1 January last year.

If your retirement savings were invested in balanced funds through the market turmoil of 2020, there is some good news. You can currently secure a guaranteed income for life that is over 15% higher than it would have been had you invested on 1 January 2020 before the market crash; an income that targets growth in line with inflation.

A surefire way to secure a stable income in retirement is through a life annuity. But the biggest detractors from a life annuity are often the perceived lack of flexibility, as well as the belief that leaving a capital legacy for beneficiaries is not possible.

Historically, the inability to adjust income from a life annuity has led to many retirees self-insuring against running out of money and is the reason why many South African retirees opt for a living annuity.

Soon-to-be-retirees have many options to consider to ensure their retirement and discretionary savings work best for them in retirement. If you have diligently saved for retirement, you don’t pay income tax on contributions paid into a retirement fund or retirement annuity, nor on the investment build up within these retirement vehicles. But when you retire and start taking the money out, it will be taxed as income.

Risks in retirement are not new but may have been exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on lifestyles. Yet there are some practical steps that you can take to best achieve health and wealth in retirement, regardless of market conditions. 

What effect can a zero percent increase have on your retirement savings? As contributions to employer pension or provident schemes are based on a percentage of your salary, the answer is clear. The lower your increases, the lower your contributions to your retirement fund will be, as well as the amount of your employer’s contribution. And the less money you have invested to capitalise on any investment growth. 

Despite the perception that life annuities are complex retirement products, they present a practical solution to protect against investment market volatility and increased longevity. This article looks to answer some of the questions retirees still have about life annuities.