If you are a member of a pension fund or have a retirement annuity, two-thirds of your final retirement amount must be used to purchase a retirement income. You can select between a guaranteed life annuity or a living annuity. What is important to...
Having an advert in a national newspaper does not necessarily make an investment opportunity legit. There are many investments being touted now on Facebook and even through adverts in mainstream media – including adverts placed with major Sunday...
Have you ever thought of signing up to sell make-up, health drinks or cleaning products to make a few extra rand? Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) chat to journalist Angelique Ruzicka (@angelraws) about whether direct selling is a...
Many consumers commit themselves to debt review only to get cold feet several months later. For some, finding themselves cut off from credit lines is just too stressful, while others find their financial situation may have already improved. A...
The third Absa/City Press Money Makeover Challenge kicks off early next year and entries are now open. The competition runs over a six-month period and the six selected participants will receive expert help to get their finances in order and...
For some people a credit card can be a financial disaster. However, if you are disciplined and pay off your card in full at the end of the month, or pre-pay at the beginning of the month, then a credit card could save on transaction fees. No...
Jane contacted us after being caught out by a credit agreement in which she thought she had taken out a personal loan. She discovered later that what she had signed up for was a revolving credit facility, which is very different from a personal...
With proper planning you can have that overseas trip without financial regrets. Maya (@mayaonmoney), Mapalo (@womanandfinance) and personal finance blogger Brendan Dale (@your_money_blog) share their travel budget secrets.
There is no question that the debt crisis faced by lower-income households needs to be urgently addressed, however the provisions for debt intervention in the National Credit Amendment Act raise many questions about how and when it will be...
The Absa/City Press Money Makeover Competition is once again open for entries. Read how 2018 contestant Amanda, a widow with three young children, managed to pick up the pieces both financially and emotionally after the sudden death of her husband....
Have you ever found yourself trying to save money by not buying a takeaway coffee? Or possibly saving the R8 parking fee by finding street parking instead? But then you just end up blowing R1Â 500 on a designer shirt or R3Â 000 on a new pair of sneakers? Personal...
By Kyle Hulett, member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa. The listing of Prosus, the new company that holds the international online assets of South African media group Naspers, marks another key step in the unbundling of Naspers, which holds the biggest weight...
Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) speak to personal finance blogger Brendan Dale about how he manages his budget to achieve Financial Independence to Retire Early (FIRE). Is it a fad or something we could all apply to our finances?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure your adviser updates you regularly? Almost every single person who has a life or investment product is probably paying an ongoing advice fee. Yet every week I'm inundated with requests from people for help or information about the...
A retirement annuity is a great, tax-efficient way to save for your retirement, but they do come with certain rules. Many people investing in retirement annuities are not fully aware of these restrictions. Firstly, you cannot access your retirement annuity until the...
We answer some reader questions about retirement funding: some want to invest, and others want to cash out. We look at the pros and cons. Listen to Maya and Mapalo Makhu discussing this topic in the My Money, My Lifestyle podcast. How much tax do I save by investing...
In this week’s edition, Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) explain how you can pay your house off as quickly as your car. Also, In the light of the recent raid by the authorities on CoinIt and Commex Minerals, they discuss the increase in dubious...
Headline results are not the only factor to consider when investing. As a first-time investor in the stock market, the best starting point is to invest in a unit trust or exchange-traded fund. This allows you to start with a relatively small amount of capital – from a...
I was recently speaking to a young woman who had just bought her first house. She admitted that she had been caught completely off guard by all the expenses she had to incur. She discovered that buying a house is a lot more expensive than just being able to afford the...
When it comes to investing for the longer term you need to make sure you build up a sustainable and well-diversified investment portfolio. For example, having no retirement fund but investing all your spare cash in bitcoin or forex trading would be a very risky and...