Millennials (under 35)

Profile

You make up more than half the workforce in South Africa and typically stay in your job for less than three years.

Life Cover

• You need some basic life cover for debt

Disability

• You need proper disability cover. This cover is cheap at your age but can make a massive difference in your life should you become disabled

Critical Illness cover

• This covers diseases like cancer and heart attacks. The cover is cheap at your age and the chances of you getting them are slim.  However, should you ever have health issues in later life, at least you will have this cover in place.
• Side note: Most heart attacks happen in the early 40s which is when you will really need this cover.  It could be a good idea to get covered while you are young and healthy.

Retirement savings

• Most companies have a pension scheme of sorts. Make sure you choose a very aggressive portfolio.  You have 30 years before you will need that money so you can afford to ride out any stock market movements.
• Preserve your money when you change jobs.
• Unless you are earning a lot of money and have a high tax rate, look at investing in vehicles where the proceeds will be tax free rather than going for investments where you get a tax break on your contributions

Medical

• Until such time that you have dependents, a decent hospital plan with Gap cover should suffice

Investments

• Create an emergency fund for short term cash crises
• Pay off any debt before you invest in any fancy schemes