November 2021
03Nov

Waiting to save: The cost of delaying your retirement funding

Putting enough money away for a comfortable retirement is a daunting task and, while we all know that starting early is critical, the numbers are alarming. Statistics from the 2021 10X South African Retirement Reality Report which has just been released are frightening. Around half the people surveyed indicated that they are making no provision for retirement at all, while the other half indicated they have some form of savings plan in place. 74% of survey respondents accept that...

November 3, 2021
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01Nov

South Africa Pension Funds To Exclude Non-CBDC Crypto Assets

South Africa Restricts Non-CBDC Crypto The South African government, in an effort to push its CBDCs, has introduced legislation that restricts non-CBDC crypto from being invested in pension funds. The new regulations are in sharp contrast to the older regulations that allowed portfolio managers to invest around 2.5% of funds into the category of “other assets,” which also included crypto assets. The new rules, however, exclude cryptocurrencies, citing a lack of protection. The Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System in the...

November 1, 2021
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October 2021
20Oct

They Fought Apartheid in South Africa. Now They Want Veterans’ Benefits.

Lesley Kgogo was 17 years old when he traded a school uniform for military fatigues and joined the armed wing of the African National Congress in the fight to overthrow the apartheid regime in South Africa. He was among thousands who trained and slept in bush camps in other countries and then returned to join the insurgency that ultimately helped to topple the repressive white-minority government. Read also South Africa. Millennials hardest hit financially in 2020, study shows More than 40 years...

October 20, 2021
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18Oct

South Africa. Millennials hardest hit financially in 2020, study shows

Young people employed in medium to large companies and belonging to a retirement fund were harder hit financially by the pandemic than their middle-aged colleagues, with higher retrenchment rates and higher levels of financial stress, as measured by their credit scores and their default rates on debt. This is one of the findings of the annual Alexander Forbes Member Insights report, released this week, which surveyed almost a million members across the hundreds of retirement funds Alexander Forbes administers. While...

October 18, 2021
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11Oct

South Africa: A New Social Assistance Assessment Aims to Help Strengthen Policies and Programs for the Poor

By  India Education Diary Bureau Admin  The World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, released a new report assessing the country’s social assistance programs and systems. In an environment of high unemployment, persistent poverty, weak economic growth and shrinking fiscal resources that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Social Assistance Programs and Systems Review: South Africa report underscores the critical role of the grant and social assistance system in mitigating poverty. This report also provides...

October 11, 2021
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08Oct

National pension reform: Why it is imperative in South Africa

When the Department of Social Development (DSD) released its Green Paper on Comprehensive Social Security and Retirement Reforms, the proposal to set up a national pension scheme was swiftly shot down. The Green Paper proposed a National Social Security Fund to which all workers earning over R1,667 a month would contribute. Employers and employees would initially contribute between 8% and 12% of earnings up to a ceiling of R23,000 a month. Such was the force of the opposition that there was...

October 8, 2021
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06Oct

Will South Africa’s social security reforms impact HNWs?

In September 2021, The South African Department of Social Development withdrew its Green Paper on Comprehensive Social Security and Retirement Reform. The paper proposed to introduce a government-run social security fund that would have allowed people to receive retirement, survivor, disability and/or unemployment benefits. Contributions would have been based on a person’s income and wealth, with different bands and benefits provided accordingly. But the government gazetted the green paper to “provide better clarity on some of the matters entailed [in it]”...

October 6, 2021
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September 2021
15Sep

South Africa. Micro pensions — a viable alternative to the NSSF

By Petri Greeff Whatever the reasons for the release and subsequent withdrawal of the green paper on comprehensive social security & retirement reform, it has sparked important debate, particularly around its call for a mandatory, contributory state pension fund. The many challenges facing the proposed National Social Security Fund (NSSF) have already been outlined by others. Nevertheless, about 6.2-million workers, primarily low-income in both the formal and informal sectors, are not covered by private pension schemes, according to the paper. So...

September 15, 2021
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August 2021
30Aug

Plan for early pension access in South Africa could do more harm than good, authorities warn

Financial authorities have warned that the proposed Pensions Funds Amendment Bill could have a harmful impact on financial savings in South Africa. The bill, which was tabled by the opposition Democratic Alliance, will allow retirement fund members to access a portion of their savings in cash before retirement as a guarantee for a loan. The bill makes provision for this by amending the current Pension Funds Act to allow pension fund members to obtain a loan, secured by a guarantee from...

August 30, 2021
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19Aug

South Africa proposes a mandatory pension system

Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has published a Green Paper on comprehensive social security and retirement reform for public comment. It includes a mandatory pension and insurance system among the proposals. Read also Warning over major retirement change for South Africa The department said that the absence of a statutory arrangement providing pensions and insurance is the most obvious gap in South Africa’s social security system. Read also European Union: Putting A “PEPP” In The Step Of European Pension Providers? “Such an arrangement...

August 19, 2021
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