Beware pitfalls of freedom to choose.

(From Business Day (South Africa))

Byline: Debbie Netto-Jonker

Beware pitfalls of freedom to choose Switching RA funds should be a long-term decision that fits with your overall plan UNTIL recently, if you were a member of a retirement annuity (RA) fund backed by one of the life assurance companies, you were in many instances not allowed to transfer to another RA fund prior to reaching retirement age. Recently, the pension funds adjudicator, Vuyani Ngalwana, ruled that RA funds' rules be amended to allow members to transfer to other funds, and draft legislation was published by the national treasury that, if implemented, would allow RA fund members to move their savings to another fund at any time. It is great news for RA fund members who were locked into old-style, high-cost and inflexible underlying investment products. It will lead to greater …