Retirement Planning in a Digital Age
As South Africa becomes increasingly digitised, the way we communicate and plan for the future has fundamentally shifted. According to the 2025 DataReportal, 50.8 million South Africans are now online, representing 78.9% of the population. While this signals remarkable progress, it also reveals a quiet trade-off: convenience often comes at the expense of depth and […]
Who Gets to Tax Your Retirement Benefits?
Navigating double taxation agreements in retirement planning. Cross-border retirement planning raises difficult tax questions. This article unpacks how double taxation agreements (DTAs) shape the taxation of lump sums and annuities, and the steps advisors can take to help preserve clients’ retirement benefits. For South Africans who have built their careers locally but now live abroad, […]
Rethinking retirement investment risk
Why getting aggressive with your pension portfolio pays off. As retirement approaches, many people reduce their risk profile by shifting their pension investments to more conservative assets like bonds and money market. However, this traditional strategy, though designed to protect against market volatility, can actually diminish the future growth potential of retirement savings – especially […]
Understanding the two-pot retirement system: Questions and answers
As of 1 September 2024, significant changes have been introduced to the retirement landscape in South Africa with the implementation of the two-pot retirement system. This system allows members of pension funds, provident funds, and related schemes to access a portion of their savings while still working. With this shift, it is essential to understand […]
How to sidestep common retirement savings mistakes
Saving for retirement is a crucial aspect of financial planning, yet it is fraught with challenges and pitfalls, especially in a dynamic economic landscape like South Africa’s. With the right strategies, however, individuals can overcome these challenges effectively and secure their financial future. This article explores key strategies to avoid common pitfalls when saving for […]
Three innovative approaches to boost your retirement savings
Retirement planning is absolutely key to your financial well-being, but let’s face it, as those golden years inch closer, a lot of us start to worry if what we’ve saved up is really going to cut it. Sure, sticking to the tried-and-true savings plans is essential, but why not think outside the box a little? […]
Tax breaks for retirement funding
While there are very few tax breaks for individuals, some huge ones are available for retirement funding Retirement tax breaks in South Africa are designed to incentivise individuals to save for retirement and provide them with tax relief on contributions to retirement funds. The government has implemented various tax incentives over the years to encourage […]
Your retirement ‘gift’ to SARS
Tax payable on your retirement lump sum In last month’s issue of Tax Breaks, we dealt with the tax treatment of retirement lump sums when one resigns or is dismissed (prior to reaching normal retirement age). However, when you actually retire from a retirement fund, the rules are a bit different – and SARS gives […]
RFS Umbrella Pension Fund
Member Communication – May 2021 Amalgamation of RFS Umbrella Pension and RFS Umbrella Provident Funds A. BACKGROUND With the recent retirement reform changes announced during January 2021 and implemented on 1 March 2021, there is no need to have separate pension and provident funds going forward as annuitisation of retirement benefits in a provident fund […]
RFS Umbrella Pension & Provident Funds Communique 02 of 2019: Your Fund and the Default Regulations
This document outlines the approach that the Funds have taken with respect to Regulations 37 to 39 of the Pension Funds Act – the “defaults regulations”. The regulations deal with three key events in the life of a member. Firstly, Regulation 37 deals with members who join the Fund or are active members within the […]