With less than two months to the implementation date on 1 September, the two-pot retirement reforms hang in the balance as retirement fund administrators wait on the signing of the Pension Funds Amendment Bill by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

At a Daily Maverick Money Cents webinar -- What's cooking with the two-pot retirement reform? -- Zareena Camroodien, the head of fund governance and trustee conduct at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), said about 85% of retirement funds had not yet submitted the required fund rule amendments.

"To date, we have only received 131 rule amendment applications but there are around 900 retirement funds, so that's quite a difference. We have followed up and the feedback is that most funds are either waiting for the Pension Funds Amendment Bill to be promulgated or they are waiting for board meetings scheduled for mid-July," she said.

If a retirement fund's rule amendments have not been submitted, reviewed and approved by the FSCA, the fund will not be able to implement the two-pot retirement reform.

The retirement reform was introduced by National Treasury after the pandemic years when massive job cuts and lockdowns saw thousands of people losing their jobs or earning a reduced income with no emergency funds in sight.

The thinking behind the retirement reform is two-fold: to encourage saving for retirement in a country where it's estimated "only 6% are financially prepared for retirement" and to allow for members...