Randall joined 10X and is paying 10 times less in fees
Nishal Rattan describes himself as a “young 34-year-old who still thinks he is 28”, but his retirement saving behaviour suggests he has the head of a very wise man on his shoulders.
It is almost disappointing to hear that this ‘wise young man’ is actually “a terrible saver”, but he quickly makes up for the disappointment by talking about his inspiration, his fantastic wife, who “centres” him and helps him to “save, save, save”.
Whatever the inspiration, it is reassuring to hear of a younger couple who are really getting retirement planning right.
Over the last few years, the Rattans have made “small lifestyle changes”, which has really lit a fire under their retirement savings plan.
“We have managed to save R6,000 a month more to contribute to our retirement savings,” says Nishal.
He describes the sacrifices they have made to ensure they have a comfortable and dignified retirement: “We cancelled our DSTV subscription, bought cheaper cars and eat out less.”
The couple also made one key adjustment that helps put so many people on the road to success: “We created budgets so we maximise our disposable income and can pay off our home loan.”
As a 10X client, Nishal has access to My10X, the customer platform that allows individuals to track their progress towards their retirement goal. Those who are not already 10X customers can use the retirement calculators on the 10X site to work out their own retirement plan. Both My10X and the calculators allow users to adjust inputs – such as how much they are saving to their planned retirement date – to find their own ideal formula for retirement savings success.
Nishal, who currently works as a Strategic Management Consultant on Digital Transformation Strategies for a multinational Chemical, Oil and Gas company, has been working for 11 years and has been saving for retirement for 10 of them.
In addition to having a wife who is a very good influence on him, Nishal says, his parents were not as prepared for retirement as they would have liked to be, which has motivated him further.
Nishal’s wife recommended he look into 10X after she was introduced to the company by a friend. He did some research and says he was initially interested in the low fees. He started talking to10X retirement expert Andre and was soon won over. Then, he adds, the ease of signing up and setting up a product “turned him into an instant fan”.
“It took me 10 minutes, I am not an exaggerating, literally 10 minutes,” says Nishal. “I was so impressed with the ease of registering and setting up the fund and the follow-on service has also been exemplary. I look forward to investing and saving more with 10X over the years.”
It is early days still, says Nishal. “My fund only started in July of this year, I am well impressed and extremely confident it is the right choice.”
The couple also have some investments with Discovery and Allan Gray but, Nishal says, he is no longer impressed with the performance. “When you compare the effective annual costs you realise how much you are losing in the long run to exorbitant fees.”
He adds: “In recent years a lot of talk about retirement funding has focused on cost. Investors like me are increasingly being made aware that the fees that we pay have a very meaningful impact on what we get out at the end.”
