Retirement. What does the word mean to you? For the enviable few who have built up a decent nest egg, retirement represents a life of leisure as compensation for years worked. But that is not the reality for most South Africans.

When 10X Investments published its first South African Retirement Reality Report in 2018, it highlighted how poorly prepared working South Africans were for retirement. Subsequent reports, including the latest, released recently, have shown that the outlook is worsening by most measures. The 2022 report shows that the warnings of the last four years have had little effect on outcomes, noting that “retirement still holds the prospect of deprivation and disempowerment for most South Africans”.

The report is based on findings of the 2022 Brand Atlas Survey. Brand Atlas tracks the lifestyles of 15.4 million economically active South Africans (this year defined as people in households with a monthly income of more than R6 000, aged 16 or older, and with internet access) through online surveys. This economically active segment makes up 30% of the population. The data are weighted to reflect the demographic profile of this segment.

Some highlights

Retirement plan: almost half of respondents (46%) had no retirement plan whatsoever (this has remained relatively constant over four years, as have most other measures). The rest had a plan ranging from “vague” (22%) to “pretty good idea” (23%) to “thought-through” (8%).

Time needed to save: almost a quarter (24%) of respondents believed you could save for a comfortable retirement in under 20 years, indicating that many people mistakenly think it’s okay to start planning for retirement when you’re in your 40s.

Worries about having enough: a majority of respondents (62%) agreed partly or strongly with the statement “I worry about whether I will have enough money to live on after I retire”. A small 8% totally disagreed with the statement, down from 12% in 2020.

Intention to work after retirement age: a large majority (71%) agreed partly or strongly with the statement “I expect I will need to keep earning some money after I retire”.

Reasons for not saving: one statistic that has increased quite dramatically over the last two years is the percentage of people who say they can’t afford to save because they have nothing left over at the end of the month – from 56% in 2020 to 70% this year.

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