What the two-pot system reveals about financial resilience
Former FSCA Deputy Commissioner Astrid Ludin argues that the reform has become an unexpected indicator of South Africans’ vulnerability to financial shocks.
#retirementsavings
What happens when clients stop behaving their age?
Sanlam’s latest Benchmark suggests economic shocks, disrupted careers, and health risks are reshaping how clients across age groups make financial decisions.
Small bets, big consequences: How gambling quietly erodes financial resilience
The latest Benchmark research argues that small, recurring gambling losses can compound over time just as powerfully as disciplined investing can build wealth.
The next frontier for employee benefits is integration
Sanlam’s Benchmark report argues that improving member outcomes increasingly depends on linking financial advice, healthcare, and risk benefits.
The quiet revolution in retirement fund costs
Despite two decades of growing regulation, administration costs have fallen sharply, leaving more retirement contributions invested for members.
Two-pot’s hidden effect: members are staying in retirement funds
While billions have been withdrawn through the two-pot system, Alexforbes says more members are remaining connected to retirement funds long after leaving their employers.
More early signs that the two-pot system is working
Data from Alexforbes and Sanlam suggests more members are preserving retirement savings, though it is too soon to know whether the shift will last.
COFI could redraw the lines of accountability in umbrella funds
COFI’s outcomes-based framework may push governance responsibility beyond trustees and require umbrella funds to prove that members are better off.
Old Mutual sees rise in retirement savings preservation under two-pot system
The system appears to be changing member behaviour at exit from employment, even as most eligible members continue to make withdrawals.
Discovery updates RA range with new products and revised structures
The products feature tiered fees, contribution boosts, and integration benefits, subject to defined terms and conditions.
Budget strengthens saving for retirement, says Sanlam
The changes include the increase in the annual tax-deduction cap, and new annuitisation and living annuity commutation thresholds.
Changes to CGT, tax-free savings, retirement contributions, and donations
Treasury also proposes new thresholds at which fund members and living annuitants can commute to a cash lump sum.
Two-pot amendments resolve uncertainty for older provident fund members
The Revenue Laws Amendment Act settles the treatment of provident and provident preservation fund members aged 55 or older on T-day.
Three years that matter: emigration and access to retirement funds
The three-year countdown starts only when SARS formally recognises you as a non-resident – a difference of months can affect access and tax outcomes.
Adjudicator’s rulings highlight ongoing confusion over two-pot withdrawals
The retirement funds correctly refused multiple savings component withdrawals and early access to vested benefits.
No easy answers when valuing living annuities at divorce
Courts and practitioners face contested valuation methods – from present-value drawdowns to post-death capital – with tax and drawdown assumptions driving outcomes.
How the two-pot system reshapes pension rights in divorce settlements
The two-pot rules redefine ‘pension interest’ at account level, meaning funds must deduct awarded sums proportionally from the savings, retirement, and vested components.
