PSG Wealth
Longevity risk is one of the biggest risks facing retirees. But what does that mean and how can this affect your retirement savings?
Longevity risk refers to the risk of outliving your savings, meaning there is a chance that your life expectancy may exceed the years you have savings available to draw an income from.
How can you make the most of your retirement
savings?
Ideally, you should set your retirement goals, and subsequently start saving to
meet those goals, from the moment you start earning your first income. You need
to follow an investment strategy that encapsulates your risk tolerance and risk
capacity together with the actual risk required to reach your goal. This can be
achieved with the help of a financial adviser, who can help you to
set goals and review your progress towards them as you go.
Understanding investment risk and the
importance of diversification
To achieve your goals, you typically need to be comfortable with a degree of
investment risk to attain a targeted investment return. This means that you
will in most cases need to invest in a combination of asset classes, each with
their own implied investment risk characteristics. For example, a higher equity
exposure in a portfolio will introduce higher levels of risk, as equities are
more volatile in the shorter term. However, over the longer term can give
greater returns. Cash and bonds on the other hand are less risky in nature and
offer steady returns linked to interest rates, however the risk of being overly
exposed to cash or bonds is that your portfolio may not keep up with inflation.
With increased longevity it becomes imperative to invest in assets classes that
can offer substantial growth and outperform inflation.
The effects of being overly cautious and taking a more conservative risk approach to investing can be illustrated as follows:
Investor 1: Carol
Carol is a very risk-averse person. While she was growing up her parents made
bad investment decisions and she took the stance to rather “play it safe” by
always investing in asset classes that produce a steady investment return with
minimum market volatility.
Investor 2: Khethiwe
Khethiwe made the decision to consult a financial adviser to help her identify
her goals. The adviser explained the different investment options and the risk
approach she would need to take to achieve her goals. She now understands that
she needs to take a certain level of investment risk to achieve her retirement
goal and to make sure she does not outlive her savings due to longevity.
For purposes of this illustration, we are making some assumptions:
- Carol and Khethiwe both started work at the age of 25, earning a salary of R25 000 per month and saved 15%. The salary and savings will increase yearly by the rate of inflation.
- Inflation assumed at 5%.
- Carol saves more cautiously with an assumed investment return of 7.5% and Khethiwe accepts more risk with an assumed investment return of 10%. No fees were taken into consideration for this illustration.
- Should they plan to retire with 75% of their monthly income (adjusted by inflation of 5%) at the age of 65 and draw income until age 95 (which also increases with inflation), they will have the following outlook. The illustration also assumes they both continue with their risk approach after retirement:
Source: PSG Wealth
Some degree of risk is necessary
As is evident from the example above, it is necessary to take a certain level of investment risk to achieve your financial goals. With the help of a financial adviser, you can identify your goals and figure out the level of risk that is right for you.
