presidencyFin24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law an amendment bill that establishes the two-pot system that will allows members of retirement funds to access a portion of their savings.

The Presidency said the system, set out in the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill assented to by Ramaphosa on Saturday, was aimed at preventing the total withdrawal of funds before retirement as well as the lack of access to money by those undergoing dire financial problems. "The primary objective of the two-pot retirement system is to provide flexibility for fund members to access their retirement savings during emergencies, without necessitating resignation. The reform introduced by the legislation strives to strike a balance between long-term security and immediate needs, recognising life's unpredictability", the Presidency explained. The new system will split contributions made after 1 September into a savings and retirement component. Historical retirement benefits will become a vested component. Members will be able to withdraw the lesser of 10% or R30,000 of the vested component on implementation, following which one-third of contributions will go into the savings component and two-thirds into the retirement component. A member will be able to make single annual withdrawals from the savings component, with a minimum withdrawal amount of R2,000.


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