First published 2020

      Publication © Penguin Random House 2020

      Text © Bruce Cameron and Wouter Fourie 2020

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.

      PUBLISHER: Marlene Fryer

      MANAGING EDITOR: Robert Plummer

      EDITOR: Dane Wallace

      PROOFREADER: Lisa Compton

      COVER DESIGNER: Sean Robertson

      TYPESETTER: Monique van den Berg

      INDEXER: Sanet le Roux

      Set in 11.5 pt on 15.5 pt Minion

      ISBN 978 1 77609 584 1 (print)

      ISBN 978 1 77609 585 8 (ePub)

      Disclaimer

      The information in this book (current August 2020) is given in good faith and has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Among other things, laws affecting all aspects of personal finance, such as the Income Tax Act, are subject to constant change. Although the utmost care has been taken by the authors and the publisher, no warranty of reliability or accuracy can be given. Neither the authors, the publisher nor the distributor can be held responsible for any errors or omissions; or for any liability for any action taken or not taken by any individual or organisation. The material contained in this book is not intended as professional individual financial advice and it is recommended that you consult a professional financial planner before making any investment or other decisions that could affect your financial well-being.

      Contents

       Acknowledgements

       1. How to Avoid Your Point of Ruin

       2. The Dichotomy of Choosing a Pension

       3. A Helping Hand to Retirement Success

       4. Planning for the Years Ahead

       5. Savings

       6. Retirement Is Tougher on Women

       7. The Killer: Medical Care in Retirement

       8. Dementia

       9. Preparing for Crises

       Abbreviations

       Bibliography

       Index

      The author has put many months of work into researching and writing this book. This ebook is NOT free, and should be bought from an ebook retailer. If you are circulating it for free, you are breaking the law and can be prosecuted under the Copyright Act 98 of 1979.

Acknowledgements

      This book is based on a series of columns that I wrote for Business Maverick, a branch of the Daily Maverick online newspaper, edited by a long-standing colleague of mine, Tim Cohen.

      I decided to write the columns when I saw how pensioners were panicking in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and nine years of the Zuma regime. I called Tim, because as far as I’m concerned, the Daily Maverick is proper journalism in a world of dross. The Daily Maverick and Business Maverick do sound and scrupulous research – even though many people may not like the results.

      I was so concerned about the situation in South Africa that I offered to write the columns for free. I thought at the time there would be about three of them. In the end, the project grew into 20 columns.

      The main reason for this expansion was the research I was receiving from various parties. Most of it came from Alexander Forbes, Just SA and Sanlam, who over the years have produced an amazing amount of solid research into improving the lots of retirement fund members and pensioners.

      The two people to thank above all others are John Anderson, who heads research at Alexander Forbes, and Deane Moore, chief executive of Just SA. I have spent many hours conversing with them over the phone and by email while going over the contents of my columns and this book. This is apart from their granting me access to their organisations’ research and suggesting other sources of information for me to utilise.

      It was on the basis of all this that it was decided to go ahead with the publication of this book. Zebra Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa – which has published a number of my books, including another one co-authored by Wouter Fourie – were quick to accept the proposal. Wouter and I would like to thank Robert Plummer, Marlene Fryer and Penguin Random House for the way in which they have handled this book.

      I would like to acknowledge the following two people who have helped me on the writing side:

      Generally, for both the columns and the book, I would like to acknowledge a host of other people who assisted me along the way.

      In no particular order: Tony Mostert, my old friend and a curator and liquidator of retirement funds with whom I have spent many hours over many years discussing the many issues where our paths cross; Warren Matthysen, Belinda Sullivan, Zaid Saeed and Shelley van der Westhuizen of Alexander Forbes; David Gluckman and Karen Wentzel of Sanlam; Olano Makhubela, divisional executive of retirement funds supervision for the FSCA; David Hufton and Iain Anderson of Sygnia; Lucienne Fild of the Association for Savings and Investment SA; Derek Smorenburg of the South African Independent Financial Advisors Association; Estee Visser, a business development associate; Ryan Noach of Discovery Health; Francois du Toit, an investment planner educationist who runs the online programme Virtual Coffee and who has been, for me, a source of good ideas; and an old colleague of mine, Jo Tyler, another