New financial services companies are starting to challenge the status quo through technology that enables them to engage with customers directly and use data collected through the use of smartphones, rewards programmes and social media to improve...
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Beware the potential tax pitfalls of earnings through Airbnb
A brief search on Airbnb reveals over 10 000 property listings in Cape Town alone. If you're not already doing it yourself, you probably know of someone who has hit on the golden solution of renting out their property through this internationally...
What is FLISP and how do you qualify?
If your household income is between R3 501 and R15 000 per month, you could benefit from a government programme that could help you put a foot on the property ladder. As a first-time home buyer in South Africa, it’s not easy getting your foot onto...
How safe is our personal information?
Recently we wrote about what to do if you believe your data or personal information has been hacked. The question we now ask is whether or not companies are doing enough to secure our data, especially after an estimated 70 million identity numbers...
GEPF changes benefits for children and divorcees
Children of GEPF members are the biggest winners in the improvement to benefits. One of the more frequent questions we receive from members of the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) relates to the treatment of their pension fund on divorce....
Can a robot give you good advice?
One of the more common questions I receive is “where should I invest?” The answer is not a simple one as proper financial planning requires a few questions to ascertain the correct investment objective and therefore the most appropriate product....
What to do if you’re running late submitting your tax? Tax deadline: 24 November
24 November 2017 is the most important date on the calendar for taxpayers, as this is the deadline for most taxpayers to file their annual tax returns. Each year, more than two million taxpayers leave filing their tax returns to the last minute...
Make Black Friday work for you, not against you
On Friday 24 November, retailers will be offering discounts in a major sale ahead of the festive season. This “Black Friday” concept has been taken from the United States where the discounts are so enormous people queue overnight to be the first...
What to do if you think you have been hacked
Last week a major South African domain service provider, Hetzner, was hacked, allegedly compromising personal information. My own website is hosted by Hetzner and on the same day I received an urgent email asking me to immediately pay and renew my...
The value of bitcoin
By Jacques Plaut, portfolio manager at Allan Gray The total market value of all bitcoins is US$80bn, which is more than the value of Richemont and triple the value of Anglo American. It is the topic on which we currently receive the most questions...
Previous Articles
Staying on track for a good score in a high-risk low-return environment
As the need for capital preservation and cautious portfolio positioning becomes more apparent, Head of Business Development at Foord Asset Management, Nick Curtin, unpacks the strategic stance Foord’s portfolio managers have adopted given the prevailing high-risk...
How social media affects your insurance claims
Anything you post on social media can be used by insurers, within reason. Can an insurer use information collected from your social media posts to assess your risk profile and verify claims? This was the question posed by Maria Philippides, director at law firm Norton...
What makes a city a worthy investment?
According to the latest released Schroders Global Cities Index, which ranks over 700 cities in order of their attractiveness from a long-term real estate investment perspective, South African cities leave much to be desired, with Johannesburg being ranked fairly low...
Medical aid annual review: six questions to ask before accepting the default option
Annual medical aid premium increases for 2018 are once again measuring in excess of inflation, and this often comes with a decrease in benefit levels. This means consumers will have to make increasingly tough choices if they don't want to be caught on the wrong side...
Paying tax vs paying fees
Tax-efficient products are an easy sell, but are you paying your tax benefit away in fees? With personal and investment taxes on the increase, high-net-worth individuals look to product offerings that can – legally – help them offset their tax liability. Endowment...
Tax season: your top tax investment questions answered
Confused about how to report on your investments to SARS? With the 2017 tax season in full swing, now is the time to get your documents ready, urges Carla Rossouw of Allan Gray Investment Managers. 1. What documents do I need? When filling out your tax return, gather...
MTBPS paints bleak picture that will disappoint both market and ratings agencies
By Nazmeera Moola, co-Head of Fixed Income, Investec Asset Management The medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba on Wednesday 25 October, paints a bleak picture: the expenditure ceiling has been breached,...
SNAPnSAVE: the shopping app that saves you money
SNAPnSAVE is a cashback shopping app that puts money back into your wallet when you buy certain products – irrespective of where you shop. You download the app, select the products you want to book and then have 48 hours to go shopping and scan your till slip to...
The simple truth about investing
In late August I attended the Allan Gray Investment Summit which brought together a range of investment professionals. Most of the day was dedicated to experts discussing investment strategies and their top share picks. But it was the final speaker of the day, Morgan...
What constitutes bad advice?
Due to the recent poor performance of living annuities, many investors believe that they received bad advice and now want to cash in the investment. This comes down to a question of good or bad advice which is a FAIS (Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act)...