“The retrenchment came as a huge shock to me. I was nervous and uncertain about the future and finding employment,” says Vivian, who had been working as a sales executive for Tiger Consumer Brands for seven years when he heard he was about to be retrenched in a corporate restructuring.
He received two months’ notice of retrenchment on the 2nd of August 2017 and his last day was on the 29th of September.
Vivian, who is 36, had only changed jobs a couple of times before. “I consider myself quite loyal and am not a job hopper, so to speak,” he says.
He had been contributing to the group pension plan for the seven years he had worked for Tiger Brands. He adds that he thinks compulsory saving is a good thing.
“I wasn't quite sure how things worked when one gets retrenched and what happens to your pension,” he says. “But I knew I wanted to save it and not use it as I'm afraid that I'm already behind in savings where I should be at this stage in my life.”
Vivian said he chose to approach 10X Investments to discuss preserving his savings because of the low fees and simple sales pitch. As regards the industry at large, Vivian says, there is generally “too much noise and jargon”.
“The simple man like myself feels a bit lost when it comes to all the small print. That’s why I liked 10X’s sales pitch, it was simple and easy to understand.”
As it turns out, Vivian managed to secure another job, as a sales and marketing representative at Chapman’s Seafood Company, quickly. He is feeling reasonably upbeat about how things have turned out.
“I must admit, even though it is still early days with the new company, I am quite optimistic and excited about my future with them.”
Still, he is fortunate to have been compelled to set some money aside in his previous job and to have the good sense to preserve his pension savings. That pot of money now has another few decades to grow before he will need to access it in retirement.
The company he has joined now doesn’t yet have a group pension plan so Vivian is obliged, like most workers these days, to plan for his own retirement.
In terms of other savings, he says, he has a little in a 32-day savings account. He adds that he plans to start saving into a retirement annuity within the next month or so, “as soon as I'm settled in into the new job”.
Vivian says he will start small with a contribution of about R1,000 a month and grow it from there.
“I really don't want to struggle one day and not have enough money for retirement.”
He says he has heard that only 6% of South Africa's can afford to retire in any comfort.
“It’s scary and I hope to be part of that 6% one day.”
