‘Debt Reset’ helps employees break the debt cycle while protecting long-term retirement outcomes

Discovery Corporate and Employee Benefits has launched Debt Reset, an innovative retirement fund benefit designed to help employees redirect retirement contributions towards debt repayment for a limited period and subsequently receive a retirement Boost that helps restore their long-term retirement trajectory. Effectively reducing short-term unsecured debt while protecting their long-term financial future.

For many South Africans, debt has become one of the biggest sources of financial and emotional stress. It affects far more than household finances, often impacting concentration, productivity, workplace engagement, and overall wellbeing.

Recent retirement reforms have created greater flexibility for members to access retirement savings during times of financial pressure. While this can provide short-term relief, many employees continue to use retirement savings to manage debt or financial emergencies, potentially undermining their future financial security. Others resign from employment simply to access retirement savings accumulated over time. These decisions can provide immediate relief but often come at the expense of long-term financial wellbeing.

Debt Reset has been developed to help employees break this cycle.

Available as a retirement fund benefit through participating employers, Debt Reset allows eligible employees to:

1. Re-align their financial education by providing industry-leading tools and support with practical skills in budgeting, saving and debt management.
2. Repay their debt by temporarily pausing their retirement fund contributions and redirecting that income towards paying down qualifying short-term unsecured debt.
3. Restore their contributions once they have successfully completed the programme by providing them a Boost of all contributions that they used to repay their debt. This ensures their long-term retirement savings trajectory.

The benefit became available to eligible members of participating employers with Discovery Retirement Funds from 1 August 2026.

Addressing one of the hidden challenges in the workplace

"Financial stress remains one of the most significant but least visible challenges in the workplace," says Guy Chennells, Chief Commercial Officer at Discovery Corporate and Employee Benefits.

"When employees are trapped in debt, the consequences extend well beyond their bank accounts. Financial pressure can affect wellbeing, productivity, engagement and even career decisions. Debt Reset has been designed to help employees regain control of their finances before they reach a crisis point."

Chennells says the benefit is built on a simple but powerful insight.

"Too many employees feel forced into short-term decisions that compromise their long-term financial future. Whether it is withdrawing retirement savings, taking on more expensive debt or leaving employment to access savings, these choices often solve an immediate problem while creating a bigger one later. Crucially, those short-term measures also come without addressing the core issue of employees’ ability to manage their finances to avoid further crises. This is where Debt Reset comes in."

A structured pathway out of debt

Debt Reset is a once-off benefit for eligible members with qualifying short-term unsecured debt.

Members can activate a contribution relief period of up to 12 months, allowing them to redirect retirement fund contributions towards debt repayment rather than retirement savings for a defined period. This is opened up only after employees have gone through a life-changing financial education programme, including budget coaching, which is provided by Worth - a leading independent financial education providers.

Participants learn practical money management skills by completing a four-hour self-paced financial education course structured by Worth. They are then required to work with a financial coach to develop a realistic budget and then spend three months demonstrating that they can keep their unsecured debt stable.

Only after completing those steps, do they qualify for the next phase. Discovery then monitors progress to ensure debt balances are reducing over time and that members remain on track to achieve their debt reduction goals.

The programme can provide eligible members with access to up to R25 000 in additional income for debt reduction during the contribution relief period, depending on their contribution level and eligibility.

Importantly, once a member has successfully completed the programme and resumed retirement fund contributions, they receive a retirement boost designed to help restore retirement savings that were missed during the contribution pause. Rather than requiring any additional financial contribution from the employee, the boost rewards positive financial behaviour and reinforces the long-term benefits of breaking the cycle of debt.

The approach recognises that when employees avoid withdrawals, remain invested for retirement and improve their financial decision-making, value is created within the system.

"Debt Reset is not about asking people to choose between solving debt problems and saving for retirement," says Chennells. "In fact, it is designed to help them do both. The programme helps employees tackle debt when they need support most, while creating a pathway to restore retirement savings once they are back on their feet."

"What makes Debt Reset different is that it rewards behaviour that creates value. When employees avoid the withdrawals and decisions that can undermine their long-term financial future, Discovery redirects that value back to employees through the retirement boost. It's an incentive for doing the right thing and staying committed to a better financial path."

Chennells adds: "For decades, employee benefits have focused on helping people save for retirement. Debt Reset addresses a reality many employees face today: it is incredibly difficult to save for the future when debt is consuming your present. By helping employees break that cycle, we believe Debt Reset represents an important evolution in workplace financial wellbeing."

Supporting lasting behaviour change

Debt Reset is available to eligible members who meet a series of behavioural and financial readiness requirements. These include completing a budgeting exercise, participating in financial coaching, demonstrating responsible spending behaviour and committing to using the additional income generated through the programme to reduce qualifying short-term unsecured debt.

The eligibility requirements are designed to maximise the likelihood of long-term success.

"We know that lasting financial recovery rarely comes from a single intervention," says Chennells. "Debt Reset combines financial education, coaching, behaviour change and practical financial support. The goal is not simply to provide temporary relief, but to help employees build sustainable financial resilience."

Helping employees plan their debt recovery journey

To help employees understand the potential impact of the programme, Discovery Corporate and Employee Benefits has developed an interactive Debt Reset Calculator.

The calculator allows employees to estimate how much debt they could potentially repay during a contribution relief period, how long repayment may take based on their personal circumstances, and how the retirement boost could help restore their retirement savings once the programme is complete.

"The first step towards addressing debt is understanding it," says Chennells. "The Debt Reset Calculator provides employees with a practical view of what they owe, what could realistically be repaid over time, and the potential impact that Debt Reset could have on both their debt and retirement savings. It is often surprising to people how much they will save in interest payments and time to repay when they get this injection to their debt."

Debt Reset forms part of Discovery Corporate and Employee Benefits' ongoing focus on improving financial wellbeing and retirement outcomes for South African employees. Anyone can use the Debt Reset Calculator to model potential outcomes and better understand how the benefit, together with the retirement boost, could support both debt reduction and long-term financial security.

To access the Debt Reset Calculator please click here.

ENDS

Notes to the editor:

• Debt Reset is available from 1 August 2026
• Eligible members of the Discovery Retirement Funds now have access to Debt Reset – an industry‑first benefit designed to help employees reduce short‑term unsecured debt while preserving long‑term retirement outcomes.
• Debt Reset allows members to pause retirement contributions, redirect that income to debt repayment, and then receive a retirement boost from Discovery to restore their original savings trajectory.
• Members must meet behaviour‑focused criteria, including completing a budgeting exercise, attending one coaching session, demonstrating three months of debt stability, and using the freed‑up income to reduce debt.