To comfortably retire, you need to plan
Retirees who achieve a very comfortable retirement are not necessarily the people who had the most money during their working life. It all comes down to what they did with their money that counts.
Head of guaranteed investments at Sanlam Employee Benefits, Danie van Zyl, told iAfrica that in some ways the tables are turned later in life.
He says that “retirement tends to level the playing fields, and if they have been planning correctly, people with lower incomes during their working life are sometimes better off in retirement than those with higher paid jobs”.
Sanlam’s research shows that “affluent pensioners didn’t necessarily have a big head start”. They just positioned themselves better for retirement by saving more on an ongoing basis and planned for the future.
So what can you do to improve your chances of a comfortable retirement?
Six ways to improve your retirement
- The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more comfortable you will be once you retire.
- Increase the amount you put away every month.
- When you get a raise, put the excess into your retirement.
- Look for “good financial advice”.
- When you retire, reinvest your lump sum to boost your income.
- Don’t just have one retirement fund. Try to also have money in property, stocks or other retirement annuities.
