Investing in art is very different from buying a painting that matches your lounge suite. While some investable art may be visually beautiful like a Monet hanging over a fireplace, more often art is there to provoke a reaction, to question and...
Are RA really worth investing in?
Readers pose questions about whether retirement annuities are worth it; we investigate “I was wondering if you have any advice on RA's as a retirement investment. I have heard a lot of commentary about not going through RA's as they tax you much...
CFD’s rise from the ashes of single stock futures
Since its peak in 2008 the single stock futures market has fallen from around R60 billion open contracts at any one point, to around R2bn today. Maya Fisher-French explores the demise of the single stock future industry against the rise of CFD’s...
The power of the debit order
A monthly debit order is undoubtedly one of the most powerful investment tools. It creates a savings discipline as it goes off your account before you have spent your money on consumables. But now studies show that, rand cost averaging, which...
Surviving the squeeze
What we can learn from our parents who survived the inflation beast of the 1980’s There is no doubt that our day to day living expenses are becoming increasingly more expensive as necessities like electricity, travel and food take a bigger bite out...
How the banks’ service and products stack up
We sent our new City Press intern Liziwe Ndalana to do some field research on opening a bank account. Liziwe’s experience highlights how important service is to us as customers. Liziwe was so impressed with Absa’s service she was nearly convinced...
SA resource shares looking attractive
Paul Stewart, managing director of Plexus Asset Management looks at the opportunity to invest in resource stocks. In the current global economic climate, solid growth is a rare phenomenon. And where growth exists, it tends to be more prevalent in...
Trading across the globe
A new online trading platform makes it possible to trade shares across the world Do you want to invest in companies that make all the cool stuff you use like Apple, Google and Facebook? The launch of a new global trading platform makes it possible...
Do you want to be a customer or shareholder?
In November 2001 the first Ipod went on sale at a price of $399 which was around R3300 at the time. If instead of buying the Ipod you had bought shares in Apple (the American company that produces the Ipod), your investment would be worth $26 000...
Flexible life cover bucks the trend
Getting excited about life insurance may sound like an oxymoron but as I sat through the presentation of new long term insurance company BrightRock that is exactly how I felt - finally I had found the life cover I have been waiting for. As I walked...
Previous Articles
Paying for roads through fuel
Fuel levy would need to increase by R1 to fund roads As Gauteng drivers protest against e-tolling, a debate on the merits of tolls versus increased fuel levies has been unleashed across the media, twitter and dinner tables. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may have put...
Banking wars are good for your pocket
A banking price war is under way and is doing more to drive down bank fees than any government regulation could ever hope to achieve. Recently Standard Bank slashed its banking fees which, it claims, makes its range of transactional accounts amongst the cheapest in...
Why the dividend tax should be reviewed
The announcement of a 15% dividend withholding tax came as a shock to all investors earning dividends, despite Treasury’s claims that it should have been expected. The rate came in 50% higher than market expectations and there was very little warning in previous...
What do you want from your bank?
This week I received a survey on what customers want from their banks. The Speak UP Report commissioned by Capitec aims to "draw attention to what people want from their bank and ultimately help give them what they really need". I have to confess that when I read some...
A man is not a financial plan
Having spent a weekend speaking to over 2000 young women about their finances, the most tweeted comment was “a man is not a financial plan”. This statement resonated not only with the young women in the audience but many of the men working at the event. The men were...
Bank fee comparison is smoke and mirrors
FNB was the first bank to challenge Capitec in offering a no frills, simple bank account when they launched EasyPlan nearly two years ago. The other banks have followed and are now all aiming to provide low cost banking for under R30 per month. In July last year...
Wealth creation is about how you spend, not what you earn
This week I received two separate emails from readers who wanted to know where to invest their money. What made them stand out was that both of them had accumulated substantial money despite mediocre salaries. They had not built their wealth from winning the lotto,...
Why a cap on retirement contributions is anti-poor
In the 2011 Budget address Finance Minister Gordhan announced that National Treasury was considering a R200 000 cap on the tax deductibility for retirement savings. It is widely expected that this will be addressed in his budget speech on 22 February. The retirement...
How to learn to trade without losing money
Fin24’s new product, Dashboard (www.fin24.com) is perfect for the novice who wants to know how to pick shares, how to interpret the figures in a portfolio and when to buy or sell, all using virtual money. So you can have the experience of exposure to the market...
How to trade forex for free
So many people have been caught out by the “get rich quick” advertising of foreign currency trading platforms and have failed to do their homework properly. If you really want to get into foreign currency trading, you can do it for a faction of the cost. Last year we...