Perceptions of retirement savings: Through the lens of Black amaXhosa women in South Africa

•Reconceptualises the definition of retirement savings.•Disrupts gender and racially biased narratives of scarcity.•Open-ended, face-to-face interviews interpreted using inductive, thematic analysis.•Intersectionality and socialisation theories highlights people’s culture and desires.•Relevance of informal savings and Black Tax (or Family Tax). Much research has been performed on the quantitative amount of formal savings held by various racial and gender groups and concluded that Black women are the least prepared for retirement. Therefore, a narrative of scarcity has been perpetuated without fully understanding the underlying reason. This research applies a gender lens to critical accounting and reconceptualises previous definitions and research using the narratives of Black amaXhosa women in South Africa. Various informal ways of saving and references to communal preparedness challenge the individualistic view of success as theorised in previous Anglo-Saxon research. The culture of providing financial support is learned behaviour and impacted by the theory of socialisation which plays an important role in how individuals interact with one another and create and maintain their social norms. Such feminine accounting reconceptualises the notion of retirement savings in a different cultural and social context, by focusing on the real life of ordinary people. It has removed some of the ambiguity on the negative impression of the savings culture of Black amaXhosa women in South Africa. The gendering of retirement savings, unconventional ways of planning for retirement and cultural dynamics influence retirement savings. This opens a dialogue on whether considering retirement preparedness purely via the quantitative amount of formalised savings and western ideologies is sufficient.