The good news is it is never too late to start, but the sooner you begin the better. Whilst this is not an exact science, experts suggest that you will need to have at least 80% of your current monthly income to maintain your living standards when you retire. A big variable will be inflation as you need to calculate for something that has not happened. Let’s illustrate this: If you are 65 and about to retire and your current cost of living is R 50 000.00 per month and you ant

Save R 2 750.00 per month and reap the benefits. You can invest R 33 000.00 per year in tax-free savings accounts up to a lifetime limit of R 500 000.00 (likely to be revised upwards in the future). A tax-free savings account is an investment product where capital growth, interest, withdrawals and returns on investment are not taxable. The sooner you start the more likely you are to reap the full threshold benefits of your tax-free incentive. Save R 2 750.00 a month for 15 ye

Even if you are no longer working, you might still continue paying tax. Tax is treated differently before and after retirement. Any cash lump sum over and above the R 500 000.00 threshold is taxable: R 500 – R700k @18% R 700k – 1050 @27% R 1 050K+ @ 36% This is also assuming that you have not previously drawn a lump sum. All lump sum payments are taxed on a cumulative basis, which means you cannot claim your tax-free thresholds in each year. Retirement Annuity tax thresholds