Big Business Insights<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat employees are withdrawing for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Old Mutual Corporate\u2019s latest analysis shows that withdrawals are being driven mainly by basic living needs (34.1%), repaying debt (25.9%) and emergencies (26.2%), not lifestyle spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When examining the types of emergencies reported by members, medical expenses (32%), home-related costs (32%), and vehicle repairs (21%) emerged as the most prominent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor employers, this provides critical insight,\u201d says Utete. \u201cIt shows that employees are not accessing savings for discretionary reasons, but to deal with real financial pressure. The system is enabling structured access to savings in moments of need, without reopening the door to full cash-out at resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the same time, early indicators suggest a 13% improvement in preservation at job change, with more retirement savings remaining invested for longer. That tells us something important: when the system is designed correctly, with the right defaults and guardrails, it can shift behaviour in a positive direction without removing flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opportunity for employers is to use this insight to better understand where resilience is under strain, and to respond with more targeted support, clearer communication and practical financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That matters because financial pressure does not stay outside the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen employees are drawing on savings to meet day-to-day needs, it reflects financial pressure that can undermine focus and overall resilience in the workplace,\u201d says Utete. \u201cOver time, that has implications for productivity, absenteeism and how employees engage with benefits, savings and long-term planning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other striking feature is how often withdrawals are repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 80% of eligible members have claimed at least once, while 25% of all eligible members claimed in March 2026 alone, bringing withdrawal activity back to inception-level volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of those who claimed in March, around 80% had claimed before, showing that repeat withdrawal is becoming a pattern rather than a once-off event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is not irrational behaviour. It\u2019s people responding to sustained financial pressure with the options they have,\u201d says Utete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut when withdrawals return to these levels and become repeat behaviour, it signals something deeper about resilience across the workforce. For employers, the focus should be on understanding these patterns and using them to shape more effective guidance, support and communication so employees can make better decisions in difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a topic Utete explores in the Big Business Insights<\/em> podcast, where he is joined by neuroscience specialist Dr Charlene Haynes Nell and Michelle Acton, a thought leader on retirement reform in South Africa, to discuss how employers can improve preservation rates and what neuroscience reveals about the financial choices employees make.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe conversation also highlights the role employers can play in supporting better outcomes, balancing immediate financial pressure with the need to protect long-term savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Haynes-Nell puts it, \u201cMoney is both an emotional and cognitive decision.\u201d That is a useful reminder for employers that withdrawal behaviour is not simply a matter of information or discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is often shaped by stress, urgency and the realities of daily financial pressure. It is from this perspective that the podcast points to a set of practical actions employers can take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five practical ideas from the podcast for supporting better employee financial decisions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Keep communication simple and consistent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nEmployees are more likely to respond to clear, repeated messaging than to dense, technical once-off education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Use shorter, more practical formats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMicro-learning, short videos and focused prompts are more effective than long-form financial content, especially under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Recognise that money decisions are behavioural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nEmployees do not make financial choices on logic alone. Stress, habit and emotion all shape outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Broaden the conversation beyond retirement alone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhere claims are being driven by debt, living costs and emergencies, financial wellbeing matters just as much as long-term preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Use two-pot data as a resilience signal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWithdrawal patterns can help employers identify where support structures, communication and benefit design may need to work harder across different parts of the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A more useful employer lens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Two-pot is already proving more useful than many employers may have expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is improving preservation in a way the old system could not, while also giving employers a clearer view of where financial strain is surfacing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwo-pot is showing us, in real terms, how employees are addressing financial pressure,\u201d concludes Utete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor employers, the opportunity is to use that insight to respond more effectively, by strengthening support, improving communication and helping employees make better-informed decisions when it matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listen to the full Big Business Insights podcast, where Old Mutual Corporate unpacks the trends shaping South Africa\u2019s workforce and retirement landscape.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this episode, Blessing Utete, Michelle Acton, Chief Customer Officer at Old Mutual Corporate, and Dr Charlene Haynes Nell explore what two-pot is revealing about financial pressure, employee behaviour and the practical steps employers can take to support better outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nClick here to listen to the full Old Mutual Corporate Big Business Insights podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s Two-Pot Retirement Reform is often framed as a withdrawal story. But that lens misses the more valuable signal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":858453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[25270,25269,1110,16130,25268],"class_list":["post-858228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-big-business-insights","tag-big-business-insights-podcast","tag-old-mutual","tag-old-mutual-corporate","tag-two-pot-retirement-reform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858228","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\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858413,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858228\/revisions\/858413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}