Are you on track to retire?

How the calculator works

It grows your retirement savings and monthly contributions to the age you retire, at the return you choose. It then works out the savings you would need at that age to pay the income you want, raised with inflation every year, until age 95. The share of that amount you are on track to have is the share of the income your savings could pay.

If there is a gap, the calculator shows two ways to close it: the extra amount to save each month from now, rising each year like your other contributions, or the later age at which your current plan is enough. Figures are in today’s money, so you can compare them with what things cost now.

Your savings are assumed to stay in the same fund before and after you retire, for example in a living annuity. The living annuity drawdown calculator shows how long a given amount lasts once you retire.

Regulation 28

Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act limits how retirement funds invest, for example how much they can hold in shares and offshore. It applies to retirement annuities and to pension, provident and preservation funds. The TRG Income, Stable, Moderate and Balanced funds comply with it; the TRG Flexible Fund does not.

Investments outside a retirement fund, such as unit trusts and tax-free savings accounts, aren’t bound by it, so every fund in the list is open to them. Inside a retirement annuity, choose a fund that complies.

What the result leaves out

• Income tax on your retirement income, which is taxed like a salary. Enter the income you want before tax.

• Cash you take at retirement. Every rand taken as a lump sum, or withdrawn from your savings pot before then, leaves less to pay your income.

• The ups and downs of real markets. The calculator uses the same return every year; a fall just before or early in retirement leaves less.

• The living annuity limits. In the last years before 95, the income is more than the 17.5% of the remaining capital that a living annuity allows.

• Other income in retirement, such as rent, a spouse’s savings or investments outside retirement funds.

The result is an estimate, not a financial plan. Past investment performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Projections are based on assumptions that may not materialise. The value of investments may go down as well as up. The information on this website is general and should not be seen as financial advice or a recommendation. We trust our sources but can’t guarantee absolute accuracy or completeness. Talk to a TRG adviser about your own circumstances.