The retirement system’s unfair bet and how you can improve the outcome – Fred van der Vyfer

Two equally responsible South Africans can do everything right, save diligently, keep their costs down, earn a decent long-term return, and still retire with very different outcomes. Fred van der Vyfer, executive head of product solutions at Old Mutual Corporate, tells BizNews the reason often comes down to nothing more than timing, whether someone retires, is retrenched, or simply starts drawing an income at the wrong point in the market cycle. Van der Vyfer makes the case for a better outcome than the industry's usual fix of dialling down risk as retirement nears, arguing instead for rethinking how the investment journey itself is designed. That thinking includes a newer model called Collective Defined Contribution, which Old Mutual is set to roll out its own version of in the coming weeks. It is based on sharing risk across a group of members rather than each person carrying it alone, Van der Vyfer also explains what this means if you're already retired and living with the risk of simply outliving your money. – Linda van Tilburg