This is why we show the 10-year returns first, which is where we believe your focus ought to be when looking at the investment performance of your retirement savings.

Over seven years or more, the Balanced Growth Portfolio has earned returns higher than inflation, but has missed the 5.5% above inflation target. The main reason for missing the target has been the underwhelming performance of South African equities, which form a substantial part of the portfolio.

Over the short term, up to five years, the Balanced Growth Portfolio has shown stronger returns, but remember that:

'Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.' - Confucius

Humans often seek out complex solutions over simpler, more effective ones.

A good example of seeking out complex solutions is cancer research. In 2013 Harold Varmus, then director of the National Cancer Institute, delivered a speech describing the difficulties of treating cancer. In 1971, the institution set itself a goal to eradicate cancer. However, 42 years later, Varmus said that despite the significant progress made in understanding cancer cells, they had not yet succeeded in controlling cancer as a disease.

He said that a key missing piece was that they had focused too much on cancer treatment and not enough on cancer prevention. However, prevention is boring, especially compared to the prestige of cancer treatments. The team that finds the cure to cancer will receive much more recognition than a team that succeeds in reducing the instances of cancer.

If you think about it, the quarterly market overview that the Fund communicates, is of limited value. Yes, it is useful in helping you understand what has driven investment returns over recent periods, but that is all.

The explanations given will seem important and complicated now, but they are temporary in nature and will be forgotten quickly. You can test this by asking yourself how many of the explanations about what happened in investment markets 10 years ago you can recall. Most members will remember very little, if anything.

Where does this leave you with your money in the Woolworths Group Retirement Fund? It is essential that you focus on your long-term investment horizon. Consider how anxious you will be if investment returns are negative over the short term.

This helps you to establish a long-term investment plan, which is usually more effective than constantly changing strategies. Predicting future returns consistently is very challenging. Trying to time the market often leads to overestimating recent investment returns.

It is comforting to know that the trustees put much effort into constructing investment portfolios that are designed to be resilient over a wide range of market conditions. They also ensure that the Fund’s portfolios are well diversified.

Consequently, the trustees and the Fund's investment committee have a solid process for determining the Fund’s investment strategy. This should lead to better returns over the long term, but cannot be guaranteed.

Switching out of your investment or cashing in your savings when markets have underperformed is not recommended. Because we don’t know when markets will recover, it is likely that if you switched out or cashed in, you would not participate in a subsequent market recovery and will miss out on any performance growth.

Go to Investment Switching for further information.