Even though the rules around accessing your retirement annuity are fixed, South African expats can legally access and transfer the proceeds of their South African retirement annuity abroad. Here’s what you need to know about the process.
So you’re transferring your retirement annuity out of South Africa. Great. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know.
When it comes to emigrating from South Africa, starting a new life can be costly and you’re going to want to be able to set your family up properly in their new home country. A useful financial resource in this regard is your South African retirement annuity, but if you’re below the age of 55 that’s useless to you, right?
Wrong. For South Africans settling overseas, there are different rules around what happens when you surrender your South African retirement annuity.
As an expat, you can access your retirement annuity in full, even before the age of 55. Because retirement annuities cannot be transferred abroad, you’ll have to cash it in and transfer the proceeds to your new home. Once done, the money is yours and you’re free to do with it as you please.
How do you surrender your retirement annuity from South Africa?
Financial emigration from South Africa is your ticket to cashing in your South Africa retirement annuity. In short, this process means changing your status at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) from a resident to a non-resident of South Africa, but you still retain your citizenship.
Through this process you can access your retirement annuity before the maturity date and you will also have easy access to your South African funds, making transfers a breeze.
You can start your financial emigration even while you are still the process of leaving South Africa. However, many people only start once they’ve left South Africa and they’ve settled, because one of the requirements for financial emigration is proof of address in your new home country.
We exist to make all your financial decisions easier.
If you’re unsure where to even start with the process of financial emigration and cashing in your retirement annuities, a good place to start is with us. Our job is to walk you through the process every step of the way. Get in touch today, and let’s begin your process of financial emigration from South Africa together.