The state of private retirement savings in South Africa is worsening, with a report showing that 67 percent of people have no retirement plan at all or only a vague one.
The report, commissioned by 10X Investments, also found a lack of understanding among clients of the retirement-savings industry on what they have actually saved and what they will need to have saved to preserve their lifestyle in retirement.
In the poll, 72 percent of those with a retirement plan are concerned that they will not have saved enough money to live on after they retire, while 77 percent of those who do have some sort of a plan accept that they will need to continue earning an income after they retire.
The report says 72 percent of women across all demographics either have no retirement-savings plan at all or have only a vague plan.
“South Africa’s retirement time bomb is ticking ever louder,” 10X Investments founder and chief executive Steven Nathan says. “We all need to urgently confront this reality, to prevent an even greater proportion of South Africans slipping into poverty at retirement.”
Households remain under tremendous pressure financially, with a negative impact on retirement-savings behaviour.
The crisis is hitting women particularly hard, with more than 70 percent of female respondents admitting to doing badly financially or feeling unsure about their financial predicament.
“Women in South Africa are following the global trend of saving less for retirement and investing their savings less aggressively, which can only mean that discrepancies between genders will be magnified in retirement,” said Mica Townsend, business development manager at 10X Investments.
“The situation is dire even before you take into account the fact that women have a longer life expectancy than men.”