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...
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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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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Celebrity endorsements, crypto and crashes
Fred Razak, Chief Trading Strategist at CMTrading, warns potential investors to exercise utmost caution when encountering unsolicited cryptocurrency offers, regardless of celebrity endorsements. Amid the 2021 crypto boom, prominent figures such as Kim Kardashian,...
How a beneficiary fund can provide for your child
If your retirement fund and group life cover make up the largest portion of your assets, a beneficiary fund may be a simple and cost-effective way to ensure that your minor child receives a regular income if something should happen to you. Your retirement funds do not...
A will to protect your family
One of the most important tasks that the Absa/City Press Money Makeover candidates need to fulfil, is to write up a will. We spend so much time and energy on our families and making many sacrifices for them, yet most parents have not taken the time to ensure that...
ID theft: don’t become a victim
My husband was recently a victim of ID theft, and the experience highlights how easy it is for fraudsters to use your identity to open accounts. The number of ID theft victims continues to increase. The trend is exacerbated by data breaches – including at credit...
Still no action on payroll deductions
Despite several government investigations and submissions from interested parties over the past seven years, there has been no concrete action taken to address unethical payroll deductions. Concerns regarding payroll deductions have been raised for many years. In...
Listen: Treasury explains the two-pot retirement system
On 1 March 2024 there will be a radical change affecting everyone who is a member of a retirement fund, with the implementation of what has come to be known as the “two-pot retirement system”. Update: The two-pot system will now be implemented on 1 September 2024....
Water crisis in SA
We are only starting to understand that we are facing a water crisis in South Africa. I was recently on a panel discussion regarding the future of electricity and water in South Africa. While we are all too familiar with the electricity crisis in South Africa, the...
Unethical practices leave workers indebted and desperate
A large number of municipal workers are taking home a fraction of their pay due to unethical practices around so-called payroll loans. In one case, a mother of two children, with an unemployed husband, had total loan deductions of R5 000 off her basic salary of R10...
Planning to own a home
For most young people buying a home is a financial priority, but a home is a significant purchase and it’s important to get your finances in order first. Two of the Absa/City Press Money Makeover contestants are preparing for this big step. Molefi has no short-term...
Two-pot retirement system: questions answered
The so-called two-pot retirement system will be implemented from 1 March 2024. There is still a lot of confusion around the system and exactly how it will work, and we are awaiting further clarity from Treasury on some of the details surrounding the system. In the...