HABITS FOR A HAPPY RETIREMENT

Riaan Botha • April 3, 2025

Introduction

Retirement is undeniably an important phase of our lives, and probably the most important. It is the culmination of preceding phases such as training and income creation, and if we are not ready for this phase, life can be traumatic.

 

Retirement requires planning, which is the result of good habits. Our advice to retirees and people who are planning to retire is to develop good habits that will put them on the road to a happy retirement. From our interaction with people on the point of retirement and others who have already retired, we were able to conclude that this approach is practical and logical, with positive, tangible results.

 

Many factors play a role in a happy retirement. In the USA, a study listed good health, financial security, loving friends and family and a purposeful or planned retirement.

 

A happy retirement is not a given. You need to have personal goals and pursue them with the desire to adopt the right habits. It often demands that you are willing to change some of your established habits. In your quest for personal happiness, your specific habits will be unique

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How are Habits Formed?

There are different theories on how new habits are successfully formed. At Bovest, we resonate with James Clear’s theory outlined in his book Atomic Habits (Penguin Random House, London, 2018, pp47-48), which gives four steps to success:

 

Step 1: Your cue would be your goal or desire.

Step 2: You have the craving to put it into action.

Step 3: What is your response to your action?

Step 4: What is your reward?

 

 

 

Let’s look at an example of habit forming:

 

  • Step 1: A person who is retiring aims to seek value for money – they are continually analysing their environment and adjusting their budgets and monthly expenditure on personal needs.
  • Step 2: Research is done into which expenditure offers the best value for the money available.
  • Step 3: The purchase is adjusted, and the retiree is satisfied that value for money has been obtained.
  • Step 4: As this has been done within budget, the reward is that funds are available for other planned purchases. If the purchase was a bargain, the retiree can boast about it and be praised by friends for being a bargain hunter!

 

By repeating these four steps, we will become more at ease with this behaviour until we have formed the habits of healthy financial management fairly easily.

Should you withdraw your Pension and pay off your home?

By Francois Le Clus • May 28, 2025
Should you withdraw your Pension and pay off your home? It's perfectly normal to ask whether you should use your pension to pay off your home when leaving an employer. This decision involves weighing the tax on the withdrawal, the interest saved on your bond, the future growth of your pension fund, and the contributions needed to catch up. Example: Anne is 40 years old with a pension fund worth R3,500,000. She bought a home 10 years ago for R3,000,000 and bonded it over 20 years at an 11% interest rate, with monthly repayments of R30,965. After 10 years, her outstanding bond is R2,258,225. If she withdraws her pension, she’ll receive R2,408,300 after tax—enough to settle the bond and have some cash left over. By paying off the bond early: She saves R1,467,919 in interest. She frees up R30,965 in monthly cash flow. However, if she keeps the money invested, her pension could grow to R37,921,470 by age 65 (assuming 10% annual growth). To match this value after using her pension to pay off the bond, she’d need to invest R28,580 per month for the next 25 years. That’s R2,385 less than her current bond repayment, so she does save monthly—but only for the next 10 years. After that, she’s committed to investing R28,580/month for 25 years to break even.  Not everyone’s calculation is the same and there are endless amounts of permutations to this calculation, but it’s important to note that you need to consider all of these factors when making these crucial decisions.

GEWOONTES VIR GELUKKIGE AFTREDE

By Riaan Botha • May 28, 2025
Ons ontleed watter gewoontes meewerk om ’n gelukkige aftrede te verseker. Hierdie maand bespreek ons hoe om gesond te lewe tydens aftrede. Mediese kostes verhoog hoe ouer ons word. Die koste van ’n mediese fonds verhoog jaarliks met meer as die inflasiekoers en mediese uitgawes sal in die toekoms ’n al groter persentasie van ons persoonlike uitgawes vereis. Dit is daarom belangrik om so gesond as moontlik te leef. Hier is verskillende stappe wat gevolg kan word om gesond oud te word: Eet gesond. Moenie oorgewig wees nie. Word sterker deur oefeninge te doen wat jou spiermassa behou. Doen jaarliks mediese ondersoeke om te bepaal hoe gesond jy is. Beskerm jou gewrigte en beenstruktuur deur krag- en rek-oefeninge te doen. Verminder rook en alkohol-inname om jou kanse van kanker en ander siektes te beperk. Indien jy ’n familie-geskiedenis het van siektes soos kanker en hart-toestande. moet jy vir gereelde mediese toetse gaan om vroegtydig te bepaal of jy nie die siektes onder lede het nie. Verbeter jou liggaamsbalans deur oefeninge te doen soos om op een been te staan terwyl jy jou tande borsel. Hierdeur verseker jy dat jy nie gereeld jou liggaamsbalans verloor en val nie. Studies het bewys dat dit help om jou fisieke en geestelike gesondheid te behou deur sewe tot agt ure per nag te slaap. Hou jou brein-funksie of kognitiewe vermoë in ’n goeie toestand deur brein-oefeninge te doen, soos om nuwe stokperdjies te beoefen of memoriseringsoefeninge te doen. Volg ’n aktiewe sosiale lewe. Studies het getoon dat mense met ’n aktiewe sosiale lewe minder geheue-probleme ontwikkel. Hulle het ’n verminderde kans om eensaam te voel en depressief te word (Health Connection, Cooper, University Health Care, 9 September 2024).