A majority of South Africans are taking money out of their retirement savings to pay off debt‚ despite incurring tax and having less to live on once they’re on pension.

This is according to a snapshot of the 2015 Sanlam Benchmark Survey‚ an annual review of South Africa’s retirement industry‚ which found that: “63% of members and 57% of pensioners used withdrawal benefits to reduce debt”.

Of the members who used withdrawal benefits to reduce debt:
• less than half realised the level of tax to be paid on the withdrawal benefit‚
• 45% did not realise the effect the withdrawal benefit would have on their overall retirement outcome‚
• more than a third regretted the decision to withdraw.

“One of the key takeouts from this year’s results is the disconnect between the perceived reality and the actual reality: 87.7% of members believe that they have their debt under control‚ but the numbers clearly state the opposite. Both members and pensioners perceive hurdles such as debt and withdrawal as a small‚ short-term decision with a small impact‚ however‚ it is this misperception that hampers them in the long run‚” said Mayuri Reddy‚ marketing strategist at Sanlam Employee Benefits.

According to the research‚ South African retirees are not able to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

Factors chewing away at funds were identified as:
• having dependents post retirement (66%)‚
• income not keeping up with inflation (60%)‚
• market downturn (22%)‚
• spending of the lump sum (19%)
• having to pay off pre-retirement debt (19%).

Of the percentage of retirees who still have dependents‚ 54% are supporting a spouse and 30% a child or other dependent.

Sanlam urged job-hoppers to protect their pensions in a preservation fund when switching posts‚ and urged employers to do more to educate staff about the implications.

“Assuming that you change jobs every five years‚ you could end up with as much as 16 times more capital upon retirement by simply preserving your savings rather than withdrawing the cash each time‚” said Viresh Maharaj‚ chief marketing actuary at Sanlam Employee Benefits.

Detailed results from the survey will be released later this month.