Making retirement great again

WE NEED to “make retirement great again”, by focusing on improving the financial resilience of retirement fund members.

This was the message of David Gluckman, head of special projects at Sanlam Employee Benefits, who said the Benchmark research provided the first objective review of how the government’s so-called default regulations had been implemented.

He said: “Retirement benefits counselling done well will surely result in better member decisions at resignation and retirement, which in turn will lead to a bigger pool of funds available, which in turn will allow more members to benefit from quality financial advice.”

But another big conversation needs to happen around costs versus value for fund members. “When we asked 100 independent employee benefits consultants what their number-one wish was, the biggest call was for funds to stop fixating on costs over value.

“Ultimately, it’s about enabling financial resilience. The fact that the majority of umbrella and standalone funds surveyed believed just 20% of their members would be able to retain their standards of living into retirement is incredibly alarming. There needs to be more focus on what consultants, administrators and providers are doing to proactively improve members’ outcomes.

“A regulator can only do so much. Ultimately, it’s a co-ordinated effort by all stakeholders that has the best chance of assisting South Africans towards achieving financial resilience, says Gluckman. “We need to work together to make retirement great again.”