By Lee Bromfield
In the 2026 research, the responses of retirees make this very clear. The cost of living has been the biggest surprise, with 74% saying it has been higher than expected in retirement. Medical expenses have also placed pressure on many households, with 46% of retirees saying healthcare costs were higher than anticipated. Emergencies, housing costs and family commitments add further strain. So, even when people approach retirement with a plan, unexpected costs can quickly change what that plan is able to deliver. These pressures appear long before retirement begins. Debt is also playing a larger role, quietly reducing the money available for long-term saving. When people are forced to use future savings to solve present problems, the retirement impact can last for decades.
For all these reasons, retirement planning has to protect progress, not only create it. Investments help customers build wealth over time. Retirement products help preserve long-term capital. Emergency savings create a buffer when urgent costs arise. Insurance can protect a household when illness, disability, death, loss or damage interrupts income, increases expenses or places pressure on family members. Each part of the plan has a different role, and the strength of the overall structure depends on whether those roles have been properly considered. Without that protection, even disciplined savers can be forced into difficult choices. A medical event can erode savings, a family emergency can trigger a withdrawal that was never intended, and a death in the family can leave dependants exposed, or place additional financial responsibility on the person trying to preserve their money to achieve their retirement goals.
This is why resilience has to be planned deliberately. It cannot be left to chance or added only when retirement is already close. The earlier customers build protection into their financial lives, the better they can preserve the assets and savings that are meant to support them later. The investment side of the balanced retirement planning equation carries a different responsibility. It has to help customers grow their money in a way that keeps pace with inflation, supports income needs and remains appropriate as their lives change. The 2026 finding that 74% of retirees experienced a higher-than-expected cost of living is important here. Retirement capital that does not continue working hard enough can lose purchasing power over time, even when the original savings effort was disciplined.
This is especially important as retirement itself changes. Many South Africans are no longer moving from full-time work into a simple, fully funded retirement. Some continue to work, some rely on business income, some support family members and others need to draw income while still preserving capital for later years. Investment planning has to reflect these realities. It needs to balance growth, income, access and risk in a way that is realistic for the customer's stage of life. The danger is treating investment and protection as separate retirement planning conversations when in fact, they are very closely connected. Without investment growth, retirement savings may not keep up with the rising cost of living. Without protection, investment progress can be interrupted or depleted by events outside the person's control. So a sound retirement plan needs both.
That means financial institutions and advisers have the responsibility to help their clients ask better questions. These questions need to evolve from "Am I saving enough?" to: "Is my money positioned to keep growing?" "Can my retirement income last?" "What could force me to draw from my investments too early?"; and "Is my family protected if something happens to me?" The aim is not to make retirement planning more complicated; it's to make it more realistic. A good plan should grow, adapt and protect. It should help customers build capital, keep that capital working and reduce the risk that life's shocks will force them to use it too soon.
