Financial advice for 23 year old

[shivani5667]

Hello everyone, I need some advice. I am a 23 y/o (F) software engineer working as a contractor for an international company. Next year I will be taking over my car insurance, car payment and medical aid from my parents.

Currently my gross income is R43 000 and my net is R34 000. My car payment is R1 800, my rent is R6 500 and general expenses are around R10 000 (no idea what my insurance will be and same for medical aid). I am also planning on immigrating within the next 2-3 years.

I am busy looking at retirement options, investment opportunities and a tax free savings account. ( I have an investec young professionals account if that helps)

Do you have any recommendations for managing and setting up these accounts?

 

[resjudicata]

@shivani5667 Are you paid in dollars? If so, I would highly recommend getting an offshore bank account, and get paid in USD there. Then you can bring in only what you need. It doesn't make sense bringing money into SA if you are going to be emigrating.

As someone else said, don't pump money into a Retirement Annuity. It will be fixed until 55, and if you formally emigrate, you can only access it after a 3 year waiting period (and it will also be taxed when you withdraw, and tax on the interest generated over the 3 years).

TFSA is a good idea, as it's 100% liquid. Maximum is R36,000 per year (R3000 per month).

 

[shoes]

@shivani5667 If you are planning on emigration, don't do retirement annuity in SA, as your funds will be locked for a long time. Rather consider discretionary investments, like stocks, bonds, unit trusts or etfs, where you can liquidate and move your funds abroad.