S2 EP6: Personal finance - Pension systems abroad

Ons vir jou... Wat nou?

We are dedicating episode 6 and 7 to personal finance topics that are relevant to us as expats.

As an expat there are heaps of relevant personal finance aspects to consider in your new country of choice. Some of the most important things to pay attention probably include:

- Saving and investing for your pension in your new country
- Tax incentives when investing for ones pension - EPISODE 7
- Transferring money to and from South Africa - EPISODE 6
- Your South African Tax status - EPISODE 7
- Financial emigration from South Africa - EPISODE 7
- Selecting a bank and opening a bank account
- Income tax rates
- Income protection and long term insurance etc.

Episode 6 turned out to be predominantly focused on Pension and how we can potentially use the tax incentives that the government offers to our advantage when investing and saving towards our pension.

CJ and Corrie took control of the episode and directed most of their questions at Eduan (not because Eduan is an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but purely because between the three hosts he genuinely finds this topic very interesting!)

That being said, nothing said on this episode (or any episode for that matter) should be taken as advice. Please consult a financial advisor in the country where you find yourself to get accurate and reliable information on which you can act and take advantage of any pension system that is in place in that country.

The conversation is predominantly focused towards the Dutch pension system (because the hosts live in The Netherlands). But Eduan believes that most pension systems around the world are fundamentally based on the same recipe :

a. Structure:1. Government; 2 Employer; 3 Individual.
b. Tax incentives for the investor (with various limits)
c. Control / restrictions over which asset classes you may invest in
d. Control over access to the money (normally you can only access your pension funds after reaching a certain age) .

Resources to refer to:
The Netherlands: mijnpensioenoversicht.nl
New Zealand: kiwisaver https://www.ird.govt.nz/kiwisaver
Austrailia: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/superannuation
Canada: CPP https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp.htmland RRSPS https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/rrsps-related-plans/registered-retirement-savings-plan-rrsp.html

SAFA index - Transferring money back to South Africa

Sending €1000 back to SA @ an exchange rate of R17:48 to the Euro (as at 28 january 2021)
The receiving bank account will be credited with:....R.... when using the following platforms

* Note, when transferring money abroad, make sure to take both the fees and the exchange rate into account so that you can compare apples with apples.

Azimo - R 17, 200
Wise - R 17 260
Revolute - R 17 430
World remit - R 17 080
Other options:
Your local bank; Western union, Remitly, Xe ... and the standard posduif ;-)

During episode 7 we will have a expert guest in the 'virtual studio' to talk us through all the do's and don't of financial emigration and cutting 'Tax ties' with SARS and South Africa