South Africa’s two-pot retirement reform is often framed as a withdrawal story. But that lens misses the more valuable signal. Old Mutual Corporate’s latest Member Withdrawal Survey shows the system is doing something more powerful: revealing where financial strain is building across the workforce, in real time.
“For employers, the real question is no longer whether workers are claiming, but what those claims are revealing about financial strain, resilience and support across the organisation. For many South Africans, life is a balancing act. Meeting today’s needs while trying to plan ahead is challenging,” says Blessing Utete, Commercial Executive Head at Old Mutual Corporate, who explores these dynamics in the latest Big Business Insights podcast.
What employees are withdrawing for
Old Mutual Corporate’s latest analysis shows that withdrawals are being driven mainly by basic living needs (34.1%), repaying debt (25.9%) and emergencies (26.2%), not lifestyle spending. When examining the types of emergencies reported by members, medical expenses (32%), home-related costs (32%) and vehicle repairs (21%) emerged as the most prominent.
“For employers, this provides critical insight,” says Utete. “It shows that employees are not accessing savings for discretionary reasons, but to deal with real financial pressure. The system is enabling structured access to savings in moments of need, without reopening the door to full cash-out at resignation. At the same time, early indicators suggest a 13% improvement in preservation at job change, with more retirement savings remaining invested for longer. That tells us something important: when the system is designed correctly, with the right defaults and guardrails, it can shift behaviour in a positive direction without removing flexibility.”
The opportunity for employers is to use this insight to better understand where resilience is under strain, and to respond with more targeted support, clearer communication and practical financial support.
That matters because financial pressure does not stay outside the workplace. “When employees are drawing on savings to meet day-to-day needs, it reflects financial pressure that can undermine focus and overall resilience in the workplace,” says Utete. “Over time, that has implications for productivity, absenteeism and how employees engage with benefits, savings and long-term planning.”
The other striking feature is how often withdrawals are repeated. Around 80% of eligible members have claimed at least once, while 25% of all eligible members claimed in March 2026 alone, bringing withdrawal activity back to inception-level volumes. Of those who claimed in March, around 80% had claimed before, showing that repeat withdrawal is becoming a pattern rather than a once-off event.
“What we’re seeing is not irrational behaviour. It’s people responding to sustained financial pressure with the options they have,” says Utete. “But when withdrawals return to these levels and become repeat behaviour, it signals something deeper about resilience across the workforce. For employers, the focus should be on understanding these patterns and using them to shape more effective guidance, support and communication, so that employees can make better decisions in difficult circumstances.”
This is a topic Utete explores in the Big Business Insights podcast, where he is joined by neuroscience specialist Dr Charlene Haynes Nell and Michelle Acton, a thought leader on retirement reform in South Africa, to discuss how employers can improve preservation rates and what neuroscience reveals about the financial choices employees make. The conversation also highlights the role employers can play in supporting better outcomes, balancing immediate financial pressure with the need to protect long-term savings.
As Haynes-Nell puts it, “Money is both an emotional and cognitive decision.” That is a useful reminder for employers that withdrawal behaviour is not simply a matter of information or discipline. It is often shaped by stress, urgency and the realities of daily financial pressure. It is from this perspective that the podcast points to a set of practical actions employers can take.
Five practical ideas from the podcast for supporting better employee financial decisions
- Keep communication simple and consistent
Employees are more likely to respond to clear, repeated messaging than to dense, technical once-off education. - Use shorter, more practical formats
Micro-learning, short videos and focused prompts are more effective than long-form financial content, especially under pressure. - Recognise that money decisions are behavioural
Employees do not make financial choices on logic alone. Stress, habit and emotion all shape outcomes. - Broaden the conversation beyond retirement alone
Where claims are being driven by debt, living costs and emergencies, financial wellbeing matters just as much as long-term preservation. - Use two-pot data as a resilience signal
Withdrawal patterns can help employers identify where support structures, communication and benefit design may need to work harder across different parts of the workforce.
A more useful employer lens
Two-pot is already proving more useful than many employers may have expected. It is improving preservation in a way the old system could not, while also giving employers a clearer view of where financial strain is surfacing.
“Two-pot is showing us, in real terms, how employees are addressing financial pressure,” concludes Utete. “For employers, the opportunity is to use that insight to respond more effectively, by strengthening support, improving communication and helping employees make better-informed decisions when it matters most.”
Listen to the full Big Business Insights podcast, where Old Mutual Corporate unpacks the trends shaping South Africa’s workforce and retirement landscape. In this episode, Blessing Utete, Michelle Acton, Chief Customer Officer at Old Mutual Corporate, and Dr Charlene Haynes Nell explore what two-pot is revealing about financial pressure, employee behaviour and the practical steps employers can take to support better outcomes.
