Retirement & Investments
Retirement money behaves differently from every other product on this site. There is no claim, no event, and nothing that pays out because something went wrong. There is a horizon measured in decades, a set of rules about what may be held and when it may be accessed, and a tax treatment that is the closest thing to a guaranteed return available to a South African taxpayer.
Written forEarners with no retirement funding of their ownAnyone changing jobs with a fund balancePeople within a decade of retiring
We advise on the structure rather than forecast the outcome. Nobody can tell you what a portfolio will be worth in twenty years, and any conversation that begins with that number is the wrong conversation. What can be established is how much goes in, what it is allowed to be invested in, what it costs to run, and what happens at the other end.
What this typically covers
Your own retirement fund, independent of any employer. Contributions reduce your taxable income within a yearly limit, which is why it is the most efficient place for long-term money for most earners. The trade is access: it is locked until at least age fifty-five.
Individual retirement funding under the Pension Funds Act, with contributions deductible within the annual limit and assets held subject to Regulation 28.
Where the money goes when you leave a job. Cashing out a pension is the most expensive decision most people make without noticing, because it is taxed and because the compounding you lose cannot be bought back later. A preservation fund keeps it intact.
Preserving pension or provident benefits on leaving an employer, without triggering the tax consequences of withdrawal.
The fund your employer runs, and what your options are inside it. Most people never look at theirs, and it is often the largest single asset they own before their house.
Pension and provident fund benefits, contribution structures, and the treatment of members on exit.
What happens to the money at the end. A guaranteed annuity buys an income for life and you cannot change your mind; a living annuity keeps you invested and leaves you carrying the risk of drawing too much or living longer than the money does. This decision is close to irreversible, and it deserves more thought than it usually gets.
Living and guaranteed annuities, and the trade between drawdown flexibility and a guaranteed income for life.
Unit trusts. Money that is not locked up and is not tax-deductible, which makes it the right home for anything you might actually need before retirement, and for contributions above the annual deductible limit.
Participatory interests in registered collective investment schemes, for money that must remain accessible or exceeds the retirement-funding limits.
Fees, listed separately, because a single blended number hides which layer is expensive. Over thirty years the difference between one fee structure and another is measured in years of retirement, and it is the one variable in this whole page that is genuinely knowable in advance.
Advice, administration, and underlying portfolio charges, disclosed separately rather than as a single blended figure.
What this will not cover
Nobody here can promise a return
Market-linked investments fall as well as rise, past performance describes the past, and any figure presented as an expected outcome is an assumption rather than a fact. We will show you assumptions and label them as assumptions. Treat anyone who does otherwise accordingly.
Retirement money is locked, and that is the point
Retirement annuity and preservation assets cannot generally be accessed before age fifty-five, with narrow statutory exceptions. If you may need the money sooner it does not belong in this structure, and no tax benefit changes that.
Regulation 28 limits what may be held
Retirement funds are subject to statutory limits on exposure to equities, property and offshore assets. It constrains what a portfolio can look like, which is a protection rather than an inconvenience, but it means some strategies are not available inside a retirement fund at all.
The deduction has a ceiling
Contributions are deductible up to a percentage of income and an annual cap, and the cap moves in most Budgets. Anything above it is not deductible in that year, and belongs in a structure that does not pretend otherwise.
When you claim
There is no claim to make
Nothing here pays out because something went wrong. What you give is an instruction, to retire, to transfer, or to withdraw, and the fund rules and the legislation decide what may be done and when.
SARS sees the money before you do
The fund applies for a tax directive and the tax comes off before anything is paid. It is also why a withdrawal costs more than the amount withdrawn: the tax is charged at the time, and the compounding on it is gone for good.
At retirement, two decisions that do not reverse
There is a limit on how much may be taken in cash, and the balance has to provide an income. Choosing between a guaranteed annuity and a living annuity is close to irreversible, and it deserves more of your time than every contribution decision that came before it.
Frequently asked questions
Contributions are deductible at 27.5% of the greater of your remuneration or taxable income, capped at R430 000 a year. Because the deduction lands at your marginal rate, contributing costs you less than the amount you contribute, and the higher your marginal rate the wider that gap. It is the nearest thing to a certain return in the whole class, and unlike investment performance it is legislated rather than hoped for. Figures current at 2026-08-22; the cap moves in most Budgets.
Almost never, and it is the most common expensive mistake in this area. Withdrawal is taxed, and the larger loss is the compounding on money that is no longer invested, which cannot be recovered by contributing more later. A transfer to a preservation fund or a new employer fund keeps it whole.
We will not answer that with a number, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we can set out is what the money may be invested in, what the structure costs, what the tax treatment is, and what range of outcomes different assumptions produce. Those are the parts that are knowable.
They answer different questions rather than competing. A retirement annuity is more tax-efficient and locked until at least fifty-five; a unit trust is accessible and not deductible. Most people who can afford both should have both, and the split follows how likely the money is to be needed before retirement.