Is your adviser really acting in your best interests, what you need to know before taking out a joint bond and why you cannot take your retirement annuity as a lump sum ‒ these are some of the topics discussed in this week's My Money, My Lifestyle...
By Mellony Ramalho, African Bank Group Executive The start of a new year is a great time to review your finances and saving habits and to check up on your credit profile. Often it is only when you apply for credit and get turned down that you...
One of the great frustrations for pensioners is the fact that they usually pay tax on their retirement income despite having paid tax during their working lives. It is important to do proper tax planning and seek the advice of a professional as...
Was this budget enough to prevent a credit downgrade and what does that mean for our finances? How much tax are we really paying, are prescribed assets still a possibility, and has retirement reform stalled? Listen to financial journalist Maya...
Investors in cash have had better real returns in the last two years than any time since the end of the credit crisis fallout in 2010. A real return is the difference between the interest you earn and the inflation rate. The normal rule of thumb is...
The My Money, My Lifestyle podcast is a new podcast in which Maya Fisher-French (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo Makhu (@womanandfinance) talk about the articles making headlines in the Personal Finance section of City Press. This week's topics include...
Livestock Wealth is a 'crowdfarming' platform that connects investors looking to invest in cattle with farmers looking for funds to grow their farms. With lacklustre ‒ and even negative ‒ returns from the stock market over the last three years,...
One of the more frequent questions people ask is whether or not to use a lump sum to pay off debt. For example, you may have R100 000 sitting in a money market account earning 6%, providing an income of R500 per month. At the same time, you have a...
By Mike Brown, Managing Director, etfSA.co.za The results of the latest Collective Investment Schemes Quarterly Performance Survey (ASISA/Profile Data, 31/12/2018) emphasise, yet again, that passive ETFs continue to come out as the top South...
The My Money, My Lifestyle podcast is a new podcast in which Maya Fisher-French (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo Makhu (@womanandfinance) talk about the articles making headlines in the Personal Finance section of City Press. This week's topics include...
Allan Gray’s Ray Mhere explains how a unit trust is priced and what it means for you as an investor. Many of us are familiar with unit trusts as an easy and affordable way to access financial markets. Your money is combined with the money of other investors who have...
Before you spend money on a gift for a family member, take some time to find out what makes each member of your family feel loved. In the book The Five Love Languages authors Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell talk about the five ways that you can make someone feel loved....
If you have an elderly parent who has been paying towards a life or funeral policy for many years but can no longer afford the premiums, it may make sense to take over the policy payments if you are the beneficiary. If the policyholder were to cancel the policy, they...
The My Money, My Lifestyle podcast is a new podcast featuring the contributors to the City Press Personal Finance pages. From how to invest in a cow, enjoying your money and why cash has been king, Maya Fisher-French (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo Makhu (@womanandfinance)...
A social media follower recently asked me how he could benefit from using a credit card. The answer is that is depends entirely on your self-discipline. If you are the personality type who may make all sorts of promises to only use it for emergencies, but somehow a...
Financial freedom means different things to different people. For some it might be about having no debt so that you start each month not paying for something you bought six months ago, which is really about living within your means. For others it is enough money saved...
Investing in farming can be both a good investment and a social good. It is not often I get really excited about a new investment opportunity, but I have to confess that I really like the Fedgroup Impact Farming concept. It is simple to understand and has the...
The My Money, My Lifestyle podcast is a new podcast featuring the contributors to the City Press Personal Finance pages. From how to settle your balloon payment, whether to cash in your pension and all you need to know about tax-free savings, Maya Fisher-French...
If you want to reduce debt and increase savings in 2019, take some simple steps now to make it easier to reach your goals. Many economists and psychologists have made careers out of trying to understand why we make “bad” choices, which we invariably regret. We know if...
Our family got into the habit of keeping a household budget after our own personal financial crisis 14 years ago. I have no doubt that without budgeting every month and maintaining strict financial discipline, we would simply have got deeper and deeper into debt,...