{"id":829987,"date":"2025-07-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=829987"},"modified":"2025-07-04T14:42:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:42:51","slug":"80-is-the-new-60-in-south-africa-because-people-just-cant-afford-to-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/829987\/80-is-the-new-60-in-south-africa-because-people-just-cant-afford-to-retire\/","title":{"rendered":"80 is the new 60 in South Africa because people just can’t afford to retire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans are looking increasingly likely to work for longer, with many having inadequate funds to retire in their 60s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the latest FNB Retirement Insights Survey, the reality of retirement is far from the image of comfort and financial ease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey showed a widening gap between retirement expectations and actual preparedness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 10% of South Africans are planning to fully retire at 60. Although more South Africans claim to have a retirement plan, very few are on track to achieve their goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey revealed that 60% of South Africans under 60 have a retirement plan, but financial constraints have hindered progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This causes South Africans to delay contributions or to access their savings prematurely, or sometimes to abandon retirement products altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among middle-income earners, contributions towards retirement annuities have dropped from 51% to 34% as debt pressures and daily living costs take precedence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research also shows that many in the middle class feel uncertain about their ability to save adequately and stay on track with their retirement plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe gap between expectations and outcomes must be urgently addressed,\u201d said Lytania Johnson, CEO of FNB Personal Segment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is growing positive momentum in our industry, and a visible shift from a \u2018one day\u2019 to a \u2018day one\u2019 mindset.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One positive that Johnson highlighted was the greater number of younger and lower-income consumers engaging earlier with retirement planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far more South Africans are starting their retirement journey well before the age of 30, with a growing use of diverse savings and investment products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are seeing more South Africans recognising the need to plan and taking initial steps – but awareness without action won\u2019t secure the futures that people want,\u201d said Johnson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People with retirement plans often feel uneasy, with many having a persistent anxiety over the rising cost of living, future health expenses and whether their money will last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Younger respondents are usually more optimistic, with many are expecting to replace 75% of their income in retirement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the experiences of older adults tell a different story, with many over-60s working longer than planned, cutting back on spending and relying on their children for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working until you’re 80<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The concerns in the FNB survey pale in comparison to a recent study by Sanlam, which showed that most South Africans will need to work until they are 80 to comfortably retire.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was part of the Sanlam Corporate study<\/a>, which looked into the data of 300,000 Sanlam Umbrella Fund members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although 65 is the official retirement age for many, Sanlam\u2019s internal data showed that most South Africans cannot afford to retire at this age.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 65, the average South African would have far less saved than what they require to maintain their lifestyle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industry benchmark for a comfortable retirement is a 75% replacement ratio<\/strong>, which looks at the percentage of the final working salary they will receive as retirement income.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the average citizen is expected to achieve only a 25% replacement ratio<\/strong> at the retirement age of 65.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people will need to work an additional 15 years to achieve financial security in retirement,\u201d said Sanlam Corporate CEO Kanyisa Mkhize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These extended working years will profoundly affect financial planning and career development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers will have to maintain employability and skills development well into their 70s while managing their health to remain competitive in the job market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting earlier is better for those who want to try and enjoy their final years in peace. A 10X Investments Retirement Reality Report found it challenging to make up for a retirement savings deficit after age<\/a> 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report showed that people would need to put aside around 60% of their income by 50\u00a0 if they want to retire comfortably<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans are needing to work for longer to retire comfortably, with many no longer able to hang up their boots at 60. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":830001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11953,76,2880],"class_list":["post-829987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-10x-investments","tag-fnb","tag-sanlam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829987"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":830320,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829987\/revisions\/830320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}