Technology increasingly offering South Africans a retirement reality check

Steven Nathan, CEO of 10X Investments.

The advent of increasingly sophisticated online financial calculators and tools is proving to be a welcome reality check for many South Africans planning for retirement. The tools help to empower them with the information and knowledge needed to take more responsibility for themselves and effectively address any issues that could prevent them from maintaining their lifestyles during their retirement years.

According to Steven Nathan, CEO of 10X Investments, far too many South Africans feel they do not have the necessary expertise when it comes to retirement planning, resulting in them either ignoring the issue completely or relying exclusively on the use of financial planners.

However, the rise in internet accessibility and an increased willingness amongst the financial industry to provide consumers with greater levels of information, education and transparency has seen a growing number of people taking more responsibility for their retirement planning.

He says that in his experience, many South Africans who use retirement calculators for the first time are shocked to realise, once all assumptions and figures are calculated, how completely unprepared they are to maintain their current standard of living in retirement.

One of the biggest challenges that many retirement investors face is that they generally don’t know how much they should be putting away and how they can best maximise their retirement investment return.

“As a start, this can be measured with the help of an online retirement calculator that uses accurate inputs and assumptions to determine the user’s ideal retirement pot. While there is a plethora of online retirement calculators, investors should use one that is able to indicate where they currently stand relative to their goal and what they can do to improve their savings outcome.”

He explains that in order for investors to navigate the complexities and pitfalls within the retirement industry, 10X developed a range of calculators and online planning tools that help investors plan better for their needs pre- and post-retirement.

Nathan says that good online retirement calculators should also make it extremely clear what the impact of fees has on the investor’s end-retirement goal. “Investors need to see what the impact of paying high fees will be from the day that they start investing. It is important that people realise that by paying unnecessarily high administration fees on their retirement, they will not be able to achieve an optimal retirement pot.”

He explains that investors must realise that there are very simple steps that they can take to ensure they are able to retire comfortably. “As investors may be at different life stages, accurate online retirement planning tools become an essential in the retirement planning process to help ensure that the investor has a full understanding of actions that they can take to achieve their ultimate retirement goal.”

“Investors need to take more ownership of their retirement planning, which includes doing thorough research in order to determine exactly how much they would need to save, as well as for how long, in order to maintain their current lifestyle once they retire,” concludes Nathan.

10X Investments were recently recognised as the Technology Provider of the Year at the prestigious Batseta (Council of Retirement Funds for South Africa) Imbasa Yegolide 2015 Awards, held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.