Two-Pot Retirement Calculator: How Much Is In Your Savings Pot After Year 2?
The two-pot system turned 19 months old in April 2026. If you haven't withdrawn yet, your savings pot has been quietly building since September 2024. If you did withdraw — in the initial rush or at some point since — you're starting again from R0 in your savings pot.
Either way, the same question keeps coming up: how much is actually in there?
Let me show you how to calculate it — and what to do with the number once you have it.
How the Savings Pot Works (Quick Recap)
Every rand contributed to your retirement fund since 1 September 2024 gets split:
- One-third goes to your savings pot — accessible once per year, subject to income tax
- Two-thirds go to your retirement pot — locked until retirement
The first R1,000 seeded your savings pot on day one (vested from your pre-2024 balance). After that, it's purely new contributions.
One withdrawal per tax year. Minimum R2,000 per withdrawal. Maximum is whatever's in your savings pot.
Calculate Your Savings Pot Balance (April 2026)
Here's the formula. You need two numbers:
- Your total monthly contribution to your retirement fund (your share + employer's share if it's a pension/provident fund)
- How many months since September 2024 — which is now 19 months
Your estimated savings pot balance =
(Monthly contribution ÷ 3) × 19 months + investment returns
Real examples: What's in the savings pot now
| Monthly contribution to fund | Savings pot allocation/month | Estimated balance (April 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| R2,000/month | R667/month | ≈ R13,500 |
| R4,000/month | R1,333/month | ≈ R27,000 |
| R6,000/month | R2,000/month | ≈ R40,500 |
| R10,000/month | R3,333/month | ≈ R67,500 |
| R15,000/month | R5,000/month | ≈ R101,000 |
| R20,000/month | R6,667/month | ≈ R135,000 |
Estimates assume contributions since Sep 2024, no prior withdrawal, and approximately 8% annual investment growth on accumulated balance. Actual balance may vary. Check your fund statement for the exact figure.
Year 2 Is Different From Year 1
The September 2024 frenzy caught everyone off-guard. Billions were withdrawn in the first few months — over 3 million claims processed by SARS in the first six months alone.
Year 2 (from April 2025 onward into the 2026 tax year) is quieter. The desperation wave has subsided. The people withdrawing now are either:
- Facing genuine emergencies (medical, debt crisis, job loss)
- Making a deliberate choice to use the savings pot as a planned vehicle
- Still not fully understanding the long-term cost
Which category you fall into matters.
The Real Cost of Withdrawing — In Numbers
Every rand you take out today costs you roughly 4–8x that amount at retirement (depending on how many years away retirement is and your investment returns).
What a R30,000 withdrawal really costs
| Years until retirement | R30,000 grows to | Effective cost of withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | ≈ R65,000 | R65k in retirement income capacity |
| 20 years | ≈ R140,000 | R140k in retirement income capacity |
| 30 years | ≈ R300,000 | R300k in retirement income capacity |
Based on 9% annual growth. The R30,000 is also after tax — so the gross savings pot amount was higher.
The numbers aren't designed to shame you. They're designed to make the decision concrete. If you need R30,000 now and the alternative is high-interest debt, the withdrawal might be cheaper. If you're withdrawing because it's there, the math above is what you're giving up.
The April 2026 Tax Year Reset
April 1, 2026 opened a new tax year — which means the one-per-year withdrawal allowance reset.
If you withdrew in the 2025/2026 tax year (March 2025 to February 2026), you can withdraw again now. If you withdrew in March 2026, you're already in the new tax year — that counts as your 2026/2027 withdrawal.
Worth noting: withdrawals early in the tax year (April) can sometimes be slightly more tax-efficient if you're expecting a lower income this year vs. last year — a retrenchment, maternity leave, career break, or income reduction all count. Your tax rate on the withdrawal is based on your projected annual income for the tax year.
Should You Withdraw Now?
There's no universal answer. But here's a decision framework:
- You're carrying high-interest debt (credit cards, personal loans above 15%)
- You have a genuine emergency with no other options
- Your income is lower this tax year (making the tax hit smaller)
- You're close to retirement and won't lose much compounding time
- You're more than 15–20 years from retirement
- You'd spend it on lifestyle rather than solving a financial problem
- You're in a high tax bracket (SARS will take 30–40%)
- You haven't checked the actual tax amount first
How to Check Your Actual Balance
Don't estimate if you can get the real number. Here's how:
- Pension/Provident fund: Log into your fund's member portal, or contact your HR department. Most major funds (Old Mutual, Liberty, Sanlam, Discovery, Momentum, 10X) have online portals with your split balance.
- Retirement Annuity (RA): Log into your RA provider's app or portal. Allan Gray, Sanlam, Ninety One, and 10X all show savings/retirement pot split on their dashboards.
- SARS: The SARS savings pot calculator at tools.sars.gov.za can verify your registered balance and tax situation before you file a withdrawal.
Your fund must show the savings and retirement pot separately on your statement — this is a legal requirement since the two-pot system launched.
Run the Numbers First
Before you withdraw anything, run two calculations:
- How much you'll actually receive after tax (use the calculator — it's not a flat rate, it depends on your salary)
- What that amount will cost you at retirement (use the years-to-retirement multiplier above)
You don't have to say no to yourself. Just make the decision with the real numbers in front of you.
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