Starting a new job

Options when starting a new job

Starting a new job is a big change. You may need some help to make good decisions as you start your new job.

Your two important retirement savings decisions

What to do with my retirement savings from my previous employer.

Find out more


To help you decide, find out more about your options

  • Watch this video to help you decide, or
  • Read this brochure to help you decide.

If you’d like to keep your retirement savings invested for your future self to reduce the risk of not having enough to live on after you retire, these are your options.


Tip!
Keep your retirement savings invested for their real purpose - to provide you with income when you're no longer working. Avoid withdrawing cash from your savings when you change jobs.

Find out more about your retirement savings options as you prepare to start your new job

For information that’s specific to your fund or employer’s benefits find out more

Watch

this video for more about your retirement savings options

Read

your retirement fund welcome letter

Read

this flyer to find out more about the importance of having a will and keeping your beneficiary nomination form updated

Is someone you know starting a new job?

Share this information with them. It will help them through the decisions they will need to make when it comes to their retirement savings and changing employers.

Other useful information about your retirement fund

  • What’s a retirement fund?

    When you’re no longer earning a salary at the end of your working life, you can use your savings in your retirement fund to buy a pension that will give you regular income. Your employer has provided you with a provident or pension fund.

    How does a retirement fund work?

    • Every month, you, your employer or both make contributions to your fund.
    • These contributions are saved towards your retirement. You can use your retirement savings to buy a pension that will give you a regular income in retirement.

    How much your pension will be depends on:

    • how much you or your employer contribute during your working life
    • how investments have performed
    • whether you keep your retirement savings invested instead of taking them in cash when you change jobs
    • the cost of buying a pension when you retire
  • A benefit statement shows:

    • how much you’ve saved so far for retirement
    • the pension you can expect based on the information we have about you

    Here’s an explanation of your benefit statement.

    View your benefit statement by registering on AF Connect. Your benefit statement will tell you how much you’ve saved and which portfolios your savings are invested in. You can also download the AF app on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

  • The rules of your fund will tell you if you can make extra contributions to your retirement savings in addition to your monthly contributions. These are called ‘additional voluntary contributions’. It is very important to contribute as much as you can every month.

  • You can choose a contribution amount from the options that are provided in the rules of your fund. It is very important to contribute as much as you can every month. You can find out more about your contribution options in your member booklet (which you can get from your HR department).

  • If your fund offers more than one contribution option, then you can usually change the amount you are contributing to retirement once a year or more often, depending on your retirement fund rules. You can ask your HR department more about this option. Contributing more will give you a better chance of having enough to live on when you retire from your employer.

  • You can choose a contribution amount from the options that are provided in the rules of your fund. It is very important to contribute as much as you can every month. You can find out more about your contribution options in your member booklet (which you can get from your HR department).

  • Your employer might contribute an amount based on your pensionable salary, depending on the rules of your fund. Your pensionable salary (or fund salary) is the part of your salary that your retirement savings contributions are based on.

  • Yes. The costs of running and administering the retirement fund are taken from contributions. You can find the details of these costs in your member booklet.

  • If you’re a member of a defined benefit fund, investment performance doesn’t directly affect your retirement fund savings.

    Most members belong to defined contribution funds. In a defined contribution fund, the value of investments in your retirement fund’s investment portfolios do affect your retirement savings.

    Find out which type of fund you belong to by asking your HR representative or logging onto our website to check your statement.

    There are two main things that affect the value of an investment portfolio:

    1. Conditions in investment markets
      • Over shorter periods of time – days, weeks, months and sometimes even years, investments can decrease in value. Sometimes different types of investments all decrease in value at the same time.
      • Over longer periods of time, we expect the investments in your retirement savings portfolio to increase in value.
    2. How well the investment managers do
      • Alexforbes Investments chooses the investment managers that manage the money in your investment portfolio.
      • We choose the investment managers very carefully to make sure that they manage the money in retirement savings portfolios responsibly and professionally. We monitor these investment managers on an ongoing basis.
      • We also choose a mix of managers who we think will give your retirement portfolios the best chance of growing more than other portfolios.
      • Over shorter periods of time, retirement savings portfolios may not do as well as other portfolios. This is because we choose and mix investment managers based on what we believe, based on our research, will be best over longer periods of time.
    • A single investment manager is a manager of investments (asset classes).
    • A multi-manager is a manager of investment managers.

    Multi-managers don’t actually buy and sell asset classes, but rather manage the investment managers, who do this on their behalf. Ultimately, multi-managers blend the best assets to give the most appropriate investment management solution. To achieve this they:

    • Assess a fund’s investment needs.
    • Match these investment needs with a combination of single managers to meet them.
    • Monitor the investment managers to make sure they deliver the required performance.

    A good multi-manager combines the services of selected single managers based on their proven ability in individual areas of expertise, depending on the fund’s particular investment requirements.

  • Knowing if you’re on track is an important first step to reaching your goals. Use our fun gamified tool to build your retirement picture and find out if you’re on track and what you can do if you’re not on track.