Lerato, 23: the first salary years
Use MaxWealth to improve your own financial future. Lerato is a made-up person, but her numbers are real calculations. See what one early choice does for someone like her — then run your own.
Not a real person, and not advice. Lerato is a made-up example: 23, in her first job at R18 000 a month before tax, nothing saved yet, and a workplace pension fund where she and her employer together put in R1 800 a month (10% of her salary).
Lerato’s situation
Retiring at 65 · today’s Rands, after inflation · SARS 2025/26 tables
Starting now is the big lever.
If a person like Lerato waits until 33 to start saving, she retires on about 33% of the income she needs. Starting at 23, and adding R500 a month, takes her to about 71%.
Waiting ten years costs about R910 000 of retirement potR18 000 less PAYE R 1 804 and UIF R 177 a month.
Tax on her next Rand — so R500 into retirement costs her about R410.
75% of her R18 000 salary, in today’s money.
R1 800 a month for 42 years at 4% growth after inflation.
What that pot pays at a 4% drawdown — 56% of what she needs.
What an extra R500 a month from 23 grows to by 65.
Three choices, and what each one does
| Choice | Pot at 65 | Monthly income | Share of what she needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wait until 33 to start (R1 800 a month) | R 1.35m | R 4 515 | 33% |
| Start now at 23 (R1 800 a month) | R 2.26m | R 7 547 | 56% |
| Start now and add R500 a month (R2 300) | R 2.89m | R 9 643 | 71% |
- The first ten years do the heavy lifting. The same R1 800 a month, started ten years later, ends up about R910 000 smaller.
- R500 a month costs a person like Lerato about R410 in take-home pay, because retirement contributions reduce taxable income within the legal limits.
- Retiring at 68 instead of 65 on R1 800 a month lifts her to about 65% — another lever she can test.
Now run your own numbers
Lerato’s story is an illustration. Yours is the one that counts: six numbers, about a minute, no sign-up.
How the numbers are worked out
- Same formulas as the live retirement calculator — growth 4% a year after inflation, so every figure is in today’s Rands.
- Income needed is 75% of gross salary, and the pot is drawn down at 4% a year.
- Tax uses the SARS 2025/26 tables: primary rebate R17 235, UIF 1% capped at R177.12 a month.
Illustration, not advice. Lerato is not a real person and her figures are not a prediction. Real returns go up and down. MaxWealth is not an authorised financial services provider and never names or recommends a financial product; for advice on what to buy, speak to an authorised financial adviser.