Why savings reform needs to be a key discussion at G20 finance meeting
Why the global retirement savings crisis is an economic time bomb that governments can no longer ignore.
Stephen Grootes speaks to Tobie Van Heerden, CEO of 10X, about why the global retirement savings crisis that governments can no longer ignore, and what possible solutions can drive long-term financial inclusion.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries are meeting in KwaZulu-Natal this week, where they're discussing among other things, the state of global financial institutions.
But there's also a suggestion that they should be focusing on, what's often called the 'looming global retirement crisis'.
In many countries, particularly outside of Europe, people are working for longer than the recommended retirement age of 60 years old, because they simply cannot afford to stop working.
In South Africa, many people are not saving enough for retirement, meaning they'll rely on meagre government grants or work well past 60 to make ends meet.
In a startling statistic, which was revealed in the FNB 2025 Retirement Insights survey, half of the employees in South Africa have no plan in place for the end of their working lives.
Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Tobie Van Heerden, CEO of 10X says not many South Africans can afford to retire.
He says the retirement savings crisis is an economic time bomb that governments around the world can no longer afford to ignore.
"Only 6% of South Africans can afford to retire with dignity, which effectively means that on the day that you retire, you are in the same position as the day before that you retired. So just to maintain your standard of living, only 6% of people in South Africa can do that."
- Tobie Van Heerden, CEO - 10X
"If you look at India, Indonesia, Brazil, very much similar to us in terms of demographics, in terms of s big poverty gap."
- Tobie Van Heerden, CEO - 10X
"You have people that's retiring, who can't retire. So you've got more people who needs to be sustained on that pension for longer...if you think of the number of savers coming in, versus the people retiring, you have to have probably 100 new guys coming in to fund one individual that's retiring."
- Tobie Van Heerden, CEO - 10X
Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.