Saving for retirement at 45?

Saving for retirement at 45?

More than 70 percent of South Africans, particularly in their 20s and 30s, cash in their retirement savings when they change jobs, severely hampering their ability to retire financially independent. Then in their forties they begin to think about the future and realise they’ve made a substantial error in judgment.
According to a reliable source, that while starting as early as possible is vital, it’s still possible to make provision for your retirement starting at 45. "It’s not only necessary, it’s imperative," she says. But you’ll have to save harder, work for longer and invest wisely so that what savings you do have achieve the best possible returns.
Ultimately your retirement income will be a factor of how early you started saving, how much you’ve saved, the investment returns you’ve enjoyed and the amount lost through not preserving your pension or provident fund savings when you changed jobs. When you reach 45 you can only influence two factors: how much you contribute and the investment choices you make. It’s too late to think about starting early and the retirement money you cashed in between jobs is long gone.
How much you need ?

Free E Book The Investment Guide For Beginners

Why invest offshore now?

Returns of developed market equities have continued to lag behind the returns of emerging market equities. Emerging markets, including South Africa, have enjoyed strong inflows of capital from abroad, supporting valuations on our stock markets and helping the rand to strengthen by nearly 25 percent versus the US dollar in 2009 and 2010. This strong rand has been one reason why inflation has remained subdued over the last year, as approximately one-third of the items in our inflation basket are imported.
For long-term saving to be successful, the value of your investments must keep pace with inflation, and preferably beat it over the long term. A strong rand tends to drive inflation down; a weakening rand typically leads to higher inflation. To be protected against higher inflation from a weak rand, it may help to be invested offshore as the value of your assets in rand terms should grow as the currency weakens.
We think there is a real risk that the rand may weaken from current levels, and therefore believe that foreign exposure is an appropriate addition to clients' portfolios.
What are the options?There are many options for investors offshore. Shares are an obvious place to start for people with a long time horizon. It is also important to consider other options when looking abroad. An interesting dynamic is the growing link, or correlation, between share prices globally and the value of emerging market currencies. This link can work against you if you are investing in offshore equities in order to enjoy the benefits of rand weakness

Free E Book  download The Investers Guide for Beginners