02/09/2026
Approaching Retirement? Experience, Independence and Better Analysis Matter
Retirement is one of the few financial decisions where getting it wrong can be extremely difficult to undo.
For most people, the money accumulated in a pension fund, provident fund, retirement annuity or preservation fund represents the result of 30 or 40 years of work.
Then, often within a relatively short period, they are expected to make some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.
How much should I take in cash?
How much tax will I pay?
Should I use a living annuity or another retirement-income solution?
How much income can I safely draw?
How should the remaining capital be invested?
What happens if markets fall shortly after I retire?
What happens to my spouse if I die?
How should my estate planning fit into all of this?
These are not simply product questions.
They are planning questions.
Retirement planning needs experience
One of the advantages I have at Accolade Financial Planning Services is the depth of experience around me.
My business partner, Ted Richards, has worked in the financial-services industry since 1982.
That means he has seen more than four decades of investment cycles, market crashes, recoveries, interest-rate environments, product changes, regulatory changes and, importantly, clients moving through retirement in the real world.
I bring my own years of experience in financial planning, investments, risk protection and client advice.
Experience matters because retirement planning is not theoretical.
Over time, you see what happens when clients draw too much income too early.
You see the danger of retiring with an investment portfolio that is too conservative.
You also see the danger of taking excessive investment risk simply because markets have recently performed well.
You see what happens when tax, liquidity, beneficiaries and estate planning are treated as separate issues instead of one coordinated plan.
And you learn that the "best" solution on paper is not always the right solution for the person sitting across the table.
But experience alone is no longer enough
Financial planning is changing.
We now have access to analytical tools that simply were not available to advisers 20 years ago.
At Accolade, I am increasingly using AI-assisted financial-planning and analytical tools to strengthen the work we do for clients.
These tools can help us:
• consolidate information from multiple investments and retirement funds;
• compare different retirement-income scenarios;
• model the impact of different growth and inflation assumptions;
• examine sustainable drawdown levels;
• stress-test retirement plans;
• identify gaps, overlaps and inconsistencies;
• organise complex financial information more clearly; and
• present clients with a much more understandable picture of their overall financial position.
AI does not replace the financial adviser.
It does not replace experience.
It does not replace judgement.
And it certainly does not replace the need to understand the client.
What it can do is help an experienced adviser analyse more information, model more scenarios and ask better questions.
That is where I believe the real opportunity lies.
Independent advice matters too
Another major advantage of working through an independent financial-planning practice is that we are not restricted to one financial institution or one product range.
Retirement planning should begin with the client's needs.
The product should come afterwards.
Depending on the circumstances, the appropriate solution may involve retirement annuities, preservation funds, living annuities, discretionary investments, tax-free investments, endowments or a combination of different structures.
The objective should never be to force a client's retirement capital into a predetermined product.
The objective is to build a retirement structure that is appropriate to the client's income needs, tax position, investment horizon, risk tolerance, family circumstances and estate-planning objectives.
The five years before retirement can be crucial
I am increasingly focusing my own practice on retirement and investment planning, particularly for people approaching retirement.
In my view, the five to ten years before retirement are some of the most important financial-planning years of a person's life.
There may still be time to:
• increase retirement savings;
• correct an unsuitable investment strategy;
• restructure old retirement products;
• improve tax efficiency;
• build additional discretionary capital;
• reduce debt;
• plan retirement income;
• review beneficiaries;
• update estate planning; and
• understand what retirement may actually look like financially.
Waiting until the retirement forms arrive from your employer is leaving these decisions very late.
My approach:
I believe the future of good financial planning lies in combining three things:
Experience. Independent advice. Modern analytical capability.
Ted brings more than four decades of practical industry experience.
I bring my own financial-planning, investment and client-advisory experience, together with a strong focus on retirement planning.
And we are increasingly using modern AI-assisted analytical tools to help us review portfolios and model retirement outcomes with greater depth and clarity.
The technology is new.
The principles are not.
Spend less than you earn.
Save consistently.
Diversify.
Avoid emotional investment decisions.
Understand what you own.
Manage tax sensibly.
Protect yourself against the risks that could derail the plan.
And review your financial position regularly.
If retirement is getting closer, start the conversation early
If you are approaching retirement — or you have a parent, colleague, friend or family member who is — it is worth getting a professional second opinion before making the major decisions.
A good retirement-planning discussion should help answer one fundamental question:
How do we turn the capital you have spent your working life accumulating into a sustainable financial plan for the rest of your life?
That is the area of financial planning I am increasingly specialising in, and one in which I believe the combination of experience, independence and modern analytical tools can add considerable value.
Anton Möller
Independent Financial Planner
Accolade Financial Planning Services (Pty) Ltd
Authorised Financial Services Provider No. 45559
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Retirement and investment recommendations should only be made after appropriate analysis of an individual's circumstances, objectives, needs and risk profile.
