By Sizwe Nxedlana, CEO of FNB Private Segment
Everyone has a version of what they want their retirement to look like. For many, it’s the dream of freedom from work-related responsibilities and the frenetic pace of daily life. For others, it’s the idea of having the time and money to travel, to be with family and to enjoy the fruits of decades of hard work. Unfortunately, as the FNB’s 2025 Retirement Insights Survey shows, these visions of retirement are often at odds with the reality experienced by South Africans in retirement today.
Across all our customer segments, we continue to see a marked disconnect between expectations of retirement and the current lived experience reported by those who are already retired. Their stories are not just about financial shortfalls, but about the emotional and psychological adjustment that comes with realising that the retirement they planned for has not materialised in the way they hoped and imagined.
Sadly, while the assumption that retirement brings stability, freedom and financial ease is deeply rooted in the South African psyche, it is not always accurate. Of course, this misalignment between aspiration and reality is not unique to South Africa, but the scale and nature of it here demands our attention as an industry.
Many retirees are working longer than they had planned – some by choice, but most out of necessity. Others are drawing on retirement savings earlier than expected, dealing with unexpected expenses, or supporting extended family. All of this erodes the financial freedom they anticipated and fundamentally changes the reality of retirement for them.
With this gap between expectations and reality in mind, if we want to meaningfully support South Africans on the path to financial freedom, we need to re-frame the conversations around retirement as well as the way people plan for it. Retirement planning needs to become less about an idealised end state and more about building flexibility, resilience and realism into long-term financial strategies. That means educating consumers not only on how to save, but on how to adjust and adapt to life events, economic conditions and shifting family roles.
We recognise that retirement is no longer a ‘final destination.’ It is a dynamic next chapter in people’s lives that requires honest discussions, practical planning and workable solutions that help create a post-career reality that is comfortable and as carefree as possible. The earlier we start talking about this retirement reality, the better we will be able to equip our customers to plan for it – and the closer we can bring the ideal of financial freedom into alignment with the reality of retirement that most people will experience.
It’s not a compromise, nor is it an attempt to destroy people’s retirement dreams. On the contrary, taking such a realistic approach is the only real way of ensuring that those dreams are achievable and that we are providing South Africans with the means and support they need to live their best possible lives in retirement.
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