Between 2015 and 2018, over 84 000 consumer profiles were compromised as part of a massive ID fraud syndicate. This came to light when 15 men appeared in the Nigel Regional Court on 6 May on charges of fraud, theft, forgery and contravention of the...
If you have any credit facility or a loan, there is a good change you have credit life insurance. This is an insurance which settles the loan should you die or become disabled, and in some cases covers your repayments for a period of time if you...
Does your life policy have a surrender value and what happens to all those premiums you paid if you switch to another provider? If you are considering switching, what questions should you be asking? In this week's My Money, My Lifestyle Podcast,...
Angelique Ruzicka spoke to the co-founder of Khula, a start-up that is disrupting South Africa’s farm-to-table supply chain, reaching the Chivas Venture final in Amsterdam. South African startup Khula was the only South African company that made it...
I recently received an unsolicited email from a company called Yes Money Loans. They claimed to be offering loans to blacklisted people at an interest rate of just 3.5% per annum. Considering they were marketing to desperate people who had been...
Life insurance is the easy part – you die, you get paid. But what about all those other insurances that we are told we need, like income protection, disability lump sum insurance and critical illness? What do they mean and when do we need them?...
I recently attended a briefing by Abel Sithole, the Principle Executive Officer of the Government Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF), on the state of the fund's finances. What occurred to me during the discussion was how much better off GEPF pensioners...
Customers benefit as banks launch cost-effective banking solutions. The banking industry is certainly seeing an increase in competition, with the launch of TymeBank earlier this year and with the imminent launch of Discovery Bank. As part of the...
Given the technicalities around car insurance, it is not surprising that most complaints received by the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance relate to vehicle insurance and warranties. Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) discuss what...
There are two main options when it comes to purchasing an annuity income: a guaranteed life annuity or a living annuity. 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...
The worst type of investing is trying to time the market. According to research done by investment research house Morningstar, more than half of the money that flowed into South African investment funds last year went to low-risk fixed-income funds. This is no doubt...
In this week's My Money, My Lifestyle podcast, Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) discuss the modus operandi of loan scams and also unpack the details of the Barlowworld Kula Zizwe BEE offering. To join the conversation send us a WhatsApp voice note to...
The first few years of paying off your home loan can be a very disheartening experience. Despite paying in thousands, if not tens of thousands of rands each month, the amount you still owe hardly budges. In the first few years interest makes up a very large part of...
With the collapse of Bitcoin from over R250 000 to around R70 000 today, the hype around cryptocurrencies has largely died down. It usually takes a wipeout for people to understand exactly what is meant by a risky investment. However, pundits argue that there is a...
Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) discuss the best strategies for managing your income when you work for yourself ‒ and share their personal stories. To join the conversation send us a voice note to 064 554 3959.
The Credit Bureau Association (CBA) recently stated that credit bureaus will not hold information regarding outstanding e-tolls. Legally the bureaus could hold this information as SANRAL qualifies as a ‘prescribed person’ who could submit payment information to the...
One of the greatest frustrations I have as a personal finance educator is how many unnecessary investment options there are for individuals. Did you know that there are over 1 200 unit trusts available in South Africa? That’s three times the number of companies listed...
Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) discuss market predictions and also warn about why trying to time the market is the quickest way to lose money.
This year, to celebrate 180 years of banking, FNB has created an exhibition which is currently at Portside in Cape Town. In addition to documenting the history of FNB, it is a fascinating history lesson on the evolution of banking in South Africa. FNB started its life...
Unpacking the costs and benefits of various power options to alleviate the effects of loadshedding After losing five hours a day of productive time during loadshedding, I thought it was time to find a solution for my home office. This led to a wider investigation into...