How this year’s Money Makeover Challenge winner is well on his way to being debt free. In this podcast Maya speaks to Johan, the winner of the 2023 Absa/City Press Money Makeover Challenge, and his Absa financial adviser, Takalani Badugela. Johan...
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Don’t fall victim to a delivery scam this festive season
A delivery scam usually takes the form of an email that pops up in your inbox telling you that you have a parcel waiting for you, and that you should click on the provided link for further details on the necessary steps to get your parcel...
Women in Conversation: Protecting your family
When you get married, there are so many exciting things to focus on like the wedding dress, invitations, and the honeymoon. And when you have a child, your life becomes so busy as you care for your growing family. The last thing you want to think...
Debt is often just a click away
How social media can encourage you to overspend and destroy your finances. Once upon a time, it was easy to see when you were about to get into debt. You saw cash leaving your wallet and knew from the balance in your account that you needed to stop...
Investing offshore is easier than you think
It is becoming easier and more affordable for South Africans to invest in offshore funds. Pieter Koekemoer, head of Personal Investments at Coronation, has some advice for those interested in investing offshore. Many investors saving to retire in...
Funding your start-up
When Sello entered the Money Makeover Challenge, he was establishing a start-up business to manufacture eco-friendly straws for restaurants and retailers. He had taken out personal loans to purchase manufacturing equipment to produce the prototype....
How do South African women feel about investing?
There is a significant gender confidence gap when it comes to South Africans’ attitudes towards investing. In 2021 Fidelity, a large asset manager in the US, ran a nationwide survey to understand women’s attitudes towards investing and their...
Women in Conversation: Creating financial equality in a relationship
Money conversations are hard. They are harder than conversations about sex or the in-laws. But there is seldom financial equality in a relationship, and this inequality often causes conflict. The person who makes more money tends to have more power...
Virtual consultations – a way to cut medical costs
Most South African medical schemes now offer some sort of remote health consultation service. Making use of these virtual consultations is a great way to save on medical costs. My scheme (Momentum Health) offers a service called Hello Doctor free...
Tips when considering a solar PV system
Teresa Kok, Marketing Director of the One Energy Group, provides some solid, practical advice for anyone considering installation of a solar PV system. For many households and businesses, investing in a solar photovoltaic (PV) system has been...
Previous Articles
Supporting a family through self-employment
When a Money Makeover candidate has a small enterprise, we always start with separating business finances from personal finances. This is the only way to understand whether the business is making money and where the weaknesses are. Raymond’s situation is all too...
Review your medical plan
Medical schemes have announced their price increases and new plans for 2024, which means it’s time to review your medical plan. While the new premiums and the plan changes still require approval from the Council for Medical Schemes, everyone should take the time to...
Tab still running on paid-up home loans
Hundreds of thousands of South Africans have paid-up home loans which may still be costing them money. Homeowners may not be aware that in some cases, their paid-up mortgage will continue to attract fees unless they have canceled the bond over the property and have...
Women in Conversation: Marriage Contracts
In this series of conversations, Maya speaks to Andrea Carr about her experience of getting divorced which has led Andrea to question many of the decisions she made as a woman, as a mother and as a wife, when it came to her finances. It made her realise the importance...
How an education protection plan works
Is it better to use life cover or an education protection plan to ensure that your child’s education is provided for in the event of your death? Every September, which is “Wills Month”, there is a focus on estate planning and drawing up your will. If you are...
Don’t die without a will!
A will allows you to provide for your family and removes complications after you pass away, but if you die without a will, it could cause delays in winding up your estate and your wishes may not be carried out. “Through years of winding up deceased estates, we see on...
Setting your financial priorities
We may all have several financial goals and aspirations, but how do we decide how to order our financial priorities? Should we pay off debt or build an emergency fund? Should we be saving for our children’s education or for our retirement? A starting point is to...
What you need to know about evicting a tenant
For most landlords, evicting a tenant is a last resort. It is a complex, expensive process that takes a long time and is emotionally taxing. However, with the Q2 2023 PayProp Rental Index revealing that the number of tenants in arrears has risen to an alarming 18.4% –...
Investment strategies for retirement
New actuarial research identifies how different investment strategies may prevent capital erosion in living annuities. Adopting an aggressive investment strategy in retirement seems counterintuitive. But new actuarial modelling shows that most living annuity investors...
Listen: The ins and outs of medical aid
It is that time of year when your medical aid informs you how much more you will be paying in 2024 for your medical cover. In this podcast, Maya chats to Jillian Larkan, head of healthcare consulting at financial advisory firm GTC to unpack the mysteries of medical...