Pension vs provident fund
Pension and provident funds work the same way as of March 2021
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Isabella holds a BCom Honours in Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town and works at the intersection of investments, quantitative analysis and product development at Sygnia Asset Management. She began her career as a Junior Quantitative Analyst at Sygnia in February 2024 before being appointed Investment Product Specialist in January 2025. Her actuarial background gives her a strong analytical foundation, which she applies to developing investment solutions and helping make complex investment concepts easier for members to understand.
Video Transcript
Pension and provident funds are both retirement funds that help you save for retirement while you are working. Contributions are made to the fund and invested to grow over time. Since the retirement fund changes introduced in 2021, these two types of funds now operate in a very similar way. The distinction between them is only important for money that was in a provident fund before March 2021, which can all be cashed out.
