Actuarial Reality Check.
The Capital Deficit.
Traditional retirement modeling is fundamentally flawed. Calculate the exact, mathematical capital required to sustain your lifestyle, and expose your projected shortfall.
The Mathematical Drag
Standard inflation and traditional market volatility destroy required yields. Nominal returns are not real returns. If your portfolio cannot consistently deliver growth above inflation and tax, your capital is eroding in purchasing power.
The Income Delusion
The goal is not a lump sum; it is indestructible cash flow. If your yield is below 10%, you are mathematically guaranteed to draw down your principal. The calculator below exposes the capital required to avoid that outcome.
This calculator tests your assumptions with math
No generic multiples. No hopeful estimates. Just the actual capital required for the income you say you need. It accounts for inflation, tax, withdrawal rates, and time.
Retirement Reality Calculator
Discover how much capital you really need, and whether you are saving enough.
Assumptions & how this works
- What you get: an estimate of the lump sum capital needed at your retirement date - not a monthly insurance premium or debit-order savings amount. It answers: “How big must my pot be when I retire?”
- Your monthly income (after tax) today is increased each year by your assumed inflation rate until retirement, to reflect the income you would need in the first year of retirement in future money.
- That future income is grossed up using your average tax rate in retirement so that after tax you still have the target spending power (simplified flat rate - not full SARS brackets).
- Required capital uses the present value of a growing annuity: withdrawals rise with inflation each year during retirement, while the balance is assumed to earn your investment growth rate. Growth must be above inflation or the maths does not converge.
- Life expectancy sets how many years that income must last. Longer life = more capital required.
- The first-year gross withdrawal (shown after you calculate) is an annual figure for transparency - not a product quote or advice fee.
- Illustration only. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For personal advice, speak to a qualified financial adviser (AS Brokers FSP 17273).
Income tax calculator – find your tax rate.
Erase the Deficit with Structured Yield.
You cannot save your way out of a capital deficit. You must engineer a higher, fixed yield.
From retirement capital to income: the Amethyst Living Annuity
If you have pension, provident, preservation or retirement annuity funds, the Amethyst Living Annuity offers a structured return profile (around 10.2% net p.a.) without the volatility of market-linked funds. Unlike pre-retirement funds governed by Regulation 28, the Amethyst operates under long-term insurance and FSCA rules, with full drawdown flexibility: you choose an annual income of between 2.5% and 17.5% of your capital. Growth inside the annuity is tax-free; only the income you draw is taxed.
Amethyst Living Annuity calculator