"P-Day" is looming - and when it arrives in early 2016, South Africans will be given a "gentle nudge" towards more responsible saving habits, so securing a better life for themselves when they retire.
The "P" is for preservation.
A new plan by the National Treasury will make it mandatory for retirement funds to identify a default preservation fund in which resigning employees will automatically have their retirement savings preserved.
A meagre 6% of South Africans will have enough money saved up to retire comfortably, according to financial services company Momentum.
Only 42% report having any money saved up at all, said Standard Bank.
"The optimal income replacement ratio is 70%-80%," said Momentum financial analyst Rowan Burger.
"This means that when you retire, your retirement fund should be worth 70%-80% of the money you have earned throughout your career."
But in South Africa, the average income replacement ratio is only 14%.
Burger said that the contents of a retirement fund will be transferred to a preservation fund only upon retirement or resignation from a job, after which 10% of the fund's balance could be accessed annually.
While still optional in terms of the impending plan, Burger said that automatic transfers from retirement funds into preservation funds might become mandatory in years to come.
Allan Gray financial analyst Richard Carter said that our access to retirement funds is a problem: "Often when changing jobs, people will take money out of their retirement funds and spend it.
"Do that a few times in a career and you will be left with very little at the end of the day."
Burger stressed these plans are prospective.
He said: "This will not impact on past grants. This is just a gentle nudge to influence savings culture the right way."
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