South Africa is moving from a framework of exchange control to capital-flow management, but what does that mean for the ordinary South African investor? Over the last few years, exchange control for individuals has been incrementally lifted, making...
Absa has announced the closure of its 25-year-old Absa Money Market Fund. Saleh Jamodien, Research & Investment Analyst at Glacier by Sanlam, gives a comprehensive overview of what a money market fund is, and suggests some options for investors...
Angelique Ruzicka takes a look at the bank account offerings for students, as banks try to entice a younger crowd with reduced or zero fees in the hope of bagging a client for life. In March, Absa ditched fees for all of its student cheque...
Tax is one of the most important money matters, especially when you work for yourself or have a side hustle that earns you some extra cash. Navigating the tax maze when you don’t just have an IRP5 from an employer can be quite challenging. In this...
The decision on how much to spend when purchasing your car is possibly one of your most important financial decisions. In fact, banks say that the main reason they turn down home loan applications is due to affordability, and the main culprit is...
Social media networks are being used to lure people into a cryptocurrency scam. A sophisticated social media network is being used to con South Africans by claiming to generate huge returns through trading. The network is made up of 300 fake...
Elani van der Westhuizen, senior tax technical at TaxTim, explains what you can claim from SARS if you've been working from home. There's some good news for you if you’ve been working from home for the past year. You can claim a tax deduction if...
The key to achieving our money goals is to use psychology to set us up for success. When it comes to our money goals, behavioural economist Erik Vermeulen says we need to set specific long-term goals, but also have built-in intermediate success...
A blame-game is starting with complaints about overpaid financial advisers and expensive product options. Readers have provided numerous examples of high-cost investment products sold by advisers working for large insurance firms. Clients are angry...
The Save2Buy model is a hybrid between a lay-by and more traditional credit. In a world where credit has become a way of life, is it possible to find a system that allows someone to purchase an item and have use of it whilst paying it off, but...
Taking an overseas holiday is still possible but this can come at great risk to travellers’ pockets, finds Angelique Ruzicka. Differing social distancing rules and travel bans imposed by countries and airlines have done much to disrupt the global travel industry,...
Whenever we see a surge in the price of bitcoin, I get a lot of queries from people asking how they can invest. The problem is that people are lured by the prospect of high returns rather than actually understanding what they are investing in. A sure way of telling...
In this My Money, My Lifestyle podcast we delve into the world of crypto scams which seem to be mushrooming everywhere, despite repeated warnings from our authorities. How do these crypto scams work? How do people get lured into parting with their hard-earned cash?...
The cost of electricity will increase by 15% in April. That is triple the rate of inflation which means a bigger portion of our budget will go to paying for electricity. It is worth taking the time to understand how your electricity is charged for and to find ways to...
If you are required to travel for work there are several ways to claim for this expense. You can receive a travel allowance or be provided with a company car. In the case of a travel allowance, the employer would normally pay a set amount, for example R5Â 000 a month....
The FSCA wants to warn the public that if something goes wrong with your crypto investment, you are not likely to get your money back and will have no recourse against anyone. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has noted with concern the increasing volume...
Do you know how much tax you save by investing in a tax-free savings account? Sanlam Investments did the maths and found that you can save hundreds of thousands of rands. So why pay tax when you can make money? To recap: you can invest up to R36Â 000 a year into a...
Khwezi Jackson, investment consultant at 10X Investments, explains how buying a fancy new car could sabotage your retirement funding. Seeing a headline, ‘Spending R10,000 per month on a new car’, got me thinking: Why would anyone spend that much money every month to...
For the last 14 years I have been the happy owner of a Virgin Money credit card. The card has zero annual fees which made it a perfect credit card to hold for emergencies rather than using for day-to-day spending. In my case I also used it for booking travel such as...
Do you know the true future cost of cashing in your pension? The long-term consequences are not reversible and will leave many financially destitute when it comes to retirement. This video, as part of a member education series for the Government Employees’ Pension...