Tana Malinga

• Bheki Mkhize, CEO of FNB Wealth and Investments

• Samukelo Zwane, Product Head at FNB Wealth and Investments

For millions of South Africans, the future is being sacrificed to survive the present.
The retirement crisis may not be that South Africans do not know they should save.

The deeper problem is that many are being forced to choose between surviving today and preparing for tomorrow.
That is the uncomfortable truth emerging from the 2026 FNB Retirement Insights Survey, which warns that having a retirement plan is not the same as being ready for retirement.

Nearly half-49% of under-60s with retirement products, have made a withdrawal through the two-pot retirement system since its introduction.
For many, the money was not withdrawn to fund luxury.

Forty-six percent used it for day-to-day expenses, 36% to purchase appliances and 35% to pay off debt.
The figures tell a story far bigger than retirement planning.
They tell the story of households under pressure.

They tell the story of people trying to protect their future while the present keeps demanding payment.
And this is where the retirement conversation becomes uncomfortable.
A retirement plan can be carefully designed, but it can quickly become vulnerable when debt grows, emergencies arrive and everyday living costs consume disposable income.

The 2026 survey therefore exposes a difficult contradiction: South Africans are increasingly engaging with retirement planning, yet many remain financially unprepared for the years they are planning for.

Among people under 60 without a retirement plan, 24% say they do not know where to access savings and investment products, almost twice the 13% recorded in 2025.

Another 53% say they cannot afford to save, because their disposable income is already committed elsewhere.
Meanwhile, 21% are relying on assets they can sell at retirement, rather than formal retirement products.
The message is stark.

For many South Africans, retirement planning is not being ignored because the future does not matter.
It is being delayed because the present is too expensive.

Now in its fourth year, the FNB Retirement Insights Survey tracks how South Africans think about, prepare for and experience retirement.

This year’s findings suggest that retirement readiness is shaped by much more than simply having a pension fund or a savings product.

It is influenced by access to information, financial behaviour, debt, emergencies, technology and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure.

Bheki Mkhize, CEO of FNB Wealth and Investments, says many South Africans are already taking steps towards retirement.
Some contribute to retirement funds.

Others save when they can, invest, build businesses or plan to use assets later in life.
But individual actions do not always amount to a complete retirement strategy.
“Many South Africans are already doing something about retirement. They may be contributing to a retirement fund, saving when they can, investing, building a business or planning to use an asset later in life. While these actions are important, there are still significant gaps in overall preparedness because a complete retirement strategy is rarely built around a single product or decision,” says Mkhize.
That is why the old belief that one product can secure an entire retirement is becoming increasingly dangerous.

A retirement annuity, pension or provident fund may form part of the solution.
So may preservation products, tax-free savings, emergency savings, insurance and estate planning.

But the real strength lies in how these tools work together.

The strongest strategies, says Mkhize, must balance growth with access, flexibility with discipline, and present needs with future security.

Technology is also changing the way South Africans enter the financial world.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a first point of contact for consumers seeking financial information.
For younger and lower-income consumers in particular, AI can make financial questions easier to ask and financial concepts easier to understand.

The survey found that lower-income consumers who use AI are more likely to consult multiple sources of financial advice and are more likely to hold investment products such as unit trusts and tax-free savings accounts.

They are also significantly more likely to have a formal retirement plan.

But information alone is not enough.
AI may open the door, but it cannot carry a person through the entire financial journey.
Samukelo Zwane, Product Head at FNB Wealth and Investments, says AI can help close the information gap, but trusted human advice remains essential in turning information into an appropriate plan.
“AI creates access, while the adviser helps create the plan,” says Zwane.

And perhaps that is the most important lesson of the 2026 survey.
Retirement planning cannot be a once-off exercise.

It cannot begin only when retirement is close.

It cannot be built around a single product.
And it cannot survive if every financial emergency forces people to dismantle what they have saved.

The future requires capital preservation.
It requires entering retirement with as little debt as possible.
It requires diversification rather than placing all hope in one asset or financial product.

It requires financial institutions to be seen not merely as product providers, but as partners in helping people navigate difficult financial decisions.

“Retirement planning should not feel like a once-off exercise that happens only when retirement is near. It should be an ongoing conversation that evolves as life changes,” says Zwane.

Because retirement readiness is not measured by whether someone has a plan.
It is measured by whether that plan can survive real life.

And for millions of South Africans, that is the question that can no longer be avoided:
When the next financial crisis arrives, will their retirement plan still be standing?