Essential expenses

Research shows that one of the most important needs in retirement is to generate an income to cover expenses for life. Consider a solution that mitigates the risk of running out of money much earlier than planned.

When you hit retirement age, no one expects you to be your own doctor, mechanic or accountant. So why do so many of us assume that becoming a retiree automatically qualifies us to make the best decisions about the management of our retirement income?

NETWERK24: If there is one lesson that living under lockdown has taught us, it’s that we are able to survive on less. Lockdown has afforded a timely opportunity to understand what regular spending can be considered essential and how this is impacted during the time of COVID-19. Twane Wessels says this is especially important for those in or approaching retirement, who must ensure that their retirement income is able to sustain them for life.

A volatile financial climate has seen many South African pensioners in living annuities looking to increase their withdrawals to cover current cash shortages. However, retirement income specialist Just advises strongly against this, recommending instead that they find ways to trim their spending, or else they run the risk of their money drying up sooner.

Should market conditions persist for the next 12 months, retirement income specialist Just believes that pensioners may run out of money years earlier than in normal investment conditions. Just CEO Deane Moore looks at some sensible steps that pensioners can take to protect their income in the current climate in an article featured on BUSINESS TECH.

MOONSTONE reports that the Coronavirus has shattered the myth that there is no place for the guaranteed annuities. Retirement in the time of COVID-19, which sees pensioners facing not only the risk of contracting the Coronavirus, but also the risk of not having an income that can sustain them for life due to the current environment that has seen investment markets crash, reducing retirement savings substantially. 

The global pandemic has highlighted the increased risk of death the elderly face if they contract COVID-19. Fortunately, the majority who contract the virus will survive. However they will face another wholly unpalatable risk – the risk of not having a sustainable income for life in an environment where investment markets have crashed, and retirement savings have been significantly reduced.

Dementia can creep up by stealth and rob you of your financial security in retirement. Here’s how to protect your retirement income should you face cognitive decline.

The 2018 budget will place increased pressure on retirees’ disposable income because of income tax bracket creep. Simply put, inflationary annuity income increases may have pushed some middle to high income earners into a higher tax bracket.