Five things to consider before cashing in your retirement fund

Glacier Business Development Manager Sherwin Govender says retirement savings are your money – but belong to you when you retire. Spending it now could mean that you won’t have enough saved to live on when you retire. And not having enough retirement savings means you will need to find income-generating employment after you retire.

You can only cash out your company pension fund if you withdraw from the pension fund, i.e. when you resign or lose your job. However, losing your job and retiring are two different scenarios:

a. If you retire, you can only cash out up to one third, and the balance must be used to purchase an annuity.

b. If you withdraw (e.g. when you find a new job and resign), you could typically transfer as much of your funds as possible to a preservation fund at a registered financial services provider. Other options would be transferring to a retirement annuity or the new employer’s pension fund. However, you can cash out the full amount, but the tax you pay on the cash lump sum when you resign would be more than if you retired from the fund. Speak to your adviser about the tax you’ll pay before making a final decision.

You’re giving up a lot of the ‘magic’ of compound interest, especially if you cash out 100% of your retirement fund now. Again, get your financial adviser to do the calculations before you make a decision.

Investigate debt counselling or consolidation before dipping into any of your savings or investments. A debt management programme will help you create a debt repayment plan that gets you back onto a healthy financial path.

It’s human nature to make financial decisions that seem good now but could turn out to be regrettable in the future. Seek financial advice from an accredited financial planner to guide you through difficult financial times.