1 minute read
From the Editor
IF I was Albus Dumbledore and could wave a magic wand over the South African retirement fund industry, I would eliminate the word “retirement”. Everything in the industry is geared towards our retirement … except it isn’t. Everything in the industry is geared towards our long-term wealth creation. We create wealth so that when the time comes and we are not able to work any more – whether that is at 55 or 85 – we have saved enough to live comfortably off the proceeds.
But it’s about so much more: it is about improving our lives and the lives of our children by, for instance, investing in education, being able to afford life-enriching experiences, and having access to topclass medical care.
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As soon as a young person sees or hears the word “retirement”, he or she switches off. “Retirement – that’s decades away, at the end of my life. My life is just beginning. Why should I be concerned with retirement?”
Replace the word “retirement” with “wealth” and the mindset changes instantly. “Wealth? Yes, I want to be wealthy. Where do I start?”
If you are a young person at the start of your career, I have a suggestion: when reading the magazine, each time you see the word “retirement”, mentally replace it with the word “wealth”. So we would have wealth savings, wealth funds, wealth annuities…
Everything will suddenly make sense. It’s not about getting to age 65 and then suddenly becoming redundant to society, surviving on what you have saved. It’s about approaching life in a whole new way: saving consistently, spending within your means without taking on unnecessary debt, investing wisely for the long-term. And making the most of (a) the generous tax incentives on retirement savings and (b) the magic of compounding.
