GOVERNMENT’S new retirement fund default regulations take effect from 1 March.
Mzansi retirement fund members are overwhelmed by countless options – from choosing an investment portfolio to preserving their retirement savings when changing jobs to the annuity which will sustain them for the rest of their lives.
Katherine Barker, head of FundsAtWork at Momentum Corporate, said: “Our research shows that many members of the retirement funds we administer do not have a personal financial adviser which is how they should access their scheme’s options.
“The benefits of retirement counselling services will be of value to members.”
She said retirement benefit counselling can be instrumental in delivering better outcomes.
“It can improve outcomes by offering members relevant information about decisions such as resignation or retirement.
“However, to be able to make informed decisions, members need access to simple and easy-to-understand information about their benefits.
“Since 2016, we have a range of smart solutions, which include smart exits, smart retirements and smart counsel to help members make decisions through all the various critical stages of retirement saving.”
Smart exits details the temptation of taking retirement savings as a lump sum and spending it when they change employers, instead of preserving it for when they retire.
“Smart exits includes interactive scenarios that show how different retirement decisions impact on outcomes.
“Smart retirements provides information about different annuity services retirees need to know about in easy-to-understand formats.
The smart counsel is there to provide advice and answer questions about retirement funds, schemes and services.
“By improving members’ financial literacy and creating a better understanding of benefits as well as the consequences of certain choices, we trust that the counselling service will allow financial advisers to focus on where they deliver the greatest value, which is providing professional advice.”
