Cost of living, coupled with longer life expectancy and the continuing depreciation of the South African Rand relative to major international currencies is putting a different spin on retirement for those expats living and working abroad. Stop waiting for those retirement annuities to mature at age 55!

By the time you reach retirement age the value of the one-third lump you can transfer abroad won’t convert to a small fortune and neither will your monthly annuity by the time it reaches your international bank.

The new reality we’re all facing? Retirement is a yesteryear concept, there are better ways to plan for our ‘one days’ and we’ll all be working for longer than we once dreamt.

Before 60 becomes your new 40, now is a good time to re-think life and to plan that second or third career before you hit the magic age of 55. Where to from here?

1. There’s little sense in hanging-in for your retirement policies to mature because almost certainly it’ll be a case of too little too late!
2. In international terms the cost of debt will more than likely outweigh the ‘growth’ in pension investment.
3. Cash-in your policies and transfer the full capital abroad.
4. Invest in residential real estate – buy your own home or leverage and acquire a second property with view to rental income servicing the mortgage.
5. The smart thing to do – bring depreciation of your retirement investment to halt sooner rather than later.

There is no harm in doing the simple math. You’ll find when comparing apples with apples it’ll be a no brainer. No reasons why you can’t manage your own portfolio and be in control of your own destiny, knowing exactly where you’ll stand and where you’re going.

Remember as a South African living abroad you are fully entitled to cash-in your retirement annuities before the generally accepted retirement age of 55 and have the full capital value transferred abroad – the days of compulsory one-third lump sum and buying an annuity are something of the past!

Next step? Get your free, personal South African financial report to discover exactly how much seed capital you have sitting in South African retirement annuities waiting to start your own investment portfolio in your new home country.