RETIREMENT PART 5: What’s the difference between retirement products?
Nazia Khalon Official retirement products have great tax benefits but come with some restrictions. Understand your options before you commit. Making the decision to start investing for retirement is the first step. The next step is to decide on what tools to use. This means figuring out the difference between retirement products and other products on offer. The range of options to consider can leave you flattened even before you’ve made a start, but the best way to approach these options is to think about your needs and your level of self-control. Some options will give you freedom and flexibility, which may tempt you to withdraw prematurely and lose the benefits of compounding over time. Others will lock you in, but give you great tax deductions in return. Decide on what works for yo
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Tax implications for 2017
Using a mobile device? Click on the image to view in its entirety: Content sourced from PSG: https://www.psg.co.za/news/Budget-Speech-2017
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Budget 2017: What you need to know
Significant announcements New 45% tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum (around 100 000 taxpayers are affected) Dividend withholding tax increased from 15% to 20% No increases in VAT or Capital Gains Tax No new allocation for nuclear Budget deficit to decline from 3.4% in 2016/17 to 3.1% in 2017/18. For the first time since 2010, tax revenue growth did not match economic growth Tax changes Government will raise an additional R28 billion during the new tax year New 45% marginal tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum Other taxpayers will not receive full relief from fiscal drag – the impact of inflation on tax brackets Tax on dividends increase from 15% to 20% Taxes on fuel to rise by 39c a litre. (Fuel levy
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Let SARS help you pay for retirement
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants to help you pay for your retirement. The way in which they do this is by offering generous tax deductions when you make contributions to your retirement annuity (RA), pension or provident fund. On 1 March 2016, the tax deductions for retirement savings increased from 15% to 27.5% - which means you can now save more for retirement and get back more from SARS. What else has changed? You are now able to deduct your contributions to all retirement funds, with the maximum tax deduction you may make in a tax year limited to the greater of 27.5% of taxable income or remuneration (see Definitions), subject to an annual ceiling of R350 000. Contributions above this limit made directly by your employer are also now taxable as a fringe benefit
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Retirement Annuities VS Tax-Free Investments
Access to your cash Your investments in an RA cannot be accessed before the age of 55, except in very specific circumstances. You can access your TFI at any time. However, withdrawing from a TFI account impacts negatively on your lifetime investment limit of R500 000 – you cannot replace money that you have withdrawn. Tax savings The main difference between the two products is when you get the tax benefit. An RA offers tax savings now, i.e. you pay less tax now because you make contributions with earnings on which you have not paid tax, but you will pay tax later, i.e. you defer paying tax. Apart from deferring tax in an RA, a further tax saving may come from paying a lower average tax rate on the benefits withdrawn from the RA at and after retirement, v
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How important is medical aid?
Can you afford it? Medical aids have changed over the years. Traditional schemes used to cost an arm and a leg and covered everything, but today you can select the cover you need or can afford. You can choose from hospital cover for planned procedures and emergencies to hospital cover with a small savings facility towards day-to-day costs. In my experience of helping clients select the right plan for their needs, I have seen far too much focus on day-to-day expenses and an ignorance of emergency costs. Worst case scenario your dentist bill will be a few thousand rand (and 90% of the time you can make a payment arrangement). However, the cost incurred in an emergency could set you back millions. In 2013, Discovery Health's biggest medical claim was over 6 million rand. On average, the
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Banks: Long-term value outweighs the risks
Despite the meaningful risks looming over South Africa’s banking sector, the current combination of attractive dividend yields and relatively cheap valuations presents attractive prospective medium-term returns for investors in local bank shares, despite fairly muted earnings growth expectations in the low- to mid-single digits, according to Craig Butters, equity portfolio manager and banking sector analyst at Prudential Investment Managers. Banking stocks fell sharply in December 2015 on the back of the large jump in bond yields in reaction to the surprise firing of Finance Minister Nene, to levels well below their historic valuations. They have remained under pressure due to the increased risk of a downgrade of South Africa’s sovereign foreign currency credit rating to non-investm
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Tapping into your investments as an income
Whether you’re saving to pay for your children’s education, take a break from work, or even to have more spending money in retirement, setting a plan in motion so you can draw an income from your investments could make that goal a reality. What type of funds should you be looking at that will help you generate an income that’s higher than a simple bank deposit over time? “Enhanced income”-type funds are those that aim to deliver a high level of regular income that will beat a cash or money market return over two to three years. How do they do this? These funds invest in a combination of assets that give you both 1) a steady income stream, and 2) some capital growth over time. This comprises a high proportion of assets like cash and bonds for income, as well as a smaller amou
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Saving for something special?
With so many short-term investment options to choose from, saving for something special like a new car, dream wedding or overseas holiday can be daunting. Leaving your savings in a bank account may feel like the safest and easiest choice, but leaving it there for too long without earning any (or very little) interest can result in it losing its purchasing power over time. How can my savings lose its purchasing power? Each year the cost of goods and services increases by a certain rate, also referred to as inflation. For your money to retain its purchasing power, it will need to grow by inflation or more over the same period. To put this into perspective, if you are saving towards a 10% deposit on a car that costs R240 000, putting aside R2 000 a month over the next 12 months would
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LIVE ON EXPRESSO: How to Retire Wealthy
Part 1 [embed]https://youtu.be/027VAwuWzPg[/embed] Part 2 [embed]https://youtu.be/FXzoFF9NleM[/embed] Part 3 [embed]https://youtu.be/W8d2UhcVmzM[/embed]
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