10X recently held its Women’s Month Webinar, which focused on how South African women can achieve greater financial security by investing for their retirement.
The webinar was hosted by Nozi van Heerden – a well-known financial educator, speaker, and author.
She was joined by 10X Non-Executive Chairman Sonja De Bruyn, 10X Head of Employee Benefits Ishani Khoosal-Kala, and 10X Junior Investment Consultant Asavela Gwele.
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“Women are nurturers, so we tend to put everyone and everything before ourselves,” said Van Heerden.
She said that there needs to be a mentality shift among South African women to understand that taking care of their financial future is not being selfish.
“It’s important to take care of your future self through a comprehensive retirement investment strategy,” agreed De Bruyn.
“Not only will your savings accumulate, but your savings habits will develop, too, and if you ensure you are in a strong financial situation, this will make it easier to help more of your friends and family in the long-term.”
Taking on risk
Gwele stated that women tend to be more reluctant to take on any financial risk in their investment strategies, however, because they are worried about what could go wrong.
“There’s healthy risk and unhealthy risk, and if your investment goals are clear, healthy risk is good,” Gwele explained.
“While, we naturally want to see instant results, we need to remember that most investments, such as retirement investments, should focus on the long-term.”
Khoosal-Kala agreed, stating that when investing for retirement, you shouldn’t worry about the short-term fluctuations in the value of your portfolio.
“I always tell my clients to invest and then close their eyes,” she said.
“Look at the earnings you have generated in 30 years’ time, as over this period your retirement savings will increase tremendously.”
Never too late
Khoosal-Kala said another common misconception among women is that it is “too late” for them to begin investing for retirement.
There are so many tools online, such as the 10X Investments retirement calculator, to assist with creating a retirement savings plan.
“You may not get the same returns as if you’d created a retirement fund when you started working, but beginning your retirement investment journey if you’re in your 30s, 40s, and 50s is still a no-brainer,” she said.
Van Heerden added that you will have more disposable income in your later years, so you can commit more finances on a monthly basis to building a retirement portfolio that can support you in your later years.
All members of the panel also stressed the importance of financial education to empower younger generations of women to build a strong retirement investment strategy as soon as they start working.
“Financial education should be brought into the school curriculum, and should be discussed at the dinner table by families,” said De Bruyn.
The content herein is provided as general information. It is not intended as nor does it constitute financial, tax, legal, investment, or other advice.
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