While investors watch their investment values collapse, some see this as an opportunity. Around the world the value of stock markets has fallen by at least 25%, which means markets are now offering better value than they have in years. Locally...
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Video: Know your net worth
The beginning of the year is a great time to review your net worth. This is a list of your assets vs your liabilities – or put another way how much you own vs how much you owe. This is a personal balance sheet and provides a good measure of your...
Cashflow relief is better than a term extension on your loan
Taking a payment holiday should only be done if you really have no way to meet your monthly debt payment. It adds to the cost of your loan and can add significantly to the period of your home loan, especially if you recently bought your property....
What does the downgrade to junk mean for our money?
At the end of March, amid the chaos of the lockdown, the rating agency Moody’s downgraded South African sovereign debt to non-investment grade – or junk status. As the last rating agency to do so, it means that South African government bonds will...
Listen: How to make money from your stokvel
Whilst you are sitting in lockdown, now may be the time to turn that WhatsApp group into an investment club. Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) chat to Palesa Lengolo, financial educator and author of Stokvels: How they can make...
Credit Life Insurance 101
Credit life insurance is poorly understood in South Africa. This is ironic, because it’s one of the best risk-management tools available to the consumer – especially in challenging economic times. From COVID-19 to junk status, few would argue that...
Money Makeover: Avoid the slippery slope of credit dependency
The outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown will have far-reaching consequences for many households. Even before this crisis, people found it hard to make ends meet as salaries failed to keep up with the cost of living. This leads to the slippery...
Video: Make sure your will carries out your wishes
A will is a very important document as it makes sure your wishes are carried out and protects your children when you no longer can. However, there are circumstances where your wishes can be superseded. Your retirement funds do not fall under your...
Relief options for small businesses
There are various financial relief options available for small businesses, from tax relief to soft loans and even grants for sole proprietors. SME tax relief PAYE: Tax-complaint small- to medium-sized business with turnover less than R50 million...
Listen: Is it time to start investing? And where?
Over the last few weeks our discussions have focused on keeping our heads above water during the coronavirus meltdown. We now turn our attention to investing. With markets down significantly, is this the time to start testing the waters? In this...
Previous Articles
Options for lockdown debt relief
Credit life payouts and payment holidays are on the cards. But it will only be for those who are directly impacted by the lockdown, and will come with Ts and Cs. While we are expecting more announcements from the banks, they have all indicated that they will be...
The hidden costs of divorce
By Lee Hancox, Head: Channel and Segment Marketing at Sanlam Real-life love stories don’t always have the proverbial happily ever after. In fact, Stats SA found that four in ten couples get divorced before they reach their tenth wedding anniversary. It has been...
Listen: Money Makeover: how to manage your money when life happens
The topic for this City Press/ABSA Money Makeover podcast could not be more relevant given the financial stress so many households are feeling with the COVID-19 crisis. Falling into a debt trap often happens because of a change in personal circumstances rather than...
Don’t panic, your monthly investment is getting bargain rates
As markets fall, continuing with you regular monthly investment is the most powerful tool to ensure positive long-term growth. The stock markets have had a really grim start to the year. At the beginning of this week the JSE All-Share Index had fallen 22% since the...
Money Makeover: Kill the credit card debt
All of our 2020 Money Makeover candidates were struggling with credit card debt. When your spending exceeds your income, it is easy to slip into the habit of using your credit card to make it to the end of the month. But unless you are paying it off in full each...
Covid-19: Tax relief proposed by the President
By Graham Viljoen, Nina Keyser, Shirleen Ritchie, Yashika Govind, Lumen Moolman and Bianca de Klerk from Webber Wentzel The address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, 23 March 2020, set out certain fiscal relief measures to help small and medium enterprises...
Listen: Lockdown: Get your finances in order
The lockdown will affect people in different ways. There are those who will be fortunate enough to still be receiving a salary, others will see a cut in pay, while many business owners or self-employed people will be fighting to keep their heads above water. In this...
What the crash means for your retirement
The market collapse highlights the need for good financial planning in retirement. The market collapse on the back of the coronavirus pandemic has created a buying opportunity for those who are still investing towards retirement, but it comes at a very bad time for...
Beware of coronavirus scams
According to SABRIC, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, there’s been a sharp rise in cases of cybercriminals exploiting the spread of COVID-19 by using coronavirus-based scams to trick people into clicking on links in emails or SMSs appearing to offer...
Video: Get your admin in order
Now is a great time to do your financial admin and put together a “life book”. An important part of knowing your net worth is having your admin in order. You need to have one place where you keep all those important documents rather than scratching around piles of...