The 10X Retirement Reality Report is the result of a survey of more than 1-million South Africans. We found that 62% of people are not confident that they will be able to draw an income in retirement, while 41% of people have made no provision for retirement at all.
The poll further highlights some worrying trends across within South African demographics.
● 62% don’t have any form of retirement plan or have little understanding of their existing policy
● 53% don’t know how much their pension is worth
● 62% lack trust and confidence when it comes to investing money
● Less than 35% of black respondents have a pension or provident fund
● Less than 20% of black respondents have a retirement annuity
● More than 40% of women across all demographics have no investments or savings in any form
Founder and CEO of 10X Investments, Steven Nathan says, “The industry has amassed wealth at the expense of its clients, who frequently discover how poorly their retirement products have performed only when it is too late to do anything about it.
The survey pointed to the gender pay gap in South Africa, where women are understood to earn around a quarter less than their male counterparts, which has a knock-on effect on retirement savings. The report noted that the gender pay disparity is often “exacerbated by the increased likelihood that women’s careers will be interrupted during pregnancy and child-rearing”.
A total of 36% of female respondents said they neither saved nor invested, and 37% saved cash but did not invest it. Very few women, a mere 16%, reported investing their savings in order to grow their wealth.
Emma Heap, Head of Growth at 10X Investments, said: “If women aren’t investing their money for growth they will have little chance of beating inflation and having enough money to draw a decent income after retirement.
“Hopefully the report will inspire women to take control of their finances and ensure their money is working as hard for them as they are for it.”
We hope that the release of the Retirement Reality Report will promote action and awareness in addressing the underlying issues that are poised to financially cripple the South African economy and millions of individual South Africans.
View and download the full report here.
