Retirement is often imagined as the reward for decades of hard work: a time to enjoy greater freedom, protect hard-earned savings and focus on personal wellbeing. But for many South Africans, the reality is becoming more complicated.
When an adult child faces a financial setback, a grandchild needs help with education costs or household expenses become difficult to manage, pensioners can find themselves stepping in. Their retirement income, intended to support them through their later years, becomes a financial lifeline for the wider family.
The challenge is that what begins as temporary assistance can gradually turn into a long-term responsibility. For retirees who depend on savings accumulated over decades, repeated withdrawals can place their own financial futures under pressure.
According to the FNB Retirement Insights Survey 2026: Understanding South Africans’ Retirement Preparedness, breaking the cycle of dependency is one of the key themes shaping retirement outcomes in South Africa.
While many South Africans hope to retire without becoming financially dependent on their children, the survey highlights another side of the issue: retirees themselves may continue supporting family members long after leaving the workforce.
When retirement becomes a family safety net
Financial support between generations has deep roots in South African society. For many families, helping loved ones through difficult periods is an expression of care, responsibility and solidarity.
However, continued economic pressure can make that responsibility harder to sustain.
Ester Ochse, Product Head of Integrated Advice at FNB, says retirement is increasingly colliding with the wider financial realities facing South African households. In many families, those who are financially stable are expected to help relatives who are struggling.
“Supporting family members is deeply embedded in South Africa’s social fabric, and for many retirees, helping loved ones through difficult periods is not a financial decision, it’s a personal one,” says Ochse.
The difficulty arises when occasional assistance becomes an ongoing commitment.
“The challenge, however, is that what begins as temporary support can gradually become a long-term financial obligation. When retirees repeatedly draw on income and savings intended to fund their own future, they risk compromising their financial security, reducing their ability to absorb unexpected expenses, and placing additional pressure on resources that may need to last for decades. Striking a balance between supporting loved ones and protecting one’s own retirement outcomes is becoming one of the most important financial challenges facing retirees today.”
For pensioners, the consequences can extend well beyond their monthly budgets. Money used to cover someone else’s emergency may no longer be available for their own unexpected expenses or future living costs.
Rising costs are putting families under pressure
The FNB Retirement Insights Survey 2026 identifies unexpected emergencies and rising living costs among the biggest barriers to financial progress for South Africans.
These pressures affect entire households, not only those who are still working.
Samukelo Zwane, Head of Products at FNB Wealth and Investments, highlights how financial uncertainty can leave retirees facing difficult choices about their savings.
The survey, Zwane explains, shows that rising costs and uncertainty are affecting families across generations. Pensioners may therefore have to decide whether to preserve the retirement savings they spent decades building or use those funds to help loved ones facing financial hardship.
It is a difficult position to navigate. Refusing to help someone close to you can feel deeply uncomfortable, especially when the need is urgent. Yet providing assistance without considering the long-term consequences can leave a retiree increasingly vulnerable.
For some households, a pension has become more than an income for retirement. It is a source of stability when other parts of the family’s finances come under strain.
The hidden cost of helping loved ones
Retirement savings are built to support a person through a stage of life when regular employment income may no longer be available. Those savings may need to cover living expenses, healthcare and unexpected costs over many years.
Supporting adult children or other relatives can reduce the resources available for those needs. Once savings have been spent, replacing them may be difficult, particularly for someone who has already left the workforce.
That does not mean pensioners should never help their families. Instead, it highlights the importance of understanding what assistance is affordable and whether it can be sustained.
A decision that solves an immediate problem could create another financial challenge later if it leaves too little money for the retiree’s own needs.
The central question is not simply whether a pensioner can help today. It is whether they can provide that support without placing their future financial security at risk.
Two questions to ask before giving financial support
FNB highlights two important considerations for retirees who are deciding whether to assist family members financially.
1. Can I afford to help without compromising my own future needs?
Before committing money, pensioners should consider their own retirement funding, healthcare provision and emergency savings.
These needs must remain a priority, even when a loved one is facing genuine hardship. Understanding the impact of a withdrawal on future finances can help retirees make more informed decisions about the level of assistance they can provide.
2. Is this support solving the problem or simply delaying it?
Financial assistance can be valuable, particularly when it helps someone recover from an unexpected setback. However, repeated support without a clear way forward can lead to ongoing dependence.
Where possible, assistance should help loved ones work towards financial independence rather than create an expectation of continued financial rescue.
Open conversations about the circumstances, the amount of help available and the longer-term plan can help families approach these decisions with greater clarity.
Why financial guidance matters in retirement
Retirement planning today may require a broader view of family responsibilities than simply calculating personal living expenses.
Pensioners may need to consider whether adult children, grandchildren or extended family members could depend on them financially, and how those responsibilities might affect their own long-term plans.
Access to trusted financial guidance can help people assess their options before making significant decisions.
FNB points to solutions such as My Advisor on the FNB App, which gives customers access to personalised financial guidance, while its FNB Retirement Annuity remains an option for building and preserving long-term retirement security.
These products and services form part of the bank’s approach to helping customers navigate financial decisions. Individual circumstances will determine which options are suitable.
Protecting your future while supporting your family
For many retirees, the desire to help family members does not disappear when employment ends. If anything, financial emergencies can make that commitment feel even more pressing.
Ochse says people increasingly enter retirement expecting their financial responsibilities to ease, only to find themselves supporting children, grandchildren and extended family members.
“The reality is that retirement security and family support do not have to be mutually exclusive. The key is to balance generosity with sustainability. Supporting loved ones through difficult times is an important part of who we are, but it should not come at the expense of the financial future you’ve spent a lifetime building. With careful planning, open family conversations and the right financial guidance, retirees can continue to support those they care about while protecting their own long-term financial wellbeing.”
Her message reflects the central challenge facing families: helping loved ones and protecting retirement security do not necessarily have to be opposing goals, but achieving both requires careful consideration.
As economic pressures continue to affect households, retirement planning increasingly involves more than preparing for one person’s future. It also means understanding the financial responsibilities that may arise across generations.
For pensioners, the aim is to make room for compassion without losing sight of their own needs. Because the savings built over a lifetime are not only a financial resource for today; they may also be essential to maintaining independence, dignity and security in the years ahead.
